How to quickly improve your understanding of spoken English 

Are you afraid of listening to natives too? How well do you understand English from listening? I have never met an adult learner in 15 years who would say it’s a walk in the park for them. Really. Never.

About ‘Figure Out English’ Podcast 

  Welcome to ‘Figure Out English’ podcast for English learners! <<< Subscribe on iTunes >>>  <<< Subscribe on Soundcloud >>> Hello, everybody! This is me, Daria Storozhilova, and this is my new podcast for English learners – Figure Out English. This will be a series of short episodes, from 3 to 5 minutes long. Subscribe on figureoutenglish.com to get all the episodes in your inbox. I want to help you stop feeling lost in English. We will discuss set expressions you need to use to sound natural in English, fix vocabulary and pronunciation problems. Let’s learn how to avoid stupid mistakes in…

Found on the web: best advice on improving your listening skills 

I have created a small collection of online resources to help you improve your listening skills. Communication starts with understanding. Learners often complain that they feel frustrated if they can’t be sure they can understand people they talk to or videos or films they want to watch. Also, great listening skills help us develop our vocabulary and general English knowledge. It’s really really important to be a good listener. Can you say you are good at listening? This post will present you the best advice from English teachers on how to listen and understand English better.

Learn English Irregular Verbs the Clever Way 

Learn my practical tips about the most effective ways to remember English irregular verbs and use them in speaking and writing with confidence. Free download inside!

Why online classes are great: italki teachers share their experience 

Teaching a language is people helping people talk to other people. Derek DeWitt, Akcent IH Prague, Czech Republic This article was born from a simple idea to keep track on the impressive geography of my online language teachers on italki website. I enjoy learning languages, not just teaching them. Getting access to native speakers and great professionals online have brought a lot of value to my learning.

Communication Hacks: Polite English 

In this article, I will teach you language tricks which will help you adapt to a different cultural code of English. We will cover set expressions and grammar tricks to help you sound polite and appropriate in everyday communication.  

What you should know about New Year Resolutions 

It has been one of the most difficult to write blog posts for me. New Year Resolutions are a big thing yet they seem to be not real. And how can we work with that? I know goals are crucial. I know goals work. Yet I feel I can’t make it easy for people to actually follow their dreams, and it is killing me. In language learning, making a good plan helps to make a big step towards success. But do New Year resolutions hurt or help? Let’s try to figure out.

How to: used to, be used to, get used to – examples and exercises 

If you have problems with the verb structures used to, be used to, get used to, I hope this video will be helpful. I have recorded a 14-minute grammar training for you to understand the difference between these structures and practise using it in your own speaking.

Small Talk Secrets: how to easily ask questions 

Yesterday I was talking about Small Talk secrets in an online webinar. I hope you joined us online, but if not, here is a short outlook of my ideas. People often find small talk frustrating, even the native speakers. But why? The definition is it’s an ‘informal and friendly conversation about unimportant subjects’ (Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary). Why would it be so hard to talk about something nice and easy? Well, from the point of view of the many, because we get lost in the choice of topics and because we don’t want to waste our time on meaningless stuff. I will disagree…