Vocabulary: 8 Common English Phrases with Surprisingly Dark Origins - What do criminals, horse-drawn carriages, and hats have in common? They all helped shape the way we speak English today! English is full of strange and colorful expressions that don’t always make...
Vocabulary: Using Normal, Typical and Regular Correctly - English has many words that seem similar but carry important differences in meaning and usage. Three such words—normal, typical, and regular—are often confused by English learners. While these words can...
7 Helpful Tips for Being a Good Houseguest - The rules and expectations for what it means to be a good houseguest have a lot of variety from culture to culture. If you have been invited by an American friend to have an overnight stay, you might be wondering what to...
Academic Writing: The 4 Basic Parts of an Essay - Writing a clear, convincing essay is an important English skill, whether it's for school, college, online articles, or many other purposes. Because every culture and language family has its preferred ways of organizing...
Book Recommendations: American Immigrant Stories - Crossing between cultures is an experience of deep, lasting change. Life in a new country (or sometimes, even in a new part of the same country) can bring all kinds of differences and opportunities, both expected and...
5 Fun Things to Do on Labor Day Weekend - In the United States, the Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end of summer. Labor Day is always the first Monday in September, which makes this a three-day weekend (Saturday through Monday). Often people make use of...
Vocabulary: Using Say, Tell, Talk and Speak - This video lesson will help you recognize how and when to use these four important verbs. Click here to download a free pdf of the charts presented in the video:For more practice, try completing the practice exercises...
Pronunciation: Can and Can't - This video lesson will help you recognize the difference between can and can't in American English conversation. Remember that can is usually a structure word: It is often unstressed in a sentence, with a reduced vowel sound. On the...
Participial Adjectives: Grammar Guide - This video lesson offers rules and examples for understanding participial adjectives and using them to create great English sentences.When working with participial adjectives, remember the rule: Use Present Participle (-ing)...
American English Vowel Sounds: American English has a large number of vowel sounds: around 20 of them! This set of sounds changes in different parts of the United States; some sounds are more popular in the Western U.S. and some are more popular in the Eastern....
More from ESL Advantage
The History of New Year’s Resolutions: Each year as the calendar turns from December to January, people around the world take time to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter and the promise of a fresh start. One of the oldest traditions of welcoming the new year is...
Christmas Traditions: 5 Lessons from A Charlie Brown Christmas For many Americans, watching A Charlie Brown Christmas in the month of December is a beloved holiday tradition. Though it was released 60 years ago, this animated television show (called a 'special')...
4 Fun American Thanksgiving Traditions: Each November, Americans from all kinds of backgrounds celebrate Thanksgiving, a U.S. national holiday centered on friends, family—and lots of food! The modern American Thanksgiving includes a wide variety of traditions, and...