Jan 25, 2015 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: What’s not to like? We’ve often said that what strikes us most about the many incredibly competent non-natives we meet in our field is very rarely their grammatical accuracy! Rather than noticing the correct use of a mixed conditional or the stunning use of articles, instead what we tend to be aware of is the sheer range of expressions […]
Jan 23, 2015 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: nothing if not Listening to a Radio 4 review programme the other day, I was struck by the description of quirky Icelandic singer Björk‘s new LP – Vulnicura – as “nothing if not honest”.The chunk is a subtle and interesting way of saying that something has one particular quality that is more noticeable or important than any other, […]
Jan 20, 2015 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: saying it is one thing; meaning it is another. Jon Wright is the author of the wonderful Idioms Organiser, for our money perhaps the best self-study book on idioms on the market. Just before Christmas, I was lucky enough to catch Jon talking at the English UK South-West conference near Exeter. Jon spoke at length about the way that students who’ve studied a lot […]
Jan 14, 2015 Beginners & Low levels, Chunks, Coursebooks, Teaching lexically Useful chunks to teach beginners: What’re you doing later? Lots of useful chunks that we could teach beginners, don’t get taught early on because they’re seen as examples of ‘advanced’ grammar. For instance, the common question What are you doing later? will be absent from most beginner courses and rarely feature even at Elementary or Pre-Intermediate because it’s ‘the present continuous with future reference’. […]
Nov 6, 2014 Chunk of the day, Chunks Chunk of the day: Just because . . . it doesn’t mean We’ve both often had students act more than a little surprised at our apparently un-English ways. Smiling and being friendly is often enough to start the questions about whether we’re not secretly from somewhere ‘abroad’. This particular chunk helps offer a good answer – and is also great for students themselves. Just because I’m Brazilian […]
