Hot English Language & Culture How-Tos
How To: Pronounce the soft "i" and a hard "e" in English
Many of my students have problems pronouncing the soft i. This ESL how to video explains how your mouth should move for the soft i and the hard e. You'll never say beach when you mean bitch again. Watch this how to video and you'll be speaking proper English in no time.
How To: Put on a convincing Irish accent
Accents are not only fun but attractive too, when done properly, at least. Work on your Irish accent, practicing the inflection and sound of consonants and vowels. Impress your friends with your new accent.
How To: Understand English phrasal verbs & compound words
The presenter, Ms. Jennifer explains how compound words are formed from phrasal verbs. With examples she explains how the meaning and pronunciation differs when compound words are formed from phrasal verbs. She explains the difference between 'show' and 'show off' by showing her collection of fans, and showing off with one of her beautiful fan from Japan. Then she explains the difference between 'show off' and 'show-off', giving examples and makes the listeners clear about compound nouns also...
How To: Use the verb "have" for eating and drinking
In this tutorial, we learn how to use the verb "have" for eating and drinking. When someone asks you what you are eating or what you did eat, you will have to use the word "have" to answer or even if you want to ask the question you have. An example of asking something a question like this would be, "what do you usually have for breakfast, lunch or dinner?" Any question with meals will have the word "have" mixed into it, because it's asking what you are going to or have eating in a different ...
How To: Describe problems in English
This video tutorial is in the Language category which will show you how to describe problems in English. When describing problems in English, many people use the word trouble. When you frame a question, you can frame it in the present or the present continuous tense. For example; what do you have trouble with or what are you having trouble with? Similarly, when you answer the question you can use the present or the present continuous tense. Examples of this are; I have trouble with my car or ...
How To: Use the passive voice "supposed to" in English
In English, "supposed to" expresses obligation. Someone expects you to do something. It's an unusual form of the passive voice, but it's very important to learn. This ESL tutorial teaches you how to use "supposed to" in English. Watch this grammar how to video and you will be speaking English in no time.
How To: Use the modal verb and continuous form in English
Some modal verbs can be put in front of the continuous form to express some present action that is or isn't happening. To make the past tense for each, use "have been" instead of "be."
How To: Speak with a Liverpudlian 'scouse' accent
Can you speak like the Beatles? Not bloody likely! Well, you CAN learn to speak with a Liverpudlian accent IF you check out this video and wrap your head and tongue around the words. This accent is a wonderful one and recognized around the world as the dialect spoken by the Fab 4. It almost sounds Scottish, but it's 100% working class England. John Lennon had the best example out of the Beatles of this accent, with George Harrison coming second. Paul and Ringo did not have particularly good L...
How To: Use the word "being" correctly in English
Being is a word that can be hard to master for English as a Second Language speakers. It can be used as a gerund, or in present or past continuous tenses.
How To: Use "live" as a verb & adjective in English
Paul, an English teacher, gives a lesson on the difference between the word "live" as a verb and as an adjective. To make to "v" sound when saying the word, the lower lip has to touch the teeth. "Live" as verb is an action, so you say "I live in Minneapolis". The singular form is "live," and the plural form is "lives". Live" as an adjective is a describing word, so you say "Live TV is fun". "Live"" as an adjective describes the subject of a sentence. "Live" as an adjective can mean something ...
How To: Use "we're" & "were" properly
Learning American English is often difficult when faced with two words of similar spelling or sound. This is certainly true in the case of "we're" and "were".
How To: Tag questions with indefinite pronouns in English
This is a video tutorial in the Language category where you are going to learn how to tag questions with indefinite pronouns in English. A tag question begins as a statement and ends as a question. Here's an example with a definite pronoun: He's a student, isn't he? Indefinite pronouns are exceptions to the rule. For example, everyone's here, can be made in to a tag question. But, the pronoun, everyone, is indefinite. Hence, when you make it in to a tag question, you can't use "it". The corre...
How To: Replace possessive nouns and adjectives with pronoun
In this video, we learn how to replace possessive nouns and adjectives with pronouns. Using pronouns to replace possessive nouns and adjectives is simple, an example includes: Joe's car is dirty, would change to, his car is dirty, or it is dirty. Another example of this is "Sara's shoes are outside" would be "her shoes are outside", or "they are outside". "The workers' lunches are in the refrigerator", would be "their lunches are in the refrigerator", or "they are in the refrigerator". Practi...
How to Speak English: Reported speech with conditionals
In this tutorial, we learn how to speak English with conditionals. Conditional statements need special attention and usually start with the word "if". An example of a conditional statement is "if you want, we'll go out to dinner". This has two parts, a condition, and a result. The condition is expressed by "if". To report them, don't change the verbs unless you're dealing with a real condition. Look and see if verb tenses can change depending on how the sentence is structured. Try to remember...
How To: Practice saying the "t" sound in the middle of words
In words like bottle and mitten, the "t" really isn't a "t" sound; it is more of a "d" sound or a very fast "t" sound. Practice the "t" sound with the words button, carton, brighten, tighten, fatten, eaten, rotten, matter, butter, flutter, water, bottle, settle, and metal. In American English, the "t" sound is very difficult to hear in some words. An example of this is the word butter, where the "t" sounds more like a "d." Remember, the way people speak English in the United States is differe...
How To: Describe situations that didn't happen in the past
This video shows us how to describe the situations that are opposite of the future perfect tense. Here it is shown how to describe the situations that did or did not happen in the past using would, have and past participle. He gives us 3 very good examples that are describing such situations. In these examples he describes a situation which happened in the past which is actually a negative and uses a fact that is described in the present tense to give the reason why that situation ended in a ...
How To: Understand old school hip hop slang
Check out this language video to learn what some old school hip hop slang words really meant. Dr. Dre and Ed Lover let us know what some of these old school hip hop slang used in the Yo! days really meant. Slang terms have a way of coming back so brush up and learn how to speak some old school hip hop slang by watching this Yo! Slanguistics 101 video tutorial.
How To: Transfer a call in Telephone English
Check out this instructional language video to learn how to transfer an English business call. "Telephone Talk" is a series of four short videos that deal with common English telephone situations at Fujikin. This is the first video in the series, and will show you how to transfer a call from an English speaker to someone in your office.
How To: Pronounce the word "panacea"
Today's word is "panacea". This is a noun which means a remedy to cure all diseases or a solution for all difficulties.
How To: Pronounce the English word "despot"
Today's word is "despot". This is a noun which means a tyrant or someone who abuses his power.
How To: Pronounce the word "vehement" in English
Today's word is "vehement". This is an adjective which means being intense in one's conviction or decision about something. For example, you can say, "My brother and his wife are vehement about adopting a baby from Iraq."
How To: Speak English smoothly using the marble technique
Destroy filler words, overcome stuttering, speak smoothly, improve enunciation, and get better at public speaking all around with just marbles and your mouth! This video is best for people learning to reduce stuttering or students learning English as a second language (ESL).
How To: Develop a natural rhythm when speaking English
In this two part episode, Jennifer shows you how to develop your awareness of the natural rhythm in English. Learn to pause naturally by grouping your words into thoughts, also called thought groups. This is great for all levels of students learning English as a second language (ESL).
How To: Adapt and Learn About the U.S. Culture
AMERICAN LIFE (not so) STEREOTYPE
How To: Say 'I Love You' in Portuguese, Spanish, and French
How to say/pronounce 'I love you' in Portuguese, Spanish and French. Video: .
How To: Improve Your Speaking in Public and on Camera
This video gives tips on how to improve your speaking in public and on camera abilities.
How To: Study the English language more effectively
In this video from EnglishTeacherLive we learn some study tips on how to improve your English. 1.Don't be shy. Take every opportunity you can to learn English.
How To: Pronounce "y" in English
This is a video tutorial in the Language category where you are going to learn how to pronounce "y" in English. It is an accent reduction and English pronunciation video. This video will help English as Second Language speakers to pronounce the difficult sound "y" like in "university". What some of the people can do is to turn it in to "ya". What most of the people can do is the sound of "e" like in "me". You can practice "e". if you say "e" quickly, you can turn it in to "eya" sound. Practic...
How To: Pronounce phrasal verbs in English
This instructional video provides insight into the English language to teach people who are learning to speak English how to pronounce phrasal verbs. A phrasal verb is a verb + a particle, such as "drive up", "end up", and "drive back". The video shows viewers how these phrasal verbs are used in a sentence as well as what these phrases mean. In terms of pronunciation, there are three basic patterns which are discussed to show where the words are stressed in the context of a sentence which are...
How To: Use phrasal verbs when speaking English
In this video, we learn how to speak English: An introduction to phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs are also called two-part and three-part verbs. This is a verb and one or two other short words. Together as a phrase these have a special meaning. The other words are called particles, which come together with the verb to make a different definition. Particles can change the word "figure" to "figure out" and the word "look" to "look through". These particles at the end of the verb change how the word...
How To: Use English separable verb phrases for the classroom
In this video, we learn how to use English separable verb phrases for the classroom. Some basic phrases that you will need to know are "hand in", which would be used in a sentence like "he needs to hand in the assignments" or "he needs to hand this assignments in on time". If you use a pronoun, you must separate the verb phrases or the sentence will not me grammatically correct. After you have this down, practice another sentence. For the sentence, "the teacher will hand out the tests", you w...
How To: Use the glottal stop in English
In this tutorial, we learn how to speak English: The glottal stop in place of the true T. When you are saying a word like "fountain" you are using a word that has a glottal stop. If you can say two common expressions "uh-oh" and "uh-uh", then you can make a glottal stop. You need to use your throat to make this sound, it's like holding your breath but using the back of your throat to do it. Try to break the word "fountain" into two different parts so you can hear the different in your voice a...
How To: Use reference words in reported speech in English
In this video, we learn how to speak English: Reported Speech/Reference Words. Reported speech is reporting another person's words or telling what someone else said. Indirect speech doesn't use the use the exact words that we use. Examples of reference words are: her, she, herself, him, and himself. Types of references can be pronouns or possessive adjectives. Listen to who the speaker is so you can change the reference words so that the statement is logical. Use this example as a reference: ...
How To: Use imperatives or reporting verbs in English speech
In this tutorial, we learn how to speak English: Imperatives or reporting verbs. Imperative sentences are sentences like "open it!", where you are asking someone to perform an action. You can also say this in a nice fashion, asking "please open it". There are many different forms of imperative sentences, which include: commands/orders, directions, instructions, requests, and warnings. All of these different types of sentences are asking someone to do something, just changing up the way they d...
How To: Use "It's + adjective + infinitive" in English
In this video, we learn how to use "It's + adjective + infinitive" in English. To form these sentences, you will use the pattern that is stated above. This is very common in the English language, and you can put whatever you want into the sentence as the infinitive. You can change this from "it's hard to do" to It's not hard to do" to "it's easy to do". You can also make something negative, by giving it the prefix "im", which would change "possible" to "impossible". You can also ad in "un" to...
How To: Use the true T and flap T when speaking English
In this tutorial, we learn how to speak English using the true "t" and the flap "t". You will notice as you say different words in English that have the letter "T" that it sounds differently depending on the word it is in. The words "batter" and "latter" have a different sound to them than "hearty" and "thirty". Look at two words with the letters in them and find which one has the flap T in it. Say these words out loud so you can better hear what the different in the pronunciation is. This le...
How To: Use the English proposition "at"
This video is in the Language category where you will understand how the proposition "at" is used in English language. "At" is used to indicate either location or time. A few examples of using "at" for indicating location are; "I am at school", "You are at home", "She is at the store" and "They are at the park". To indicate exact time, the preposition "at" is used. A few examples are; "The movie starts at 6:15", "You have to be there at 1:30" and "Let's meet at noon". You can watch the video ...
How To: Use the verb "be" in different tenses in English
In this video, we learn how to use the verb "be" in different tenses. This verb changes depending on the verb tense and subject in which it's used. In the present tense, "I am", "we are", "you are", etc can be used. In the past tense "I was", "you were", "he was", "we were", etc can be used. For future tense "I will be", "you will be", "he will be", "she will be", etc can be used. Depending on the tense you have, the verb "be" will change in all the sentences. Make sure to go over these and l...
How To: Use infinitives for questions in English
In this tutorial, we learn how to speak English using infinitives for questions. First, you need to be able to identify reported questions inside of a conversation. Infinitives include words like "to go", "to buy", "to find". They are formed by saying "to" + the verb. "Wh" infinitives are simply at the beginning of infinitives, like "where to go", "when to buy", and "how to find". Use infinitives to report questions that have modal verbs such as "should" and "can" depending on what the modal ...
How To: Change verb tenses when reporting in English
In this video, we learn how to speak English using verb tenses. Verb tenses will not change if you are reporting facts, general truth, or immediate reporting. In all other situations, you will change verb tenses. An example of this is "I will buy balloons" can change to "she said she would buy balloons". This shifts a sentence back to a different tense. When shifting verb tenses back future and present go to the past and past goes to past perfect. Practice changing verb tenses in different se...
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