Grammar Bites: The Differences between 'Do' and 'Make' Podcast
In today's Grammar Bites Podcast, we are going to look at the differences between 'do' and 'make'.
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"Fail to prepare, prepare to fail" - this is so true when it comes to job interviews. With such a competitive job market at the moment, those who do not prepare will be left behind. You could be the prefect person for the job, but if you do a sloppy interview because of lack of preparation, you can kiss that job goodbye. But, luckily, there are several ways you can prepare for that all important interview.
The best way to prepare is to do a job interview classes with an experienced and trusted professional. This way you can get feedback and great advice to dramatically improve your interview technique. You will also get a lot of confidence from answering interview questions in an non-pressurized environment. Your teacher can help you prepare natural sounding answers in English. If you are interested in these classes, please look here. Another way, you can prepare for job interview is going looking up common job interview questions. This is a good way to see what interviewer generally ask interviewees. However, if you are making some mistakes, you will not know about them until the actual interview. But if you are confident in your English speaking abilities, then this may be a good option for you. Also, do not forget to try and find job interview questions related specifically to your job. The final way to prepare for your interview, is to just rehearse your CV and cover letter. This is the minimum you should do and is not advised in isolation. You get the job interview based on your cover letter and CV so you must know both inside out. If the make a reference to either in the interview and you cannot remember what you said, you are in big trouble. Try to flesh out what your interview says into good responses focusing on the essential skills for that particular job. So there you have it! The best thing is to take classes with a professional but failing that, make sure you have prepared common questions and know your CV and cover letter perfectly! Until next time, happy learning! Today, the world lost a great person in Robin Williams. His comedic genius, intelligence and warmness will really be missed. But fortunately, his memory will live on through his family and work.
He has thought us many things - just one look at his quotes list shows us that. But one thing English language learners can learn and use from the late Robin Williams is not to rely on scripted answers. He was known for coming up with many his best known lines on the spot, as I am sure many actors do, but Robin Williams had a special talent for this. What I am getting to here is do not just rely on scripted conversation answers in grammar or exercise books to improve your English. Because simply they won't. And you will sound very dated. This applies to all areas of English. If you can use your skills to construct an intelligent and rememberable answer, it will be infinitely better than just repeating a phrase or a sentence you read in an exercise book. For example, in a job interview or in an exam. Another problem is that most everyday conversations that happen in English are not like anything that you see in grammar and exercise books. And neither are the questions or answers. Also by challenging yourself to think like this and increase your English level will be much more beneficial for you than simply repeating something you saw. To finish this post, try to challenge yourself to think independently in English- of course it is going to be difficult but you will improve a lot quicker. Have you been learning English for a long time but feel you haven't improved for a long time also? This is a common problem but keep reading if you want a solution.
I am going to sound like a Eastern philosopher here but sometimes before you look out, you should look in. So, basically, maybe, it's not the material or the way you are learning English but rather your motivation. You really have to stop and ask yourself why am I learning English? If you are only beginning, it is a good idea to write your motivation on a piece of paper and look at it when you've lost your way a little. You should tailor what you want to learn and how you want to learn to your motivation. If you want to speak better, reading books, while very useful in its own right, is not going to help you achieve this. Or if you want to prepare for an exam, only watching TV series is not going to help you. The message in short is learn better by knowing exactly what you want before you start. If you can do this, you'll learn so much quicker and your learning path will be much straight forward (There's that Eastern philosopher in me again.). If you want any help or guidance, please get in touch and we'll have you on the right path before long! I am not sure if this a common problem or not but a student asked me today so I thought if any other student had this problem then this post would help.
So what's the difference between 'issue' and 'subject'? And when can I use them? Well, basically, in some cases they can be used interchangeably. For example, 'The main issue of the story is their forbidden love.' or 'The main subject of the story is their forbidden love.'. But, this is not always the case. So I am going to give you an easy way to know when to use which one: If it is a problem or concern, use 'issue'. For example, 'The main issue with learning English is the pronunciation.'. If it is related to a thought or discussion, use 'subject'. For example, 'The main subject of conversation was English pronunciation'. Hope this clears up any concerns you may have when to use these words. If you want us to answer any other English questions you may have, just send us an email or comment below. Until next time, happy learning! Our modern lives may be busy but never has it been easier to practice English. With the arrival of the internet and smart phones, learning English has become so much more vibrant and dynamic. But, even more importantly, it has become very accessible. This post is going to give you some ideas for learning English at home and on the go when time is at a premium.
If you commute every day and have a smart phone, you have a great opportunity to transform your boring commute into your very own moving classroom. Set a target of reading one English language article of your choice. Any words you don't know, look them up and write them down. Want to take it to the next level? Watch podcasts, television series or films while commuting. And for those who like reading, read an English language book or listen to an audiobook. Also, second-hand English books can be bought for very little nowadays. When at home, make use of the bigger screen of your computer and watch English language shows or even news reports. If you love sport, why not watch your favourite sport in English? Make it a goal to watch one episode of your favourite television series a day. Or even, ten pages of an English language book. It's easy to find different ways to interact with English over the internet; you just have to look. There are many ways to practice English in a way that suits you nowadays. Learning in small periods of time will help you greatly in the long run and will making learning English easier.This learning will have two great benefits: You will no longer be bored on the bus and you can learn more about what interests you. If you want any tips for good movies, tv series, audiobooks, podcasts or newspapers, please just leave a comment below or email me. Often, it can be frustrating when we make mistakes especially if we repeat the same mistake. But not all mistakes are bad. You just need to change how you view them. And in particular, while learning English, mistakes are going to happen. Don't think of them as 'Dang, I should have known that.' but rather, 'Great, I know that now.'
As mentioned in an earlier post, that is why feedback is so important. It will be your fast track guide to speaking like a native, both in vocabulary and pronunciation. Feedback offers another brilliant benefit: it's easier to remember a situation where you made a mistake and its correction than reading it in a book. When you make a mistake in English, it's important that you bring your thoughts to the present moment so when you get the correction, you actively remember it and it just doesn't go in one ear and out of the other ear. This way, you won't make the same mistake twice. It's not a bad idea to repeat the correction several times in your head or develop a routine when you get a correction, for example, lightly pinching yourself as you say the word so it will stick in your mind. Another thing to keep in mind is that what may seem like a huge mistake to you, may only be a smaller mistake to a native so don't be too tough on yourself. Just promise yourself you won't make the same mistake twice and watch your language skills grow and grow! As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please comment below or send us an email. Or even, send us a tweet at twitter.com/hangoutwitheng.  Accelerate your English It can be difficult to learn a new language and by not doing certain things, it can be almost impossible. This article is going to go through the three musts to accelerate your English.
1. Exposure: if you find that your English has reached a certain point and is not getting any better, you may need to expose yourself more to the language. This is the biggest key to learning a language. Learning from books while having their place will only bring you so far because as you'll soon find out most people don't speak like the Queen. Grammatical rules are important but they should be just considered as the back bone of a language; your foundation and nothing more. Never has it been easier to expose yourself to English for example by using Youtube or buying some books. Expose yourself as much as possible even if it is only for 10 minutes a day. 2. Practice: Practice makes perfect and learning English is no exception. But practice smart. Don't only focus on the aspects you like or don't like. Go for a more rounded approach as language learning is a combination of four skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking). In other words, don't only practice reading if you struggle (and don't like) speaking. 3. Feedback: You're going to make mistakes in English. Everybody does but the important thing is to learn from your mistakes and to not keep making them. Use your previous mistakes as a spring board for better English. This is where feedback comes in. Look for feedback, be it from people you talk to or from a teacher. Use their corrections to pinpoint your weaker points and then practice to stop making them forever. Just a point to remember, not everything everybody say to you will be correct or even accurate, so accept feedback as long as it is constructive and not negative just for the sake of being negative. To sum up, language learning is a combination of four skills so you need to practice all four skills together. You need to be exposed to English as often as possible, practice regularly and get constructive feedback when you can. Learn-EnglishOnline.net can help you with these areas so get in contact and accelerate your English today. If you have any questions or queries, please get in contact through this blog or by email, hangoutwithenglish@gmail.com. Image courtesy of Witthaya Phonsawat / FreeDigitalPhotos.net  So you've got that all important job interview coming up and you want to prepare for it. Now, what's the one question nearly every interviewer asks? You guessed it! Tell me about a time where you had a stressful situation and how you overcame it? Or, how do you handle stress and pressure? You can nearly guarantee that you will be asked a question like this. There are several ways to answer this question. So let's make that stressful situation pay off!
First, as mentioned in other posts, preparation is key. Just by thinking of a stressful situation and how you overcame it will see you giving a comprehensive and impressive answer in the interview. And remember to focus on the situations where you actually overcame the situation and what actions you took to resolve the situation. If this is your first job, tell the interviewer of a stressful situation you encountered at school or university and what actions you took to overcome it. You don't have to shy away from asking for assistance to solve the problem as this shows your ability to think on your feet and also to be a team player. Try to highlight the skills required for the job you want that you used to resolve the stressful situation. For example, if the job requires you to be flexible, highlight how your flexibility helped to resolve that stressful situation. Highlight the actions and problem solving strategies you used to overcome the stressful situation for example, time management and organisational skills. You can say that you work well under pressure but only if it's true as your employers will find this out very quickly once you start working with them. If you have any other job interview questions you want answered, leave a comment at the end of this page or send us an email. Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
AuthorHead teacher at Learn-EnglishOnline.net and language enthusiast. Archives
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