I went to visit my parents yesterday and on the way there, I was thinking about the number of times I've done that journey up and down the motorway and imagined all the little ant trails that I have left…
Author Archive
Chunk of the day: the bottom line (revisited)
As with single words, we should look for opportunities to revise or recycle chunks. When we do so, it's good to move beyond simply matching the word or chunk to the same meaning we gave last time. We can explore new…
ELT: In need of family therapy?
In my previous blogging incarnation on the CELT training site, I wrote about why lexical sets may be popular and about some of the downsides to them. That blog was closed when I left University of Westminster and I have…
3 Language is norm orientated
This use of the word norms here is inspired by Patrick Hanks’ recent book, Norms and Exploitations. It’s just the latest in a large number of articles, books and theories which have tried to account for the fact that despite…
Phrase of the day: It’s not as though
I had two conversations last night which featured this chunk. The first one was with a friend who was moaning about a culture clash in the Paris office he often visits. Leaving his house at 5.30 in the morning to…
2 Words are difficult to define
We recently had an email about the text on one part of our website, where this question was asked - "Should it be language is the building blocks or language is the building block?" It’s a good question to lead…
Chunk of the day: Where’s the best place to …?
This weekend sees the big match in north London between Arsenal and Tottenham. Among discussions about who has the best chance of winning and what the managers' best teams are, there's the more serious discussion of Where's's the best place…