Author Archive

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…

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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…

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Phrase of the day: What’re you doing later?

Lots of very common chunks don’t get taught early enough in many course because they are seen as somehow being examples of ‘advanced’ grammar. For instance, this common question is often left out of Elementary and Pre-Intermediate courses due to…

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1 Lexis is more important than grammar

Absolutely central to lexical teaching is a view of language. A starting point on the road towards understanding this view is the commonly stated observation that without grammar you can say little, but without vocabulary you can say nothing. Take…

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Patterns beyond the past simple

The following grammar exercise on the past simple is from our book Outcomes Elementary (National Geographic Learning). Students complete the sentences with the correct past simple form of verbs given in brackets at the end of sentences - resulting in…

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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…

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