Fresh on the blog

This time, we are going to look at a question that naturally follows the issue of how the Japanese lifestyle has changed over the last 10 years, which was considered in a previous blog.

There is something a lot of people do when they are nervous while speaking. It's the statement that sounds like a question: when your intonation rises at the end of a sentence that is not a question. When we make a statement, it is supposed to stay straight. 

In this blog, we are going to look at a G.B.C. question that should be quite easy to answer. However, sometimes the easiest questions cause the most confusion when you are thinking about what to say.

In this first blog of the series, we are going to look at a question about which many of you may not have specialised knowledge or a strong opinion. However, with some basic information, a good structure and some sophisticated vocabulary, it is still possible to produce a very good answer.

Does the name Sara Blakely ring a bell (= sound familiar) with you?  What?  No? 

Yeah, it didn't for me either.

Why is advertising so annoying?

This month is my last month in Brazil. I will move to NZ with my family. We are leaving here on Tuesday. The day has arrived so fast!

Language and word choice can affect our mental patterns in interesting ways. I wonder how foreign words, as well as many others, affect our way of thinking in ways we might not realize.

Around the world, work weeks are vastly different.

Writing sentences is a good way to work on your English, and many of you do this already. However, it's not easy to check sentences through Skype, and you have no way to review easily.

Britain has voted to leave the European Union, a decision commonly called Brexit—a word made from combining "Britain" and "exit".  This will be big news for the foreseeable future, especially as markets adjust to the new situation.

Most non-native English speakers have trouble leading a conversation. Part of this is personality—some people are natural leaders, and other are not. But eventually everyone should be able to lead a conversation where they want to go. Learn the steps to do so.

Do you think you might say something like this: "My favourite menu is miso ramen." What about when you are busy. Would you say something like this? "I have a schedule at 2 p.m."

To understand how to perform in the G.B.C. test, it helps to know what the testers are looking and listening for. The test does not only evaluate your English speaking skills in the traditional sense (i.e. grammar, vocabulary etc.), but also tests you on your performance.

When things go belly up, they fail or die. This is a common idiom used in business for when a company goes bankrupt. You can use it in other situations, too.

All languages borrow words from other languages. The Japanese language uses a lot of phrases and words from English and other languages. Many times they are changed in their meaning or usage. That means that when you use these words in English, you should be careful.

You are sick. You have to go to work. Maybe you say to your co-worker or friend, “My condition is not good today.” However, using the word “condition” like this is not natural in English. Learn how to say it the natural way.

People often confuse “content” and “contents“.  These words are used differently in English.