Note: listen to a recording of this post by clicking on the link below! It is the season for giving, and to celebrate, CISL is offering some synonyms for the word “give.” How many of these do you know? Take a look at the list before scrolling down to read the definitions. Synonyms for “give”...
The holidays are a time for shopping, which includes asking many questions. “Can I” or “May I” are great . . . but they do get a little boring when you use them often, and they are not the most polite phrases. To help you navigate through conversation during the holidays, we have a list...
Hang the lights, start baking cookies, decorate the tree, and pull out your wallet: the Christmas season is here! For many, this means that we will spend a lot of time shopping for Christmas presents. To help you with shopping in English, here are some useful phrasal verbs related to shopping. Make sure to also...
Whether you are taking the IELTS, CAE, FCE, or TOEFL exam, you will be asked to write some form of essay or response. The writing assignment could be about a number of topics (and written in a number of styles), but there is one thing all writing prompts should have: a good thesis statement. Writing a...
Fall is often associated with pumpkins and apples, but there is another fruit and flavor that Americans love during this time of year: cranberries! Cranberries are the staple of any Thanksgiving dinner. But how do Americans eat them? Read on to find out . . . and look for how many times the Simple Passive...
Fall is here! It’s time for sweaters, apple picking, pumpkin spice lattes (well, pumpkin everything, really!) and, for students in San Diego, it’s time to pretend that the weather is cold. (We like to wear winter clothes but then sweat the entire time, since it’s never THAT cold in SD!) To celebrate fall, we have...
Last month on the CISL Blog, we looked at how to compare two things using Comparatives. This month, we are focusing on how to compare three things by using Superlatives. Superlatives are the words we use to talk about how one thing compares to two or more things. We can make Superlatives several ways, depending...
TED.com is a great resource for anyone who wants to learn something new . . . including English! Have you used TED.com to improve your English? We have a list of ways for you to utilize this excellent website and make the most of these fascinating videos. What is TED? TED is an organization which...
October is the month of Halloween and everything scary. To celebrate, we have some idioms with scared. You can use these expressions all year: spiders, heights, bugs, failure . . . there are plenty of things to be afraid of, even when it is not Halloween! Expressions with “scared” Scared to death Definition: very afraid...
Pictured above: Sea Dragons from San Diego's Birch Aquarium. Can you complete this sentence correctly? "Sea dragons are more _____________ than sea horses." It is time again for the Grammar Lesson of the Month! For the fall, CISL will focus on Comparatives and Superlatives. We begin October with Part 1 of these lessons: Comparatives....
