One of the most fun aspects of learning English is mastering the language’s many idioms and phrases. Some of them are so strange! Others might be similar to ones in your own language. Today we are looking at the word “catch” and its many idioms and phrases. Remember that “catch” is an irregular verb, and...
November marks the halfway point in our monthly lessons covering all 12 of the English tenses. Remember to look back at our previous lessons if you need a refresher on the Simple Present, Simple Past, Present Progressive, Past Progressive, or Present Perfect! This month we are focusing on the Present Perfect Progressive. If you have...
This October, we are continuing our series on all of the tenses of the English language by studying the Present Perfect. (To master this tense, make sure to check out our grammar post about the tense!) What better way to practice tenses than by seeing these tenses used in song? A great example of a...
At CISL, we are continuing our series on the 12 tenses in the English language with the tense of the month: Present Perfect. If you haven’t already checked out our first installments in this series, make sure to read up on the Simple Present, Present Continuous, Simple Past, and Past Continuous! This lesson also features...
One of the most common questions CISL students ask their teachers is how to respond to casual greetings. How do you respond when a friend asks “How’s it going?” Or what about when you enter a store and the friendly salesperson asks, “How are you doing today?” With these questions in mind, we have provided...
Converse International School of Languages is proud to offer an intensive TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) test preparation course. Are you planning on taking the test soon? The following are a few tips from a CISL San Diego instructor who specializes in the TOEFL course. Good luck to our students taking the...
Students often ask what the differences are between British and American English. Simply put, there are numerous differences between British and American English: so many, in fact, that there are different dictionaries for each language! In addition to different vocabularies, there are different pronunciations and even different grammar for British and American English. To give...
The Past Progressive (also called the Past Continuous) is one of the 12 English tenses, and one that is used very often. Today we are looking at this tense and talking about one of the coolest neighborhoods in San Diego: Ocean Beach! Called “OB” by most, Ocean Beach is an area between Point Loma and...
Pronunciation is an important part of learning any language . . . but where to start? And how to practice? CISL teachers agree that one common mistake students from any language make is the pronunciation of “ed” endings on English verbs. It is a great thing for students of any level to practice in order...
The CISL Blog has featured articles on the top tips for Part 1 and Part 2 of the Cambridge CAE and FCE Speaking Tests. Today we are taking a look at the final section of the test, Part 3. Before we begin, lets take a look back at Parts 1 and 2. Overview of Cambridge CAE...
