When I was working on my Master’s degree at the University of San Francisco, one of my professors told us a story about a Korean man who had applied for an open position at the university. The interview went great, my professor said. The candidate was knowledgeable and pleasant to talk to; he answered all […]
Confusing English pronunciation: L vs. W
During my last trip to Bulgaria, I had a conversation with a person who was helping me with some paperwork. At one point, answering one of my questions, he told me that I could find more details about the topic we were discussing “on wine.” Although this sounded odd to me, I immediately knew that […]
What is the best way to learn English?
How to speak up – even in “imperfect” English
My last flight from Europe back to the US went so smoothly that I was almost suspicious. “Could anything still go wrong?” I asked myself when the plane landed at the San Francisco airport. My husband and I spent the last five weeks in Europe, splitting our time between our two respective native countries Poland […]
10 commonly confusing English phrasal verbs
Prepositions give many nonnative speakers of English a very hard time. And when they are used to form phrasal verbs, they seem even harder. Oftentimes it is challenging to remember what preposition follows a certain verb in order to communicate a particular meaning. According to the Oxford dictionary, a phrasal verb is a verb that […]
How to be an effective communicator
Commonly confused English words
When I was in college, one day during my math class the teacher was explaining an equation. One of my classmates, an Arabic speaker, raised his hand and asked a question referring to the remainder in the equation as a “reminder.” This slight mispronunciation made our teacher smile and she told him that he was […]
How to start thinking in English
Devoicing final consonants
“You nailed it” and other idioms
A while ago I heard a nonnative speaker complaining that he had totally misunderstood his boss because of a phrase the latter had used. The situation was the following: the nonnative speaker presented something at work and after the presentation he asked his boss for feedback. “You killed it,” his boss said. The presenter was […]