Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Three Confusing Negative Words

Priceless

From looking at the word itself, you might think that priceless means FREE.

In fact it means exactly the opposite. If something is priceless, it is so valuable that you cannot attach a price to it.

The museum has a collection of priceless Ming Dynasty vases.


Infamous

Does infamous mean not famous?

No, infamous means famous for something terrible! The word notorious has the same meaning.

The infamous bandit Lucky Luke has struck again!


Invaluable

Not valuable?

No,  if something is invaluable, it is extremely useful.

Maria gave me some invaluable advice before I opened my new cafe.

French Connections in English

French has had a massive impact on English vocabulary.

I have put together a slideshow showing how French words have influenced English words that would be great for advanced level ESL learners.

View it on Road to grammar: www.roadtogrammar.com/frenchconnections

Slideshare (you can download the powerpoint file): http://www.slideshare.net/roadtogrammar/french-connections

Or YouTube (with music): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr2AqgULhpU




Saturday, August 16, 2014

The Present Perfect Tense

Road to Grammar's unit on the Present Perfect Tense has been reworked in HTML5 so that it will work on any size screen, including smartphones.

The unit can be accessed at: http://roadtogrammar.com/presperfect/

The unit features:


  • over ten pages of notes
  • ten exercises with plenty of questions and immediate feedback
  • a mobile-friendly layout
  • simple navigation system
  • a smartboard-friendly layout - teachers can use it in a class with a smartboard or projector

Screenshots:




Business English Listening Activities

I have just uploaded a new listening section on Road to Grammar's business English page. It features 20 short conversations suitable for...