Tag: knowledge

Two months ago (I cannot believe how time flies!) I wrote this post about 5 phrasal verbs you can use with the verb “Take” in a Business English context. In that post I said that the most common verbs that are used as phrasal verbs are get, put, take, come and go.

I started off with “take” and this post is now dedicated to the verb “get”. Depending on the preposition that follows the verb, the meaning of the the phrasal verb and how it’s used in a sentence can change quite a lot. This is very challenging for language learners to grasp.

It’s also true that in English, phrasal verbs are often used instead of an appropriate verb which can be extremely frustrating for language learners. For example, we often say call off a meeting” instead of cancel a meeting.

Let’s take a look at  5 phrasal verbs, their alternative meaning and how they are used in a business context.

1. Get Around

• We managed to get around the problem by dealing with our suppliers directly. (avoid)

2. Get Into

• We got into an argument over the sales deadlines at the meeting. I was so upset. (became involved)

3. Get Through

• I’ve had a really constructive day today. I got through a huge amount of paperwork. (completed)
• I’ve been trying to get through to our distributors all day without success. (contact)

4. Get On

• I get on really well with my colleagues. We make a great team. (have a good relationship)
• How are you getting on with the presentation for next week’s conference? (to progress)

5. Get (something) Across

• In a sales pitch, it’s very important to get your message across clearly and concisely. (communicate)

These phrasal verbs can be used in a non-business context as well. Can you create other sentences with them? Do you know other phrasal verbs with “get”? None of the idioms on this page are unusual or old fashioned, so you can be confident using any of them with native English speakers and can also take the help from Top English Teacher in Livermore and can easily speak English with others.

Whilst phrasal verbs are simply verbs + prepositions, their meaning and how they are used can totally change depending on what preposition follows the verb.

The five most common verbs used in phrasal verbs are: get, come, go, take and put. I  plan to write about each verb in separate blog posts and give examples of the different meanings the phrasal verbs have in the context of Business English.

In this blog post, I want to start with the verb “take”.

It’s fair to say that in the English Language, rather than using an appropriate verb we often use a phrasal verb instead. To make matters worse, the phrasal verb can mean different things depending on the context of the sentence.

This, of course, can cause great confusion to language learners when doing business in English.

Let’s consider these phrasal verbs and their equivalent, alternative verb.

1. Take On

• I’m afraid I’ve taken on too much work. I don’t know how I’m going to cope. (accepted)
• We have just taken on two new members of staff. (employed)

2. Take Down

• I took down some notes during the Chairman’s speech. (wrote)

3. Take Over

• Last year they took over ABC company. (got control of)

4. Take Off

• The company really took off once their latest version of the video game was launched. (made great progress)
• The company has decided to take ten percent off the price of their designer shoes. (reduce the price)

5. Take out

• We have taken out a company loan to help with the business (borrowed).
• I have taken out an insurance policy to cover our key employees (obtained).

Are you looking for an English second language teacher in Livermore to help improve your conversation skills? We are waiting to hear from you. See you on the mountain!

English learners everywhere will agree: the present perfect tense can be really complicated! Often times, it can be difficult to know when it’s right to use the present perfect. To help clarify some of this confusion, we’ll take a look at some popular songs that exemplify three of the most common uses of the present perfect. In addition to being fun to listen to, these songs show real-life examples of the present perfect in action, which should clear up some of the questions or doubts that you might have.

Before getting started, let’s check out the basics of the present perfect tense:

Form: present tense of have + past participle

Examples:     He has taught English since 2007.

Have you ever seen a beluga whale?

                       I’ve just moved to London.

                       I can’t believe that she’s never eaten sushi.

Now, onto the music!

Usage 1:  To describe life experiences

A very popular use of the present perfect is to describe your past experiences: to talk about the things you’ve done or the places you’ve been to. The exact time that these experiences occurred does not matter; we use the present perfect to demonstrate simply that they happened some time before the present moment.

Examples:     I have climbed a lot of mountains.

                    She has been to six different countries.

In I’ve Been Everywhere, country singer Johnny Cash talks about some of the American cities that he’s visited in the past. In doing so, he gives us many great examples of this use of the present perfect.

I’ve been everywhere, man.
             I’ve breathed the mountain air, man.
Of travel I’ve had my share, man.
           I’ve been everywhere. I’ve been to:
Reno, Chicago, Fargo, Minnesota . . .

Note that Johnny Cash uses the contracted form of “I have” — I’ve — when talking about his experiences. Also, if you’re trying to brush up on your United States geography, this is a great song for learning the names of American cities and states!

We can also use the present perfect to ask about others’ life experiences. When asking this kind of question, we often use the present perfect in conjunction with the adverb ever. The song Glitter in the Air by Pink shows us how to ask questions about others’ experiences using the present perfect. Remember that the auxiliary verb “have” jumps to the front of the sentence in questions!

Have you ever fed a lover with just your hands?

Have you ever thrown a fistful of glitter in the air?

Have you ever looked fear in the face and said, “I just don’t care”?

Usage 2:  To describe something that happened in the past and continues now

Another common use of the present perfect is to talk about something that started in the past, and is still happening in the present moment. This use of the present perfect is often accompanied by the adverbs for or since to indicate how long the event or action has been going on. Note that “for” is always followed by a period of time (e.g., a day, ten seconds, a while), whereas “since” is always followed by a specific date (e.g., 1492, last week, 5:30).

Examples:     I have lived in New York for two years.

                     She has been a teacher since 2002.

London-based singer Sam Smith’s love song I’m Not The Only One uses the present perfect with the adverb “for” to describe something in the past that’s still happening in the present moment.

Comprehension check: In the lyrics above, Sam Smith says that he began to have doubts months ago, and still does now. Later, he indicates that he started loving someone many years ago, and still loves that person today.

Another popular English band, One Direction, also sings about love using the present perfect in 18. However, instead of using the adverb “for”, they use the adverb “since”. Compare One Direction’s lyrics below to Sam Smith’s lyrics above to see the difference between “for” and “since” when using the present perfect:

I have loved you since we were 18
Long before we both thought the same thing

Usage 3: To describe the very recent past

The third common use of the present perfect tense is to describe actions and events that have happened in the very recent past, usually within a few minutes (for events that occurred further in the past, we use the simple past). In this case, we often use the adverb “just” in between the auxiliary (some form of “have”) and the main verb.

Examples:     I’ve just eaten breakfast.

She’s left the office and is now on her way home.

To illustrate this use of the present perfect, we return to another song from Sam Smith. In I’ve Told You Now, Sam Smith describes a situation in which he avoids talking to someone, until he reaches his breaking point and finally says something. His use of the word “now” highlights the recency of the action.

Indeed, the present perfect tense can be a challenge, but hopefully, these songs have made it a little bit less intimidating. Of course, don’t forget to sing along — that way, you’ll get in some speaking practice, too!

If you’d like to hear some examples of the present perfect when it’s spoken, not sung, consider trying your hand at a free English listening test. With a little practice, you’ll be well on your way to mastering the present perfect.

You can get all the information from English Language Teacher who will help you learn English Grammar very fastly and make you more efficient in communicating with others..

You’re leading your next business meeting in English. You’re both excited and nervous.

“I want to wow my audience”.

Which means:

➤ My grammar must be mistake-free.

➤ I must use sophisticated language to demonstrate how professional I am.

➤ I need to include some complex sentence structures to impress my audience.

➤ I should include the latest buzzwords.

➤ I must have the answers at my fingertips and respond without pausing. That way it will highlight my expertise.

In other words, you want to give a flawless (perfect) performance at that business meeting.

So, how do you go about preparing for this performance, sorry, meeting?

Well, here’s your dilemma. Unlike a pianist who has set pieces they’ll be performing and can practise them in advance, you’re not too sure how you’re going to practise for this meeting.

In theory, you could:

➤ Dust down that English grammar book you have and work through some exercises.

➤ Check  Google Translate for the vocabulary you want to use.

➤ Look up the latest buzzwords and try to remember to incorporate them at the meeting.

➤ Practise writing some complex sentences and verbalising them.

In practice, you do none of the above.

Instead, you slowly get more and more stressed out about this impending meeting.

➤ What if I don’t sound good because of my accent?

➤ What if I make grammar mistakes?

➤ What if I can’t answer the questions quickly enough?

➤ What if I can’t think of the right words?

➤ What if they realise I am not good enough?

By the time, the meeting is due to start you’re a nervous wreck wondering how on earth you’re going to get through it in one piece.

Pssst…

What if I told you that you could avoid all that stress without resorting to perfect grammar and complex sentence structures or sophisticated vocabulary?

How?

By refocusing your attention on what or, more importantly, who matters.

Your audience.

Newsflash: In seeking to perform (speak) perfectly, you’ve completely forgotten your audience!

In focusing on yourself, your audience has become invisible to you.

You’ve completely forgotten about the purpose of the meeting – to communicate with them.

In wanting to perform for (read speak at) them, you’ve forgotten:

➤ To consider what your audience needs from you >> to be a helpful resource or a ‘soliloquizing authority ’?

➤ Who your audience is >>experts or non-experts of your sector? >> international or monolingual English speakers?

➤ What their level of English proficiency is >> will they understand the language you want to use? >> do they NEED that language to do their jobs?

➤ To think if using buzzwords would make your message any clearer or simply confuse your audience >> is using buzzwords truly going to help your audience or are they there simply to boost your ego?

Beam that spotlight away from you and your stress levels fall

The moment you focus on your audience, your stress levels fall because the spotlight is no longer on you producing grammar-perfect sentences, sophisticated vocabulary or flawless pronunciation.

The spotlight is no longer on how well you’re performing (speaking), but on how well your audience is responding to you.

And this requires you to watch, ask questions and listen. In other words, communicate.

What a relief!

This is how you can wow your audience without stressing over your English.

Before the meeting

➤ Think about the purpose of your meeting >> is it to get an agreement on a proposal, project deadline >> is it to persuade your colleagues/clients about the merits of a board decision >> is it to motivate your team >> is it to encourage your team to adopt a new way of thinking?

➤ Consider what information your audience needs to fulfil your objective >> do they need facts and figures >> do they need a backstory? >> do they need your support?

➤ Think about who your audience is >> are they international speakers or monolingual speakers of English >> what’s their level of English proficiency?

➤ How should the information they need be delivered >> does it need clear and plain English? >> would buzzwords and jargon be appropriate? >> would non-complex sentence structures be appreciated? >> should the stories you tell them be in the English they understand?

During the meeting

➤ Observe your audience >> watch their body language >> are they following what you’re saying? >> do they look confused? >> do they look interested? >> are they asking questions?

➤ Ask checking questions >> if they look confused or you want to ensure they’ve understood the point, ask them a checking question like “do you think my suggestion could work with your team in Dubai?” >>from their response,  you’ll soon know if they understood you or not and address the issue if needed. >> maybe you need to adjust your language >> say the same thing another way (paraphrase).

➤ Engage with your audience >> invite their opinion>>  don’t just say “what does everyone think?” >> select someone and ask them “Gerard, you’ve done some work on this before, I’d love to know what you think.”>> invite others to contribute after Gerard has spoken.

➤ Ask questions and listen to their answers >> listen to understand NOT to reply >> if you’re there as a resource, you listening more than speaking will be essential.

After the meeting

➤ Reflect >> take 10 -15 minutes to go over the meeting >> make notes.

➤ Did you achieve your objective?

If yes, how do you think you achieved it? >> what worked? >> was your audience responsive? >> how so? >> asking questions? >> responding to your questions? >> appreciating the time you gave them?

If no, why do you think you didn’t? >> what happened? >> was it your language? >> did you not ask enough questions? >>did you rush through the meeting?>> how would you do things differently next time?

Remember that as leader of the business meeting, your main purpose is to steer and inspire your audience to action.  To improve your communication skills with your audience, you can take the help from Top English Teacher in Livermore and can improve your speaking and writing skills effectively..

Most of English verbs are irregular. It is impossible to avoid irregular verbs if you speak or write in English. Moreover, such verbs can reveal whether the speaker or writer is a native or not. The correct usage of irregular verbs also shows an educational level of a person. It is common for uneducated people to misuse irregular verbs. If you don’t want to fall into that category and give a bad impression, then you have to study grammar. Luckily for you, there are a lot of helpful grammar related articles that can help you to clarify some questions. However, if you are not a native speaker, the task of learning irregular verbs is more complicated for you. In this post, we will try to make this process as easy as possible for you and find new ways how you can learn irregular verbs.

However, while you are still learning, you cannot be sure that your papers are not full of mistakes. In this case, you can greatly benefit from using our editing services. Only experienced, certified editors and proofreaders work for Royal Editing and they can take care of your writing. All you need to do is upload your paper online and we will get in touch with you right away.

Regular and Irregular Verbs: What Is the Difference

English language has only two types of verbs in this regard — regular and irregular. And before we step into the field of irregular verbs, it would be helpful if we firstly understood the main points of regular verbs.

Regular verbs are called so, because they follow the regular pattern. They adhere to one rule, which states that if you want to form a past form of a verb, you have to add –ed at its end. For example:

Julie smiled to her new friend.

They never closed the door to their house.

On the contrary, irregular verbs are called so, because they don’t follow the established rules. Each of irregular verbs has its own way of forming a Past Simple and Past Participle. For example:

The children ran away to hide from the cold rain.

I saw him yesterday on my way to work.

As it was mentioned before, most of verbs in English language are irregular. In fact, even the most often used verbs are irregular, such as to be and to have. There are about 200 of them, and if you count their prefixed forms, the list would count more than 600 irregular verbs. It would be very hard and not really necessary to memorize all of them. You could speak and write perfectly well if you learn just the most commonly used irregular verbs. Nevertheless, if you are curious to see the full list, you can always find it online.

Where They Come From and Why We Need Them

A lot of language learners ask, why do we need all these irregular verbs? They only make things more complicated so why English cannot change their grammar and make all verbs regular? It is a good question, but unfortunately there cannot be a perfect clear answer to it. Langue is a complex unity that exists and evolves together with a society, and the attempts to manage it artificially almost never succeed. Some elements of grammar and words come and go, and it is connected to the way people use them. However, things cannot disappear from a language, because some grammarians decided so. There will always be opposing points of view. The same way it happened with irregular verbs in English.

Practically all English irregular verbs come from Old English or derive from strong Germanic words. Other foreign words that joined English in later times follow the standard –ed pattern. Naturally, there were discussions among linguists about reforming this part of grammar and getting rid of irregular verbs. However, the opponents of this idea claim that irregular verbs are a historical heritage of English language and it would be a crime to remove those words out of usage. Any language is not only a mean of communication, but it is also a cultural domain of the nation, which shows where the culture came from and how it evolved.

Therefore, irregular verbs have no particular functional purpose. They are just a part of the language, and all the learner can do is to respect the fact and try to learn them.

Conjugation

When you begin learning irregular verbs, you will hear a lot about conjugation. So let’s at first understand what conjugation is, so the word would not leave you confused. Conjugation is the process of creating changed forms of verbs. Conjugation varies depending on gender, number, tense, mood and other grammar aspects. However, the conjugation we discuss today is strictly limited to the tense of the verbs.

The Commonly Misused Irregular Verbs

The format of this post doesn’t allow us to present all most commonly used irregular verbs. Nevertheless, we will mention the most important ones that you will definitely need in every piece of writing, be it a letter, essay or research paper. Coincidentally, these verbs are also being very often misused. So let’s revise them and try to memorize.

How to Learn Irregular Verbs

The question that troubles minds of most of the English learners is ‘how to learn irregular verbs?’ The most likely your teachers tell you that you just have to memorize them. It is true, that there is no special pattern or rule that you could learn in order to know how to conjugate each verb. And ultimately, memorization is the only choice you have got. However, there are different ways you can do it. Let’s look at the most effective ones:

• Reading. As the saying goes, reading is the best type of learning. When you read English books, articles or blog posts about grammar, you inevitably stumble upon irregular verbs. It is one of the best ways to learn, because you the words are used in context, and this is how our mind remembers things;
• Writing. If you use irregular verbs in your writing, it engages your memory in the most active way. It will guarantee that the words learned this way, will stay with you forever. All you need to do is to take an irregular verb and to create a sentence using this verb in context;
• Flashcards. This is the method for very busy people. You can buy ready flashcards in the bookstore or download the printable set online. However, it would be better if you created them yourself, because it will be additional learning for you. You will need a stack of small square papers. On one side you write an infinitive form of the verb, and on the other side — Past Simple and Past Participle. Carry the cards with you when you go to college or work, you could revise them when you are in the public transport or waiting in line at the supermarket.

Nouns are used to designate people, places, things, objects, and concepts. They are, quite simply, the building blocks of our language. Children are sometimes confused as to how nouns are used, and if they’re very young, they may use nouns as substitutes for complete sentences. They may, for example, say simply “juice” when they mean “I want some juice,” or “bed” when they mean “I’m tired, and I’d like to go to bed now.”

So, how do you teach your child about nouns in a way that’s fun and will give them an edge over their peers? You can use online noun worksheets from various sites, but we also encourage you to work one-on-one with your kids. The best way to do it is by making learning about nouns a game. Kids love to play, and they especially love to play with their parents. Noun worksheets are a great way to facilitate learning, and you can try these great activities as well.

The 20-Second List

Make a 4-column chart. The headings should be Person, Place, Thing and Idea. Give your child 20 seconds per column, to fill it with as many correct nouns they can come up with. Make sure you have a stopwatch so you can count off the seconds correctly, or use a timer on your computer. When they finish one column, shout “Go!” to move them to the next. Expect mistakes early on, but when they fill all columns with four or more correct nouns, offer a reward – maybe a sticker, or 10 minutes worth of video game time. Keep upping the ante, and increase the rewards accordingly.

News You Can Use

Cut out pictures from newspapers or magazines. Ask your child to identify the nouns in the pictures. For example, “This is a firefighter rescuing a cat from a pole.” They’ll not only learn about nouns, they’ll develop an interest in what’s going on in the world around them.

For older kids, you can ask them to write their own story about the picture, again underlining the nouns. Online worksheets also offer similar activities.

Guess the Game

Kids love games and sports. So for this game, you have them pick a game or a sport that they like. Then they write out a list of nouns that have something to do with the game or sport. For instance, for Monopoly, they might choose “hotel,” “house,” “money” or “bank.” For hockey, they could choose “stick,” “puck,” “player,” referee,” and so on. To switch it up, you might write the nouns the child has chosen on cards, and then ask him or her to identify the game or sport that the noun relates to.

Travel With Nouns

This is a variation on a very old party game. You can start by saying, “I am going in a trip, and in my suitcase I have packed an automobile.” You can bet your child will get a giggle out of that. Now, his or her job is to come up with a noun that begins with the letter “B”. Keep going back and forth.

You can also play “sentence games” when you’re out for a walk with your child. Ask him to identify the nouns in sentences like “There’s a boy on a bike.” You can also work on proper nouns by playing this game – “Look, there’s Ryan on his bike.”

Online Noun Games

There are also tons of games that you can play online that will help your child to learn about nouns.

It’s really exciting when children begin talking. If you have your own child or have had the opportunity to watch a young child develop, you may have noticed that a child’s first words are usually the names of people or things (nouns), such as Mama, Dada, ball, car, or bear. But by the age of two, young children should also be saying verbs. Verbs are words for actions like go, come, wash, eat, or words for states like want, like, love, see.

Why Are Verbs Important?

A recent study showed that 2-year-old children who use more verbs have more advanced grammatical skills six months later.

Verbs are very important for language development because they allow children to start building early sentences. Every sentence needs a verb. And the choice of verb determines many of the grammatical forms in a sentence. In fact, a recent study showed that 2-year-old children who use more verbs have more advanced grammatical skills six months later.

When Should Children Start Using Verbs?

There is a lot of variability when it comes to how many verbs children use when they are toddlers. But children should say at least a few verbs by 24 months. Many children can say at least 40 verbs by 24 months. A child with only three or four verbs at 24 months would be at the low end of the average range. This would not be cause for concern as long as the child continues to learn several new verbs every month for the next six months.

But children with no verbs at 24 months who don’t start to speed up in the rate at which they learn new verbs between 24 and 30 months may be at risk for problems with language development. These children will not be able to produce short sentences yet, as they can’t build sentences without verbs. If they have any other risk factors for a long-term language difficulty, it may be wise to seek advice from a speech language pathologist who can determine whether they need help building their vocabulary. See our article “How to Tell if Your Child is a Late Talker – And What to Do about It” for more information and a list of risk factors.

Prepositions and their importance in English

Prepositions are tricky little beasts. The relative shortness of the words (most are six letters or under) and their often misplaced role in the overall scheme of things (why should prepositions be less important than nouns, adjectives or verbs?) mean that we should treat them carefully and perhaps give them more time in the classroom than is usually the case.

What exactly are prepositions and how are they used in English?

In a list of English prepositions you will find very common words such as ‘in’, ‘up’, ‘behind’, ‘from’, and ‘with’. Prepositions hold a privileged position as parts of speech in that they are a ‘closed class’. In other words, they are a select group of words that don’t accept new members to their club. This is in contrast to nouns, adjectives and verbs, which welcome new additions to their respective groups all the time.

While prepositions are limited in number, they are important because they act as vital markers to the structure of a sentence; they mark special relationships between persons, objects, and locations. For this reason, we should think carefully about how we incorporate the teaching and learning of prepositions into our classes.

What problems can prepositions cause for learners of English and their teachers?

It’s very difficult to use prepositions correctly in English and they present a number of problems for both teachers and learners.

First, most prepositions, especially the common ones, have several different functions. The preposition ‘at’, for example, has as many as 18 different functions, depending on which dictionary you consult. As vocabulary items in their own right, prepositions can therefore present a major challenge and it’s not unusual for learners of English to ask teachers to explain what a word such as ‘at’ means.

Second, there is no logical way of deciding which preposition goes with a particular noun, verb or adjective. Consider these examples: the reason for, arrive at, angry with somebody, on a train. In many instances, the correct preposition cannot be guessed, so the expression must be learned as a whole. The problem is compounded when a particular vocabulary item – again it’s those commonly used ones that are often guilty – flirts with many different prepositions, making teaching and learning a longer process than we may initially account for. Consider the adjective ‘available’. As a teacher, which of the following would you prioritise?

• Tickets are available from the box office.
• Not enough data is available to scientists.
• No figures are available for the number of goods sold.
• There are plenty of jobs available in the area.

All of these sentences are correct, yet in each case the adjective goes with a different preposition. We need to consider how we would deal with phrases such as ‘the reason for’ and the best way to teach words such as ‘available’, that go with multiple prepositions.

Finally, learners’ native language can ‘get in the way’ of the learning process and interfere with correct English usage. This is perhaps never more true than in the form of prepositional errors. For example, some expressions in English do not use a preposition but the same expression in another language does, and vice versa. In my teaching context, where the majority of learners are native Turkish speakers, I constantly hear sentences like ‘he married with her’, ‘I hate from that’ and ‘I accessed to the internet.’ Another problem I regularly encounter among Turkish learners relates to the multiplicity of uses of particular prepositions. Turkish has one preposition serving the same purpose as ‘in’, ‘on’ and ‘at’ in English, making it difficult for my learners to distinguish between their various uses.

A few tips for learning and teaching prepositions of place and movement

Go with the tried and trusted basics

Following the pattern that most course books take, i.e., dealing with prepositions in manageable chunks, is not a bad way to go. Teaching prepositions of time, place and movement, for instance, at different times, will enable learners to build up their knowledge of prepositions slowly and steadily. Doing so will be much more effective than, say, trying to teach every use of ‘in’ at the same time.

The game Simon Says is great for reviewing prepositions of place and movement with young learners, as you can give directions for students to move around, such as ‘Simon Says stand on your chair’ or ‘Simon Says get under your desk.’ Learners respond well to the movement and start using the prepositions naturally.

With adult learners, a competitive timed review game can work really well. Start by dividing the class into teams, say a sentence and then have them take turns drawing it on the board. If you say ‘the dog is behind the chair’, the learners have to draw a corresponding image, which can be graded according to speed or accuracy, depending on which is more enjoyable for the class.