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Improving English Listening With Independent Study

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  There are those who prefer to study English alone and here are some tips to get better at listening. Study a little bit at a time. Only have a few minutes per day to study? Perfect. Believe it or not, that’s even better than having a lot of time to study. If you are someone with a habit of studying around 15-20 minutes a day instead of a few hours in one sitting, actually you are studying using the method of micro learning. Simply speaking, micro learning is dividing your task into very small tasks that can be done in about five minutes. For example, imagine that you’re trying to study the present perfect. You can micro learn it by dividing it into: 1. Affirmative sentences; 2. Negative sentences; 3. Questions; 4. Use; 5. Words that trigger the present perfect. This is just an example. You can divide your task the way you want, always trying to remember that every individual task should last five minutes at most. There are a lot of scientific studies that prove that lea
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Stylistic Techniques Used For Writing - Voiceskills

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Writing is a craft. Skilled writers incorporate stylistic techniques into their writing for rhetorical effect. In other words, stylistic techniques enhance a piece of writing’s aesthetic, emotional or intellectual appeal. Certainly, the content of a text is important, but a writer who can organize his ideas in a unique and provocative way can increase his/her writing’s allure. Varied Sentence Structure English allows for four main sentence constructions: simple, compound, complex and compound-complex, and skilled writers use all of these. Using too many simple sentences in a row sounds monotonous. A simple sentence consists of one subject and one verb, as in “She laughed.” The other sentence constructions incorporate more subject-verb patterns. Conciseness No matter the genre, whether poetry or essay writing, skilled writers aim for conciseness. Conciseness in writing means eliminating any unnecessary words. Writing all sentences in active voice, where the subject precedes the
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Captivating Conclusions

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  Conclusions are among the hardest parts of an essay to write well. You need to round off your essay effectively. You need to leave your reader with the best possible impression of your work. And, you need to somehow recap all your central points without simply repeating yourself. Sound like a tricky balancing act? We explain it all in more depth below - read on for our tips on how to conclude an essay effectively. How do I Conclude an  Essay ? What is a conclusion? It’s a question that seems, on the face of it, to have a perfectly simple answer. It’s the paragraph (or so) at the end of your essay where you bring your essay to a stop by recapping your central arguments, right? Easy. If you were asked   to list a few synonyms for an essay conclusion, I am   willing to bet you’d come up with a few words or phrases like “recap”, “summary”, “restatement of your thesis”, and so on. And it’s true you’re likely to find all of this somewhere in the conclusion of an essay. "Words
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Understanding the way the British Speak English

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  Spoken English is in a constant state of change. For this reason, you may find that idioms you learned in class are no longer used by most Brits in their everyday conversations. If you use outdated idioms, it can have funny and embarrassing results as locals may find you’re English rather strange or eccentric. Therefore, it is important to listen to as much modern English speech as possible and to get feedback from a British friend or teacher to find out what is “in” and what is “out”. Below are a couple of examples of traditional idioms and their modern conversational English equivalents: A piece of cake – As this now sounds like an old-fashioned cliché, most Brits would use the expression “No probs!” (No problem) instead. Note that the “-s” on the end must be used even though “No Problem!” uses the singular form of the noun. Cost an arm and a leg – Brits are more likely to use colloquial equivalents like: “Cost a bomb” (a lot of Money, too much) or “Rip-off” (not worth th
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Cultural Impact in English Language Learning

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  English language learning and teaching involves more factors than cognitive functioning or phonetic development. Cultural influence of both the native and target cultures impact learning styles, instruction approached and language skills such as listening or speaking. Cultural education provides insight to the relationship between cultural backgrounds and language learning; awareness of cultural impacts on English language learning can influence classroom decisions and lead to an increase in positive learning outcomes. English language learning and teaching involves more factors than cognitive functioning or phonetic development. Cultural influence of both the native and target cultures impact learning styles, instruction approached and language skills such as listening or speaking. Cultural education provides insight to the relationship between cultural backgrounds and language learning; awareness of cultural impacts on English language learning can influence classroom decisions
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How to Navigate Difficult Conversations in Writing

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  Some conversations just aren’t easy Breaking bad news to someone, finding a respectful way to disagree, asking a favor, or reviewing a situation that didn’t go well—these are all hard things to do, perhaps especially when so many conversations now occur in writing and not face-to-face. A few pointers given here if followed can make such writing concise, clear, and insightful. Tough conversations don't have to be so stressful. Opening the conversation Start by showing empathy while being direct about what’s going on. Without tiptoeing around the subject, make clear you’ve given thought to how it will land with the recipient, and that you want to avoid confusion or making things harder.   For example: When giving bad news: I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but the repair process will be more extensive than we’d initially hoped. It can also help to make clear at the outset that you’re trying to advance the conversation toward some kind of resolution, as in the fol
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Bring life to Business Writing

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  Verbs are the backbone of sentences. Honing strong verbs is the single best strategy for clear writing . Focusing on strong verbs also naturally resolves many other syntax problems, especially passive voice used incorrectly and clause sequencing errors. Smothered Verbs are Action Words that are buried in a Group of other Words. ·          Eliminating the other words creates a clearer, more forceful sentence. ·          Smothering phrases often begin with a form of be, give, have, make or take. ·          The noun in the phrase often ends with -ion or -ment. ·          Smothered Verb Examples ·          Be in agreement ·          Give consideration to ·          Have a suspicion ·          Make an adjustment ·          Extend an invitation ·          Hold a discussion ·          Unsmothered Verb Examples ·          Be in agreement = Agree ·          Give consideration to = Consider ·          Have a suspicion = Suspect ·          Make an adjustment = Ad
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