One of the most difficult stages of passing the test to the level of English knowledge is speaking. When you’re passing a written test, you have time to think and formulate a sentence correctly, but at speaking you don’t have the time for making your sentence correctly. Speaking is the ability to express your thoughts on any topic freely through the English language, without resorting to a long deliberation of grammatical constructions. The most common problem among beginners in learning English is the language barrier. This is the inability to communicate with a foreigner in English due to a lack of grammatical constructions knowledge or a lack of vocabulary. In this article, we will discuss how to overcome the language barrier and…

The annual world open wheel circle car racing Championship consists of a few stages. Each of them has a status of Grand Prix. It is interesting! Formula 1 («The queen of motorsport» or «Royal race») is the most prestigious racing competition in the world. Participation in Formula 1 is the main goal in the life of many racers, whose career begins at a young age from karting and does not always end with a victory or even participation in the world-class competitions. The history of «Royal race» The existence of Formula 1 is obliged to the European Auto Racing Championship, which was held in the period from 1920 to the 1930s. Then Formula 1 was a separate…

In the English language, like in many other languages, there are conditional sentences. They can express both real and unrealistic conditions. The «if» conjunction helps make a conditional sentence in English. The types of conditional sentences There are 4 types of conditional sentences — Zero type, the First, the Second and the Third conditionals. Also, mixed type sentences are mentioned in a separate rule. Zero Conditional Application: are used to emphasize truthfulness or simply to express a scientific fact or obvious statements. You can also use them to indicate instructions and orders. Conditions: real — events can happen. Since the sentence is 100% true and real, you must…

In English, there are personal and non-finite verb forms. The group of personal verb forms includes forms in all three persons of the singular and plural of any time. The group of non-finite verb forms includes the infinitive, the participle, and the gerund, which, in fact, will be discussed in this article. What is gerund? The gerund is a verb form that belongs to the non-personal and is formed with the ending -ing, combines the properties of the verb with those of the noun. The gerund can mean some kind of process or action that does not relate to someone particularly (swimming, smoking, etc.) Also, it is often confused with the…

From 19 to 29 June, the Wimbledon tournament, an international tennis tournament, is held every year in England. Winners are determined in late June and early July: 5 ranks among adults, 4 among juniors and 4 among people with special needs (wheelchair users). The victory in this tournament is the most prestigious among all the Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, US Open), as the winners become world champions. They also get the right to practice on the courts of the club, while the rest of the players are allowed to prepare for the tournament only in training pavilions. The organizer of the competition is the…

Learning articles is one of the main difficulties faced by those who are just beginning to learn English. The difficulty is that, for example, in Russian, the interlocutor can change the order of words to accentuate some phrase or a noun. In English, the order of words is fixed — for giving stress to words, English speakers use articles. In English, articles give the significance of certainty and indefiniteness to the noun. In this case, the interlocutor understands whether it is a question of a specific subject or in general. There is also a small difference between the use of articles in British English and American English. Types of articles in English There are definite and indefinite articles: the and a / an.…

County Cornwall is in the south-west of England; it is inhabited by about 500 thousand people. In the Middle Ages, this territory was called Western Wales. The Cornwall Peninsula is a place shrouded in myths and legends. According to legends, here, in the castle of Tintagel, King Arthur was born. Also, one of the county’s cities, St. Ives, is the center of art where the galleries and workshops of British artists are located. The village of Porthcurno in the south-west of England is known for its open theater — Minack Theater. Also, there is one of the best beaches in England, owned by the National Fund of the country. Saint Ives — The City of Artists The city of St.…

All English teachers use specific additional materials in order to systematize and organize the learning process. It can be methodical plans, specialized textbooks, electronic programs, video and audio materials, special comprehensive textbooks. At any rate, those who study the language on their own also have to use teaching materials, because it is necessary to master grammar and lexis simultaneously. Specialized textbooks are your first assistants in this process. Types of teaching materials for learning English There are several types of teaching materials — universal English textbooks, textbooks with dictionaries (for the vocabulary expansion), grammar textbooks, textbooks that help improve your pronunciation. In addition, you can…

The history of bank holidays in the UK Bank holidays are days that are officially non-working. Basically, they are Mondays, so the date is not fixed. In 1871, the government for the first time legalized the bank holidays with the legislative act of the Bank Holiday Act. Initially, Britain, Wales and Ireland received 4 days off, Scotland — 5. However, today Britain has 8 such officially non-working days, Scotland and Ireland — 10. In the 19th century, all banks and official institutions were closed on these days, so the activities of other enterprises were also suspended, since all their work was connected with…

If you are planning to learn English on your own, you should be patient and have willpower, because your only motivator, in this case, is your desire. Studying will not depend on other students, the schedule and the teacher, the weather, malaise and other reasons. Of course, this type of learning is not suitable for everyone — for those who begin to learn English «from scratch», individual lessons with the teacher are more suitable. And yet, if you decide to independently gain knowledge, then before starting to study, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with certain points. What you will need to learn the English language independently…

Great Britain is one of the most unusual countries with its own special traditions. We have prepared 25 facts about this country that will surprise you. 10 amusing facts about British history 1. In 18th-century Britain, men and women were forbidden to sunbathe on the same beach. 2. The city where the first fire department appeared was Edinburgh. 3. The first programmer in the world was an Englishwoman — Ada Lovelace. 4. The first subway appeared in London, Britain. 5. The Big Ben Tower got its name not because of the clock, but because of the bell that is located inside. 6. The…

The development of reading skills plays a big role in learning English. Tasks to check the formation of this skill are included in various exams developed to obtain the certificate of proficiency in English. Most often, the understanding of the main content of what is read, the extraction of the necessary information from the text and a complete understanding of what has been read are checked at such exams. Therefore, this article will be useful to those who learn and improve their English for their pleasure, and those who are preparing for the exams. Reading modes There are different reading modes and each of them has its own peculiarities.…