Category Archive for : ‘English Lessons’

Strange Sounds in Different Languages

Sometimes when you’re are teaching English or learning English you discover strange things about different languages. This week in class Anne-Marie discovered that dogs make different noises in Arabic, Spanish, French and Italian! We then discovered other strange things… For example, in English the sound “smack” is what we hear when you hit someone in the face, but in French “smack” is the the sound of a kiss. Another strange one was that in English a pig says “oink” whereas in Hungarian a pig says “hunk”. A

What is learning English grammar like? Do you like it? Would you like to learn more? Follow the Everest Blog for amazing infographics, like this one! Do you feel like trying it? If you like the post about the uses of like, click like on Facebook. We would like that 🙂

Why is learning English difficult?
1. Pronunciation:

English is not a phonetic language.

So ‘red’ and ‘read’ are pronounced exactly the same in this sentence:
“She read the red book yesterday”

But ‘reed’ and ‘read’ are also pronounced the same, as in this sentence:
She sat among the reeds to read her book.

But ‘read’ in the first sentence is not pronounced the same as ‘read’ in the second sentence!

2. Spelling:

As a result of this, English spelling is extremely difficult (even for native speakers).

All the vowel sounds here sound the same but are spelt differently
keep seat he

There are FOUR conditional tenses in English.

We will start by looking at the ZERO conditional

Structure: IF + PRESENT SIMPLE, … PRESENT SIMPLE

Example: If water reaches 0 degrees, it freezes

If I drink gin, I cry!

We use the zero conditional to describe things that are always true (i.e. there are NO(or zero!) special conditions necessary in order for the second part of the clause to happen.

Think of the zero conditional as FACT or RELIABLE REALITY. As we move towards the FIRST,

Those are the basic rules…
now some advanced points for definite and indefinite articles:

Classes (formal):  The tiger is threatened with extinction.

To name a work by an artist: My mother found a  Salvador Dali in the attic.

National groups: The Irish are known to be great writers and drinkers.

In measurements ‘a/an’ can be used instead of ‘per’: If petrol costs €1 a litre and your car is travelling at 50 miles  an hour,  how much will it cost to drive for 10 miles?

Some plural political/music/other groups: