Joanne Reilly 
English Academy
 

Idioms are phrases that are used in everyday language giving a figurative rather than a literal meaning to something. Read on to find out more... Native speakers use these phrases more often than we realise. You don't have to use them yourself, but it is important that you understand what they mean. Here are 9 idioms you will most likely have heard of, plus a brief example of how to use each one: Ahead of the game "We are known for being ahead of the game when it comes to ado

These are great words to use when you want to check information. They are used at the start of a question to find something out. Who is used when we want to find out about people in general. What is used when we want to find out about a thing, action, event or idea. Who Who wrote this song? Who is joining us for dinner this evening? Who would like another coffee? Who is doing anything interesting this weekend? Who would like another cup of coffee? What What is the name of the

When you email new customers or suppliers you want your message to be formal and professional. You want to give them a good impression of your company. There are 7 small changes you can make to your email to do this. You can change some of the informal phrases to formal words: 1) Request To ask for something. Informal: "I'm writing to ask for a chat about our new products." Formal: "I am writing to request a meeting with you to talk about our new line of coffee machines." NOT

Native English speakers use these essential expressions, also known as phrasal verbs, in everyday language all the time. When you are learning English these phrases can be confusing. Why? They are made up of two words, that when put together, have a different meaning to the two words separately... What is a phrasal verb? It is two words that are put together to create a new verb. Chill out Is a phrasal verb. Chill - is used to describe feeling cold. "I feel a chill, is there

In my opinion, this is the most difficult of the four skills to master. With this skill I feel that we are really 'putting ourselves out...

Listening requires a lot of focus. How often have you found yourself drifting off inside your own head when someone is talking to you, in your own language? You are mentally adding to the shopping list, or trying to compose a response to a WhatsApp message. There are many internal distractions that prevent us from listening. In our native language this is one thing, we might be able to pick up a general idea from the few words we have listened to, but what about in a foreign

How much do you need to write in your new language? Studying to achieve a qualification? You will need to write quite a bit. Going...

I'm guessing that if you opened this blog post then reading is not your favourite pastime. Unfortunately though it's something we all...