Summer is here! Although some argue that it is always summer in California, today marks the official first day of summer. Since we know that our students will be spending the next few months at the beach, we are celebrating with some water-related idioms. Enjoy! A fish out of water: a person who is...
Category: <span>Learning English</span>
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Fun English vocabulary: names of baby animals
One of the most fun aspects of learning English is vocabulary that impresses your friends and teacher. Learning some of the names for baby animals is a great way to do this! First off, make sure that you know the names of all of these animals: Bear, cat, cow, deer, dog, duck, eagle, elephant, elk,...
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Practice with homophones
Today we are revisiting this month’s Grammar Lesson on homophones. You might remember that homophones are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. Below is the list of words that we provided in the lesson: Break and Brake, Close and Clothes, Dough and Doe, Eye and I, Hay and Hey, Mail and Male, Pain and Pane, Peace and...
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Literal vs. Figurative Language… It’s a Piece of Cake!
Take a good look at this picture. Do you suddenly want to eat this mouthwatering slice of chocolate cake or are you thinking about something completely different? Maybe you remember a time when you heard the phrase “piece of cake” but there weren’t any sweet desserts in sight. If you use the Literal meaning “piece of cake” you might...
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Grammar Lesson of the Month: Homophones
June’s Grammar Lesson of the Month features some things that make English spelling a little complicated: homophones. What are homophones? Homophones are two or more words with the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings. Some examples are: Break and Brake Close and Clothes Dough and Doe Eye and I ...
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Happy 75th Birthday to the Golden Gate Bridge!
Happy 75th Birthday to the Golden Gate Bridge, California’s most famous landmark and an engineering masterpiece! To celebrate the birthday of the West Coast’s most famous bridge, we are sharing a few facts about the bridge with our readers. Did you know that: * The bridge is named for the Golden Gate Strait, which is...
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Practice with Phrasal Verbs
Have you been practicing phrasal verbs with CISL’s 30-Day Phrasal Verb Challenge? If so, now is the time to test some of your new phrasal verb skills! Today’s lesson contains practice with the 21 verbs students have learned since May 1, when the phrasal verb challenge began. If you didn’t take the challenge, you can still...
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The history of the ABCs
How did you learn the ABCs? The classic song–sung to the same tune as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”–is how most of us learn the English alphabet. But did you know that this was not always the most common way of learning the ABCs? In the 19th century, most students learned the alphabet with a rhyme titled...
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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...
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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 MANY 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? Take...