Differences between British and American English

British and American EnglishIt has often been said that the UK and the USA are ‘two nations separated by a common language’. It’s certainly true that sharing English often disguises the cultural differences between the two societies, but what about actual differences between British and American English? Although there are very few differences, aside from differences in pronunciation, that would leave a Brit and an American in a state of mutual unintelligibility, there are significant differences between British and American English that are worth being aware of. Here we look at some of them.

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PTE, TOEFL, IELTS, TOEIC, Cambridge exams… Which English exams should I choose?

Pearson PTE - English examsIn today’s globalised world, it is increasingly important not only to be proficient in English but also to be able to prove your level of proficiency. Companies with international business often require job applicants to present a certificate that shows how fluent they are in English, while for non-natives applying to universities in English-speaking countries, demonstrating you have a high enough level of the language to study your chosen subject is a basic entry requirement. With so many options available, the first question has to be, ‘Which English exams should I choose?’ Here we look at what’s on offer. For some top tips on how to prepare, click here.

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7 tips for English exams to help you prepare

tips for English examOnce you’ve decided which English exam to take, the next step is to prepare. Whatever the exam you’ve opted for, it’s not enough just to have the right level of English. You also need to know what the exam involves, what techniques will help you to pass it and what to expect on the day. Here are 7 tips for English exams.

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10 ways to improve your English outside of class

Ways to improve EnglishWhen it comes to learning a language, you can only do so much in class. At some point, we all need to look beyond the classroom walls if we’re to put our abilities to the test and hone those hard-earned skills. Luckily, the age we live in has no shortage of options for the motivated learner.

Here are 10 ways to improve your English outside of class:

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10 common errors Spanish speakers make in English

10 common errors Spanish speakers make in English

There’s no path to fluency in a second language that does not involve making lots and lots of mistakes, but as a teacher it’s worth knowing why your students might be making some of the same ones over and over. Here are 10 common errors Spanish learners of English tend to make.

  1. Possessive adjectives

Given that Spanish su, as in su libro can mean both ‘his book’ and ‘her book’, depending on the context, and that all Spanish nouns have either feminine or masculine gender, it’s little wonder that Spanish speakers often mix up his and her. Combined with a tendency to mix up he and she as well, this can lead to some very confusing anecdotes being told, in which you’re not sure if it’s men, women or both being talked about. It’s worth drilling the difference again and again. Continue reading

Do you use singular they?

singular theyHow does the following sentence look to you?

She apologised immediately, as any reasonable person would when they’ve just sworn at their boss.

For most speakers it will look perfectly natural. For others, however, the use of singular they will send them into a fit of rage about the ongoing corruption of the English language. ‘Person’, they will tell you, is singular, and therefore you cannot possibly use ‘they’ and ‘their’ to refer to it.

However, singular they has been used throughout the ages when the gender of the person being referred to is unknown or when both genders are implied, as in the above example, and even the most pedantic of pedants is unlikely to use Continue reading

Famous polyglot authors who wrote in English

Yann Martel (licensed under Creative Commons)

Yann Martel (licensed under Creative Commons)

Many of you will have seen the award-winning movie Life of Pi. Many may have read the book on which it is based. You might not know, however, that English is not the first language of its Canadian author Yann Martel; French is. “English is the language in which I best express the subtlety of life,” he has said. “But I must say that French is the language closest to my heart. And for this same reason, English gives me a sufficient distance to write.”

Martel is not the only writer to have chosen to write in their second (or even third) language. The Czech author Milan Kundera often writes in French, as did Irish playwright Samuel Becket. Sholem Aleichem, whose story Tevye and His Daughters became the basis for the musical Fiddler on the Roof, wrote initially in Russian and Hebrew but later in Yiddish. Anna Kazumi-Stahl, born to a Japanese mother and an American-German father, writes predominantly in Spanish. Some other well-known authors who have written in English as their second language are Joseph Conrad, Vladimir Nabokov and Jack Kerouac. Continue reading

5 benefits of being bilingual

bilingual educationIt might come as a surprise to speakers of global languages such as English and Spanish, but there are in fact more bilingual and multilingual people on the planet than monolingual ones. In some regions, such as Africa, where most people speak the national language as well as their own indigenous language, bilingualism is the norm. Whether you’ve grown up speaking two languages or are learning your second one later in life, there are numerous benefits to being bilingual that go far beyond being able to order a beer and ask for directions while travelling abroad. Let’s look at some of them here. Continue reading

Making the most of lyrics in class

Lyrics in classLike many ELT teachers, you may already use songs in class, perhaps as a fun way to end the lesson. But how often do you really exploit the lyrics in class in the way you would exploit any other piece of text? The obvious choice of activity with a song is the good old-fashioned gap fill, with students filling in the missing words as they listen along. But this is not the only possibility, and certainly not the most resourceful or productive. Here are some other ideas you can try.

1. Prediction by rhyme

Most English lyrics rhyme, which is a great way to get your learners thinking before they listen. Gap out the second word in each pair of rhymes, have the learners predict the missing word based on rhyme and meaning, then have them listen to check. They’ll listen much more attentively if they’re trying to check their own ideas, and they’ll also have a chance to focus on the text before hearing it. Here’s a silly made-up example (the answer is below):

Hip hop artists, when they sing /  Often wear a tonne of ___________ Continue reading

Letter D is for Dictionary

The title page of Johnson's Dictionary

The title page of Johnson’s Dictionary

It might strike speakers of languages other than English as puzzling, even remiss, that there exists no Anglo-Saxon equivalent of the Real Academia Española, the Académie françaiseThe Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo, the National Institute of the Korean Language, or any other of the hundred or so institutions set up to study, regulate and oversee the use of the languages with which they have been entrusted. On the whole, these esteemed institutions take a prescriptive approach to their work, laying down the rules of acceptable usage and deciding which new words may be allowed official existence in the lexicon. However, while other countries chose to establish national language-planning bodies, Great Britain in the 18th century, and the USA not long afterwards, opted instead for one-man endeavours. 1755 saw the publication on Samuel Johnson’s groundbreaking Dictionary of the English Language, while across the pond in 1828 Noah Webster brought out his famous American Dictionary of the English Language. Both were masterpieces of scholarship and laid the foundations of what was to become an Anglosphere tradition of preferring to describe the language as it is actually used rather than attempt to dictate how it should be used. Continue reading