The $5 Million Comma: The True Tale of the Oxford Comma Lawsuit

If you don’t think bad grammar can cost you, think again. In this case, one teeny, tiny, little comma actually cost one company five million dollars. That’s one expensive comma! The Serial Comma Strikes Again An Oxford comma, also known as a serial comma, refers to the final comma in a list of items. It […]

Target Pronunciation: How To Pronounce -ED Words in English

Alternate Endings The pronunciation of words ending in -ed in English can be really confusing. For every -ed word, there are three alternative ending sounds to choose from: Alternate endings might be great for TV series, but alternate pronunciation in English? Not so much. Look at the words rated and raked, for example. They are […]

Happy -ED Endings: A Story About Pizza, Pets, and -ED Pronunciation

Every seasoned ESL teacher knows the good old -ED pronunciation rules. When a word ends in |t| or |d|, an extra syllable is added and pronounced as |id|. When a word doesn’t end in |t| or |d|, the pronounced ending is truncated to a stopped |t| or |d| and no extra syllable is added. If […]

Digital Flashcards Are Here, and I’m So Flipping Excited!

I recently transitioned to online teaching again, so I really needed a way to showcase my original deck of 72 irregular verb flashcards in a digital format. I uploaded them digitally and I now have a fantastic set of digital flashcards to use in my classes and share with ESL teachers around the world. Irregular […]

How To Talk About Your Period in English. Yes, That Period.

Happy Women’s Month! I am marking the occasion with an English lesson devoted entirely to menstruation. It’s not a fun topic, but we do need to talk about it. It comes every month, and usually at the worst possible time. To the poor men who are still reading this, don’t leave yet! Talking about periods […]

Variations on 4 Card Games ESL Students Will Flip Over

Breaking News! ESL Students prefer playing games to studying grammar. Thanks, Captain Obvious. Now, let’s really drive it home: Hello, students! Raise your hand if you want to study grammar. (crickets.) Raise your hand if you want to play a game. (48 hands are up in a class of 24.) What have we learned from […]

8 Flashy Ways To Use Flashcards for Online ESL

If you know how to use flashcards in online ESL classrooms, they can be fantastic for memorizing irregular verbs. And they don’t have to be boring, either! Here are my favorite flashy ways to use flashcards in online ESL classrooms. Why Flashcards? Let’s cut straight to the obvious: flashcards are for memorizing. As a veteran […]

The 30-Day English Challenge

Can I really improve my English in 30 days? Yes, you can! The 30-Day English Challenge is designed to improve your speaking, writing, fluency and confidence by following simple, yet meaningful daily tasks. How does it work? The idea behind a 30-day English challenge is simple. Your English will improve quickly because you will be […]

Conversation Club: December 18, 2020

Do you want to know a secret? Learning English is nearly impossible if you don’t have the right people to speak it with. This may come as a surprise, but practicing English with an English teacher just isn’t enough! Yes, an English teacher will understand everything you say. English teachers use simple, clear language that […]