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Mary's English Blog - Education & Personal Development
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How AI Can Help You Learn English Faster and Smarter | Mary's English Blog
Since starting this blog in 2013, I’ve been passionate about helping learners of English around the world—especially those learning it as a second or third language. One of my favourite methods is using songs to teach grammar, and many of you have told me how fun and effective that approach is. Another approach which I…
Easter 2025 | Mary's English Blog
Happy Easter English Learners! I hope you enjoy a well-earned break from your daily routine. However, there's no need to have a break from English! Have you ever wondered why bunnies, chickens, and eggs are everywhere at Easter time? Well, wonder no more! I have found an informative, entertaining YouTube video that covers just about…
Spelling Mistakes that Ruin your Writing | Mary's English Blog
English spelling is not easy for anyone learning English as a second language. It may surprise you to learn that many native English speakers are not good at spelling in their native language. They know that spelling is very important for writing a job application or an essay for university exams and bad spelling can…
A Song with Present Simple & Past Simple | Mary's English Blog
Did you know that the Present Simple is the most commonly used tense in spoken and written English? It accounts for between *50-60% of English communication. The second most commonly used tense is the Past Simple with nearly *20% usage. The number one song in the USA right now is YMCA by The Village People.…
Difficult Pronunciation & How to Remember It #2 | Mary's English Blog
Photo by Mimi Thian, Unsplash Today, I will continue to focus on common English words that many of you find difficult to pronounce. (See my previous post: Difficult Pronunciation & How to Remember It) Here is a quick reminder: My students can usually pronounce these difficult words if I give them an easy keyword containing the…
Christmas 2024 | Mary's English Blog
Greetings Dear Students! It's the Festive Season now for many of you: end-of-year party time; the beginning of summer holidays for the southern hemisphere; and Christmas celebrations and festivities. As requested last Christmas, this year I am including some Christmas stories and Christmas-related activities and recommendations. Hopefully, the Christmas stories will be informative, and the…
MUST – The Most Misunderstood Modal! | Mary's English Blog
Greetings English Learners! Do you remember when you first learned the meaning of 'must'? Must = Rules and Obligation. You must obey the road rules! You must not be late! Doctor: You must take two pills with food daily for a week! How often have you heard people speak like this? Not sure? Can't recall?…
Improve Fluency with Understatement | Mary's English Blog
Greetings Advanced English learners! Today, I am looking at how you can improve your fluency with a simple technique and you can start today. Yes, today! Ready? Let's start. Have a look at the painting below. What do you think? Do you like it? You might reply, It's good. Perhaps, you would say, Yes, I…
Christmas 2023 | Mary's English Blog
Happy Christmas! It's that time of year again when many of us prepare to celebrate Christmas. Traditionally, for Christians, it is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ approximately 2,000 years ago. However, Christmas has become an important time for celebrating with family and friends for both Christians and non-Christians. Let's have a look at…
Relative Clauses #11: Advanced non-defining Relative Clauses | Mary's English Blog
First, read the earlier posts on Relative Clauses, especially #3 and #6. Advanced non-defining Relative Clauses are not as difficult as their name suggests. There are only two Relative Clause Pronouns used, whom & which, and the Relative Clause is usually at the end of the sentence. If you are studying for an IELTS or CAMBRIDGE …
Gerunds & Infinitives – What is the difference? | Mary's English Blog
GERUNDS Gerunds are usually nouns but they are different from other nouns because they are made from verbs. ∗ Changing verbs into other forms: nouns or adjectives, for example, is common in many languages. Think about how your language changes verbs into other forms as you continue reading. ♦ Gerunds are always singular: Cooking dinner…
Difficult Pronunciation & How to Remember It – Part 1 | Mary's English Blog
Photo by Mimi Thian, Unsplash Greetings English Learners! This will be my last Post for this year and I have decided to focus on common English words that many of you find difficult to pronounce. My students can usually pronounce these difficult words if I give them an easy keyword containing the same sound. For example,…
Mercy & Cancel Culture – Advanced Reading | Mary's English Blog
Nick Cave is a is an Australian singer, songwriter, author, and screenwriter. On his website, The Red Hand Files, he answers questions from fans, any questions about anything. In this post, I'm featuring his eloquent response to the questions: What is mercy for you? What do you think of cancel culture? ∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼∼ The Red Hand…
Improve Your English Listening with a Jolly Song! | Mary's English Blog
Hello English Learners! It's time for some English Listening! Well, it's always time for listening. If you enjoy what you are listening to, learning a language is more fun, and more productive. Don't you agree? Songs are a fantastic learning tool and today I have a cheerful song for you: Following the Sun by Neeka…
Spelling Mistakes that Ruin your Writing | Mary's English Blog
English spelling is not easy for anyone learning English as a second language. It may surprise you to learn that many native English speakers are not good at spelling in their native language. They know that spelling is very important for writing a job application or an essay for university exams and bad spelling can…
A song with Possessive Adjectives | Mary's English Blog
When English students first learn Possessive Adjectives, they should feel encouraged. There are only seven forms: my, your, his, her, its, our, & their. That's all! Many European languages have 14 - 20+ forms, depending on whether the noun is singular, plural, male or female. The rules are simple: ♦ Possessive Adjectives always go before…
Advanced Reading & Writing ∼ Learn from the Best Writers! | Mary's English Blog
Greetings English Learners. It's not always easy to find good examples of English writing to show you. Actually, 'good' is not good enough! I want 'brilliant' examples, and you shall have them! Of course, there are numerous excellent authors around the globe. However, for short reads in newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet, there is…
Do you know how to talk about Social Media and the Internet in English ? | Mary's English Blog
Here’s another post from Vocabulary in Chunks that I hope you'll enjoy. Listening to videos like these is easy English practice. I know that studying a language can be hard work so you need to find a way to enjoy it whenever possible. If you enjoy these videos, have a look at their other videos.…
Present Perfect Tense – Part 1 | Mary's English Blog
FORM (have / has + past participle) Look at these sentences: Leo’s English improved when he started a course at Langports English College. His English is improving. His English has improved since he started at Langports. The first sentence gives information about the past, only the past. So we use the Past Simple: improved. We…
A song with Collocations and Idioms | Mary's English Blog
The English language is full of collocations and idioms. By collocations, I mean words that naturally go together like 'high hopes', 'heavy rain', and 'make friends'. We don't say 'tall hopes', 'huge rain' or 'produce friends'. Idioms are expressions whose meaning cannot be predicted by the words in the expression; for example, 'to kick the…
A Song with First Conditional, Imperatives, and Collocations | Mary's English Blog
Dua Lipa sings a song, Don't Start Now, in which she tells an ex boyfriend very clearly that their relationship is finished and she is not interested in seeing him again. Her life is so much better without him. Her message to him is clear: If you don't want to see me with another man,…
5 Weak Words to Avoid & What to Use Instead | Mary's English Blog
Weak words are commonly used in everyday English speech. Perhaps we are a little lazy. Perhaps we know that we convey meaning using our tone of voice. No doubt, you have similar common words in your language which are used often in speech. I don't have a problem with this. However, weak words are to…