Culture Shock: What it is and How to Manage it

What is “Culture Shock?” “Culture shock” is the experience of feeling anxious, confused, homesick or lost while living in a foreign culture. These feelings arise when the host culture creates unfamiliar and sometimes uncomfortable experiences as a part of daily life. This is a common experience for international students who come to study in the…

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English Words with Spanish Roots

The English Island, located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, offers the highest quality English as a second language (ESOL) courses in Atlanta, Georgia. Many of our students come from Spanish speaking countries seeking English as a second language lessons (ESL), and they are often surprised by the abundance of words used in English that are derived…

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Four Benefits of Learning a New Language

Learning a new language provides a multitude of benefits for students of all ages. Some of the benefits include increased levels of concentration, positive changes in brain structure, higher degrees of creativity and cultural enrichment.  While there are many great reasons to learn a language, perhaps some of these benefits will provide a good reason…

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Holiday Vocabulary: Christmas and New Year’s Eve

Holiday A holiday is a special day of celebration or a day when most people do not have to work. In American English, the holiday season refers to the time from November until the beginning of January. Wishing someone a “happy holidays” is a polite and inclusive way of expressing seasonal greetings. If you want…

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English Mistakes in Advertising

Native English speakers make mistakes not just in conversation, but in advertising for businesses. Remember, even prominently-displayed examples of English grammar can sometimes contain errors!   Wrong word forms This campaign for an international women’s brand included this tagline: You’ve never seen body’s like this! This is the singular possessive form of body, but the…

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Confusing Word Pairs

In English, there are a number of words that share similar spelling or meanings that can make them hard to differentiate from each other. Here we will be looking at some commonly confused word pairs that can be tricky to master, even for those who speak English as a native language.   Confusing Lose and…

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Abbreviations

As a general rule, you should avoid abbreviations in formal writing unless you are sure that the abbreviations you are using will be familiar to your audience. The situation is somewhat different in scientific and technical writing. Depending on your specific field, it may be acceptable or even preferable to use agreed upon abbreviations for…

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Common American English Slang

Below are several slang words and phrases often used by American English speakers. We’ve provided a definition for each word and an example of how that word is used in a sentence. Some of these words have multiple definitions, but here we’re focusing on the common and informal meanings native speakers convey when speaking casually. …

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Writing Out Numbers

In the English language, there are rules to when you should write out numbers as words (twenty) and when you should write numbers as numerals (20). How do you know the difference? We’re going to look at some general guidelines now, but keep in mind that these rules might differ from the rules used in…

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Using Apostrophes

How do you use apostrophes? While a common form of punctuation, apostrophes have multiple uses, which makes them hard for even native English speakers to always use correctly. Learn to identify these errors, and make an effort to avoid making them in your own speech and writing. Using Apostrophes to Form Contractions and Show Possession…

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