Some general essay writing tips - Use short sentences: try turning commas into full stops, to break a long sentence into two. - Don’t use unnecessarily long words to prove how clever you are; let your knowledge demonstrate that. - Use plain language that anyone could understand. - Writing is about getting it down on paper, reviewing and then editing; don’t expect it to be perfect first time. - Read your essay out loud: are you stumbling at any point? If so, review and edit. - Keep your paragraphs short, to make the words on the page less daunting. - Any spelling errors will make the reader stumble, and leave them with a bad impression; you cannot check spelling too much.

Use 'Anki' to build your vocabulary! Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy. Because it is a lot more efficient than traditional study methods, you can either greatly decrease your time spent studying, or greatly increase the amount you learn. Anyone who needs to remember things in their daily life can benefit from Anki. Since it is content-agnostic and supports images, audio, videos and scientific markup (via LaTeX), the possibilities are endless. For example: learning a language studying for medical and law exams memorizing people's names and faces brushing up on geography mastering long poems even practicing guitar chords! > http://ankisrs.net/

Level of English of news channel!

Do you think the level of English on major Englich news channels has gone down over the years? What might be the reasons if you think it did?

italki and idiots - just a thought! I have ran into people who are not serious but use italki as a dating site. I just have one question, aren't there enough dating sites? Why come here and act like an idiot. Just a thought!

Double Negatives A double negative is when two negatives used in a sentence cancel each other out to make a positive. This must not be misunderstood to mean that double negatives are an accepted grammatical device; they are grammatically incorrect and must not be used. How does one avoid double negatives? It is quite simple. When using the negative form of a verb (e.g. aren’t, don’t, won’t, etc), do not follow it up with a negative determiner/quantifier (e.g. nowhere, nothing, never, etc). Consider the following sentences: They aren’t going nowhere. They don’t do nothing. They won’t never stop. All of the above employ the double negative, and are hence grammatically incorrect. Formerly, the double negative was a device for emphasis, but the effort to make English conform grammatically to formal logic has rendered it unacceptable today. Logically, the meanings of the above sentences, deduced by applying the formula negative + negative = positive, are: They are going somewhere. (aren’t + nowhere = somewhere) They do something. (don’t + nothing = something) They will stop. (won’t + never = will) The ban on multiple negatives also applies to combination with adverbs such as hardly and scarcely. It is therefore regarded as incorrect to say I couldn't hardly do it or The vehicle has scarcely no fuel.

Since and For The words ‘since’ and ‘for’ are often confused by English language speakers. There is a simple rule to follow to differentiate between the usage of these two words. SINCE is used to talk about time from a specific period while FOR is used to talk about a length of time. I have been living in New York since 1982. I have been living in New York for twenty years. I have been studying since seven a.m. today. I have been studying for eight hours. My tutor has taught me since January this year. My tutor has taught me for five months.

Some easy ways to improve English There is one question on everyone's mind who starts to learn English "How can I improve my English?" There are some simple ways to improve English in short period of time. - Listen to English news channels on radio - Read books and keep a dictionary close to you, mark a new word that you find and try to remember that. - Read aloud standing in front of a mirror. Do if for a few weeks and see for yourself.

Common mistakes -cal/-cle Adjectives end in -cal. Nouns end in -cle. for example: critical logical magical musical nautical physical practical theatrical tropical whimsical calculator (not -er) calendar article bicycle circle cubicle cuticle miracle particle spectacle uncle vehicle I hope it helps.

Who vs. That vs. Which Rule 1 ~~~~~ Who refers to people. That and which refer to groups or things. Examples: Anya is the one who rescued the bird. Lokua is on the team that won first place. She belongs to an organization that specializes in saving endangered species. Rule 2 ~~~~~ That introduces essential clauses while which introduces nonessential clauses. Examples: I do not trust products that claim "all natural ingredients" because this phrase can mean almost anything. We would not know which products were being discussed without the that clause. The product claiming "all natural ingredients," which appeared in the Sunday newspaper, is on sale. The product is already identified. Therefore, which begins a nonessential clause. NOTE: Essential clauses do not have commas surrounding them while nonessential clauses are surrounded by commas. Rule 3 ~~~~~ If this, that, these, or those has already introduced an essential clause, you may use which to introduce the next clause, whether it is essential or nonessential. Examples: That is a decision which you must live with for the rest of your life. Those ideas, which we've discussed thoroughly enough, do not need to be addressed again. NOTE: Often, you can streamline your sentence by leaving out which. Example: That is a decision which you must live with for the rest of your life. Better: That is a decision you must live with for the rest of your life.