Practical English

Buffy walks past a long, single-storey building clad in corrugated metal that looks like weathered slate. The door ahead is open, and a group of young people stands nearby. A young girl in a dress approaches two guys lingering by the entrance. Across the street, about three metres from the building, several cars are parked. Music and live singing spill out from the open doorway. Well, this must be The Bronze — though the place looks more like a half-century-old abandoned warehouse than a trendy nightspot. Buffy reaches the entrance just as a few couples arrive too. She pulls a bill from her pants pocket and hands it to the bouncer — a burly man standing guard at the door...

Opening. The main entrance to Sunnydale High School. Night lights are on inside. From outside, there’s a muffled, distant barking of dogs. The school hallways are deserted, dark, and silent. The only light comes from the display case with the school trophies. Closed doors to empty night classrooms line both sides of the hall. The double doors separating the corridors are closed. No one is here to disturb their peace at this hour. A dark, empty classroom — a human skeleton model stands in the corner, so this must be the biology room. The horizontal blinds on all the windows are closed. But the...

Welcome to the first entry of our new section dedicated to the enduring legacy of the beloved series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For those who grew up alongside the slayer, this show was more than just entertainment; it was a phenomenon that shaped their views, friendships, and even teenage identities. Unfortunately, I didn’t watch Buffy during my school and college years. Only a few years ago was I introduced to the grim yet love-filled world of the Slayer. From the very first episode, I realized that Buffy would become an integral part of my life. The amazing storyline, full of unpredictable twists, keeps us on the edge of our seats and captivates our hearts...

"Wanderer above the sea of fog" Caspar David Friedrich 1818 A lot of people will blame me for what I'm going to say, but those with open minds will consider my point of view and maybe pick up something from my interesting experience. A few days ago, when I met the striking image of this picture, I didn't even know the name of that enigmatic masterpiece, not mention the name of its author. But I wasn't upset by this ignorance at all, because I've learned and appreciated at that moment the power of...

Have you ever found yourself bored while waiting somewhere and wishing you had something productive to do? Well, here's a fun little trick I've discovered that's perfect for improving your English skills without needing anything more than what's right in front of you. Let's dive into how I stumbled upon this technique one afternoon... It all began a few days ago... I was waiting for my sister in a neighbouring town, with absolutely nothing to do. I didn't want to use my phone as the only entertaining, what meant to find something else to do. I understand that we all get used to occupy ourselves by social media scrolling or watching YouTube videos...

All we love to watch something what we really like. It's especially pleasant activity if you do it in a target language. Unfortunately most of us, who even do it a lot (reading, watching/listening), don't bother yourself with at least a shortest summarizing of that information we've just received. That's why we have these popular questions like "How to memorize new vocabulary?", "How to express yourself in English language fluently?", "How to start speaking English after nth years of learning?" etc. But the answer to all these questions is only one actually. Just practice a target language every day...

What do you know about Rudyard Kipling? I guess your answer is something like this: "He is an English writer who wrote the Mowgli." I would say something like that recently but now I have discovered that firstly his Mowgli is the Jungle Book actually. Second thing is that he wrote two Jungle books and third is that he isn't just a novels' writer. He is a journalist and a poet as well. I have read his poem "If" a week ago and I couldn't help but share my thoughts on that poem to my friend, who also loves to expand his horizons. The only question was how to intrigue him to start searching for this poem by himself, without forcing from my side...

Многим известна усталость от ежедневного чтения или просмотра видеороликов одного и того же, хоть и любимого, блогера. Не удивительно, ведь мозг быстро привыкает, а затем и пресыщается, если не давать ему разнообразную пищу. Я заметил это по себе, поскольку регулярно впадаю в монотонный режим ежедневного чтения на одну тему. Такое случается, если берешься за семитомник Гарри Поттера или даже одну, но основательную книгу. Также с завидной регулярностью я зацикливаюсь на просмотре контента лишь одного канала на YouTube. При такой монотонности рано или поздно замечаешь, что чтение или просмотр не приносит той радости, которой ты ожидаешь...

The best way is to listen something in English everyday, of course. You can start listening to those bloggers who explain English texts and phrases in your native language. When their content becomes easy for you, search for your favorite themes in English and listen to those bloggers who create something not for learners. For example, I started listen to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW594XUfEnB5l_s35uRa-lQ and she helped me a lot. She reads texts in English and explain the material in my native Russian language. When such content became easy for you start working with bloggers who don't think about English learners at all...

Speaking skill is the most difficult for the most of us because it requires a lot of energy and discipline. I know that many people don't speak at all despite of they have been learning language for many years. They explain this defect in their learning process by "I have no fellows to speak with". But the point is that the only person who is needed for this exercise is you. We don't need someone to improve our speaking skill because you can do it on your own. 1. We can speak to ourselves using the unique gift from God - our imagination. We can imagine anybody and tell him or her what we want....

Writing is the really specific skill. I now a few people who writes well in Russian and no matter that this is their native language. When I read messages from my fellows I often can't understand what they exactly want to say. Yeah, if you need to say Hello or Goodbye, there's no problem for the most of people. But when they need to write a few sentences they send finally a mess. I noticed that there's no connection between speaking and writing skills. I made my notes reading messages from my fellows, which I know speak very well. Some of them love telling stories and do it well enough. But unexpectedly they can't write a correctly constructed sentences not to mention the whole text...

In my first article I wrote about all four skills but in a too concise way. Today I want to tell you about reading and how to do it really efficiently. Before we start I want you to do the next (in English, of course): 1. What is the last book you read? Take a sheet of paper and write down the summary of that book. 2. Retell on a sheet of paper the last movie you watched. 3. Retell the last book, its chapter or article on a sheet of paper. You have problems with it - this article is for you. You have no problem - you can stop reading right now. To be honest, reading is my favorite skill since my childhood, when I read in my native language...