Anshan English

There is no reason to suppose that anyone anywhere can speak English. It isn’t a universal language. By native speakers, English is ranked No.3 after Chinese Mandarin and Spanish. By second language speakers, English is huge and has about 1.1 billion users. However, if you consider that there are 7 billion people in the world, Read More …

As far as I know, the -ough grouping has the biggest pronunciation variation of any group in English. /ʌf/ enough, hough, rough, slough, tough (rhymes with stuff) /ɒf~ɔːf/ cough, trough (rhymes with off) /trɔːθ/ trough (by some speakers of American English rhymes with cloth) /aʊ/ bough, drought, plough (rhymes with cow) /oʊ/ dough, furlough, though Read More …

I understand this question has been asked many times but what I want to know is a little different. I can carry on conversation pretty easily but feel I still have many lacking I want to improve. One major problem I have noticed from last 4-5 years that though practising and talking a decent amount Read More …

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is intended to represent pronunciation. When learning a new language, using the IPA allows learners to map spelling to new pronunciations. The IPA helps you pronounce words you have never heard. Native English learners learn pronunciation long before school. They learn to speak by listening to their parents, friends, TV Read More …

Scots is nearly as different from Scottish English as Scots is different from English English or British English. There is a small number of shared words but there are a lot of different words too. Scottish English is English. It is just as close to English as Scouse in Liverpool, Jordie in Newcastle, Estuary in Read More …

Don’t try to teach English. At least for teenage and above who are past foundation level. Teach something interesting – art, history, simple science, geography, natural history, environmental issues, sport, etc. The English learning will happen along the way. The idea is to spark a lively discussion where the students are the ones asking the Read More …

Keep away from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Too many foreigners live in the areas. This saturates the market meaning that you’ll end up with the dregs of the bad jobs on offer. Heading for a smaller, but not small, city means that you have less competition and so can acquire better quality positions. For Read More …

People are different people when using different languages. Studies show that people think differently, behave differently and even have different morals. One example is to compare now you feel when saying, “I love you,” with saying, “Wo ai ni” or the equivalent in your own tongue. In your native tongue, it feels much more personal Read More …

I have been teaching English in China for just over 6 years. However, I don’t teach English. Very little of my class time is spent on grammar. Punctuation and spelling don’t play big either. All of these things can be taught just as well, if not better, by a native Chinese teacher of English. They Read More …