Many of you know that you can use “will” or “be going to do something” for the future, but do you know that you can use the regular present progressive for the future as well? For example: What are you doing tonight? I’m staying at home and reading a book. The only rule is you [...]
In the ten years I’ve lived in Los Angeles, I’ve always been amazed at people who work in the post offices. The people tend to be quite (very) rude (impolite, not nice) and paranoid (worried that someone’s going to hurt them), so don’t take it personally (don’t think the person is rude because of you [...]
In this video blog, I talk about the 3rd Street Farmer’s Market in the Fairfax District in LA. It’s a permanent farmers’ market – with a lot of prepared food and a few farmers’ stalls (kiosk, small area for selling things)- and a common tourist place. It’s right next to the Grove, which is a [...]
The IF Clauses or Conditional clauses are really tough (hard, difficult). So, we’re going to start out with the basics. First, I’ll talk to you about the present real conditional. This is when you are talking about a real situation in the present that is not necessarily going to happen, but it might happen. So, [...]
You need to learn science vocabulary for life and the TOEFL. Nowadays, people often discuss science and technology in regular conversation, so make sure you learn the basics, especially about the human body and computers. Here’s a little test for you with very basic vocabulary: 1. What is a belly button? 2. Where is a [...]
You need to use indirect speech when you are telling about an experience in your life because you have to explain what other people said. In my last blog post, I talked about how to do this. In this video blog, I tell you about taking my one-year-old daughter to get surgery on her foot. [...]
When you tell a story about something that happened to you, you often want to tell people what someone said. If you use indirect speech, it will be very impressive. You can even include indirect speech in your examples for the TOEFL essay. If you do it correctly, you will get a higher score because [...]
This is one of the most confusing parts of English grammar. Normally, you should not use THE before a name. But sometimes THE is part of the name. For example, THE United States of America! Or the U.S. You can also say the U.S.A., though it’s very rare, except in military culture, to say the [...]
One of my regular visitors sent me an essay about an experience he had in Niagara Falls. I told you to use sensory details in your writing. Below, I’ve posted most of his essay. You can read it first or after my comments. If you read it first, try to figure out if the highlighted [...]
Ha ha! Got you! (got you = I tricked you, I got your attention) I thought I’d get your attention if I put sex in the title. (to get someone’s attention = to make someone listen to what you are saying) I’ll give you some juicy examples later, so keep reading!! (juicy examples/details = examples/details [...]