Image credit: Unsplash Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/E7RLgUjjazc Learning English can be tricky, more so when learners focus on more specific niches that require further knowledge and understanding of specific concepts, such as business and finance. According to a Journal of Education for Business study, English has become the dominant lingua franca of business and for the studying of business. This means that most learners pursuing a business education are learning in English. However, technical terms within a niche can be difficult to learn, especially for English as second language learners. For English learners…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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.…

It is never too late to start learning a foreign language — that is to say, it knows no ages. Most psychologists agree with this statement. As one of the most widely spoken languages, English opens the perspectives of personal and career growth, contributes to the activation of brain activity. And if this is not enough for you, then there are 6 more reasons to start learning English right now. Reason № 1. Learning English improves your memory and develops thought processes Due to the formation of new and the development of existing neural connections, the effectiveness of white and gray matter grows. Therefore, people who study languages are less likely to lose…

In English, there are two forms of voice — active and passive. In the active voice, the subject performs the action. In the passive voice, someone or something influences the subject in a certain way. Therefore, the passive voice implies that the subject does not perform any action, but experiences a certain action. Active voice: Michael repaired the car last Sunday. Passive voice: The car was repaired by Michael last Sunday. So, the car did not repair itself, but someone repaired it. In this case, Michael did it last Sunday. In the passive voice, the emphasis is on the result, not on the subject that performs…

Each language is rich in phraseologisms that make speech interesting, rich and mysterious for foreigners. Each phraseologism has its own story. Most of them are unique. They seem ridiculous when translated literally. Some sound absolutely identical in all languages of the world and mean the same thing. Englishmen often use idioms — stable, inseparable phrases which have figurative meaning. It is useless to translate them word for word. So, you just need to learn them. In this article, we will introduce 25 bizarre English idioms to you. History of English idioms and rules for their use Most of English idioms are rooted in biblical history, myths…

All letters in English are divided into formal or business letters (letters to customers, clients, suppliers, letters-summaries, letters-complaints) and informal or personal (to friends or relatives). In terms of form and structure, business and personal letters are almost the same, the only difference is in the style of writing. Writing and types of formal letters There are several types of formal letters: a letter of request, a cover letter, a reminder letter, a thank-you letter, a letter of complaint, a CV letter, a request letter, a memorandum, etc. A separate area is business electronic correspondence. In their turn, all of these letters are divided into those that require an answer and those that do not, as well as into regulated and unregulated.…