Learn English the No-Nonsense way

Inside out – the part that is usually on the inside is facing out (turn something inside out = to make it inside out)

KEY SENTENCES

You’ve got your t-shirt on inside out . . . !

EXAMPLE

1. It was so windy this morning that my umbrella turned inside out!
2. When she pulled her jacket off, the sleeves turned inside out.
3. By mistake I wore my sweater inside out.
4. A “reversible coat” is a coat that you can turn inside out and wear both ways.
5. He wore, inside out, a slashed T-shirt with a red star hand-painted on it.

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Learning grammar – or infact learning English – though example sentences.

First read my ‘learning grammar’page.

Next grab your copy of this book: Natural Grammar
If you’re using the book above (and I recommend you do) then this page should help you a lot. If you’re not using the book, then practice the sentences anyway!  

Why this method is so great

Natural Grammar focus on grammar as ‘keywords’ of English. You don’t learn grammar rules. You don’t need to memorize tables of information. Because let’s face it, what’s the point in that?

What I’ve done

I spent hours/weeks/months going though the BNC (British National Corpus) and collected a lot of sample sentences that follow the patterns described in Natural Grammar.

Why is this useful? Because all of the sentences come from real British English, that’s why. They’re not fake like the examples in 99% of textbooks. They’re 100% real actually used and published somewheresentences.

First look at the ‘key sentences’. There is one for each pattern. Try to remember these ones. They’ll be your ‘anchor’ to that particular “bit” of English.  

Next you’ll see a lot of example sentences. Read them. Listen to them (audio coming soon). Do it a thousand times…

… to do it well …

You should use an SRS system like ‘anki’ to practice these sentences. Keep listening to a lot of English. And that’s it. Just keep doing it.

If you find this useful – leave a comment. In the near future I plan to get audio for every sentence up, as well as flashcards (for use with an SRS program)

Click here to view all lessons

Individual lessons:

• a/ an

• all

• the

• think

• be

• been

• being

Possibly Related Posts:

• Classes and the role of teachers
• Train to speak fluently: shadowing
• Get an English ear. Learn English by listening to it.

KEY SENTENCES

1. Even people we think of as being super rich complain that they want more money!
2. I was being stupid. I’m sorry; please forget I ever said such a thing!
3. Next week’s concert is being moved to a different venue.
4. I hate being made to stay at the office until so late every day.
5. It being England, it’s bound to rain a lot – so make sure to take an umbrella!

1. His refusal to compromise and his deeply suspicious nature was spoiling the pleasure of actually being part of the group. 1
2. Fourteen people sat down to dinner at the house, a local man, Thomas Jones, being employed to wait on them at table. 1　(literary)
3. Even people we think of as being extremely rich will often grumble because they compare themselves with those who earn even more money than they do. 1
4. I don’t like being sick. 1
5. I really hate being hot, so our summer electricity bill is always so high what with the air conditioner being on twenty-four-seven. 1+5
6. Being a soldier’s wife here in Northern Ireland is definitely not glorious. 1
7. She remembered going to a museum with her father one day, and being dreadfully bored. 1
8. The neighbors are always being so noisy. 2
9. All right, so maybe she was being a bit unreasonable. But if you don’t both just get over it and apologize, this argument will never end. 2
10. 10.  I think he is being too hasty. Better to think more carefully about such a big decision. 2
11. 11.  He is being honest and honesty is such a rare quality in a performer that the audience are stunned. 2
12. 12.  I remember him saying it was a shame that he had to punish us both when only one of us was being naughty.2
13. The statue was saved from the flood by being cut into blocks and moved piece by piece to higher ground.
14. A vital part of the research work is being carried out in Oxfordshire. 3
15. The ship’s crew are being kept prisoner until the pirates treasure is handed over. 3
16.  At some schools English is being introduced in songs and games, and the children never realize that they are being taught. 3
17.  Novell Japan Ltd is now shipping UnixWare v1.0 in Japan, initially in its English version, but by May it will be available in a Japanese version that is being developed jointly with Unix System Laboratories Pacific. 1
18. Efforts are being made to get the England football team in shape for the next world cup. 3
19. I hope efforts are being made to improve the quality of education in our public schools. 3
20. I hate being fooled by people – they should keep their sneaky tricks to themselves! 4
21. I don’t like being told what to do – it makes me want to do the opposite!
22. Nobody likes being told what to do.
23. I love being an English teacher.
24. I love being a student.
25. All people hate being laughed at when they make a mistake. 4
26. Those kids just don’t take their lives seriously. I put it down to their being young, but I wish they’d think about the future more. 5
27. What with the weather being so bad recently, it’s been impossible to get the washing dry! 5
28. Being down with the flu, I have been at home all week.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Look around
• Look ahead
• Look forward to
• Get one’s way
• Been

I love teaching English. I’ve been doing it for a long time. But I going to be honest – I don’t think classes are a very good way to learn. Actually, I think they’re a rubbish way to learn.

Do you want to learn slowly?

l  The class only moves as fast as the slowest student. Are you the slowest student? I don’t think so.

Do you only want to learn to talk about the things you’re told to learn?

l  You have to study what the teacher tells you, based on that school’s curriculum. Although a lot of that might be useful for daily life, they probably aren’t going to help you much in a conversation.

Classes are super slow. You should be going much, much faster if you want get fluent.

Instead of spending a lot of time and a lot of money on classes, get a private tutor (or if you go to a school because your company pays for it, make sure it’s a school that teaches man-to-man) and use the money that you save to buy something that will actually help you get good at English.

Thanks to ‘find a teacher’ style websites, you can find teachers that will give you lessons based on what you want, where you want it and when you want it. It’s much cheaper than classes so you save a lot of money – but the teachers are making more money than a school would pay them, so they’ll work harder for you.

Do you understand the role of teachers?

An English teacher’s job is NOT to get you fluent in English.

One hour a week with even the best teacher isn’t going to help you improve that much. Do the math. English teachers are experts however, and can guide you. They can help with your pronunciation and they can fix your mistakes. Provided you have had good English input each week, your lesson can be the perfect time for output – having something to talk about each week should be your motivation.  

The formula for English success is

Input – input – input – input – output – input – input – input – input – output

Get all of your input done outside of your lesson then confirm that you know what you think you know in lesson.

Want to make your life even easier?

Get your lessons ONLINE. Recently you can do anything online – including studying English. The world is a convenient place, isn’t it?

I take some online students (using Skype), so check my information page to see if I have any lesson slots available.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Grammar Sentences
• Train to speak fluently: shadowing
• Get an English ear. Learn English by listening to it.

Look around – search for; look for; ask people about

KEY SENTENCES
 I’ve been looking around for a new house, but I haven’t found anything yet.

EXAMPLE

1. My friends always say they’re bored! There’s nothing to do! But if you look around there is so much to do!
2. I have started looking around for another job.

Possibly Related Posts:

• being
• Look ahead
• Look forward to
• Get one’s way
• Been

Look ahead – to think about plan something that will happen in the future

KEY SENTENCES

 We were young, looking ahead to a life where anything wonderful could happen.

EXAMPLE

• “We all have to look ahead and plan for potential difficulties”
• Adam White, Managing Director of B Company, looks ahead to 2010 a year where hopefully the company can benefit greatly from rapidly improving conditions.

Possibly Related Posts:

• being
• Look around
• Look forward to
• Get one’s way
• Been

Look forward to – To expect; anticipate; await; the person is thinking about a thing that will happen in the future

KEY SENTENCES

 Margaret, we look forward to seeing you very soon.

EXAMPLE

• Find something to look forward to everyday; it does not have to be a major thing. Perhaps just going on an outing or meeting a friend.
• A modern-day [golf] caddie earns a healthy basic wage on the tour, and can look forward to a percentage of the winnings.
• I hope you will have the opportunity of working with the company and that you look forward to hearing their decision.
• Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been together 25 years, are looking forward to another 25 years together.
• Going to work for the first time doesn’t frighten 19 year old Amy – on the contrary, the young woman is looking forward to it.
• “We have looked forward to coming here and found English rugby, on and off the field, is the greatest in the world in terms of organisation and attitude.”

Possibly Related Posts:

• being
• Look around
• Look ahead
• Get one’s way
• Been

Get one’s way – get what you want; to do what you want, get others to do what you want – (has the nuance of not being what the other person wants)

KEY SENTENCE

 If we don’t get our way this time, I’ll be very disappointed.

EXAMPLE

• I tell you now, Ariel, that you shan’t get your way.
• We shall meet again, Joan –; and very soon, if I get my way.”
• She insisted quietly on halving the bill and he let her get her way, not wanting to jeopardize his chance of eating with her in the future.
• “How long are you going to be in Hawaii?” “For a very long time, if I get my way!”
• When children want to do something their parents disagree with, they try to get their way by fighting for it.

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• being
• Look around
• Look ahead
• Look forward to
• Been

KEY SENTENCES

1.  What have you been up to these days? ['up to' = doing]
2.  I have been to England twice.
3.  There have been many complaints from students recently that they are being given more homework every day than they can possible finish.
4.  Ihave been coming to this hair salon since I was a high school student.
5.  I had been taking a bath when a huge earthquake hit.
6.  We have been introduced many times, but I can never remember his name!
7.  “There must have been something you liked about the movie?” “No. I hated it all.”

EXAMPLE

• What a great tennis player – at only 17 she has already been a semi-finalist and twice a quarter-finalist!
• Police admit they are baffled by their findings because they have been unable to discover a common link to all the tragic cases.
• Representatives from both companies have been to see me about making contracts but they’re not getting them.
• This year alone I have been to Amsterdam, Bruges, Madrid, Prague, Moscow, and Kiev on business.
• I have never been to America.
• In spite of the recent setbacks, there have been serious developments in this case.
• Just look at our Christmas catalogue – There has been a great improvement in the range of goods and cards, I’m sure you’ll find something for all the family!
• Although the situation is still not perfect, there has been an improvement over the last few years.
• There have been significant changes in British society over the past ten years.
• There have been so many problems with my computer recently!
• Have you been waiting here long?
• Antonia told me she had been watching Mellor on TV at the time the fire broke out.
• Doctors ordered the star, who had been playing up to 150 gigs every year for the last 10 years, to rest or maybe wreck his voice for good.
• Cumbria council said more than £7 million had been spent improving safety in five years.
• Police investigating the disappearance of Gloucestershire woman Debby Smith have found a body in the River Severn. Within the last half an hour, police have confirmed that a body has been found in a car dragged from the river.
• The point has been made many times – the best way to get good at English is to actually use English!
• “It seems very likely,” concludes Mr. Irwin, “that had this evidence been available to the defense team at the time of the trial, the outcome would have been different.
• I may have been
  over-enthusiastic in thinking that I could read this whole book in one afternoon.
• My boyfriend claims he saw a UFO when he was in middle school, but it couldn’t have been real!
• Finding out that her husband won the lottery, but kept it a secret must have been
  a real shock.
• “There must have been
  something you liked about the movie?” “No. I hated it all.”
• I checked my bank balance this morning, but my month’s wages weren’t there. There must have been a mistake.
• There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said no. But somehow we missed it, and now we’re stuck looking after this dog for the next three weeks!
  

Possibly Related Posts:

• being
• Look around
• Look ahead
• Look forward to
• Get one’s way

Shadowing to fluency

People often come to me asking ‘how can I get good at speaking?‘ Well, first the most important thing is plenty of listening practice. Second, understand that speaking has to be learnt physically.

It is important to get practice actually speaking English. Actually moving your mouth. I’ve been teaching in Japan for a quite a long time now, and people often say ‘great. But this isn’t an English speaking country – how can I get a lot of speaking practice?’

But I don’t mean “conversation practise”. I mean the same type of practise that gets you good at riding a bike. Training your mouth.

It’s much easier than you probably think. You don’t need other people to practice speaking. Just use your listening materials.

I always recommend these ‘penguin readers‘ to my students, because they come as a book/ CD set, they’re cheap, really well made and above all interesting. The important part is the CD, but the book also has an important use. I really do recommend these books.

This technique is called shadowing, and maybe like many people you’ve heard of it, but don’t actually use it. Now is a good time to start!

• Listen to the book as many times as you can.
• Read the book and check any words you don’t know in your dictionary.
• Listen to the book again.
• Listen and read (out loud!) the book together. Practice section by section until you get really good at it.
• Shadow the CD without the book.

It’s a really good idea to record yourself doing this too, so you can tell where you’re making pronunciation mistakes.

But, the goal is not memorizing the book!

You don’t need to memorize the book. This type of speaking practice trains your mouth to speak and it trains your ear to listen carefully to pronunciation and rhythm. It gets you used to the patterns of English, and builds vocabulary, so it’s a really good way to get good at speaking fast.

Here are some of my favorite (British English) penguin readersbooks:

Possibly Related Posts:

• Grammar Sentences
• being
• Classes and the role of teachers
• Look around
• Look ahead