The /w/ sound is particularly difficult for Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, and Malayalam speakers. Indian speakers tend to substitute a sound similar to /v/ for /w/.  This happens because the upper front teeth touch the lower lip. In the accent modification course, students practice pushing their lips forward into a tight circle, as if they are kissing …

An idiom is a group of words in a fixed order that has a special meaning that is different from the meanings of each word on its own. We cannot change the order of the words.  When learning idioms, it’s best to learn them as complete units rather than as individual words.   Idioms are most common …

Many native speakers pronounce the word Toronto as tərɑnoʊ (Torono), dropping the second “t” sound.  Other native speakers will pronounce the word as tərɑntoʊ, keeping the second “t” sound. Notice that in both pronunciations, the first “o” is reduced to the schwa sound /ə/.   When the word Toronto is followed by another word, as in the …

Phrasal verbs are extremely common in English. Phrasal verbs are verbs that are made up of a verb and a particle (a preposition OR an adverb) or a verb and two particles (an adverb AND a preposition). To improve your vocabulary, it’s important to use phrasal verbs in your speaking and writing.  To do this, write …

By Christopher Rixon – September 11, 2023  One of the most challenging IELTS writing components to master is Grammatical Range and Accuracy. This is a measurement of your ability to use a wide range of grammatical structures without making a lot of errors. In this blog post, we’ll explore how you can demonstrate your proficiency in …