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I write about my favourite language learning strategies and resources. Whether you're working on improving your fluency in English or you're preparing for English proficiency exams, I hope they will help you.
They are all written by me, not by AI, so they are my opinions, my thoughts and most importantly, my voice.
I love to chat about all aspects of language learning, so let me know if you have any comments or questions about anything you read here.
Click on the category name above the post title (for example, Fluency in English or Studying Strategies) to view ALL the articles in that category.
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I don’t use AI for lesson planning. Why would I? Outsourcing the lesson planning, the most important part of preparing for a session with a client, is a short cut that I’m not prepared to take. I wouldn’t outsource it to another human being so I’m certainly not going to hand it over to a
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TOEFL / IELTS Exam Preparation
The new TOEFL 2026 exam is different. But you know this already! Do you also know that it requires a completely different approach to exam preparation? This new exam is less about exam strategy and more about English proficiency. In other words, you can't just be good at TOEFL, you need to be good at English to get the scores you
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There’s a very simple exercise you can do to improve your fluency in English -> If you make the effort to do this several times a day, and if you repeat this daily, then you’ll soon notice an improvement. When you’re trying to get better at speaking English, it’s easy to convince yourself that you’re working hard. You might spend time reading,...
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Shadowing is an excellent way to improve your fluency in English. Shadowing (or Delivery Shadowing or English Shadowing) is when you listen to a fluent English speaker and copy what you hear. That's it! You don’t worry about grammar structures or vocabulary as you’re speaking. You just concentrate on how the language sounds and imitate
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A lot of my Workplace and Business Communication clients have difficulty with the pronunciation of /ed/ verb endings in English. It’s a problem that isn't limited to any particular language group and for many of my clients, the error is fossilized. I’m going to explore this pronunciation feature here but rather than merely repeating the rules, I...
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Do you notice anything strange about these four expressions? 🟠 Say the truth🟠 Do a mistake🟠 Say my opinion🟠 Give an exam They all have a verb + determiner + noun combination so they are grammatically correct. But a fluent English speaker would say they "sound wrong". This is probably the most frustrating feedback that an English learner can...
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I've always enjoyed writing. I come from an education system where learning to write was an important part of the curriculum and where writing, including creative writing, was taught daily. So writing has always been part of my life. However, I understand that many people don't like writing and the burden of having a writing section forced on...
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If you're doing anything which requires learning a skill, it's important to understand how to work with your brain and not against it. There are many areas where this may be the case (like music and sport) but let's focus on improving your English as one particular skill. Improving your English proficiency involves a combination of knowing what...
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TOEFL / IELTS Exam Preparation
TOEFL 2026 is going to be very different from the current version of the exam. The changes that ETS has announced for TOEFL iBT share some features with other English proficiency tests such as Duolingo and IELTS so it’s definitely a nice upgrade. But before we consider difficulty, let’s take a quick look at the new exam
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TOEFL / IELTS Exam Preparation
Two major changes occurred in the TOEFL world last week. ETS announced updates to the format of the TOEFL iBT exam and the NAPB revised the score requirements for pharmacists. These are both major developments and will affect many students. Let's break down what these changes mean in reality and how you might need to adapt your TOEFL studying to...
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TOEFL / IELTS Exam Preparation
It’s perfectly natural to feel nervous the day before big exams. I’m sure you’ve taken many exams in your professional lives and you know that feeling only too well. If you’re getting ready for an English proficiency exam like TOEFL or IELTS, then how you prepare in the last couple of days before your exam can definitely affect the
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If the ONLY time you speak out loud in English is when you practise TOEFL or IELTS speaking questions, then you need to rethink your practice strategy. Both the TOEFL and IELTS speaking tests require exam candidates to demonstrate automaticity in speaking. Automaticity, in this case, means that you can quickly find the words that you want to use...
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TOEFL / IELTS Exam Preparation
I see a lot of questions from students asking for resources about how to get ideas for writing task 2 in TOEFL, the academic discussion response. And there are indeed many resources devoted to this topic including the best Google searches and AI prompts to use. But I actually think this is the wrong approach. Let me
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There are certain studying habits that successful students adopt. I've been tutoring TOEFL and IELTS students for ten years, and I've seen how these studying habits change attitudes and create success. I hope you'll try them. Too many students contact tutors 2 or 3 weeks before their deadline in a state of complete panic. Don’t be one of those...
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TOEFL / IELTS Exam Preparation
I’ve been tutoring TOEFL students for 10 years and in that time, I’ve reviewed hundreds - maybe thousands - of essays and written responses. While it’s true that every student is unique and has their own personal challenges, there are also patterns to the errors that I see in TOEFL writing. And these errors are repeated
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When you learn new skills, like improving your English fluency, or preparing for the TOEFL or IELTS exams, it's important to practise. A lot. I think most people accept this. However, some people believe that the QUANTITY of practice time is more important than the QUALITY of their
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Is this you? You’re taking lessons to improve your English (perhaps to prepare for exams or an important work event), everything is going well and you have the best intentions but you can't find the time to do any speaking homework for your tutor. When you get home from work after a long day, you’re tired, and other things always seem to get in...
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One common problem that all exam students face, is finding the time to study. This is understandable as most students have to balance work and family commitments with their studying time. But let's turn this around. If you think you DON'T have time to study, then think about all the other things you DO
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In the TOEFL exam, for candidates to achieve an advanced speaking score (25+ out of 30), their responses have to demonstrate, “generally well-controlled organization and cohesion”. This means that responses have to show a logical progression, and flow smoothly from one part to the next. In other words, the response has to make sense so that the...
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TOEFL / IELTS Exam Preparation
If you’re taking TOEFL or IELTS lessons with a teacher, then you'll know that you're making a big financial commitment as well as investing a lot of your time. This is good. It means you're serious about achieving your goals! However, if you want to succeed, then you MUST practice English outside lessons. There is only so much that a language...
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