Jan 25, 2015 Chunks, Phrase of the day 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 articles, instead what we tend to be aware of is the sheer range of expressions […]
Jan 23, 2015 Chunks, Phrase of the day 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 saying that something has one particular quality that is more noticeable or important than any other, […]
Jan 20, 2015 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: saying it is one thing; meaning it is another. Jon Wright is the author of the wonderful Idioms Organiser, for our money perhaps the best self-study book on idioms on the market. Just before Christmas, I was lucky enough to catch Jon talking at the English UK South-West conference near Exeter. Jon spoke at length about the way that students who’ve studied a lot […]
Jan 14, 2015 Beginners & Low levels, Chunks, Coursebooks, Teaching lexically Useful chunks to teach beginners: What’re you doing later? Lots of useful chunks that we could teach beginners, don’t get taught early on because they’re seen as examples of ‘advanced’ grammar. For instance, the common question What are you doing later? will be absent from most beginner courses and rarely feature even at Elementary or Pre-Intermediate because it’s ‘the present continuous with future reference’. […]
Dec 22, 2014 Core Principles, Resources 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 the following sequence of words. What do you think is being communicated? want see film […]
