Accent reduction is one of the many services that the English Island offers to non-native English speakers throughout Metro Atlanta. Accent Reduction classes teach business professionals the Standard American Accent, the patterns of inflection and intonation used by newscasters and other television and radio personalities throughout the United States. Because of its widespread adoption in…

In past blogs, we’ve recommended novels in the “young adult” (YA) genre to students who are preparing to take the TOEFL. The reason for this simple: the best YA novels employ well-written, straightforward prose, without the complicated syntax and intimidating vocabulary of works aimed at older readers. Although targeted at readers who are in middle…

Test your knowledge of noun clauses, quoted speech, and reported speech with this short quiz. Check the end of the quiz for correct answers and explanations.   I don’t know where (she lives / she does live).   I wonder (whether / if) Mary will attend class today.   (That Joseph / Joseph) enjoys teaching…

English sentences can be classified four different ways according to their structure: simple, compound, complex and compound-complex. The classification depends on the number of independent and dependent clauses a sentence contains. An independent clause is a complete sentence. It can stand on its own. A dependent clause is not a complete sentence. It must be…

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) measures an individual’s ability to use and understand English at the university level. The TOEFL is considered the standard measure of proficiency for North American English. More than 9,000 colleges, agencies, and other institutions in over 130 countries accept TOEFL scores as proof of an individual’s…

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) measures an individual’s ability to use and understand English at the university level. The TOEFL is considered the standard measure of proficiency for North American English. More than 9,000 colleges, agencies, and other institutions in over 130 countries accept TOEFL scores as proof of an individual’s…

In this lesson we’re going to look at a few more of the most common grammar errors that native English speakers routinely commit. These are the sorts of mistakes that native speakers hear growing up and end up unconsciously repeating. Learn to identify these errors, and make an effort to avoid incorporating them into your…

Today we’re going to talk about some of the most common grammar errors that native English speakers routinely commit. Native speakers of any language often talk casually with other native speakers of the same language in ways that are grammatically incorrect. English is no different than any other language in this respect. Watch out for…

Last time we talked about noun clauses, groups of words that have the same uses in a sentence as a noun. In this lesson, we’re going to explore some additional ways noun clauses can be used, as well as some related concepts.   Quoted Speech Quoted speech means that you are reproducing exactly what a…

In this lesson we’re going to talk about some of the ways that noun clauses can be used in sentences. A noun clause is a group of words that has the same uses in a sentence as a noun. As such, a noun clause can function as either the subject or the object of a…