Author Archive

Literary figures in everyday speech

In one of my recent classes, we were discussing the way in which the use of social media inside authoritarian countries like Russia, China and Iran is almost always monitored, and how posting something that's deemed to be subversive or…

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Word of the day: big cheese

At a party last week I was introduced to a foreign businessman who was visiting London. We got talking and started chatting about what we both did. I told him about my work and when I asked what he did, he responded - in…

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Chunk of the day: a rite of passage

Generally speaking, I'm not one for complaining about people’s use of language, and certainly not those supposed transgressions of grammar rules such as using like when reporting speech, saying there were less people than expected, or that people are loving…

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Using texts to develop lexical awareness

In this guest post, Patrick Gallagher outlines how he uses the WORD / CHUNK OF THE DAY sections of this website with his students. We hope it'll give you some ideas for how you could explore and exploit these texts…

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Back to school Part Five: challenges and homework

As if to prove the point about procrastination and failing to do stuff outside class that I made in my last post reflecting on my own language learning experiences, I'm almost ashamed to begin by admitting it has been over…

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Chunk of the day: having some work done

Those of you who follow my ongoing series of ONE-MINUTE ENGLISH videos on YouTube or Instagram may have noticed that I've recently started filming them from the chaos of my attic. You'll have seen the piles of boxes behind me,…

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Word of the day: whitewash

By the 18th of June 1984 – thirty-seven years ago today – miners in England had been on strike for three months. In what has been called "the most bitter industrial dispute in British history", the National Union of Mineworkers…

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