When we try to decide which language is the hardest to learn, we have a problem. Everything, but everything, is subjective. There are a lot of factors that contribute to language learning difficulties. Broadly, we could sum these up as: The language(s) you grew up speaking Your attitude Your personal context If you grew up …
At the end of every year, we see a list of new words people started to use a lot and are being included in dictionaries as colloquialisms at the very least. We also come across popular words that always existed, but weren’t used much until some major event or trend triggered a revival. To make …
Writing is a solitary occupation, but that doesn’t mean you’re on your own! While you use 2017 to try to up your word count and write that first novel, you don’t have to do it all by yourself. There are plenty of sources to generate inspiration and helpful tips in the year to come. If …
When you’re writing an academic essay, or any written report for that matter, you may be tempted to wrap things up as quickly as possible. You may even be tempted to just leave your reader hanging as soon as you’ve presented all the facts and arguments. If you do that, you leave your reader in …
When you write a paper or essay, you must have a thesis statement. What is it? It’s a statement of your position or point of view. You’ll use much of your essay backing this position up with supporting information, looking at counter-arguments, and generally explaining why you took this point of view. Remember, no thesis …
As an adult English speaker, you’re expected to have an extensive vocabulary that includes some words that are seldom used in conversational English. You should also be striving to improve your vocabulary. While all these lists are somewhat subjective, they’re a good way to see how good your current vocabulary happens to be, and work …
A subordinating conjunction (also called subordinate conjunction) links two particular parts of a sentence: a dependent and an independent clause. When a sentence has these two elements, it’s classified as complex. Here is an example of a dependent clause. If you dare to hit me, Hey, don’t you want to know what’s going to happen …
Before you begin to feel bad about not knowing when to use “it’s” as opposed to “its,” I have a confession to make. There was a time long, long ago, in a galaxy very like this one, when I didn’t know the difference either! In my defense, it is really easy to get confused. Generally …
Here’s a nice easy one to remember the difference between the words former and latter. Do you see the “for” in “former”? Use it to tell you the thing you’re talking about came before another thing that you mentioned. Do you see the “latte” in “latter”? That means you should have a cup of coffee! …
Direct speech can be difficult to smoothly navigate when you’re writing, but if you’re writing a novel or short story, dialogue is almost certainly going to happen at some point. When there is a conversation, the most common thing to do is use “said” when a person speaks: “Are you crazy?” said Mary. “Some of …
