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English Skills

Four Common Thesis Statement Mistakes in Academic Essays

Four Common Thesis Statement Mistakes in Academic Essays - A thesis statement is a clearly-worded summary of your opinion about a topic. In my...

Build Active Vocabulary: Mental Strategies and Quick Tips

Build Active Vocabulary: Mental Strategies and Quick Tips for English Learners For English language learners, continuing to build vocabulary...

Writing: The 4 Basic Parts of an Essay

Academic Writing: The 4 Basic Parts of an Essay - Writing a clear, convincing essay is an important English skill, whether it's for school,...

Pronunciation: Can and Can’t

Pronunciation: Can and Can't - This video lesson will help you recognize the difference between can and can't in American English...

American Humor Part 3 – Riddles

Understanding American Humor - Part 3: Riddles - Understanding what people think is funny—and why—is a challenge for anyone who tries to learn...

Where Could English Tutoring Take You?

Where Could English Tutoring Take You? - You have goals for your life: places you want to go, things you want to experience,...

American Humor Part 2 – Knock-Knock Jokes

Understanding American Humor - Part 2: Knock-Knock Jokes - Understanding what people think is funny—and why—is difficult in any language. The...

Understanding American Humor – Part 1

Understanding American Humor - Part 1: Puns - Understanding what people think is funny—and why—is difficult in any language. In fact, one sure...

English Pronunciation and The Magic of Vowels

English Pronunciation and The Magic of Vowels: Every language learner knows the uncomfortable feeling: You just started a friendly conversation...

4 Steps to Confident Conversations

4 Steps to Confident Conversations - It happens quickly: At a small gathering of people, you suddenly find yourself face-to-face with someone...

Polite English: 3 Common Mistakes When Saying Please

Polite English: 3 Common Mistakes When Saying Please - Everyone recognizes the importance of being polite, whether it's in your first or second...

How to Make an Apology That Builds Trust

How to Make an Apology that Builds Trust - Regardless of where you live or what language you speak, we all make mistakes in life. Some people...

5 Ways to Feel Confident in Your Spoken English

5 Ways to Feel Confident in Your Spoken English - How can you build confidence in your spoken English ability? Every language learner dreams...

4 Great Sentence Styles to Upgrade Your Writing

Upgrade Your Writing with these 4 Great Sentence Styles - When you need to make a great impression in your writing, basic sentence structures...

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ESOL Advantage

2 days 15 hours ago

We've had some spring thunder and lightning this week--here's a great idiom for the occasion!

ESOL Advantage

3 weeks 16 hours ago

The history of words and common expressions is an endlessly interesting topic! Learn the origins of eight common English phrases--you may be surprised by some

8 Common English Phrases with Surprisingly Dark Origins

What do criminals, horse-drawn carriages, and hats all have in common? Learn the surprisingly dark history of some common English phrases.

ESOL Advantage

1 month 5 days ago

The #WordOfTheDay is ‘kitsch.’ ow.ly/6OYs50VxIjL

ESOL Advantage

1 month 3 weeks ago

Scholarships are awarded annually to current and prospective BC students. Scholarship awards are based on academic merit, financial need, personal history, achievement, or for specific

Grammar Guides

Vocabulary: 8 Common English Phrases with Surprisingly Dark Origins

Vocabulary: 8 Common English Phrases with Surprisingly Dark Origins - What do criminals, horse-drawn carriages, and hats have in common? They...

Vocabulary: Correctly Using Normal, Typical and Regular

Vocabulary: Using Normal, Typical and Regular Correctly - English has many words that seem similar but carry important differences in meaning...

Vocabulary: Using Say, Tell, Talk and Speak

Vocabulary: Using Say, Tell, Talk and Speak - This video lesson will help you recognize how and when to use these four important verbs. Click...

Participial Adjectives: Grammar Guide

Participial Adjectives: Grammar Guide - This video lesson offers rules and examples for understanding participial adjectives and using them to...

4 Apostrophe Rules: Grammar Guide

4 Apostrophe Rules: Grammar Guide - Apostrophes may be small, but they have a big impact on grammar! Correct usage of the apostrophe shows...

Understanding Clauses and Phrases: Grammar Guide

Understanding Clauses and Phrases - Developing advanced language skills requires understanding the structures and rules that are working...

3 Rules for English Phrasal Verbs: Grammar Guide

3 Useful Rules for English Phrasal Verbs - Look at the following sentences: “We need to find out when this happened, and why.” “If you don’t...

5 Rules for Using A and The in Sentences: Grammar Guide

Using A and The in Sentences: Grammar Guide - Even for people who are quite fluent in English, using A and The can still be confusing. This...

Conditional Sentences: Grammar Guide

Conditional Sentences: Grammar Guide - Conditional sentences are all about expressing possibilities. They include a main clause that offers...

Their, There, or They’re: Grammar Guide

Grammar Guide for Their, There, and They're - Spelling can be very challenging in English: very often, written words seem completely different...

Living

Great Leaders for Racial Equity in America

Great Leaders for Racial Equity in America - The history of racial equity in the U.S. has been shaped by the hard work of both men and women...

4 Great Reasons to Start Private English Lessons in 2025

4 Reasons Private English Lessons are a Great Way to Start the New Year - The start of a new year is the perfect time to set goals and make...

The History of New Year’s Resolutions

The History of New Year’s Resolutions: Each year as the calendar turns from December to January, people around the world take time to celebrate...

Christmas Traditions: 5 Lessons from A Charlie Brown Christmas

Christmas Traditions: 5 Lessons from A Charlie Brown Christmas For many Americans, watching A Charlie Brown Christmas in the month of December...

4 Fun American Thanksgiving Traditions

4 Fun American Thanksgiving Traditions: Each November, Americans from all kinds of backgrounds celebrate Thanksgiving, a U.S. national holiday...

Halloween Safety Tips

Halloween Safety Tips for Parents: Taking Your Kids Trick-or-Treating Halloween is an exciting time of year in the United States, especially...

Your First Halloween in the U.S. – 5 Things to Expect

Your First Halloween in the U.S. - 5 Things to Expect: Halloween—there is no denying that this October celebration is an important part of...

5 Fun Things to Do on Labor Day Weekend

5 Fun Things to Do on Labor Day Weekend - In the United States, the Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end of summer. Labor Day is always...

Being a Good Houseguest: 7 Helpful Tips

7 Helpful Tips for Being a Good Houseguest - The rules and expectations for what it means to be a good houseguest have a lot of variety from...

3 Steps to Reduce the Risk of Cyber Kidnapping

3 Steps to Reduce the Risk of Cyber Kidnapping: On December 28, Chinese exchange student Kai Zhuang ran away from his host family out into the...

4 Surprising Things About Parenting in the U.S.

4 Surprising Things About Parenting in the U.S. - Moving to the United States from another country brings changes and challenges of all kinds....

3 Great Ways to Make New Friends in the U.S.

3 Great Ways to Make New Friends in the U.S. - Moving to the U.S. can be both an exciting and a lonely experience. “At home in Japan I had a...

Resources

Great ESL Books for Kids (2024)

Great ESL Books for Kids (2024) - One of the best ways to help the young English language learners in your life develop the skills they need...

Book Recommendations: American Immigrant Stories

Book Recommendations: American Immigrant Stories - Crossing between cultures is an experience of deep, lasting change. Life in a new country...

American English Vowel Sounds

American English Vowel Sounds: American English has a large number of vowel sounds: around 20 of them! This set of sounds changes in different...

Resources for Vocabulary Building

Resources for Vocabulary Building - These are some of my resource picks for students who want to focus on building vocabulary. I've used all...

Pronunciation and Grammar Resources

Pronunciation and Grammar Resources - Pronunciation and Grammar can be a very useful combination for English Language Learners. Whether you...

Great ESL Books for Kids (2023)

Great ESL Books for Kids (2023) - When it comes to ESL books for kids, the options can be overwhelming! How to choose? Every good English...

Vocabulary and Grammar Resources

Vocabulary and Grammar Resources - Here are a few great resources for building vocabulary and English grammar skills:Grammar Resource:Top...

Videos

More

For more great English resources, take a look at our recommended links. All included links feature free options, though some have for-pay options as well.

Community:

English Language Learner’s Alliance – A Bellevue, Washington organization that sponsors activities for English Language Learners

Grammar:

British Council LearnEnglish – This site features British English rather than American, but offers useful free lessons on a variety of grammar topics
Dave’s ESL Cafe – Free resources for a variety of grammar topics that includes helpful examples and explanations

Pronunciation:

The Pacific Northwest English Study – A scholarly look at unique pronunciation features of Pacific Northwest English
Rachel’s English – A great collection of activities for both pronunciation and listening comprehension. Includes free and premium options.

Writing

The Purdue Online Writing Lab – Helpful guides to MLA, APA, and Chicago Styles for academic writing