2019 June

Understanding how sentences work is very important. For you to be able to do that, you will have to know how to construct them. This short quiz will present you with 8 different sentences. Try and reconstruct those sentences using the word in bold. You might have to use phrases and idiomatic expressions where necessary.

If you want to read better, you will absolutely need to understand how a sentence works. This will allow us to break a sentence down into easily understandable pieces. Each of these bite-sized pieces is called a clause. A clause is the basic unit of grammar. Usually, a main clause is made up of a subject (s) (a noun phrase) and a verb phrase (v). [Subject]Ram [Verb]called.  This is an example of a simple sentence. However, when one is reading, we do not just encounter simple sentences. Most

We at First Academy have the fortune of learning on the job. As teachers of English, we are naturally among the first to encounter the most common mistakes people make and encounter them on a regular basis. The one mistake that usually takes the cake is the difficulty most people face in understanding the difference between there, they’re (they are) and there. Here is a short primer on what these words mean and how to use them correctly. Be it IELTS or PTE or CELPIP or any other English test

The only problem with my sister is that she is always splitting hairs. Does it mean that she’s a hair dresser? Or does her hair have split ends, and that she needs to visit a salon or a hairdresser? Not really. Expressions of this kind have become part of everyday English, and have naturally filtered into language that is used in tests. If you are not aware of what these expressions mean, there is a danger of you misunderstanding what has been presented. The 12 idioms listed here all fall

This is going to be an article that we are going to come back to once every two months are so. In this series, we will be looking at idioms that have appeared in newspapers and articles. This means two things – these idioms are commonly used and indicate a fluency in language, the second, if you are taking an advanced test like the GRE or the GMAT, these are things that they expect you to know. Here are the idioms you will look at today: Leap of faith Falling on deaf ears Full steam

Here are 20 Expressions and words that you need to know to ace you exam.There are a few words and phrases that occur fairly commonly no matter what exam you take. Understanding these phrases will make it easy for your to crack the reading comprehension section or might just be able to help you understand the question better. In many cases the fifteen expressions that follow are used in contexts where many questions appear. Be familiar with these and you will ace the competitive tests. GRE? Sure.

Read this article about Vancouver. A city in Canada. “Vancouver is a wonder city,” Canadian author Stephen Leacock once wrote. “It has the combined excellence of nature’s gift and man’s handiwork.” Today this statement rings truer than ever. The glittering glass metropolis – set against temperate rainforest, ocean inlets, and the Coast Mountains of British Columbia – keeps finding new ways to shine. Over the past five years, the city has taken important steps toward reconciliat

Stay Tuned for the next part! IELTS is easily the most popular English proficiency test. It’s robust structure, and integrity is making it a valuable language assessment tool. Familiarity breeds contempt, and prevalence breeds misconception. Here are a few common misconceptions about IELTS. 1. IELTS is difficult IELTS is neither tricky nor difficult. It starts off easy, and as you progress, so does the level of complexity. This is designed to gently take the test taker into higher levels

6. I practiced 50 full tests, I will get an 8While practicing sample questions is a good way to familiarise yourself with the structure and fine tune your timing, it does not equate with a good score. Remember, IELTS questions and passages are NOT repeated. You will get a new passage each time. So understanding the test and what the questions need from you will help you more than bull-headed practice. Take a look at a super straightforward listening test and see how you fare! You might be