WORLD ENGLISH
English is spoken as a first language by more than 300 million people throughout the world, and used as a second language by many millions more. One in five of the world's population speaks English with a good level of competence, and within the next few years the number of people speaking English as a second language will exceed the number of native speakers… Like to know more? Go here:
http://www.askoxford.com/globalenglish/?view=uk (Global English)
http://www.askoxford.com/globalenglish/types/?view=uk (Types of English)
http://www.askoxford.com/globalenglish/worldenglish/?view=uk (World Englishes)
TEST YOUR ENGLISH
It's very important that you know your level of competence in English and one of the surest ways of determining this is by testing yourself. We implore you to test yourself with hundreds of quizzes covering grammar, usage and vocabulary, grouped into levels. Simply follow the instructions accompanying each quiz and note your score at the end of the exercises. Some of the quizzes are also available as printable teacher handouts. To get started, click on these links:
http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/quizzes/index.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
http://www.learnenglish.de/englishtestspage.html
http://www.quia.com/shared/eng/
English Tests and Quizzes Practice Materials for Learning English
http://www.englishclub.com/esl-quizzes/grammar-quizzes.htm
CLICHÉS
What are clichés?
Clichés are the old coins of language: phrases that once made a striking impression but have since been rubbed smooth by repeated handling. Clichés are tempting to use because they can quickly fill out a sentence, and because many of them are figures of speech that seem colourful, however faded their colour may be. To spot a cliché, read the first half of the phrase and then ask yourself if you know how it ends. If you do, it is a cliché, and you should not use it… For more information on clichés, follow these useful links:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071231/ap_on_re_us/banned_words
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliches
http://suspense.net/whitefish/cliche.htm
http://wsuonline.weber.edu/wrh/cliches.htm
http://www.moviecliches.com/
http://www.westegg.com/cliche
WHAT IS GOOD ENGLISH?
English is [our] language. The degree to how correct it is depends on the situation in which it's used and the level of education of the user. Educators are more likely to want perfection in their use of English, but labourers get by just fine communicating in less perfect English. When many people speak of correct English, they're referring to... Now go to these sites to learn more:
http://www.bobbrooke.com/WritersCorner/goodenglish.htm
WHAT IS GOOD ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION?
Good pronunciation is very important for good spoken communication. However you do not have to speak like a native English speaker to have good pronunciation. There are many different natural varieties of English pronunciation in Britain and around the world. However, bear the following in mind about English pronunciation:
English is not "phonetic". That means that we do not always say a word the same way that we spell it.
Many languages don't use word stress but English does, and so must you!
Like word stress, sentence stress is a fundamental part of the English language. Your English pronunciation will improve immediately if you start using sentence stress!
Note also that there are three levels of English pronunciation:
- Level 1: People often don't understand what you want to say. You use the wrong sounds in English words. (example)
- Level 2: People understand what you want to say, but it is unpleasant to listen to you. (example)
- Level 3: People understand you, and your English is pleasant to listen to. (example one, example two)
All those points are a tip of the iceberg; you can get more information about how to develop your [English] pronunciation from these links:
http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronuncgood.htm
http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/index.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/pron/
http://www.soundsofenglish.org/pronunciation/index.htm (Recommended)
http://www.soundsofenglish.org/tips.htm (Tips for teachers)
WHAT ARE IRREGULAR VERBS?
The English language has a large number of irregular verbs. In the great majority of these, the past participle and/or past tense is not formed according to the usual patterns of English regular verbs. Other parts of the verb - such as the present 3rd person singular -s or -es, and present participle -ing - may still be formed regularly… Click on the following links for greater detail:
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/verbs.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_irregular_verbs
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslirrverb.html
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verbs.htm (Strongly recommended)
LEARNING ENGLISH
It may be a bit daunting to learn a language that's been described as 'crazy'. But that's probably because useful teaching/learning materials may be unavailable. However, ProjectEnglish.Org recommends the following for instant remedial help:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/index.shtml
SIMPLE vs. COLOURFUL LANGUAGE
Just how simple or decorated should your language be, especially when writing formal documents? The choice of longish words and phrases seems not to go down well with the majority of writing experts. In a lot of books on writing, the simple, direct style is often preferred to ornate prose. Which style should you adopt? As one authority observes, plain language writing emphasizes the use of the clearest words possible to describe actions, objects and people. That often means choosing a two-syllable word over a three-syllable one, an old familiar term instead of the latest bureaucratic expression and sometimes, several clearer words instead of one complicated word. See these links for guide:
www.blm.gov/nhp/main/regtest/smplwd01.html
http://home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/phrases.htm
http://www.web.net/~plain/PlainTrain/UsingAppropriateWords.html
http://home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/redundant.htm
www.fairerscience.org/WordsMatter.html
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