So I've been thinking lately about the bigger things in life. Why? Mainly due to the fact that I have been on a forced digital detox (and no, still no WiFi). I got to thinking about how some of these things related to learning languages and in particular, learning English. 

Here are some the conclusions I arrived to:

1. Perfection is not essential
2. Mistakes are good (if used in the right way)
3. Don't worry if it takes you longer than expected to hit your goals
4. Don't worry about the small things - put things into perspective

I'd like to expand on some of these points, if you don't mind...

 Everybody wants to be perfect in another language. This is totally understandable. But is it achievable? Well, it depends. With enough time and dedication, of course it is. But it is not something that happens quickly.

This following questions may seem stupid but it is worth thinking about: how long did it take you to become perfect in your mother tongue? With the ideal conditions, it still took years - thousands and thousands of hours. So don't worry if you aren't perfect in English just yet. It will happen but take it step by step. 

Too often, I see students having red faces when they ​make a mistake. But in reality, the mistake seems much bigger to you than it does to the person who hears it. If they even notice it. 

I know this feeling. I had it too when I first started speaking German. It is totally natural. But most people are polite and will smile if you make a mistake. It is really not something to worry about. In fact, mistakes can be good if you learn from them. 

Even as I write this post, I have a smile on my face thinking about some of the mistakes I made during conversations in German. They can be some of the funniest conversation you have. For every "big" mistake I made, I never made again as the image in my mind was so clear that I could never forget it. True, fun and effective learning. I suggest you enjoy any mistakes you make and try to learn from them.  

All good things can to those to wait, right? Wrong! I think all good things come to those to persevere and don't give up. As mentioned above, it can take a long time to reach your goals in English. But that's not really a big problem, is it? Everything is hard before it's easy. 

But here's the thing: if you do give up, it will always be hard. The best example I can think of is when you first learn to drive. It was difficult, wasn't it? There was so much to remember and that's even before we had to parallel park! But after enough time, it became easy. Maybe, the journey wasn't a smooth one but you got there. And you will with English if you keep at it. 

Not everything will always go to plan so recalculate and then keep going. Just never ever ever give up!

What's the difference between annoying and bad? Well, actually, sometimes it's hard to make the distinction. For example, I've gone 8 weeks now with WiFi. At the beginning, as you can imagine, I thought this was terrible and why me? Now, I have realised that it is annoying but it is not bad. 

Bad things involve not being healthy or something happening to your family. Making a mistake in English, not speaking perfectly or not having WiFi are not bad things - simply annoying ones. And there's no reason to let these annoying things occupy too much of your time. Life is too short for that. 

​So, relax, smile and enjoy the journey. 

Let me know what you think please by putting a comment below. 

Here is the complete transcript:


Hello there,

and welcome to another Grammar Bites from Learn-EnglishOnline.net. In today's Podcast, we will cover how -ed is pronounced at the end of a word in English.

Basically, the -ed ending can have three different sounds – all of which will be explained. Also, there will be a complete transcript to this Podcast, just in case you can't remember everything.

The first sound we will look at is -ed as a 't'. If a word ends in F, K, S or P, the -ed is pronounced like a -t. So to make this easy to remember, just think of 'F, K, S and P, -ed sounds like 'T'.' There are three other sounds which make -ed at the end of word sound like a 'T'. These are Ch, Sh and Th. To remember this, think 'THe CHurch SHop has Tea'.

-ed at the end of a word can also sound like -id. If the end of the word sounds 'T' or 'D', then it will sound like – id. Simple as that. 

For all other sounds, -ed at the end of word will sound like 'D'.

There are 9 common words which are exceptions to the previous rules. The words are aged blessed, crooked, dogged, learned, naked, ragged, wicked, wretched. The good news is, as you can hear, they all sound like -id.

So just to recap quickly, 'F, K, S and P, -ed sounds like 'T'.' So does Ch, Sh and Th. Think 'The Church Shop has Tea' Then for all other sounds, '-ed sounds like 'D'

That's it folks. Please comment if you have any questions. Don't forget to check out the website, www.learn-englishonline.net. I have been Jay O'Reilly from Learn-EnglishOnline.net and until the next time, happy learning.  

In today's Grammar Bites Podcast, we are going to look at the differences between 'do' and 'make'.

Lately, I have taught several teenagers and some, let's say 'older teenagers', who spoke really well but yet had not studied English beyond the basics. I asked them how is their English so good and they all told me that they game online and, crucially in English. 


The reason their English is so good is because they spend hours gaming, they interact with other people ,they come across a wide variety of vocabulary and I think most of all, they have fun doing it. Some even so far to say that gaming in English is much better than gaming in their own language.  Beats looking in a book, doesn't it?


It is the sort of learning we like at Learn-EnglishOnline.net. Interacting and being engaged in English, beats book learning every time. 


There are so many different games to chose from and many for free, so there is a game for every body. Another benefit of this is that you will also make genuine friends in the process. Maybe, you can show them some of your own language too. 

If you do not want to game online for whatever reason and but still would like to try gaming in English, then I recommend playing Fallout 3 and above. It is perfectly suited for learning English. There are hours of dialog with professional voice actors as well as being able to interact with every object so you can learn the names of every object without ever opening a book. Sound good or what?


So it is well and truly time to brush down your old video console. 


Let us now what games you have played in English or want to play in English below.  


Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net