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30-day Idiom Challenge #day8

🟢 The word built to catch French speakers out There's an everyday English word that seems engineered to trip up French speakers: clothes! It sits right at the intersection of two reasonable French instincts -both wrong for English: 1. Trust the spelling: French spelling has silent letters, but follows predictable rules. English offers no such deal: the same letters produce wildly different sounds depending on the word, with no pattern to rely on 100%. So when a word looks like it should have two syllables, as ‘clothes’ does, trusting that instinct seems reasonable - it's just that English betrays that trust here. 2. Use the nearest sound: The middle of clothes needs a voiced "th" (/ð/). French doesn't have this sound, so speakers substitute a hard /d/ or /z/. Combine both, and 'clothes' becomes clo-dez, clode-zis, or clo-ziz (adding a second syllable like houses). The hack: English gives you two accepted pronunciations: keeping the "th" (/kləʊðz/) OR dropping it entirely (/kləʊz/). For French speakers, /kləʊz/ is your best friend - it sounds identical to 'close' (as in 'close the door'). Say "CLOSE the door!", then say "I bought some new CLOTHES" using /kləʊz/. Same sound. If what comes out is closer to "clo-dez" or "clode-zis," now you know exactly why. It's not a knowledge gap, it's two reasonable instincts applied to the one English word that refuses to cooperate. 🕵️ Ready to catch the others? Book a trial lesson and we'll find out which sounds are quietly working against you. Hester

Healthcare Vocabulary for IELTS #ielts #ieltsvocabulary

Egypt is my top travel destination recommendation. It is home to the magnificent Pyramids of Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, which contains thousands of ancient artifacts dating back more than 4,000 years. Visitors can also enjoy a cruise on the Nile River, explore historic Islamic Cairo, relax on the beautiful beaches of the Red Sea, and experience Egypt's rich culture, history, and hospitality. It is truly a unique destination that combines ancient civilization with unforgettable experiences.

✨ Today’s Japanese Tip ✨ Many Japanese textbooks teach this: 👤「日本語が上手ですね！」 (Your Japanese is so good!) 😊「いいえ、まだまだです。」 ( No, I still have a long way to go) And yes, this is a common and polite response. But I would like learners to know, it’s also perfectly natural to simply say: 😊「ありがとうございます！」 😊「ありがとうございます。うれしいです！」 Some learners worry that accepting a compliment sounds arrogant in Japanese. It doesn’t. In fact, many Japanese people are happy to see that their compliment made you smile. So if someone says, 「日本語がお上手ですね！」 Don’t feel like you have to reject the compliment. A sincere 「ありがとうございます！」 is completely natural too💛

Today, I came to Round One after college. At Round One, I played medal games, darts, and pool. When I got home, I had mala soup for dinner. Tomorrow, I have to go to college for make-up classes. I have English and biology classes tomorrow. I have a biology test next week, so I need to study a lot. I also have a part-time job tomorrow, so it’s going to be a really busy day.

Why to eliminate filler words, and how to do so One of my top observations over the past few years is that a huge obstacle to understanding someone is the overuse of filler words. The ”like”. The ”ums”. The ”uhhhhs”. The ”well, uh”…. This applies to both native speakers as well as people learning English. #1: You sound less confident. It undermines you, no matter how much you know, when ''like'' and ''uhhh'' invade every sentence. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #2: Your presentations will become less understandable. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #3: Filler words are just annoying. They make it harder to understand the speaker. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #4: Most importantly, the filler words are a distraction to YOU. Yes it’s time to get selfish here. When we become really observant about the process of speaking to other humans, we notice quickly that those filler words are often born from anxiety, uncertainty and even fear. We fill the air with these noises and it actually interferes with the next thought. The mouth says ”uhh” but for most of us the brain can’t think at 100% when the mouth is busy uttering nonsense syllables. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don’t distract yourself with these useless words. Instead, you can use a replacement pause (take a pause to think, breathe, and then move on). Also, prepare more. Know your subject, backward and forward. . Preparation is so important but often downplayed in the modern world of instant gratification. In short, cut out the filler words. Be prepared and take brief pauses when the impulse arises to use the filler word. Your colleagues, subordinates and bosses will appreciate the effort. Cheers. (Adapted from the Aandego blog and podcast)

“What is the hardest English interview question for you?” A) Tell me about yourself B) What are your weaknesses? C) Why should we hire you? D) Salary questions