Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope it's filled with family, joy, laughter and just a bit of English homework! 

If you are in the mood, check out this page where you can sing along to Christmas carols. Practice pronunciation of Christmas vocabulary here and here.

Illustrated Idioms

English can be a complex language to learn with loads of irregular verbs, idiomatic expressions and odd spelling/pronunciation rules. An English teacher in Brazil decided to make her students' lives easier by illustrating a few of the most popular idiomatic phrases in the English language. I thought you might enjoy them!

Click here to see them

Hi there!

Some people were a little bit confused about when to use "that" instead of "who" or "which". While we can of course use "that" when talking about people, animals or things, sometimes it may be better to use the relative pronouns "who" and "which". This video explains why.

Who? That? Which?

Enjoy!

Conjunctions/Connectors

Hey there! I hope everybody has had a nice weekend. This week we will be having a look at run-on sentences and the use of connectors. Here are a few extra activities to practice if you have the time. See you soon!

CONJUNCTIONS AND CONNECTORS

Extra activities from your book

Explanation

Listening Practice

Listening and understanding English speakers can be difficult. Don't let that frustrate you! Practice makes perfect. 

I recommend this activity where you can hear Sam speak about his last holiday and answer comprehension questions. 

THIS BLOG provides links to several other listening activities for the A2 level as well as grammar and vocabulary practice.

Happy learning!

Pronunciation of Past Tense in Regular Verbs

Hey! We all know, and I certainly do, how problematic the pronunciation of the past tense of regular verbs can be. It should not, though, if you keep these basic rules in mind. Watch the video below and try to learn them!

Enjoy!

Pronunciation of past tenses of regular verbs

Improve your writing skills

We use words called conjunctions, like and, or, but, because and although, to join two parts of sentences. Conjunctions can be used to give more information, give alternatives, give reasons, give results or give unexpected information.

We use and, or and but to connect two parts of sentences which are similar in grammatical status.

Do you want chocolate, strawberry or vanilla? (joining words)
Amy's dad is taking us on Saturday morning, and he's offered to bring us home again on Sunday. (joining clauses)

We use and  for adding information, or for giving alternatives and but for unexpected or different information. 

I'm OK for food, dance  and  music, and I'm having a wonderful time.
There's a reggae band from Jamaica or a Russian electro-pop group on the other stage.
She’d like to go but she can’t.

- See more at: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary/grammar-videos/conjunctions-and-or-so-because-and-although#sthash.jpna3arC.dpuf

VIDEO explaining connectors

EXAMPLES of A2 writing tasks

Practice connectors 1
Practice connectors 2