タグ speaking

Other ways to say “I don’t know”

Other ways to say “I don’t know”

Using different ways to say “I don’t know” will make your conversation far more interesting and natural.But don’t overuse this phrase, try first to figure out or find out the answer to the question, rather than give up and shrug your shoulders:)   Formal ways : I’m sorry, I don’t know I’ll double check that and let you know I’ll find out and let you know I’m probably not the best person to ask for that information That’s a really good question. I’ll check Let me look that up for you That’s not my area of expertise. I’ll ask… Informal ways (when talking to friends, colleagues, people we know): I’m […]

Different ways of talking about the future

Different ways of talking about the future

One very good way to prepare for your IELTS speaking is to practise different ways of talking about the future. This is because the examiner listens for the way you vary your grammar, not just if you make mistakes. This is a skill you need mostly in part 1 and 3 parts of the Speaking test.   In fact, there are loads of more ways of talking about the future. It’s not all about verbs and tenses, see these examples: 1)We often use verbs like ”would like”, “plan”, “want”, “mean”, “hope”, “expect” to talk about the future: What are you going to do next year? I’d like to go to […]

A Quick Guide on How to Talk About the Weekend

A Quick Guide on How to Talk About the Weekend

I guess everyone loves the weekend. Weekends are a huge topic of conversation. Starting on Wednesday or Thursday, people will ask you about your weekend plans. When you return to work or school, you’ll be asked how your weekend went. So it’s helpful to have a nice range of phrases to use for these conversations. The upcoming weekend If you want to ask someone about the upcoming weekend in English, here are some common questions: What are you doing this weekend? Do you have anything going on this weekend? Do you have any big plans for the weekend? Do you have anything planned for this weekend? If you have plans, […]

Silent letters in English

Silent letters in English

Silent letters are letters that you can’t hear when you say the word, but that are there when you write the word. Silent letters can distinguish between homophones, e.g. in/inn; be/bee; lent/leant. This is an aid to readers already familiar with both words. Silent letters may give an insight into the meaning or origin of a word, e.g. vineyard suggests vines more than the phonetic ‘vinyard’ would. Silent letters help to show long vowels e.g. rid/ride Silent letters help to show ‘hard’ consonants e.g. guest/gest They can help to connect different forms of the same word e.g. resign/resignation   Silent B Silent C Silent D Silent G Silent H aplomb […]