Great website for reference for English language learning and teaching

As I continue teaching, I often come across many wonderful websites.  Here is the latest one:

UsingEnglish.com

It is very useful and has a large amount of information about different aspects of English.

 

Go and have a look!

Discovering new idiomatic expressions...

Want to learn new idiomatic expressions, their origins and their meanings?  Why not check out The Free Dictionary which gives definitions and examples of their usage.

 

For example, 'Put your money where your mouth is' = Do not just talk about doing something with your money, but do it!

(taken from: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Put+your+money+where+your+mouth+is!)

 

And what is a 'quid'?  Well, have a look here: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/quid

 

Help for English exam preparation

If you want to see what level you are or how to prepare for the B1 (PET), B2 (First) or C1 (Advanced) exam, have a look at the following website: http://www.examenglish.com/.

The website also includes tips on learning vocabulary for the different levels of exams: http://www.examenglish.com/vocabulary/index.html

Weatherman Liam Dutton nails pronunciation of tongue-twister town, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

See how Liam Dutton pronounced the name of the longest town in the UK recently:

With a remix too:

 

Believe it or not but Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is not the longest-named place in the world - that honour goes to a hill in New Zealand called Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu.

 

(Taken from: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/weatherman-liam-dutton-nails-pronunciation-of-tongue-twister-town-llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch/story-fnq2oad4-1227520295235)

Heard in a classroom this morning...

Commonly Spanish students misuse other and another.  Have a look at the following website for a great explanation of this mistake: http://www.hablamejoringles.com/other-y-another/

 

Equally, especially and specially are mistaken in their use.  Look at this website for an explanation of the difference: http://www.saberingles.com.ar/which/95.html

Another topic that came up this morning was that of English proverbs.  As such, it is interesting to know their equivalent in Spanish.  For example, the early bird catches the worm / Early to bed, early to rise, makes the man healthy, wealthy and wise = A quien madruga, Dios lo ayuda.(http://www.saberingles.com.ar/idioms/proverbs.html)

New links!

Check out this new website I've found: http://www.englishgrammar.org/

It contains many explanations of grammar and also includes a list of 120 common grammar mistakes: http://www.englishgrammar.org/guide/grammarguide2015.pdf

Also have a look at http://www.eslcharts.com/, which includes many useful charts for tenses, prepositions and spellings.

Sunday updates!

When you are learning English it is important to prounounce words correctly.  Have a look on the links at the right for an interactive phonetics chart (taken from Cambridge English online: http://cambridgeenglishonline.com/Phonetics_Focus/).

Equally, it is important not to confuse words as I have found Spanish students do.  See the page entitled 'false friends' to see which words are commonly mixed up.

Finally, to make sure that you are using the right tenses, you can check the tenses chart (taken from www.eslcharts.com) to understand more about when to use present simple, perfect, continuous and more!

Have fun in your learning!

What's the difference between formal and informal English?

Do you know when to use formal English and when to use informal English?  Have a look at the links on the right (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/formal-and-informal-language and http://www.engvid.com/english-resource/formal-informal-english/) to learn which words and expressions to use in these situations.

Are you Spanish? Perhaps you make some of these mistakes...

I am starting to create pages (again on the right, but nearer the bottom) giving information on such things as Common Grammar Mistakes, Phrasal Verbs, Pronunciation and Spelling.

Have a look at some of the errors that people like you (if you are Spanish) make and learn not to repeat them in class.  The pages will be updated over time, so check back in and see for new additions!

Keep checking for your mitsakes...I mean mistakes!

New links!

Have a look at the links I am adding to the right of the page.  From here you will be able to find many useful webpages for learning English, which are all free.

Go and have a look!

Welcome to Daniel's English blog for Spanish students learning English!

Let me introduce you to my new blog, which aims to provide help for Spanish speakers who are learning English.

I hope you find the information both useful and helpful as you start or continue your journey of learning the wonderful language that is called English.

Please feel free to comment and/or make suggestions.

Look forward to hearing from you!