Idioms with “May”
April showers bring May flowers, and May brings… a lot of idioms! There are quite a few idioms that use the word “may”. Today, we are looking at a few that are easy to incorporate into everyday speech. Note: these all use the word “may” that is a modal, not the word “May” that is [...]
Take the 30-Day Phrasal Verb Challenge with CISL!
It’s phrasal verb month at CISL! Many students groan when they hear the words “phrasal verb.” We understand why: there are hundreds of phrasal verbs in the English language, and the only way to learn them is to memorize them. There is no “quick fix” when it comes to learning phrasal verbs! Or is there? [...]
Grammar Lesson of the Month: Phrasal Verbs
It is that time again: Grammar Lesson of the Month! Last month was all about Conditionals, but this month, we are focusing on Phrasal Verbs. What is a phrasal verb? There are a few types, but the most common phrasal verb is a verb + preposition/adverb. Individually, these two words have separate meanings; together, these [...]
Grammar Lesson: The Third Conditional
Our month on Conditionals continues! Today we are focusing on the Third Conditional. Do you need to refresh yourself on this grammar point? If so, read our last two grammar lesson entries, The First Conditional and The Second Conditional, before moving on to today’s lesson. You can’t change the past. This we know! But don’t [...]
Grammar Lesson of the Month: the Second Conditional
Welcome back to the second part of CISL’s four-part “Grammar Lesson of the Month” series! April is all about conditionals at CISL, and each week, we are offering a lesson on one of the four types of conditionals. Last week, we began with the most simple of the four: the First Conditional. Need to refresh [...]
Grammar Lesson of the Month: the First Conditional
If it rains, I will bring an umbrella with me to work. If you eat a lot of cookies, you might get a tummy ache. If I had been born in Spain, I would have spoken Spanish as my mother tongue. If you do not water your plants, they die. April’s Grammar Lesson of the [...]
St. Patrick’s Day Vocabulary
St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner! Soon Americans will be wearing green clothes, eating traditional corned beef and cabbage, and drinking green beer. What a strange–and fun–holiday! To prepare our students for this celebration, we have some St. Patrick’s Day and Irish-related vocabulary and idioms. Enjoy! USEFUL ST PATRICK’S DAY VOCABULARY Ireland The [...]
Grammar Lesson of the Month: the Present Perfect with Specific Time
How long have you studied English? How many years have you known your best friend? How long have you been at your job? All of these sentences are questions using the Present Perfect tense. The Present Perfect is a tense that confuses many students. When do we use it? And why? There are many ways to [...]
Lesson of the Month: December 2011
DID YOU KNOW: WORD BORROWING English has borrowed a lot of words from different languages, and sometimes from languages you might not expect! What languages do you think the following come from? 1. ALCATRAZ (The island prison off the coast of San Francisco) 2. SOIREE (A very elegant evening party) 3. SIESTA ( a short afternoon [...]
Lesson of the Month: November 2011
USE OF THE PASSIVE Most of you have found yourselves studying the Passive at one time or another in your CISL classes. Like many other concepts, how you construct it is not as confusing as why or when you should use it. We’re going to mention this month just one common use of the passive, [...]
