A tidbit about me: I think “titbit” is more fun to say.
Ask a Teacher: Is there any way to fix that?
A semi-regular feature in which I answer student questions.
I normally open these posts with something sarcastic—first, because I’m insecure and second, SPOILER ALERT these posts aren’t always based on actual student questions.
Of mice and people
There comes a time in everyone’s life when they have to learn about the birds and the bees. And also the mice. I’m not talking about The Sex Talk. I’m talking about The -S Talk, i.e. plurals in English.
A famously popular idea
This week I heard some people use “popular” and “famous” interchangeably. There are lots of overlaps, certainly — but they don’t mean exactly the same thing.
What, the L?
I used to wonder why we spelled “till” with two Ls when there’s only one L in “until.” Turns out “till” isn’t actually a quirky shortening of “until”; it beats “until” to the punch by about three centuries. Whoops.
Ask a Teacher: Plateaus & platitudes
A semi-regular feature in which I answer student questions.
Count on it
You’ve put in the hours and successfully integrated a new language into your life. And then someone starts rattling off figures — stocks, economic stats, the number of times a hawk jabbed them after dropping a live snake on them — you know, big numbers. And you freeze.
Most of us default to our native language for anything with numbers. It’s easier, right?
Take Five: Italian words
A semi-regular feature in which I share a handful of curious words or expressions.
Get used to it
You’re probably used to it by now, but did you use to have trouble talking about past habits in English?