By Sarah Li Cain

Let’s face it, learning English is hard.

There will be times when it’s difficult to get motivated because you’re frustrated with the language.

There may be grammar concepts you don’t quite understand, or you just can’t seem to remember all those words on that vocabulary list. You might wonder if all those years you put into studying are worth it.

In fact, many people have felt the same as you. You are not alone.

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Just when they feel like giving up, they found that with encouragement from others and some hard work, they were able to achieve their goals.

And you can too.

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By Alex Taylor

Job interviews make most people nervous, but when the interview is in English, it’s even worse!

Before your next interview in English it is important to prepare, to maximise your chances of getting that job.

So we have created a workbook to improve your English and help you answer with confidence.

The workbook contains 5 mini-lessons created by our teachers, and is free for you to download and use.

You can use it for self-study, or together with your teacher.

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By Sarah Li Cain

So you’ve gotten pretty good at communicating with clients and colleagues in English. Now what?

Are you happy with ‘good enough’, or do you want to be great? When it comes to learning a language your journey is far from over. In fact, it has just begun.

Sometimes, when we start getting really good at a skill, we tend to hit a plateau. That means that we get too comfortable and reach something called the ‘OK Plateau‘.

This is when we reach the point where we do something well enough that we stop improving.

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By Sarah Li Cain

Do you think that your English is not fluent enough to survive in an English speaking country?

Think again.

If you are skeptical, let me tell you a story of someone you almost certainly know…

He knew very little English when he decided to move to America. He took every type of English class you could think of: speech lessons, writing lessons, even accent-removal lessons.

Through hard work and perseverance he ended up becoming one of the richest and most powerful men in the country.

You might also know him as Arnold Schwarzenegger, the famous actor and former governor of California.

His story shows what you can achieve when you work hard at something. But he’s not the only one who started a successful career with little-to-no English skills.

Below you will learn how Shakira, Penelope Cruz and ‘The Terminator’ have overcome language barriers.

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By Marie-Anne Duffeler

That was a great introduction your boss just delivered. The room is quiet and now it is your turn…your turn to speak.

Maybe you need to present your team, or deliver a sales pitch, or explain some figures and trends.

One thing is for sure: your presentation has to be awesome!

And your presentation will be in English, of course, as it is the language of communication at work.

Let’s think back: your English is quite decent – you can travel abroad and make yourself understood everywhere, you can communicate on the phone with your English-speaking colleagues and get the message across, and you write so many e-mails every day.

True, but these are familiar situations.

This time, however, you feel anxious because this presentation is formal and you have only one chance to get it right.

Speaking in public has always made you nervous, but speaking in public in English makes you twice as nervous.

What can you do? Simply follow this guide, which will help you step by step to prepare an awesome presentation in English.

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By Elena Foulkes

Do you sometimes find it difficult to make yourself understood – even though you know you are using the correct English?

Do you find it hard to understand mother-tongue English speakers? Are you anxious about having phone conversations in English?

Working on your English pronunciation is a way to solve all these problems.

Perfect pronunciation isn’t necessary to make yourself understood in English, so we will focus on the key areas that will improve your ability to communicate in English – speaking it and understanding it – and on the most common pronunciation problems for Italian speakers.

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By Sarah Li Cain

Your palms are sweaty. You re-adjust your tie, waiting for the meeting to start.

When everyone arrives, you start your presentation. You are so worried about mispronouncing words that you barely speak loud enough for your audience to hear.

After your talk, you worry about whether people understood your message and if your boss is still considering you for that promotion.

Does this sound familiar? Perhaps you are stressed by conference calls in English, writing reports or mountains of email?

The fact that you are reading this means that you are working hard at improving your Business English skills, but there are 6 common mistakes that might be holding you back.

Are you making one of these crucial mistakes?

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By Sarah Li Cain

Do you still feel nervous about speaking English to others, even though you’ve spent a long time studying English?

You’re not the only one.

Just like you, many people who are learning English don’t practice speaking as often as they want, because they’re afraid they will make a mistake or be laughed at.

Even native English speakers sometimes make mistakes, and nobody will laugh at you. If you want to improve your English, you need to be confident in your abilities.

Here are 9 easy ways to gain confidence in your ability to speak English. You’ll be on your way to speaking fluently if you follow these steps regularly.

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By Elena Foulkes

Are you confused by the difference between the Present Simple and the Present Continuous? Or between the Present Perfect and Past Simple?

By the end of this article everything will be much clearer.

A famous Italian, Vilfredo Pareto, defined the 80:20 cause and effect rule: twenty percent of causes produce eighty percent of effects. In terms of English grammar 20% of misunderstandings in verb tenses cause 80% of mistakes and problems.

We are going to focus on the twenty percent of concepts that will influence 80% of your ability to speak English.

This means that if you focus on the four key English verb tenses that you need to understand and use correctly, this will greatly improve your mastery of the English language.

This article will show you how to use these four tenses correctly.

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By Irena Dewey

Do you have problems remembering English vocabulary or expressions? Do you find it difficult to memorize idiomatic expressions or slang? Do you struggle to understand grammar concepts?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’re not alone: most language learners have these problems.

Even native speakers of English have a hard time remembering spelling for some words because often there is no direct correlation between English spelling and pronunciation.

The secret to remembering new words and spellings – for both native and non-native speakers – is to develop a good memory. If you are one of those people who think that they have a poor memory, read on.

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