Hello my name is Salvador Manzo and I am from California. For anyone interested on how Black Friday is in the USA, it has calmed down a lot but I recall a time during my adolescence when Black Friday was THE TIME to shop. I recall a time when my aunt, my cousins, my sister, and I lined up outside a Kohl’s. Khol's is essentially a large department store. At that time, they were offering really good deals to the first 100 customers in line aside from sales going on in the store. My aunt had us leave Thanksgiving dinner and get ready to go to the outlets (a discount shopping center). We decided to show up at about 3am and we saw a large crowd. At about 3:30am the parking lot lights lit up and there was a storm of people waiting for the store to open. at 4:00am when the store opened it's doors, everyone was screaming to get in and yelling at those in the parking lot to go in line. I recall people running once inside as if Indiana Jone's had hidden a treasure inside. It was an interesting experience that I had with my family. I remember people having their carts filled to the brim as if they were buying the whole store in their carts.

Why Silent Letters Matter Over a month ago, Jessie posted on the ‘curious world of silent letters in English.’ I agree with everything she said but she left out one issue. I’m a native Canadian-English speaker now living in Bolivia. A lot of vocabulary in English and Spanish is similar or near similar, for example, the word ‘salmon,’ the salt water fish. If I go into a restaurant and order the special of the day and say ‘sa’mon’ the waiter won’t understand. But, when my wife repeats my requests as ‘salmon.’ I get what I wanted. Let’s move this event to my hometown, Vancouver, Canada. Whatever word you use, the waiter will get you an order of fish. But, if you asked for the ‘salmon,’ your server may ask “where you’re from?” Here's what jessie left out. The silent letters make English a secret code which let’s us native speakers easily identify the visitors among us. While that is a joke, there is a certain truth to it, especially if you are about to sit for a language level assessment such as the Duolingo, IELTS or TOEFL. If you are trying for the higher end of the IELTS, say 7, 7.5 or 8+, or the equivalent in the other two tests, you need to sound like a native speaker. This means you need to use the silent letters. Check out my profile. I’d be happy to give you a trial lesson to help with your speaking or writing.

ATTENTION PLEASE! Something huge important is coming for Albanian gheg learners! I have been working for more than one year to write more than 300 pages for teaching Albanian gheg dialect.

Have you heard of the idiom, "blood is thicker than water?" Check your understanding with this quiz question.

Hello, how do you maintain multiple languages? How is it compatible with your daily routine? Do you have please any advice or experience you would like to share? Thank you.

🗣️ Feelings vocabulary: excited 🤩 nervous 😬 bored 😐 worried 😟 How do you feel today?