“Don’t Harvey me!”: Suits and the wonders of the English language

“Don’t Harvey me!”: Suits and the wonders of the English language

image courtesy of https://ling-app.com/ I don’t have much time to spend on Netflix, at least from September to August, so when one of my Legal English students suggested that I watched the series Suits I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. But after the first episode...
What does it mean to be bilingual?

What does it mean to be bilingual?

To become a bilingual, if not a multilingual o polyglot person, we must lose ourselves not only to the new language that we are learning, but to the identity and to the vision of the world that this language represents. In fact, learning a language only because we...
10 English idioms for you – #1

10 English idioms for you – #1

Hi there! Here’s the first of another series of posts about the English language, this time concerning one of my favourite features of the world’s Lingua Franca: idioms! But what’s an idiom again? According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, it is a group of words...
Learning vocabulary: the importance of context

Learning vocabulary: the importance of context

(Scroll for Italian version – Versione italiana di seguito)  How many times have you felt frustrated because you couldn’t come up with a word while talking to someone? How many times have you learnt a piece of vocabulary and realised you’d forgotten it the...

Imparare senza studiare: campi estivi in inglese e corsi non scolastici

Chi l’ha detto che bisogna spendere centinaia, se non migliaia di euro a settimana per far trascorrere ai vostri figli intere giornate immersi nella lingua inglese? Your Summer in English è una piccola oasi di divertimento, giochi, attività manuali, attività fisica,...
How many ways to say “hello”?

How many ways to say “hello”?

Well…. many. And not only to simply say “hello”, but also to ask “how are you?”, even though sometimes they are merged and we kinda say “how are you” to actually say “hello” and we don’t mean to ask a question.  I know, that’s confusing sometimes 😀 Ok, so what I...
Not as the grammar book says… #1

Not as the grammar book says… #1

(versione italiana di seguito) Grammar word cloud with magnifying glass, concept 3D illustration Hi there English students! This is the first of a series of articles I’m going to write about the differences that we sometimes encounter in the rules a grammar book...
Is there a shortcut to fluency?

Is there a shortcut to fluency?

(versione italiana di seguito) Over the past few years I’ve noticed that more and more schools have started to offer intensive, 1-to-3-month, speedy courses that promise to take you to a good level of fluency even if you start from zero. Is that really possible? To...
“English grammar is difficult!” ……or is it?

“English grammar is difficult!” ……or is it?

(versione italiana di seguito) I’ve heard students say this many many times, and I have always tried to find a way to convince them that the most difficult aspect of English isn’t grammar.  Before we dive into this, though, it is important that we reflect on the...