Last week, we looked at expressions and idioms with ‘hard’. This week, let’s look at the opposite – English expressions and idioms using ‘soft’. soft sell Meaning: to sell something in a polite, gentle manner Example: Dave’s an expert with the soft sell. He’s so charming, he can convince people to buy anything. to have …
Many people have difficulty remembering idioms in a second language. Here’s a fun way to remember idioms in English or any other language. If you are already good at using image association to remember new vocabulary, this may be similar to the techniques you use. All you need for this is a notepad and a …
Any comic book geeks out there will know the Silver Surfer as a character featured in the Fantastic Four comics. I saw it used in the news in another, interesting way this weekend in this article. The way it is used here is to talk about elderly people using the Internet. ‘Silver’ refers to the …
It’s Friday again and that can only mean one thing – Time for a quiz! Before taking this week’s English vocabulary quiz, remember to vote for Wil’s World of Words in the Lexiophiles Top 100 Language Blogs competition if you haven’t already voted. Thanks for your votes and remember, each one counts. 34th English vocabulary …
View Larger Map Portland is a city in the Northwestern United States. As cities in the US go, it’s not been that well-known in the past but recently Portland has become more and more famous as a ‘green’ environmentally-friendly city. Portlanders love cycling and if you are interested in organic food and healthy living, it …
Some people find English expressions and idioms hard to learn. I always teach students to remember idioms as one single piece of vocabulary rather than individual words. If you find idioms hard, try using this method – it really works. The theme of our English expressions and idioms this week is ‘hard’: caught between a …
The kind people over at the Lexiophiles blog have nominated Wil’s World of Words for their Top 100 Language Blogs award. I’m really pleased about this because I am a big fan of the Lexiophiles blog so this nomination really means a lot to me. If you would like to support Wil’s World of Words, …
Why do learning English and drinking coffee go so well together? Lots of my students and friends on Twitter love learning English while drinking a hot cup of coffee. I also like to have a cup of coffee while I’m teaching my morning classes. I find it’s a great way to start the day. I’m …
5 ways to improve your English in your coffee break Read More »