Artículos escritos por profesores particulares de Inglés nativos

Languages had been a part of my life since I remember. Just the curiosity to know what other people are saying in other tongs, even today calls my attention.     I started at university studying psychology while teaching at elementary levels. Very shortly after that, I realize there was something missing. I realize I wasn`t studying what I love to do, learning and teaching languages. A few years later, wit...

We are going to talk about prepositions. When English speakers talk about time and place, there are these words that often come up: IN, ON and AT are among the prepositions that tell time and place.  In this post we are going to cover these three prepositions, talking about time.  Prepositions of time Let's start by looking at how we talk about time.  The preposition in - it is used to describe a general, longer perio...

Obviously, there are many ways to learn something, including a language. I often get asked what the best way to learn a language is. My simple answer is: practice. To learn a musical instrument, hours and hours of practice are generally required. You can learn to read sheet music, know music theory, but in the end, practice makes perfect! In my experience as a teacher, I constantly encounter people who have spent years studying English...

Cuando los nativos conversan entre ellos, rara vez los escucharás decir “I’m very tired”. No es que esté mal ni que sea formal, es sólo que a las personas nos encanta explicar las cosas de manera más simpática y desenfadada. En castellano ocurre igual y es muy común escuchar expresiones tales como “estoy muerto”, “estoy reventada”, “no doy más” ó “me caigo de sueño”, ¿verdad? Hoy te voy a explicar 11 maneras diferentes de decir “I’m very ti...

¿Has visto la foto que acompaña a este artículo? ¿Te puedes creer que alguien haya sido capaz de hacer un dibujo de su gato perdido y pegarlo en un árbol con la esperanza de que la gente del barrio lo reconociera  y le avisaran? ¿O será solo una broma? A veces se nos hace difícil creer lo que un amigo nos está diciendo o lo que vemos,  pensamos que nos está haciendo una broma y preguntamos ¿me estás tomando el pelo?. Curiosamente,...

Many of you watch TV series in the English language, which is a great and fun way to improve your listening. That said, several of my students have commented that some of the British dialects, particular forms of language pertaining to different regions and social groups of the UK, can be difficult to understand as, not only are the accents, the ways in which people pronounce English, unusual, but there are many words which aren't used in standa...

Is it possible to teach 19th century theories using sweets in a secondary school classroom? I have found a new way of teaching abstract concepts like  “private ownership of industry,” “classless society,” and “economic competition” in a way that it is more appealing to my students. I got excellent results and that's why I want to share this class with you.   LESSON PLAN OBJECTIVES: Learn the core concepts of the Communist theory of Kar...

Why grade? The goal of grading students is to establish their level of competency in a subject - isn’t it? Or is to measure their progress when compared with the results of a previous test? Or is it to measure the competency of the teacher? Or is it for the student to see how much better they are than their classmates? Or is it for the HR Manager to justify spending company money on an English course for its staff? I would argue, with the except...

Can you learn a language in 3 months? What if I told you, YES.  The trick is very simple - SPECIFIC LEARNING.  If I gave you 3 months to learn english with an english language book do you think you could do it? I doubt it. There is too much volume! But, what if I gave you 3 months to learn about the parts of the guitar in english. Do you think we could have a full conversation about that after 3 months? OF COURSE! Why? Its simple,...

Ever met anyone who's all gong and no dinner? This is a Northern English phrase meaning all talk and no action. It refers to the practice of banging a small gong to summon the family to dinner and reflects the disappointment felt when someone makes a promise of things to come but fails to deliver on that promise. If you liked that, then here are some more great food idioms to get your teeth into* (pun intended!) *meaning...

When we decide to learn another language, a lot of old thinking about the learning process comes up for us. We remember the long, slow, sleepy days of dull classrooms, and the awful expectation that we must "learn something" (though what we were supposed to be learning was not always very clear). Why were we learning this language, and why must it be so dull and boring? Learning does not have to be chore. It does not have to be a boring and glum...

  As a teacher I am always searching for new ways or methods, in order to improve my classes and help my students. This days I have heard a lot about the ''Mindfulness'', a new innovative way of focusing. Moment-by-moment awarenessof thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and the surronding environment.    In my work the most common obstacles while learning are the distractions, that fly which is passing through the window o...

As well as talking about the here and now, it's useful to be able to discuss future outcomes and to speak hypothetically in English. To do this, we need to look at the 4 conditionals, to which I've decided to give an Arthurian theme, since the King Arthur story is steeped in mystery and speculation.         King Arthur Statue, Tintagel, Cornwall (UK)   The Zero Conditional If + present simple + present simple If you pul...

With the Easter break just around the corner (and a 4-day weekend if you live in Spain!) you might need to know the difference between these words; especially if you're planning to go further afield. We'll look at each of them one-by-one. The first we'll study is 'trip'. This noun is countable and refers to the whole holiday (or business) experience which usually lasts a relatively short period of time. Eg. They went on an amazing two-week ...