“When you see the -ED ending on a word, it means that the sentence is in the past tense.”
But wait... that's not necessarily correct!
This is a topic that often confuses my own students, so I've written an article to clear things up in detail.
Click below to read it:
http://articles.roadtogrammar.com/nuance/3/
I've just added a new section to the Road To Grammar website: Articles.
This section features short articles to help English learners with language points. There is a series called Nuance, which explores the subtleties of English. There is also a series called Exploring Words, which looks at common words and how they are used. Later, I'll add some articles aimed at English teachers.
As of now, there are five articles to read with more coming soon.
You can get to the section by clicking ARTICLES on the top menu of any page of Road To Grammar, or you can go there directly using this link:
http://articles.roadtogrammar.com/
I have just posted a series of ten reading activities on Road to Grammar, called RECALL.
The objective of RECALL is to get learners to pay attention to grammar and sentence structure while reading.
To do this, I have provided short texts, each of which are followed by simple questions on grammar and sentence structure.
These activities are suitable for CEFR level B1-B2.
Try RECALL here:
http://www.roadtogrammar.com/recall/
Screenshots:
What is the average speed that people read in English?
According to this website, it's 238 words per minute for non-fiction and 260 words per minute for fiction.
The average length of a novel is 90,000 words, according to this website, which means the average person would take 5-6 hours to finish it.
If you are learning English, even if you are at B2-C1 level, you probably read a little slower. Let's say that you read 180 words per minute. It would take you over 8 hours to finish a 90,000-word novel.
Hence, you can see the benefits of increasing your reading speed!
If you're interested in doing that, you can test your reading speed here. Be warned, you not only have to read a text, but also answer some questions on it!
If you haven't followed RoadtoGrammar on Instagram yet, why not give it a try?
Every day, I post at least one "word of the day" for English learners, usually with several examples.
For instance, here is today's post:
In my Business English classes, the most common question I get asked is the difference between "advice" and "advise". I also get asked about "confidence/confident", "difference/different" and so on.
There was already a word forms activity on Road to Grammar, but I decided to adapt it for business English - the words and sentences are in a business context and I have added extra notes and examples.
You can access this activity here:
http://roadtogrammar.com/businessenglish/biz23/
Screenshots:
As you move up to intermediate level, you gain the ability to carry out a range of functions in English. For example, you should be able to write a work email or give people instructions.
However, the jump from intermediate to advanced level is a little different. You need to learn the nuances of English. You need to express yourself naturally, like a native speaker. In short, you need to be more expressive.
One way to be more expressive in English is to learn and use idioms. An idiom is any word or expression with a special meaning, such as 'a piece of cake' (easy) or 'raining cats and dogs' (heavy rain).
Another way is to learn strong (emphatic) adjectives. A word like 'good' is a normal adjective. Words like fantastic, wonderful, terrific and excellent are strong adjectives. A word like 'scared' is a normal adjective. Stronger versions are terrified, horrified or petrified.
Just like we have strong adjectives, we have strong verbs and specific action verbs. For example, 'walk' is a general verb, but if we want to be more specific about how a person is walking, we can use words like stroll, amble, swagger, march or wander.
These are three simple ways you can boost your vocabulary into advanced level!
To practice idioms, click here.
To practice emphatic adjectives, click here.
To practice specific action verbs, click here.
Here is a new activity in the business English section of Road to Grammar.
It features ten sets of ten words or phrases (100 in total) related to business.
Each set has a picture definition and quiz question for each word.
The index page is here:
http://www.roadtogrammar.com/businessenglish/vocabularysets/
Screenshots:
I took some time to redo the MERGE game on roadtogrammar.com to make it a little easier for English learners and, hopefully, more fun, too.
The object of the game is still the same, to change one word to another word, one letter at a time.
You can play the new version here: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/merge/
If you prefer the older version, you can find it here: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/merge2/
Screenshot:
I noticed that many online teaching sites only provide the platform and not the content for teachers.
So, I have adapted the 20 lessons in Road To Grammar's Lesson Library to be used for this purpose.
I've added a warm-up question, a discussion section and a writing task to each one. I've also added a 'notepad' feature so that teachers can write notes or further examples.
These should also be great for use with a smartboard for those teachers lucky enough to have one.
The link is here:
http://www.roadtogrammar.com/lessonlibrary/teachers/
I've now added ten more lessons to the Lesson Library on Road to Grammar, to make 20 in total.
These are free mini-lessons that ESL learners can do by themselves. Alternatively, teachers could use them with a smartboard or online teaching session.
Each lesson focuses on either listening or reading as a core skill, supplemented by vocabulary, grammar and conversational turn practice.
The lessons are suitable for CEFR levels B1-B2.
You can find them at: http://roadtogrammar.com/lessonlibrary/
Screenshots:
Available now, there is a new vocabulary activity on Road To Grammar.
The purpose is to learn five words at a time. The way it works it like this:
1 Review flashcards of five words. The flashcards have a picture example and the definition.
2 Then try five MCQ questions on the words you have just learned.
The activity is randomized from a bank of 300+ words, so you can try the activity as many times as you like.
Most of the words are from the Road To Grammar Instagram account, so you may recognize them if you are a follower.
More words will be added later.
The link for this activity is:
Screenshots:
I'm putting together a suite of custom GPTs to support ESL learners. This is custom GPT number four . This GPT provides conversation pr...
