Ich helfe Ihnen, Ihr gesprochenes Englisch zu perfektionieren, wann und wie es für Sie am Praktischen ist.
I’m feeling pretty [1] ticked off. If I hadn’t excused myself and gone outside I would really have [2]flown off the handle. I came into work in a good mood but the boss came in and [3]bit my head off for no reason. Since when has being five minutes late to work been a problem? … Continue reading Idioms for when you’re angry
Sometimes two languages can live inside one person peacefully, they complement each other and don’t get in each other’s way. Unfortunately, sometimes the opposite is true and we get … L1 interference! Sounds nasty, but it just means though that you use rules that apply to your native language, and apply them to your foreign … Continue reading Tekamolo v.s. Svompt: Word order
Hello my dears. I hope this post finds you well. Today I’m going to write about those pesky words “watch” “look” and “see”. Literal meanings – a recap “See” simply means to use your eyes. “Look” means “to turn our eyes in a particular direction to see something”. (Cambridge) “Watch” means “to look at or … Continue reading Watching out for “look” “watch” and “see”
Hello, I hope this blog post finds you well. Last week a student directed me to an article with some lovely false friends. I thought I might share the deadliest with you today and add a couple of my own. Undertaker – Unternehmer This is my favourite of all the false friends. An “undertaker” is: … Continue reading Some very deadly false friends …
The kids can’t go to school because of the pandemic, so this week I’ve been “homeschooling” and It’s not so easy to find an undisturbed minute to write. On the plus side it’s a great time to use the present perfect continuous! Everyone’s routines have been turned upside down. Some people, especially in the medical … Continue reading “Someone’s been drinking my beer!” Present perfect continuous to describe ale theft.
Yes! I’ve done it! I’ve started the third month of my blog! Woo, go me! This week we’re looking at the present perfect simple TO SHOW OFF! There are two reasons to use the present perfect simple To say “how long” something has happened for, (Something that starts in the past and continues to the … Continue reading I’ve done it! -using present perfect simple to show off.
I remember exactly when McDonalds adopted “I’m loving it!” as their slogan. I was working in Cologne. It must have been in 2001 or 2002. I was just coming home after a long day of teaching stative verbs, you know, the ones you can’t put in the continuous (to be/-ing) form. The verbs that describe: … Continue reading “I’m lovin’ it!”, or: Why English teachers hate McDonalds.
“Every breath you take…Every move you make…” oops! Back to those songs again. This week my son requested that I write about the difference between “all” and “every”. Mistakes with these expressions are very common. Quiz time. What words go here, “all” or “every”? Do you know the songs? -Watch out! It’s not as easy … Continue reading Those pesky exceptions: “all” and “every”.
There is a legend in English teaching circles of a young man from Germany called Hans. Hans was a lively young man and decided one fine day to go for a walk in the forest. The forest was magical, as they often are in such stories, and soon poor Hans got lost and met a … Continue reading Mistakes with “get” and “become”, or : “I want to become a sausage.”
There’s no better place to find English bloopers than on Tinder. For some reason many users of this app decide to introduce themselves to potential lovers using a language which they, at best, find it difficult to communicate in. Perhaps the most misleading of these errors is the misuse of the present continuous. Let’s cut … Continue reading Present continuous mistakes, or: English for Tinder users