What are you going to do to beat the heat this summer? You can of course cool off by visiting any of California’s beautiful beaches, surfing, canoeing down the Russian River, escaping to the mountains of Lake Tahoe, or cooling off with some tasty, classic American desserts. How many of these have you tried, and how many of...
Wedding season is here! Have you been to a wedding in the U.S.? Make sure you know some of these wedding traditions (and understand wedding etiquette) before you attend one! Of course, as with all other traditions, these are just guidelines: not all Americans follow these customs. However, many of these events and customs are things...
It’s a world famous landmark, #1 on Trip Advisor’s list of “Things to do in San Francisco,” and it’s the undisputed symbol of SF. The Golden Gate Bridge is special for so many reasons! But did you know these facts about the most famous bridge on the West Coast? 5 Golden Gate Bridge Facts It’s...
American is not just burgers: every CISL student knows this (although every CISL student knows where to get the best burger, too)! But aside from burgers, what should you eat when you’re studying English at CISL in San Diego? We have a list of student favorites. How many of these have you tried? And how...
Every summer has its soundtrack: what will 2017’s be? We are looking at some of the summer hts (so far) for 2017 and also taking a look back at the summer jams from last year. The songs are catchy . . . and they’re also a great way to learn some very useful English phrasal...
On the CISL Blog, we love sharing California slang and ways to sound like a local. In addition to words you should use, there are some that you shouldn’t! It’s not a crime to use these words, but they are typically used by people who are from other parts of the U.S. If you’ve heard them,...
Are you planning to take a proficiency test (like IELTS or TOEFL or Cambridge FCE/CAE)? If so, your writing, reading, speaking, listening, and grammar skills will be tested. But what exactly is an examiner looking for, and how can you improve your score? One of the most important things that you can do is learn to...
Are you a “glass half full” or a “glass half empty” type of person? In English, we ask this question to find out if a person is more positive or more negative. Regardless of your tendency to be more or less positive, these idioms about hope and positivism are incredibly useful! Five Positive Idioms Every...
For the month of May, we are looking at the modal of the same name: MAY. May is often used interchangeably with MIGHT: do you know when to use these auxiliary verbs? Remember, MAY and MIGHT are both used with another verb. MAY + BASE VERB MIGHT + BASE VERB Examples: You MAY open your...
Phrasal verbs are perhaps the least favorite thing for English students to study . . . but phrasal verbs can be fun if you learn them while watching comedy! Today we are looking at a short clip from Bill Engvall’s comedy routine “Here’s Your Sign.” In this clip, he uses several phrasal verbs. Before we...
