May 4, 2017 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: a big If We use the phrase that’s / it’s a big if to show that we realise that what we are about to say – or what someone has just been speculating about – is really very unlikely indeed to actually happen. It’s a sign that we’re clutching at straws, which means we’re still clinging on to […]
May 2, 2017 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: Time is of the essence Over recent weeks, we’ve been taking a fair few bookings for what will be our first ever London summer school. It’s all very exciting, even if it does involve far more red tape than we’d initially anticipated. In order to be able to invite non-EU students here in a way that allows them to apply […]
Apr 30, 2017 Chunks, Word of the day Word of the day: pimp A few weeks ago, I ran a teacher development course in Norilsk, Siberia. In one session, we were talking about how to give better examples of new language and I was trying to get teachers to think more about not only collocations – words which often go together, like blissfully ignorant, beat an egg and […]
Apr 27, 2017 Coursebooks, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions Complicating the coursebook debate part 2: can’t we just be friends? This week I thought I would take a break from the grammar series (to be continued!) and pick up on the discussion of coursebooks that Hugh started some time ago with the somewhat optimistically titled Complicating the coursebook debate part 1. This was almost two years ago now and we never even managed to move […]
Apr 25, 2017 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: two-fingered salute At some point during most courses we run, we end up taking whichever students are up for it to the pub. It’s a grand British tradition and the pub is basically where we go to let our hair down, relax and talk. Having spent lots of time over the years in pubs with foreign students, […]
