Archive for the Articles Category

Common Mistakes in IELTS Writing

Since vast majority of my students are Russians, it often happens that I see the same errors over and over again in different IELTS essays, letters and academic part 1. The main reason for this is the interference of Russian. When learners try to translate a phrase word-for-word, they can

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IELTS Sample Essay – Dying Languages

Here is one more IELTS essay about dying languages (Cambridge 9, Test 4, Academic Writing). You will see that the topic was a bit tricky, because the second sentence actually holds a) the opinion “this is not important” and b) an argument “because life will be easier if there are

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Ten Advanced English Phrasal Verbs

With each level, English learners are mastering a new bunch of phrasals. Those who enjoy reading are at an advantage because they come across new phrasal verbs in each book and article they read. Of course, it is important to look new words up in a dictionary in order to

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A Stressful Job Interview in English

Since I started doing interview coaching, I collected some stories about unusual interviews. Take, for instance, Heineken job interview that went viral, where the candidates were put to the unexpected situation test. What would you do if your interviewer suddenly had a heart attack? You probably know a great deal

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IELTS Sample Essay – Children And Foreign Languages

Just one more essay that I wrote for IELTS topic about the benefits and drawbacks of learning foreign languages at primary school. After the essay I will show how I used collocations. Just to remind, you can benefit from IELTS online course and develop all the four skills there, including

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Seven Good Habits to Improve Your English Every Day

English learners need constant inspiration, interest and persistence. You can’t improve English during a few months, it’s more of a long-term project. Drilling grammar exercises and learning new vocabulary may become boring one day. Also, it is rather easy to start skipping lessons, after which it may be challenging to

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Some English Idioms about Sea And Ocean

British history is closely connected with sea exploration and sailing. Nowadays many sea idioms are still used in English in the sphere of business where a company is compared with the ship, and the market with the ocean or sea. 1. To be at sea This English idiom means being

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How to Plan Your IELTS Essay

It is the most serious mistake a person makes during IELTS writing exam, when they start writing without a clear plan. If you don’t have a plan, you can repeat ideas, use wrong examples, or even forget about the focus of the task altogether. So, take three minutes and spend

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Winter Idioms

This article is about English winter idioms. By learning them, you can enrich your speech and impress your teacher at an international English exam. Remember that most idioms are colloquial expressions. So, it would be better to avoid them in essays, but use during speaking. 1. In the dead of

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MOOCs As a Non-standard Way to Improve English

The first time I heard about MOOCs (massive online open courses) was some years ago, when three of my friends programmers did several online courses offered by Stanford University. One of those friends later got a job with Google, in their Swiss office. At that time, the only things I

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