For this TongueTwisting4BetterSpeech, we’re going to practice both the voiced and the unvoiced “th” sounds. To make these sounds, remember to bite your tongue gently, then blow for the unvoiced “th“, whereas for the voiced “th“, you make the sound in your throat. To review and practice each sound first, go to our Feb. 11 blog for the unvoiced… Read more »
In this Grammar2Remember, we’ll talk about a more advanced form of the second conditional. To review our first post on the second conditional, go to our blog on Feb. 4, 2011.In general, advanced forms of second conditional sentences flip the verb “were” and the subject in the “if clause” and eliminate the word “if”. Nouns,… Read more »
Having a lot on your plate means having a lot of responsibilities all at once. When we have so much to do, we often feel overwhelmed, and because of this, we usually use this idiom to explain why we have been so busy or stressed or unhappy or why we haven’t called or kept in… Read more »
For this TongueTwisting4BetterSpeech (TT4BS), we’re going to practice the voiced “th“. Like the unvoiced one (see Feb 11 blog), you also gently bite your tongue. However, instead of blowing, you make the sound with your vocal chords (in your throat) because it’s a voiced sound. Practice these words first:those, these, then, their, thanbother, other, worthy, brethren,… Read more »
We added a new dialog section on tsgs to provide you with some speaking practice. You’ll find it on the lower left of the page next to the Try This! exercise. The dialog is based on the story in the exercise and should be practiced with a partner. Read it together several times until you… Read more »
Just updated our Try This! exercise at the small guide site to check your (or your students’) knowledge of English expressions. Think you know how to use these expressions: Off the hook, get on someone’s nerves, leave it up to someone, be my guest, happen to + verb, what’s in store for someone, let the cat… Read more »
Alright, everyone, here’s our first blog post of TongueTwisting4BetterSpeech (TT4BS). If you have trouble making this sound, just bite your tongue–not so hard!–and blow. Go ahead; try it.Practice these words first: through, thank, thought, thumb, throw math, bath, Beth, Seth, mythHere’s the tongue twister. Slowly first; emphasize the “th” sound. Then faster. Practice until you can say… Read more »
This phrase can be used three different ways: you can be off the hook, get off the hook, or let someone off the hook. Being off the hook or getting off the hook means that you are no longer obligated to stay and do something you don’t really want to do. In other words, you can… Read more »
Lately, I’ve been thinking of adding a greater variety of content to the small blog in addition to the English expressions that you’ve been reading here since May 2009. I’ve thought of two good, actually, great ideas. One is by blogging about grammar. Let’s call this Grammar to Remember (G2R), which will help you brush… Read more »
This idiom conjures up images of darkness and freezing temperatures. Because of this, it has a slightly negative ring to it. However, people usually just use it to refer to the time of year that they’re talking about, and they usually mean the middle of winter. This expression is often used when telling a story… Read more »
