10 English words that are difficult to pronounce When you learn a foreign language, there are always certain sounds that are a challenge to get right and certain words that you must struggle to get your tongue around. With English, the erratic spelling system means that even if you have no trouble with the sounds themselves, you may often mispronounce words anyway. To help you out with some of the trickier and more readily-confused ones, here are 10 English words that are difficult to pronounce for learners and some tips for getting them right. (1) Vegetable /ˈvɛdʒ tə bəl/ and comfortable /ˈkʌmf tə bəl/. Neither of these words has anything do with tables. (2) Squirrel /ˈskwɪrəl/. (3) Says /sɛz/. (4) Leicester /ˈlɛstər/. (5) Rural /ˈrʊər(ə)l/. (6) Culture /ˈkʌltʃə/. The literature features a mixture of picture features on the nature of the nature-nurture venture.Manufactured dentures are a torture for this creature.When it comes to sculpture he’s a culture-vulture. (7) Law /lɔː/. (9) Recipe /ˈrɛsɪpi/ and receipt /rɪˈsiːt/.
English verb understand conjugated in all tenses. Conjugate another English verb Nominal Forms Infinitive: to understand Participle: understood Gerund: understanding Indicative Present I understandyou understandhe understandswe understandyou understandthey understand Perfect I have understoodyou have understoodhe has understoodwe have understoodyou have understoodthey have understood Past I understoodyou understoodhe understoodwe understoodyou understoodthey understood Pluperfect I had understoodyou had understoodhe had understoodwe had understoodyou had understoodthey had understood Future I will understandyou will understandhe will understandwe will understandyou will understandthey will understand Future perfect I will have understoodyou will have understoodhe will have understoodwe will have understoodyou will have understoodthey will have understood Subjunctive I understandyou understandhe understandwe understandyou understandthey understand Imperfect Conditional Imperative you understand we Let´s understandyou understand
Free English Level Test. How good is your English? languagelevel Free tests to check your level of English, French, German and Spanish What is your level of English? This test contains grammar and vocabulary questions and your test result will help you choose a level to practise at. The real exams contain sections such as speaking and writing which are not tested here. At the end of the test your level of English will be assessed with reference to the Common European Framework of reference for languages (cef). There are 15 questions in this test. Question 1 of 15 Suzie and John are planning to get married and _______ a lot of children. have bring get make © Language Level | Home | Welcome to the English for Uni Website! | English for Uni Welcome to the English for Uni website! This free website is for teachers and learners of English as an additional language, from intermediate levels upwards (i.e. approximately IELTS 6 and above). The site aims to make difficult grammar and academic writing concepts easier to understand. On this site you can learn more about: There is also information for speakers and learners of Japanese, Chinese, French and Indonesian. All the sections of this website have video stories, explanations and exercises. All the videos have captions that you can view on YouTube. You may also like to view the glossary of grammar terms and other useful websites for help.
Verbs with two objects Three days ago we were talking about presents with my students and I could hear that they were using the verbs buy,give, get etc. in a way that everyone would understand them but which was wrong. So, I created the following presentation and several exercises. What surprised me was that even after my presentation the students protested that some other forms (the ones they used) were correct too. Verbs with two objects – mind map I am really proud of this mind map. Verbs with two objects – games Once you have mastered the three possible patterns it is time to use them. Verbs with two subjects En Garde game. The second game is quite quick. Verbs with two objects – Teacher invaders Verbs with two objects – for teachers I have realised that this site is frequently visited by teachers. Verbs with two objects The other file contains the mind map in a pdf file. Verbs with two objects Follow us
Free English Level Test - How good is your English? Which English exam is right for you? What is your level of English? Which exam should you study for? Check your level with these two level tests: Grammar & vocabulary level test Listening level test At the end of each test your level will be assessed at a CEF level (A2 to C2). Questions get easier or harder according to how well you do. You will not be able to see the correct answers to the questions. You should complete the grammar / vocabulary test in about 10 minutes. You should complete the listening test in about 10 minutes. What do the levels mean?
10 Best Grammar Resources for Teachers - Grammarly Blog Every day is a grammar day for teachers, but the whole world is invited to celebrate morphology and syntax on the fourth of March—National Grammar Day. Everyone loves a party, but how can you motivate students to embrace good grammar the other 364 days of the year? These ten grammar resources might be just what you need. 1 Visual Aids If students visualize how grammar works, they will be able to understand sentence structure. 2 Online Courses According to its website, the Grammar Challenger helps students “master fifty of the trickiest . . . grammar, punctuation, and word usage” concepts. 3 Interactive Whiteboard Activities Interactive whiteboards project your computer screen on a dry-erase whiteboard. 4 Games What if students could learn and play at the same time? 5 Lesson Plans If you are looking for an effective way to teach a grammar point, other teachers are happy to share what works for them. 6 Gap-Fill Activities Did you ever do Mad Libs? 10 Worksheets Practice makes perfect!
Phrasal Verbs Phrasal verbs are mainly used in spoken English and informal texts. (The more formal a conversation or text, the less phrasal verbs are found.) Phrasal verbs consist of a verb plus a particle (preposition, adverb). The particle can change the meaning of the verb completely, e.g. look up – consult a reference book (look a word up in a dictionary) look for – seek (look for her ring) look forward – anticipate with pleasure (look forward to meeting someone) There are no rules that might explain how phrasal verbs are formed correctly - all you can do is look them up in a good dictionary and study their meanings. Frequently Used Phrasal Verbs with: break, bring, call, carry, come, do, fall, get, go, keep, look, make, put, run, set, take, turn Position of the Particle The particle is placed either after the verb or after the object. Example: Write down the word. / Write the word down. If the object is a pronoun, however, the particle has to be placed after the pronoun (object). Write it down.
How Shakespearean are you? The words of Shakespeare are still held, nearly 400 years after his death, to be some of the most poetic ever written and his influence on modern English is indisputable. Contributions such as pound of flesh (Merchant of Venice) and green-eyed monster (Othello) are fairly well-known, but did you know that he was the first person to use the adjectives misplaced (from King Lear) or neighbouring (Henry IV, Part 1); or the adverbs obscenely (Love’s Labour’s Lost) or out of work (Henry V)? These days we often hear accusations of the English language having been dumbed down, so it is interesting to compare English now to that used by Shakespeare. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are now more standardized than in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but can English today hold a candle to the Bard of Avon’s work? Enter some English text in the box below and click the button. Shakespeare feature loading, please wait…
25 maps that explain the English language English is the language of Shakespeare and the language of Chaucer. It’s spoken in dozens of countries around the world, from the United States to a tiny island named Tristan da Cunha. It reflects the influences of centuries of international exchange, including conquest and colonization, from the Vikings through the 21st century. Here are 25 maps and charts that explain how English got started and evolved into the differently accented languages spoken today. 1) Where English comes from English, like more than 400 other languages, is part of the Indo-European language family, sharing common roots not just with German and French but with Russian, Hindi, Punjabi, and Persian. 2) Where Indo-European languages are spoken in Europe today Saying that English is Indo-European, though, doesn’t really narrow it down much. 3) The Anglo-Saxon migration The next source of English was Old Norse. 7) The colonization of America 8) Early exploration of Australia 14) Where people read English Wikipedia
How Dylan Thomas got playful with English grammar Actor and artistic director Guy Masterson says the famous Welsh poet didn’t so much defy the rules of grammar as stretch them. Guy will be presenting at the next British Council seminar, live-streamed from London on 23 October 2014 as part of the Dylan Thomas Centenary Celebration. It is a joy for me as an actor to speak great words, be it a play, prose or poetry. More to the point, it is an intellectual and emotional challenge to get one’s interpretative jaws around great words and then bring them to life in an meaningful and memorable way. One has to believe, with great writers such as Dylan Thomas (1914-1953), that they intended their words to be spoken out loud and not merely read. But what makes Dylan Thomas so wonderful, a poet of some of the greatest wordplay in the English language and among the finest of the twentieth century? I should state here that I am not an expert in grammar. To Begin At The Beginning It is Spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and Bible black.
Trinity College ESOL Tests The following tests are available from Trinity: Integrated Skills in English (ISE) These tests are accepted by the UK government for visa purpose. ISE is available at five levels from A2 to C2 on the Common European Framework (CEFR). For more information and practice tests, please select the exam below: Trinity B1 (B1) Trinity B2 (B2) The ISE exams are taken in a secure centre and cost around £180. You can find out more about the Trinity tests here.