Category: FLUENCY

Useful Phrases for New Year’s Resolutions

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A New Year, new opportunities to improve your English! It’s time to start thinking about New Year resolutions.

A resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something in the future. In English there are different ways to talk about our resolutions depending on how determined we are to accomplish them.

There are different websites with useful information about how to make and keep New Year’s resolutions. However, here I’m going to talk about the grammar behind talking about our resolutions in English.

In the table below you can find some useful sentence starters that you can use to talk about your New Year’s resolutions.

Sentence starterMeaningExample
(+) I’m going to + base form
(-) I’m not going to + base form		It’s a plan or
intention for the future		I’m going to practice English every day.
I’m not going to eat junk food.
(+) I‘m planning to + base formThings that you are almost definitely going to do.
Things that you have already scheduled or made some preparations for.		I’m planning to take English classes during the summer.
I hope to + base form
I‘d like to + base form		Things you want to do but you it’s not a definite planI hope to travel more.
I’d like to lose weight.
I might + base form
I may + base form
I‘m thinking about + gerund		Things you are considering, but you’re not sure if you will do it or not.I might travel to Brazil.
I may apply to grad school.
I’m thinking about changing careers.

Practice time

  1. Choose 1 item per column.
  2. Write the names of each item in order. For example: hamburger, wine, mountain, Whatsapp.
  3. Repeat step 2 two more times.
  4. Swipe left to find out your resolution.
  5. Use the sentence starters in the chart below and the words in the New Year’s resolution generator to make your sentences.

Examples:

I’m going to stop taking selfies after zumba.

I’m not going to stop taking selfies after zumba.

I hope to stop taking selfies after zumba.

I‘m thinking about stopping taking selfies after zumba.

Share your resolutions with us.

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Christmas idioms

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Christmas came earlier this year

Meaning: When someone gets an unexpected surprise.

Example: John got a promotion last week. Indeed, Christmas has come earlier for him this year.

Good things come in small packages

Meaning: Used to say that people or things do not have to be large to be good

Example:

A: I’m upset at my boyfriend. He only gave me this tiny box for my birthday.

B: Don’t get upset until you know what’s in it. Good things do come in small packages!

The more the merrier

Meaning: More people will make something more enjoyable. This set phrase is used to welcome one to join a group or activity

Example: Oh sure, you can come to the party with us—the more the merrier!

Christmas comes but once a year

Meaning: Since Christmas only comes once a year, people should be good to one another in the Christmas season

Example:

A: I’m going to volunteer at the orphanage center, do you want to join a hand?

B: Of course, Christmas comes but once a year.

All my Christmases have come at once

Meaning: Said when one is experiencing a an extraordinary amount of good fortune

Example: The day I got married, I heard I’d passed my exams and got a promotion, so it felt like all my Christmases had come at once.

Like turkeys voting for Christmas

Meaning: The most popular choice of food for the Christmas in several parts of the world is turkey. When people choose or accept a situation that is not in their interest or will be directly harmful to them.

Example: The employees agreed to go back to the office in the middle of the pandemic without any increase in their pay. It was like turkeys voting for Christmas.

Practice time

  1. Roll the dice or spin the wheel
  2. Can you remember the idiom?
  3. Write a sentence using the idiom

How to Give Feedback

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Listen to the audio

Giving and getting feedback is part of effective communication. Giving feedback is a good way to encourage and motivate others. Getting feedback gives people the opportunity to reflect on their learning/ teaching process or their performance at work.

What does feedback mean?

According to Cambridge Dictionary, feedback is:

“an opinion from someone about something that you have done or made”

If there are things that need to be improved you can provide constructive criticism to help others advance in their learning/ teaching process or careers.

The purpose of giving feedback and constructive criticism is to lead others to improve in the longer term. Therefore, when giving feedback it is important that you avoid judging or giving negative comments or remarks.

Here you have some sentence starters that you can use to give positive feedback:

Download PDF

PRACTICE TIME

Imagine that you are a manager in a tech company. One of your assistants has developed a software that will help the company save a lot of money. However, the software is not user friendly (difficult to use). Your assistant has presented his/ her project in the last weekly meeting. Give him/ her some feedback.

Write your feedback in the comments below.

Online Class Etiquette

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Listen to the audio

Globalization has changed the way we communicate with others. Nowadays, we can use the internet to attend classes or work meetings. Therefore, we should learn how to behave during our online classes and meetings.

Netiquette allows people to communicate with others over the internet in a polite and professional manner.

The word netiquette comes from the words network and etiquette. It is defined a set of rules that facilitates social interactions online.

Here there is a list of netiquette rules that you should keep in mind during your virtual sessions:

1 Be on time

It’s better to be at least 5 minutes early rather than late.

Punctuality is a good habit that builds self-confidence. Being on time also eliminates stress from your life by removing the anxiety of being late.

2 Come to class prepared

Have every thing that you need for your class ready, including your textbooks, notebooks, pens and other materials that you might need.

If you use an online dictionary, an app or PDFs open them before your class starts.

3 Settle into a quiet spot

Maybe you can study in a noisy place. However, most students can’t focus and pay attention to the class if the virtual classroom is noisy.

Stay on mute. Keeping your mic off lessens distractions. Background noise can be annoying and make it difficult to understand what people are saying.

Pro tip: If you are in a noisy place, use a noise-canceling headset to eliminate background noise. You can also activate a noise suppression filter. Most video call platforms such as Zoom, Teams, Skype, etc have the option to activate a noise suppression filter.

How to activate a noise suppression filter on Zoom

If the noise suppression filter is not enough you can use a noise cancelling software to remove noise.

Krisp is a FREE software that you can use with any communication app.

https://krisp.ai/

4 Turn your camera ON

Having your camera on creates a more personal class atmosphere.

When we communicate orally with other people we use our voice, body gestures and facial expressions. Camera use allows your teacher and your classmates understand you better. So they can sense how you feel and give you feedback to improve communication.

5 Participate and be helpful

Class participation is super important if you want to learn faster. Also, your classes will have more fun and you will feel more energetic if you participate during class. If you are a shy person or don’t know how to participate during your online classes, check the following article:

How to Participate in an Online Class
Practice Time
  1. How easy is for you to communicate with other people if you are in a noisy place?
  2. Which do you prefer, taking classes in person or online? Why?
  3. Do you prefer just speaking with people on the phone/Whatsapp? or Do you prefer having a video call? Why?
Online Class Etiquette

How to Express your Opinion in English

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Listen to the audio

Imagine that you are in a meeting where an important discussion is going on and suddenly your manager calls you out and says “What’s your opinion about this topic?

You start feeling nervous and you can’t say anything. You have a lot of great ideas but you don’t know how to express them.

It is common that when we have to share our opinion we feel insecure and nervous. The fear to speak up can be ever worse if we have to speak in a different language. Fear often prevents us to share our opinions with our classmates, colleagues, managers, and other English speakers.

It’s time you learned useful phrases that will make you feel confident enough to speak up. This in turn will allow you to grow professionally, academically and personally.

In this post I share useful phrases that you can use in your next class or meeting.

GIVING YOUR OPINION

BASIC
OPINIONS		STRONG AND PERSONAL OPINIONSWEAK OR HESITANT OPINIONS
I (don’t) think…I (don’t) really think …As far as I know,…
I (don’t ) believe …I strongly believe that …As far as I’m concerned, …
I (don’t) feel …There’s no doubt that …It seems to me that …
In my opinion/ view …I honestly think that ….I might be wrong but …
The way I see it …I’m convinced that…You probably won’t agree, but …

ASKING FOR OPINION

What’s your opinion?

What do you think?

How do you feel about …?

How do you see the situation?

What’s your view?

RESPONDING TO AN OPINION

AGREEINGDISAGREEINGREACTING
I agree.I disagree.Really?
I think so too.I don’t think so.+ That’s a great suggestion
– That doesn’t make any sense
I couldn’t agree more.I’m not quite sure.I’m not very familiar with the topic.
You might be right.That’s not true.Know what I think?
I couldn’t have said it better.I totally disagree.I see what you mean.

Practice time

What do you think about this blog?

What topics would you like to be discussed in this blog?

Essential Vocabulary for Online Meetings

How to Participate in an Online Class

How to Participate in an Online Class

Asking for Clarification

Assertive Communication for English Learners

How to Participate in an Online Class

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Listen to the audio

Class participation is important if you want to learn faster. Participating in class will allow you to use your English like you would do in the real world. When you participate you are practicing and the more you practice using the language, the faster you will improve it.

Your classes will be more fun if you participate actively and communicate with your classmates and your teacher. Nobody wants to be in a classroom where nobody speaks. It is normal to feel nervous when you have to participate or ask a question. But after you participate you will feel more energetic and alert. That in turn will help you remember what you learn and feel more confident.

Here I’m going to share with you different ways of participating during your online classes:

1. Be proactive and thoughtful
  • Turn ON your camera and keep it on during the whole class.
  • Turn ON your microphone when you participate.
  • Turn OFF your microphone when other people participate.
  • Use the chat box to ask questions or communicate with your teacher and classmates during the class.
  • Join the breakout rooms and participate in the group activities.
  • Offer to share your screen
2. Ask questions

If you have a question or if you are confused you can ask for help to your teacher or your classmates. Here there are some sentence starters that you can use during your class.

Here you have a list of useful phrases that you can use during your English classes:

  • I have a question about _________________.
  • I’m confused about _____________________.
  • I need help with _______________________.
  • I have difficulties understanding __________________.
  • I would like to know more about ___________________.
  • Can you give me an example?
  • What’s the difference between ________ and __________?.
  • What is the answer to question/ exercise ______?
  • What does _______________ mean?
  • How do you pronounce this word?
  • How do you spell _________?
  • How did you get the answer?
  • Can you repeat the last part that you just said?
3. Offer your help

If you want to help your classmates or if you know the answer you can use the following sentence starters:

  • I might know the answer to that.
  • I think I can help you with ________.
  • I’m not sure, but I think the answer is _____________.
4. Volunteer

If you want to volunteer or start the activity

  • Can I go first?
  • I’ll go first.
  • I can do it
  • Who’s next?
5. Share your gratitude
  • Thanks for helping me understand __________.
  • I appreciate your help.
  • I really liked that activity.
  • It was a really fun/ interesting activity.
  • I liked that!

Practice Time

It’s your time to participate!

How important is class participation for you? How do you feel when your classmates refuse to participate in class?

Related:

Essential Vocabulary for Online Meetings

Asking for help

Useful English Phrases for Better Communication (Asking for Clarification)

Useful English Phrases to Ask for Help

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Asking for help is an important skill that we need to develop in order to communicate effectively with our classmates and colleagues.

Note: In English “a hand” sometimes means “help“

to lend someone a hand = to help someone

Example: I was very busy with the clients, so John lent me a hand with the final report.

As you can see, in English there are different ways of asking for help. Here there is a list of useful English phrases that you can use instead of saying:

Help me, please.

  1. Could you help me, please?
Listen and Repeat

/kudju help mee pleez/

2. Could you lend me a hand?

Listen and Repeat

/kudju lenmee uh hand/

3. Would you mind lending me a hand?

Listen and Repeat

/wudju mind lenduhng mee uh hand/

4. Can I ask a favor?

Listen and Repeat

/kuhnai askuh fAyvr/

5. Can you do me a favor?

Listen and Repeat

/kuhnju doo mee uh fAyvr

6. I have a favor to ask.

Listen and Repeat

/ai havuh fAyvr tuhask/

7. I need a big favor.

Listen and Repeat

/ai needuh big fAyvr/

8. Do you have a minute?

Listen and Repeat

/duju havuh minut/

9. Could you help me _________ ? (verb in the base form)

Listen and Repeat

/kuhdju help mee ______ /

10. Could you ________ for me? (verb in the base form)

Listen and Repeat

/kuhdju _______ for mee/

Practice Time

Read each of the phrases and record yourself. Listen to your voice.

  1. For you, what sounds are difficult to pronounce?
  2. How many times can you say each of the sentences without making a mistake?

Share your answers in the comments below.

Useful English Phrases for Better Communication

teacherjulieta3 Comments
Play the Audio

If you don’t understand what other people say, it’s a good idea to ask for clarification instead of saying:

“I don’t understand” or “Sorry, my English is very bad”

Here there is a list of useful expressions for asking for clarification. These expressions will help you speak fluently and communicate better with your classmates or colleagues. It’s important that you learn how to pronounce each of the phrases correctly. There is an audio below each phrase so you can check the pronunciation that will help you learn them easily.

  1. Pardon me?
Listen and Repeat

2. Excuse me. Could you repeat that, please?

Listen and Repeat

3. Could you say that again?

Listen and Repeat

4. I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you properly.

Listen and Repeat

5. I’m sorry, I missed that.

Listen and Repeat

6. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.

Listen and Repeat

7. What do you mean?

Listen and Repeat

8. What does _________ mean?

Listen and Repeat

9. Could you give an example?

Listen and Repeat

10. Did you say ________? (say the word you heard)

Listen and Repeat

Practice Time

Read each of the sentences out load and record yourself using your cellphone or your computer. Listen to your voice.

  1. For you, what sounds/ words are difficult to pronounce?
  2. For you, what is the easiest phrase? How many times can you say it without making a mistake?

Share your answers in the comments below.

Related:

Essential Vocabulary for Online Meetings

Useful English Phrases to Ask for Help

Healthy Habits to Improve Your English

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Let’s Talk About Healthy Habits!

💬 Objective:
Practice speaking skills by sharing ideas about healthy habits for improving English.

Step 1: Warm-Up Questions

Start by answering these questions with a classmate or a speaking partner:

  1. Which of the healthy habits in the picture do you already practice?
  2. Do you think these habits help you improve your English? How?
  3. What other habits do you think are important for learning a language?

Step 2: Healthy Habits Discussion

🗣 Task: Work in pairs or small groups. Discuss the following habits from the picture:

  1. Sleep Well 🛌
    • How many hours do you usually sleep?
    • How do you feel when you don’t sleep enough?
  2. Drink Plenty of Water 💧
    • Why is it important to stay hydrated while studying?
    • How much water do you drink every day?
  3. Relax and Take It Easy 🧘‍♀️
    • What activities help you relax after studying?
    • Do you think relaxation improves memory?
  4. Exercise 🏋️‍♂️
    • What’s your favorite way to stay active?
    • Do you think exercise helps you focus? Why?
  5. Eat Well 🍎
    • What healthy foods give you energy to learn?
    • Do you prefer studying after a snack or a meal?
  6. Hobbies 🎨
    • What hobbies can you do in English (reading, watching movies, puzzles)?
    • How can hobbies make learning English more fun?

Step 3: Share Your Ideas!

🌟 Challenge: After your discussion, share your thoughts with the class or your teacher.

Example: “I think sleeping well is the most important habit because it helps you concentrate. I sleep 8 hours every night, and it really works for me!”

For Extra Practice

Leave a comment below! Write about the habit you think is the most important and how it helps you. 😊

Related:

Fun activities to practice English

Fun activities to practice English

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Do you need motivation to practice English outside the classroom?

Choose your favourite activity and do it in English.

Need some ideas? Here I share some fun ideas that you can do anytime.

fun activities to improve your English

What’s your favourite activity to practice English outside the classroom?

FREE FUN RESOURCES TO PRACTICE ENGLISH:

Karaoke:

https://lyricstraining.com/en/

Tongue twisters:

The Tongue Twister Challenge (Intensity Level 1)
The Tongue Twister Challenge (Intensity level 2)
The Tongue Twister Challenge (Intensity Level 3)

Lip sync:

Best Free Lip Sync Apps for Android and iOS Users

TV shows and movies:

https://gem.cbc.ca/

Doodling:

https://sketch.io/sketchpad/