English Skills
4 Steps to Confident Conversations
4 Steps to Confident Conversations - It happens quickly: At a small gathering of people, you suddenly find yourself face-to-face with someone...
Four Common Thesis Statement Mistakes in Academic Essays
Four Common Thesis Statement Mistakes in Academic Essays - A thesis statement is a clearly-worded summary of your opinion about a topic. In my...
Build Active Vocabulary: Mental Strategies and Quick Tips
Build Active Vocabulary: Mental Strategies and Quick Tips for English Learners For English language learners, continuing to build vocabulary...
Writing: The 4 Basic Parts of an Essay
Academic Writing: The 4 Basic Parts of an Essay - Writing a clear, convincing essay is an important English skill, whether it's for school,...
Pronunciation: Can and Can’t
Pronunciation: Can and Can't - This video lesson will help you recognize the difference between can and can't in American English...
American Humor Part 3 – Riddles
Understanding American Humor - Part 3: Riddles - Understanding what people think is funny—and why—is a challenge for anyone who tries to learn...
Where Could English Tutoring Take You?
Where Could English Tutoring Take You? - You have goals for your life: places you want to go, things you want to experience,...
American Humor Part 2 – Knock-Knock Jokes
Understanding American Humor - Part 2: Knock-Knock Jokes - Understanding what people think is funny—and why—is difficult in any language. The...
Understanding American Humor – Part 1
Understanding American Humor - Part 1: Puns - Understanding what people think is funny—and why—is difficult in any language. In fact, one sure...
English Pronunciation and The Magic of Vowels
English Pronunciation and The Magic of Vowels: Every language learner knows the uncomfortable feeling: You just started a friendly conversation...
Polite English: 3 Common Mistakes When Saying Please
Polite English: 3 Common Mistakes When Saying Please - Everyone recognizes the importance of being polite, whether it's in your first or second...
How to Make an Apology That Builds Trust
How to Make an Apology that Builds Trust - Regardless of where you live or what language you speak, we all make mistakes in life. Some people...
5 Ways to Feel Confident in Your Spoken English
5 Ways to Feel Confident in Your Spoken English - How can you build confidence in your spoken English ability? Every language learner dreams...
4 Great Sentence Styles to Upgrade Your Writing
Upgrade Your Writing with these 4 Great Sentence Styles - When you need to make a great impression in your writing, basic sentence structures...
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Grammar Guides
Vocabulary: 8 Common English Phrases with Surprisingly Dark Origins
Vocabulary: 8 Common English Phrases with Surprisingly Dark Origins - What do criminals, horse-drawn carriages, and hats have in common? They...
Vocabulary: Correctly Using Normal, Typical and Regular
Vocabulary: Using Normal, Typical and Regular Correctly - English has many words that seem similar but carry important differences in meaning...
Vocabulary: Using Say, Tell, Talk and Speak
Vocabulary: Using Say, Tell, Talk and Speak - This video lesson will help you recognize how and when to use these four important verbs. Click...
Participial Adjectives: Grammar Guide
Participial Adjectives: Grammar Guide - This video lesson offers rules and examples for understanding participial adjectives and using them to...
4 Apostrophe Rules: Grammar Guide
4 Apostrophe Rules: Grammar Guide - Apostrophes may be small, but they have a big impact on grammar! Correct usage of the apostrophe shows...
Understanding Clauses and Phrases: Grammar Guide
Understanding Clauses and Phrases - Developing advanced language skills requires understanding the structures and rules that are working...
3 Rules for English Phrasal Verbs: Grammar Guide
3 Useful Rules for English Phrasal Verbs - Look at the following sentences: “We need to find out when this happened, and why.” “If you don’t...
5 Rules for Using A and The in Sentences: Grammar Guide
Using A and The in Sentences: Grammar Guide - Even for people who are quite fluent in English, using A and The can still be confusing. This...
Conditional Sentences: Grammar Guide
Conditional Sentences: Grammar Guide - Conditional sentences are all about expressing possibilities. They include a main clause that offers...
Their, There, or They’re: Grammar Guide
Grammar Guide for Their, There, and They're - Spelling can be very challenging in English: very often, written words seem completely different...
Living
40 Amazing Experiences Around Seattle
40 Amazing Experiences Around Seattle - The city of Seattle and surrounding areas—often called the Puget Sound region—is a beautiful and...
Great Leaders for Racial Equity in America
Great Leaders for Racial Equity in America - The history of racial equity in the U.S. has been shaped by the hard work of both men and women...
Being a Good Houseguest: 7 Helpful Tips
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...
4 Great Reasons to Start Private English Lessons in 2025
4 Reasons Private English Lessons are a Great Way to Start the New Year - The start of a new year is the perfect time to set goals and make...
The History of New Year’s Resolutions
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...
Christmas Traditions: 5 Lessons from A Charlie Brown Christmas
Christmas Traditions: 5 Lessons from A Charlie Brown Christmas For many Americans, watching A Charlie Brown Christmas in the month of December...
4 Fun American Thanksgiving Traditions
4 Fun American Thanksgiving Traditions: Each November, Americans from all kinds of backgrounds celebrate Thanksgiving, a U.S. national holiday...
Halloween Safety Tips
Halloween Safety Tips for Parents: Taking Your Kids Trick-or-Treating Halloween is an exciting time of year in the United States, especially...
Your First Halloween in the U.S. – 5 Things to Expect
Your First Halloween in the U.S. - 5 Things to Expect: Halloween—there is no denying that this October celebration is an important part of...
5 Fun Things to Do on Labor Day Weekend
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...
Key Steps to Reduce Cyber Kidnapping Risks
Key Steps to Reduce Cyber Kidnapping Risks: On December 28, Chinese exchange student Kai Zhuang ran away from his host family out into the cold...
4 Surprising Things About Parenting in the US
4 Surprising Things About Parenting in the US - Moving to the United States from another country brings changes and challenges of all kinds....
3 Great Ways to Make New Friends in the US
3 Great Ways to Make New Friends in the US - Moving to the U.S. can be both an exciting and a lonely experience. “At home in Japan I had a...
Resources
Keys to Success on the Duolingo English Test (DET)
Keys to Success on the Duolingo English Test - The Duolingo English Test (DET) is becoming an increasingly popular option for students who need...
Great ESL Books for Kids
Great ESL Books for Kids (2025) - One of the best ways to help the young English language learners in your life develop the skills they need...
Book Recommendations: American Immigrant Stories
Book Recommendations: American Immigrant Stories - Crossing between cultures is an experience of deep, lasting change. Life in a new country...
American English Vowel Sounds
American English Vowel Sounds: American English has a large number of vowel sounds: around 20 of them! This set of sounds changes in different...
Resources for Vocabulary Building
Resources for Vocabulary Building - These are some of my resource picks for students who want to focus on building vocabulary. I've used all...
Pronunciation and Grammar Resources
Pronunciation and Grammar Resources - Pronunciation and Grammar can be a very useful combination for English Language Learners. Whether you...
Vocabulary and Grammar Resources
Vocabulary and Grammar Resources - Here are a few great resources for building vocabulary and English grammar skills:Grammar Resource:Top...
Videos
Vocabulary: Using Say, Tell, Talk and Speak
Vocabulary: Using Say, Tell, Talk and Speak - This video lesson will help you recognize how and when to use these four important verbs. Click...
Pronunciation: Can and Can’t
Pronunciation: Can and Can't - This video lesson will help you recognize the difference between can and can't in American English...
Participial Adjectives: Grammar Guide
Participial Adjectives: Grammar Guide - This video lesson offers rules and examples for understanding participial adjectives and using them to...
Mailing a Letter: English for Everyday Activities
Mailing a Letter: English for Everyday Activities Sometimes, it's the everyday tasks that are most difficult to describe or explain to other...
Changing a Light Bulb: English for Everyday Activities
Changing a Light Bulb: English for Everyday Activities Sometimes, it's the everyday tasks that are most difficult to describe or explain to...
More
For more great English resources, take a look at our recommended links. All included links feature free options, though some have for-pay options as well.
Community:
- English Language Learner’s Alliance – A Bellevue, Washington organization that sponsors activities for English Language Learners
Grammar:
- British Council LearnEnglish – This site features British English rather than American, but offers useful free lessons on a variety of grammar topics
- Dave’s ESL Cafe – Free resources for a variety of grammar topics that includes helpful examples and explanations
Pronunciation:
- The Pacific Northwest English Study – A scholarly look at unique pronunciation features of Pacific Northwest English
- Rachel’s English – A great collection of activities for both pronunciation and listening comprehension. Includes free and premium options.
Writing
- The Purdue Online Writing Lab – Helpful guides to MLA, APA, and Chicago Styles for academic writing
