Recently our CISL San Diego students took a trip to Belmont Park and Mission Beach for some afternoon relaxation. They had a great time and were kind enough to share some photos with us! To celebrate this fun part of San Diego, we are offering a short reading about Belmont Park and Mission Beach. If you...
Last month we provided some top tips for mastering the first part of the Cambridge CAE and FCE exams. Today, we are looking at Part 2 of the exam and providing some tips on preparing for this section. Preparing for Part 2 of the Cambridge CAE and FCE Exams Overview of Cambridge CAE and FCE Speaking...
In June our Grammar Lesson of the Month was about Homophones. You might remember that homophones are words with the same sound but different spellings. Some examples include: here/hear their/their/they’re your/you’re In September, we are looking at another category of English words that have something in common: homographs. Homographs are words with the same spellings...
Earlier this month, we published an article on August’s Grammar Lesson of the Month: collocations with “make” and “do”. Today we are practicing them with a few sentences. Need to refresh your memory? Go back and read our post on collocations before trying to complete the sentences below. DO your best to answer them correctly! (Get...
Many CISL San Diego and CISL San Francisco students are preparing for the Cambridge University Certificate of Advanced English or First Certificate of English tests. CISL has some tips to help our students prepare for this part of the exam. CISL San Diego and CISL San Francisco are both official Cambridge Exam Centers. Elements of...
August’s Grammar Lesson of the Month is Collocations! What are collocations? Collocations are two words that go together. For example, when you go home after class, you have homework. You say “I have to DO my homework.” This is the verb that is always used with “homework”. When you get up in the morning,...
July’s Grammar Lesson of the Month is the Present Perfect Progressive (also called the Present Perfect Continuous). We will refer to this tense as “Progressive” and as “Continuous” in this post. Today we are practicing this tense by correcting the following sentences. Each of them has a mistake. If you need to refresh yourself on...
Many CISL students are curious about the differences in American and British English. Although the two languages are quite similar, there are definitely some vocabulary words that are completely different and can create some confusion! Can you guess which of these words are British and which are American English? Lorry/Truck Chips/French fries Crisps/Potato Chips...
It is wedding season! Spring and summer months are the most popular for marriages, and we think it is the perfect time for some ESL wedding vocabulary. Do you know the following words? bride: the woman getting married groom: the man getting married bridesmaids: the women who stand with the bride (close friends and...
What have you been doing lately? Have you been working out? Have you been studying? Have you been sleeping well? July’s Grammar Lesson of the Month is the Present Perfect Progressive (also called the Present Perfect Continuous). Today we are reviewing the tense and one of the most common questions our students have when...
