The word of the day is "strap." Yesterday it was "clap." How are these two words similar?

Do you need practice with the "b" sound? If so, click here.

A person who loses his or her way should a map. This is the word of the day.

In this exercise, choose the correct possessive adjective:

  • 1. I lost __________ way.
  • 2. You lost _________ way.
  • 3. He lost _________ way.
  • 4. She lost _________ way.
  • 5. We lost _________ way.
  • 6. They lost _________ way.

 

Answers: 1. my; 2. your; 3. his; 4. her; 5. our; 6. their

With the approach of the Superbowl this weekend, a good choice for the word of the day is "hype."

 

The word of the day is "blizzard."

 

There’s a new Green Level lesson on the use of "they" when changing from the passive voice to the active voice.

The word of the day is "wound." Thanks to Srinivas for the suggestion!

From today’s email:

Certain verbs are followed by a variety of prepositions. The verb “work” is one of those verbs. In this exercise, guess which preposition from the list of prepositions below fits each sentence. Some sentences have more than one good choice.

around  at  in  into  to  for   during  on  since  with

1. Joe is working ________ a Bachelor’s degree.

2. Which company do you work ________?

3. She works _________ the area of education.

4. Mr. Smith has to work ________ being a nicer person.

5. How many hours do they work _________ the day?

6. Bob works ________ some very interesting people.

7. Crews are working _________ the clock to get the repairs finished.

8. I’m going to work ________ home today.

9. The doctor will try to work you _________ his schedule.

10. They’ve been at work ________ 6:00 this morning.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Answers: 1. on 2. for 3. in 4. at / on 5. during 6. around / with (coworkers) / for (owners) 7. around (around the clock = 24/7) 8. from / at 9. into 10. on

The word of the day is "whack."

There’s a new Word of the Day quiz for January 2015.

The word of the day is "visit."

The word of the day is "upgrade." When you get an upgrade, you get something that is nicer, newer, more comfortable, or more expensive.

President Obama makes his annual State of the Union speech tonight before the U.S. Congress and a national audience. I always recommend that my students watch this speech because it provides a good look at what the big political issues are in the United States and who supports what.

The word of the day is "thin."

Today is a national holiday in the United States commemorating the life of Martin Luther King Jr., a great civil rights leader and defender of people who were virtually powerless up until the 1960s.

The word of the day is "sample." Everyone loves samples!

 

The word of the day is "radio." I always tell my students that a good way to improve listening skills is to listen to radio broadcasts in English, particularly news broadcasts.

Today’s Red Level lesson on infinitives is important to pay attention to. This is followed by tomorrow’s lesson on gerunds. I recommend that students study these two lessons at about the same time.

The word of the day is "peel."

I just added a new audio recording for the preposition "along." This is kind of a strange word because its meaning changes quite a bit depending on how it’s used with other words.

  • get along = to cooperate or work well together
  • come along = come with
  • walk along = walk by the side of something
  • move along = get away from here

The word of the day is "odor." An odor is a bad smell.

Did you receive today’s email? In it there’s an exercise for making verbs negative. Make sure you sign up to receive email from your teacher. It’s all free!

If you didn’t receive today’s email, this is what was in it:

Do you ever have trouble making verbs negative?

In this exercise, change the verb so that it’s negative. Remember to change some of the other words that are in the sentence if that is necessary. Use contractions. Write your answers in your notebook.

1. She is here.

2. I have a meeting today.

3. They went to class.

4. She has had breakfast already.

5. He is going to take some medicine.

6. We will be there by tomorrow.

7. My mother has been feeling well.

8. Tom likes his roommate.

9. They needed some help.

10. I’m tired.

The word of the day is "nap."

Blue Level Lesson Fourteen and Red Level Lesson Thirteen both provide some help for students who want to learn about adjectives. It’s good to look at these two lessons together.

The word of the day is "mat."

The word of the day is "lady."

Where would the world be without freedom of speech? Unfortunately, many people around the world live in countries that limit free speech. Even here in the United States, there are circumstances under which speech is restricted, whether by the government or a tyrannical minority of people who wield their influence over others.

This quotation from Voltaire, appropriately, has been found all over the internet in the last week:

"I do not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

Je suis Charlie!

The word of the day is "jam."

The word of the day is "hard." This word has a couple of important meanings. If something is hard, it might be difficult or a problem:

  • They’re facing a hard decision.
  • It’s hard to know what she’s thinking.
  • It shouldn’t be hard to get the information you need.

The word "hard" is also used as the opposite of the word "soft."

  • This old bread is hard and stale.
  • We have to pour the concrete before it gets hard.
  • The skater fell on the hard ice and broke her leg.

The word of the day is "generate."

There’s a new Think in English exercise. Click here to take a look.

The word of the day is "fat." This word is the opposite of the word "thin."

Today’s Blue Level Lesson on the formation of the present tense is important for beginning and intermediate level learners of English to learn and understand.

Did you receive today’s email? If not, make sure you sign up for email exercises, quizzes, and lessons on the home page.

The word of the day is "eligible."

When I was a boy, I learned how to square dance. It was taught during gym class as an alternative to boring gym exercises or basketball, usually in the winter when it was too cold to go outside. The gym teachers decided that we would learn a traditional form of American dance that has its roots in European culture. Most kids said that they hated it, but I think, secretly, most kids thought it was fun–including me.

This is what square dancing looks like:

 

The word of the day is "dance."

No matter what language you are trying to learn, music vocabulary is going to be essential. If, for instance, you are studying French, it would be helpful for you to learn what the words "song," "note," and "instrument" are in French. You should also listen to French music with French lyrics. Singing songs in French will make your study of the language more fun and interesting.

Because most of you on this website are learning English, you should take an interest in English vocabulary related to music, so today’s word of the day is "chord." If you play music, this is an important word to know.

There’s a new reading exercise for the Yellow Level: Katie gets a two-week school vacation.

The word of the day is "bake." At this time of the year, people who live in cold climates do a lot of baking. It helps to keep the house warmer, and the result of the labor is usually delicious.

How does this website work? Well, most students study at their own pace. The most important thing is to find a level that suits your needs as a student. The basic level of instruction is the Blue Level. Then, instruction becomes increasingly more difficult, going from Red to Yellow to Green to Purple to Orange and finally, to Violet.

Today is the first day of a new month, so students begin on Lesson One:

Tomorrow, students go to Lesson Two. The day after that it’s Lesson Three, and so on. You get the idea.

I can’t tell you that learning English is easy. It doesn’t happen quickly.  There aren’t any proven methods that help you learn it fast–although there are a lot of websites on the internet that will try to convince you otherwise. However, if you practice every day and stick with a plan to achieve your goals, you will improve your English. That’s something I know to be true because I’ve been an English teacher for over 25 years. Work hard and you will succeed.

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