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There is something to read and learn for all levels of English, from beginner to native speakers. We even added some exercises so you can test your English. Go on! Click and start reading. You can even leave a comment. Subscribe here on right hand column under the photograph.
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Level C1 and above
You won’t find the world’s largest gherkin (cornichon) in a carnotzet in the Valais. It’s in London.
- With video.
Level B2 and above
The 12-volume New English Dictionary, later known as the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) was expected to take just 10 years to compile and publish… Well, that was the plan.
Level C1 and above
Here is a simple Brexit guide in bite-size pieces. We’ve sifted through 39.7 trillion words, (some witty, some wise and some woeful), which describe the Divorce of the Century: Brittania vs Europa.
- With videos.
Level C1 and above
You can lose your keys, your temper and your virginity, but I am almost impossible to lose. If you haven’t lost me by the time you are a teenager, you’ve probably got me for life.
- With videos.
Level B1 and above
The mots méchants are: during, while, for and since. It is important to use them correctly and with confidence.
- With exercise.
Level B1 and above
You can do a lot of things with money. You can spend, waste, invest, lose and lend money. But, before you can do any of that, you must get some. As one wise person said: Money doesn’t grow on trees.
- With exercise.
Level B1 and above
The English are obsessed with the weather, probably more than most nations. It’s an odd obsession because the weather is often grey, gloomy, wet, drizzly, foggy, chilly or frosty.
- With vocabulary related to the weather, expressions, videos and songs.
Level B1 and above
You can do your homework, do your exercises, do your best, and still make mistakes and make little progress.
- With videos, songs, and exercise.
Level B2 and above
Some words are identical or very similar in both French and English. But that doesn’t mean they have the same meaning. Some are related in meaning and some are what linguists call false friends or les faux amis.
- With vocabulary, expressions and songs.
Level C1 and above
Jimmy Page, rock guitarist and founder of Led Zeppelin, and pop megastar Robbie Williams are hurtling lightning bolts at each other over their garden fence. The bone of contention is not a stairway to heaven, but a swimming pool and fitness centre in a basement.
Level C1 and above
The world’s largest animal welfare group is about as subtle as a bull in a china shop when it comes to using shock horror tactics to attract attention to its message.
- With idioms with animals, videos.
Level B1 and above
Here are some more tips for writing professional emails in English. But first, some email trivia.
- With expressions related to email writing.
Level B1 and above
The email has the immediacy of a phone conversation, and a similar sense of informality. It is like a written conversation; neutral, polite and straight-to-the-point. That’s how we like to get things done, isn’t it?
- With expressions related to email writing.
Level C1 and above
The words of the prophets are also in the dictionary. The words of the year 2018, according to Oxford and Collins dictionaries respectively, are toxic and single-use.
- With videos.
Level C1 and above
In British history one person stands head and shoulders above the rest. It’s neither Shakespeare nor Queen Victoria. Not the Queen, not Princess Di, not even Isaac Newton or Charles Darwin. It’s Winston Churchill.
Level B1 and above
Ms, Mrs or Miss? The titles given to women can be quite confusing and challenging to non-native speakers and native speakers.
Level B2 and above
The words foreigner, stranger and alien can be very confusing for French native speakers. Depending on your world view, the words can also invoke different meanings and reactions.
- With vocabulary and songs.
Level C1 and above
The English language is not only rich in content, but is also a lot of fun. There is plenty of humour, with expressions such as nitwit, namby-pamby and lovey-dovey. These are duplicated rhyming words.
- With expressions.
Level C1 and above
A slash/horror film starring Heidi, as you have never seen her before. Death by fondu.
Warning: Only for the brave.
Level C1 and above
Before you start interviewing male and female schoolmates and acquaintances of Judge Kavanaugh, I suggest you go online and have a look at a dictionary called Urban Dictionary. This will help you to decode the slang used by Brett Kavanaugh, then aged 17, in his college yearbook entry.
Level B1 and above
Learning vocabulary is NOT about learning individual words. You must learn the words that are commonly used together. We call these collocations. For example, we say fast food, not quick food.
Level A2 and above
If I ask a student: How are you? I know 90% will respond with this robotic reply: Fine and you? Robotic or automatic answers lack warmth and charm.
- With vocabulary.
Level C1 and above
Cleaning your apartment is no LOL (Laugh Out Loud) activity. Kneeling in the bathtub, scrubbing pesky dirt rings is more of a FML (Fuck My Life) experience. No-one knows this better than the global giant of cleaning products, Procter & Gamble.
- With video.
Level A2 and above
I look forward to hearing from you is a golden expression that can be used in both written and spoken English.