What does already/ yet mean? Well, it’s not easy to talk about their meaning if we remove them from sentences. For words like already and yet we need to rely on grammar to understand the context and meaning.
Already and yet are time words. More precisely they are adverbs that are commonly used with present perfect.
Present perfect + already/ yet is used to show how a past event relates to the present.
To do list already/ yet
We use already to say that an action has been completed some time in the past, sooner than expected.
Example: I’ve already finished my homework.
We use yet to say that something hasn’t happened when we expected it to happen. It often means that you have the intention to do something but you have not been able to complete the action.
Example: I haven’t studied for my test yet.
We also use yet to ask questions about things that were completed in the past.
Example: Have you called your mom yet?
*We use already to ask questions about things that we already know or to express surprise. We don’t expect an answer we only want to confirm the information.
For example, your mom hears you telling your friend on the phone that you have already studied for your final test. When you hang up, your mom tells you:
“Have you already studied for your final test? I can’t believe it! Back on my days we spent hours studying for the final tests”
Your mom is surprised. She only wants to verify the information that she just heard.
If you are looking for a great gift for someone who’s learning English, you should consider looking for a language-focused present. Examples of language-focused gifts are books, audio-books, gadgets and games. These kinds of gifts are great resources designed to help students improve their skills, and enjoy their learning process.
Here you have a list of cool gifts for less than $30 CAD that English learners will love and actually use. These gifts are good for any occasions such as birthdays, graduations, Christmas or any other special holiday.
In English the apostrophe is used to make contractions. It is easy to use contractions when we are in the classroom studying grammar. The problem is when we come across with the same contractions while watching a movie or speaking with other people. In English there are different contractions and one of the most confusing one is the ‘s contraction.
The apostrophe + s or ‘s contraction can represent three of the following situations: is, has or possession.
Look at the following example:
My sister’s husband, who’s an English teacher in Vietnam, speaks three languages. He’s studied Vietnamese for five years and French for one year. Currently, He’s working in a high school in Hanoi.
Can you identify the full form of each of the contractions? If you can, share your answer in the comments below.
If not, watch a mini lesson where I explain the different meanings of ‘s. After you watch it download a guide with more examples to practice on your own.
A great way to improve your pronunciation and fluency is by saying tongue twisters as fast as you can. Tongue twisters are great to exercise your English muscles. Are you ready to complete this fun challenge?
Let’s warm up
Say each of the following tongue twisters five times as fast as you can. If you are not sure about the correct pronunciation you can play the audio first and repeat after me. Then you can say the tongue twister slowly and when you feel confident about your pronunciation you increase the speed.
1 You know New York, you need New York
2 So, this is the sushi chef
3 Stupid superstition
Let’s increase the intensity
Say each of the following tongue twisters five times as fast as you can
4. I saw a kitten eaten chicken in the kitchen
5.Eddie edited it
6. Willie’s really weary
7. The big fat cat sat on the rat
8. She sells seashells by the seashore
DOWNLOAD the worksheet with audio to practice anytime, anywhere.
A common question that my students ask me very often is this: Teacher can I speak English fluently in 2, 3, 6, 8…X months? Honestly, there is no exact answer for that question because each student is different. Not everybody learns at the same pace because not everybody invests the same amount of time and resources to improve their English. Thus, the first step to start progressing is to reflect on our own learning experience, be realistic and make a plan accordingly.
You need something more than a plan
It is obvious that if you want to get results, first you need a plan. For example, if your goal is to get in shape, a good plan plan might be going to the gym three times a week, or changing your eating habits, or walking 8,000 steps every day, or all the aforementioned options. However, it’s not enough to have a plan. It’s not enough to buy a membership at the gym or enroll into cross-fit classes or fill your fridge with healthy food. You actually need to go to the gym to activate your muscles. You need to eat the food you buy and stop eating junk food in order to change your metabolism. Although it can be painful and not pleasant at all, we all know that we need to make some sacrifices and work hard to get results.
No pain, no gain
The instructor at the gym can guide, motivate and support you. However, he/she doesn’t have control over your muscles. You are the one who has the will power to move your body. You are the one who has the temperance to stop eating junk food. You could hire the best trainer or the best dietician, but if you don’t do your part you won’t get any results. The same happens when you want to learn a new language. You could hire the best teacher, or enroll in the best school. Nonetheless, if you don’t PRACTICE you won’t get results. In other words, NO PAIN, NO GAIN.
If you are committed to start an intensive and effective training to improve your English fast here are my 5 tips:
Tip 1: Activate your English muscles
What kind of tasks can you do to train your English muscled? After a number of years teaching English, I have realized that the best way to activate your English muscles is by READING, LISTENING, SPEAKING and WRITING.
I’m sure you have heard this advice millions of times. In fact you already know that perhaps you need to improve your reading, or your listening, or your writing, or your speaking, or the fours skills. Thus, I’m going to share with you specific tips that you can apply to your English practice.
Tip 2: Don’t read boring stuff
Whether you like it or not, READING is one of the most effective ways to learn new things, including new vocabulary. If you don’t like reading in your own language it will be a big challenge for you to read texts in English. However, reading doesn’t have to be painful. Look for readings about topics of your interests. If you like sports, look for readings about sports. If you like fashion, look for readings about fashion. Reading doesn’t have to be a torture.
Tip 3: Read and listen at the same time
If you want to improve your reading along with your pronunciation and listening, you can use audio-books, podcasts or TED talks. Download the text or the script so you can read along while you listen to the audio. You can also listen to the audio and read out loud imitating the intonation and pitch of the narrator or speaker. After that, you can read out load and record your voice using your phone or computer. Then you can compare your voice to the speaker’s voice.
After you finish reading and listening the text, write down 3 to 5 questions about it. Pretend that you are the teacher and you want your students to answer those questions. Then with your own words try to answer those questions.
Tip 4: Join a reading club
If you have the chance to join a reading club then you will be practicing your reading a lot and on top of that you will have the chance to speak with other people who have the same reading interests as you.
If you don’t feel confident enough to join a reading club… yet, you can start reading alone. If you don’t know exactly what kind of books you should start with, start reading children’s books. They have cute pictures; they are easy to understand and fun.
The Heinle Reading Library: Illustrated Classic Collection has my favorite ESL reading books. The readings are adapted to different ESL levels. You can identify them by colors, green is for beginner/ pre-intermediate English learners. Red is for intermediate and purple is for advanced English learners.
Photo: eltbooks.com
You can find some of these great books on Amazon (US/Mexico/ Brazil, Spain/Germany/Australia/ Japan) and eltbooks.com (Japan) or bookfinder.com (worldwide)
Tip 5: Join a conversation course
If you want to read and talk about current issues, or topics related to science, technology, history, politics, environment, social justice and geography you might want to join a conversation course.
Conversation courses are also a great place to improve your comprehension and speaking skills in a friendly and safe environment. If you join a conversation group you will read or listen to a variety of topics and engage into meaningful discussions and debates. During each session you will learn new vocabulary and expressions in context. At the same time, you will practice how to process the information you read or listen in order to express your ideas in a coherent manner.
During my last year at university I enrolled in an English-speaking course. I thought it was going to be like typical a speaking class but to my surprise it was a super fun conversation course. I loved it, I engaged into thought provoking discussions and improved my English significantly. I highly recommend conversation courses to improve English fluency and increase your confidence.
Finally, don’t forget that “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Be patient with your own learning process and acknowledge your progress. Today you know more than you knew yesterday and tomorrow you will know something that you don’t know today.
What English muscle do you have to train more? Share your answer in the comments below.
Watching movies in English can be one of the best ways to improve your English. There is no doubt that it’s easier to learn something if you are having fun and enjoying what you are doing. However, for lower level students watching a movie in English sometimes can be a torture. It is not fun when everybody is laughing or crying and you don’t understand what’s going on.
My students always ask me about the best movies to practice their English. I honestly don’t know much about movies because I don’t like to watch commercial movies. I prefer to watch movies about real and meaningful stories. I have to admit that I’m not the kind of person that can suggest a movie to pass time. Each person has different preferences in regards of movies. However, I can give you some tips so you can choose a good movie yourself.
Tip # 1
Watch a movie that you would watch in your first language. Don’t watch a movie just because everybody is watching it. The same rule should apply to books. Just because Shakespeare was the most famous English writer of all times, it doesn’t mean that you must read “Romeo and Juliet”.
Tip # 2
Watch a movie that you have already watched in your first language. When you already know what the story is about it is easier to focus on the vocabulary and new expressions. It’s not easy to learn new phrases and expressions if you don’t understand the plot.
Tip # 3
Don’t try to understand everything the first time you watch a movie in English. It is okay not to understand everything. It is okay to watch the same movie many times. It is okay to watch a movie with subtitles in English several times.
Tip # 4
Try to memorize the dialogues or songs of your favorite scenes. If your favorite movie is a Hollywood movie or a Disney movie, watch it in English and try to memorize the dialogues. I’m sure that you have already memorized some dialogues in your first language. It will be super easy to memorize the dialogues in English.
Other teachers may have different opinions. Thus, you have to follow the advice that is good for your learning style and your learning capabilities. I’m sharing my advice as an ESL teacher who has worked with literacy and beginner students for a number of years. I have seen how torturing it is for someone who doesn’t understand what is going on to enjoy something that is supposed to be fun.
Remember that watching movies is a hobby and hobbies are meant to be pleasant, not torturing.
I would like to share with you three English movies that according to my students are easy to understand even for lower levels:
If you watched any of these movies, I’d love to hear your comments. Did you like it? Why? If you watched the three movies, tell me which one was your favorite. Why?
What do you usually do when you have to make an important decision? Do you make your decisions quickly as a ninja or do you take some time to think about it? Let me tell you what I do when I have to make an important decision: I sleep on it. Yes, you heard right, I sleep on it!
Today I’d like to talk about an English expression: “sleep on it” I just told you that when I have to make important decision, I sleep on it. So what I mean is that I don’t rush to make the decision. Actually, I delay making a decision until the following day. I really think that it’s best to wait at least a day or two. I like to consider all the different factors and options before making a final decision. I don’t feel confident enough when I have to make a decision on the spot. Does that mean that I am stupid or incapable of making my own decision? Not really. There is scientific evidence that shows how a good night of sleep often helps when you have to make up your mind.
For centuries it has been commonly accepted that a good night’s sleep often helps when people have to make an important decision. But now scientists have backed up this notion. Research done recently by Dr. Rebeca Spencer from the University of Massachusetts Amherst suggest that a key effect of a good sleep is facilitating and enhancing complex cognitive skills such as decision-making.
Dr. Spencers’s research group investigated the effects of sleep on decision-making processes when the subjects are aware of the outcome.
Let me briefly explain to you how the experiment was set up. The researchers used a card game for their experiment. They taught 54 young people between ages of 18 to 23 to play a card game for rewards. The game mimicked casino gambling.
Participants were divided into two groups and were given a quick tutorial on how to play the game. However, the tutorial was very short so participants didn’t have enough time to learn how exactly the card game worked.
One group attended the tutorial in the morning and the other group attended the tutorial in the evening.
The 26 students who took the tutorial in the morning came back after a day of normal activities without sleep. The other 28 students who took the tutorial in the afternoon went home to a normal evening and their usual night of sleep.
Can you guess what happened?
Students returned for a second visit. In the morning or in the evening. Students who took the tutorial in the morning returned for a second visit the same day in the evening. Students who took the tutorial in the evening returned for a second visit next day in the morning.
On their second visit students played the game for a longer period of time. The objective of the second visit was that the students learned how to play the game by themselves and realized that taking cards from the four different packs gave them different results. Two of the packs had cards that helped them win while the other two packs made them lose. You may be wondering what the reward was? The reward was play money.
Students who had a normal night’s sleep returned next day and drew from the winning decks four times more than those who had spent the 12-hour break awake. On top of that, students who had slept better understood the underlying rules of the game.
The results of this experiment showed that although rule discovery is a hidden key factor, yet it is crucial to making sound decisions. These results are in accordance with common wisdom that believes that sleeping makes your decisions better. Researchers think that this has something to do with the rapid-eye-movement REM sleep, which is the creative period of our sleep cycle. However, more studies need to be performed to find out what the connection is.
If you can’t sleep well, click here to read about a new invention to treat insomnia.
When insomnia doesn’t let you sleep on it…
Well, that’s it for today it’s 9 p.m. here in Toronto and I need to go to bed. Let me know in a comment are you a ninja decision maker or do you like to sleep on it?
I’ll give you a hint. It was the same person who was famous for saying “Azuuuucar”
Her name was Celia Cruz. She was he most popular salsa singer of all times. She was a successful woman who won two Grammy Awards among many other awards and yet, she had to apologize for her “bad English”
How many times have you had to apologize publicly for not speaking like a native speaker? How many times have you believed that you are not capable of succeeding because you don’t speak a “very good looking English”?
Hello everyone, welcome to my very first podcast in English. My name is Julieta. I love languages as much as I love science. I’m super excited to have the opportunity to use this podcast to share with you interesting information about languages and science.
Today I’d like to talk about a common pattern among English learners and non-native speakers. Many of them suffer from something called the ‘impostor syndrome’. I’m sure that many other people suffer from this syndrome but today I’ll focus on English learners because as a non-native English teacher I’ve met many individuals who suffer from this syndrome. In fact, I suffered from this syndrome when I was learning English many years ago and when I was studying at grad school a few years ago.
The impostor syndrome is also known as the impostor phenomenon, impostorism, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience. But what exactly is the impostor syndrome? According to Wikipedia it is a “psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments or talents and has a persistent fear of being exposed as a ‘fraud’. In other words, people who suffer from this syndrome, in this particular case -English learners and non-native speakers constantly feel that they are not enough. They truly believe that they are not going to succeed because they are ignorant. They feel that they are ignorant because they don’t speak the language perfectly.
Wait a minute…What does it mean to speak the language perfectly? Well, for many people who are learning a second or a third or a fourth language speaking English perfectly means to speak like a native speaker.
There is a common pattern that individuals who suffer from the impostor syndrome show. They are constantly apologizing for the mistakes that they make and looking for validation from the people who are considered to be the authority in the field. English learners tend to look for validation from their English teachers or from native-speakers.
I don’t think that there is something wrong about looking for validation. When we are learning it is natural to ask our teachers and experts to confirm our ideas. In fact, validation is a necessary step to improve. However, looking for validation obsessively, is a harmful habit that sabotages our success.
What do many English learners do to learn how to speak English perfectly? They hire a coach, to help them get rid of their ‘accent’. Somehow many learners believe that there is a correlation between reducing accent and improving communication skills. Let me tell you something, that belief is wrong. According to the dictionary, accent is “a distinctive mode of pronunciation of a language, especially associated with a particular nation, locality, or social class”. So trying to get rid of a foreign accent might not be the best approach to improve your communication skills in English.
A couple of years ago I came across with a non-native fluency coach on Youtube (her name is Hadar, Hadar if read this post, I just want to say thanks) She empowers non-native speakers and non-native English teachers. She is trying to change the mindset of many English learners who truly believe that they should get rid of their accent and sound more native in order to communicate their ideas effectively. I agree with her approach of teaching English pronunciation and helping her students boost their fluency.
As someone who suffered from the impostor syndrome, I can tell you that the only way to overcome the persistent feeling of not being enough is by improving the way you speak to yourself; not by getting rid of your accent. Sometimes we are so obsessed with speaking flawlessly, with the perfect accent in order to avoid rejection. However, we forget that if we want that other people accept the way we sound we should accept it first. We should not reject they way we sound.
Why is it that we are looking constantly for beautiful, sophisticated and fancy words when we have to speak publicly but we use the most horrible and negative words when we speak to ourselves? Why is it that the first words that come out of our mouth when we have to speak publicly in English are “Sorry, my English is bad” “Sorry, I made a mistake”.
Don’t take me wrong, I’m not saying that we should never apologize or say sorry. Of course, we must apologize when we do something wrong or when we hurt other people. It is important to recognize our faults. However, we should remember that making mistakes when we are learning is not a sin, and we must not apologize for each single mistake we make when we speak a foreign language.
It’s time to start changing the way you communicate with ourselves and with others. You don’t have to apologize for your English if you don’t speak like a native-speaker. Remember that learning a language is an ongoing process, we will continue learning even our mother tongue until the moment we die. So guess what? You will never stop learning English. Therefore, next time that you feel like you should say something negative about your English please say something positive or funny or something positive and funny. It’s time for you to change they way you speak to yourself and the way you speak about your English. You can say what I say to myself every time that the impostor syndrome is trying to install in my mind:
Excuse me sir !!!! My English is becoming very good looking, you’ll see!!
Well, that’s it for today. Let me know in a comment what you are doing to improve your English? Is your English also becoming very good looking?
