Monthly Archives: May 2011


The Learning English Video Project 1

The Learning English Video Project is a unique 7-part series of documentary films about people learning English in different countries around the world.

Made by independent UK filmmaker Daniel Emmerson, the series features students from across the world who have different methods and reasons for learning English.

The Internet is such a splendid tool for communicating with people and finding out how people are doing things differently all over the world. I want The Learning English Video Project to really be a part of that. ” says Daniel Emmerson, Director of The Learning English Video Project.

Each film averages 15 minutes in length, and is available with and without English subtitles.

THE FILMS

  1. Encounters in the UK (17 minutes)

“You sleep on it and next day you feel…yeah, something got in, you know?”
Encounters in the UK is the 7th and final film in this documentary mini-series. It tells the story of four girls from different countries who travel to Cambridge in England to study English and stay with local families in what is called a “homestay” arrangement. In the film, we also meet several of the host families as well as a consultant who helps match homestay students to families. For the four girls the homestay arrangement is a positive experience. As one of the homestay hosts explains: “It’s going to be a great experience, not only in terms of learning English, but in learning about life.”

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  1. Thoughts from Brazil (17 minutes)

“The more you talk, the better you get.”
Thoughts from Brazil looks at modern trends in learning English, especially for children and teens. This instalment will be of particular interest to all those who long for a learning experience that is more interactive and communicative. Teens and young adults will find new ideas for combining personal interests such as music, gaming and social media with self-study. As Daniel Emmerson talks to learners and teachers of English in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he discovers that many of them have found for themselves the principle of learning by doing and have readily adapted it to the Internet era.

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  1. Insights from China (18 minutes)

“Never say die.”
Based in the busy, cosmopolitan city of Shanghai, Daniel Emmerson’s latest film Insights from China takes us inside the worlds of English language learning and teaching and the airline industry in China. “Insights from China” focuses largely on the staff and management of a Chinese airline company that has recently committed to learning English. Spring Airlines is the first low-cost airline in China. Determined to become a successful international airline, the company has insisted that all of its workers learn to speak fluent English. The CEO of Spring Airlines, Zhang Xiuzhi, has set the bar high. She began learning English “from scratch” 18 months prior to her interview for this film. Like the majority of other language learners, the main stumbling block for the CEO is finding enough time to study. Zhang takes English homework to bed at night and even studies in her car.

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Advanced English Grammar: Phrasal Verbs 1

English phrasal verbs come in many shapes and sizes.

Typically, they’re a verb and preposition combination which, when combined, changes the meaning of the main verb into something else.

Most students of English find them difficult because sometimes the idiomatic uses either make no sense at all, or the meaning change is so drastic that even a good guesser has no idea what they mean.

Sometimes we call them two part verbs, three part verbs, or multi-word verbs.

Whatever you call them, you should know some basic truths regarding phrasal verb usage.

 advanced-english-grammar.com is a good place to start to improve your knowledge of English Phrasal Verbs. Use the menu on the left of the website to explore various aspects of Phrasal Verbs.


Advanced English Grammar and Prepositions 1

Learning prepositions can cause many difficulties for learners of the English language.

It does help to learn what prepositions are — and how they are used — but more importantly, you need to know the word combinations that you’ll find them in.

It’s a fact, some words just go together and all you can do is learn them ‘by heart.’

There are no specific reasons why— well, at least not obvious ones — and students often find this particular item of the English language difficult to master.

advanced-english-grammar.com is a good place to improve your knowledge of English Prepositions.  Use the Menu on the left of the website to learn about various aspects of Prepositions (amongst other things!).

Happy learning!


List of English Prepositions 1

Wikipedia proposes here a list of English prepositions. In English, some prepositions are short, typically containing six letters or fewer. There are, however, a significant number of multi-word prepositions. Throughout the history of the English language, new prepositions have come into use, old ones fallen out of use, and the meaning of existing prepositions has changed.


Prepositions in English

There are more than 100 prepositions in English. Yet this is a very small number when you think of the thousands of other words (nouns, verbs etc). Prepositions are important words. We use individual prepositions more frequently than other individual words. In fact, the prepositions of, to and in are among the ten most frequent words in English.

EnglishClub.com is a great place to start learning about prepositions in English.

Below are some pages with lists of prepositions and example sentences.


PhrasalVerbDemon.com

Phrasal verbs are very common in spoken and written English so we need them to understand and speak natural English.

PhrasaVerbDemon.com  contains a dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, listening exercises, quizzes, games, etc;

There is also an interesting section on Particles used to make phrasal verbs:

About, across, apart, around, aside, away, back, by, down, forward, in, off, on, out, over, round, through, together, up

All particles have a literal meaning: up and down , in and out , on and off , through , away and so on.

They also have metaphorical meanings. For example, when we say Please put out your cigarette, the particle out is not used with the literal meaning of outside but with the metaphorical meaning of ending.

These metaphorical meanings follow a logical pattern shared by many verbs and when new combinations appear they also follow it.

It’s very important to become familiar with the metaphorical meanings of particles. This will make phrasal verbs logical and much easier to learn and remember.


Dictionary of English Phrasal Verbs

 What is a Phrasal Verb?

A phrasal verb consists of a verb and a preposition or adverb that modifies or changes the meaning; ‘give up’ is a phrasal verb that means ‘stop doing’ something, which is very different from ‘give’. The word or words that modify a verb in this manner can also go under the name particle.

Phrasal verbs are idiomatic expressions, combining verbs and prepositions to make new verbs whose meaning is often not obvious from the dictionary definitions of the individual words. They are widely used in both written and spoken English, and new ones are formed all the time as they are a flexible way of creating new terms.

UsingEnglish.com presents A reference of 2,993 current English Phrasal Verbs (also called multi-word verbs) with definitions and examples.

You can Search the dictionary, Browse it or  Take a Phrasal Verb Quiz.

There is also an interesting Quiz on  Prepositions and Particles used to make up Phrasal Verbs.

UsingEnglish.com is always updating it database. You can check the latest entries here!

Phrasal Verbs are often used in Idiomatic Expressions. An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words, which can make idioms hard for ESL students and learners to understand. Here, UsingEnglish.com provides a dictionary of 3,540 English idiomatic expressions with definitions.

Many idioms have been classified into topic groups, which you can browse by using categories.

Idioms By Country


Phrasal Verbs List: 200 common phrasal verbs 1

This is a list of about 200 common phrasal verbs, with meanings and examples.

Phrasal verbs are usually two-word phrases consisting of verb + adverb or verb + preposition. Think of them as you would any other English vocabulary. Study them as you come across them, rather than trying to memorize many at once.

Use the list below as a reference guide when you find an expression that you don’t recognize. The examples will help you understand the meanings. If you think of each phrasal verb as a separate verb with a specific meaning, you will be able to remember it more easily.

Like many other verbs, phrasal verbs often have more than one meaning. As well as learning their meanings, you need to learn how to use phrasal verbs properly. Some phrasal verbs require a direct object (someone/something), while others do not. Some phrasal verbs can be separated by the object, while others cannot. Review the grammar lesson on phrasal verbs from time to time so that you don’t forget the rules!

Have a look HERE!