Welcome to the Britlish Library.

Bring Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

There are a lot of British English expressions that use the verb bring and they include, bring round, bring before, bring down a peg, bring home the bacon, bring in from the cold, bring into disrepute, bring into service, bring into view, bring out in droves, bring out the best, bring out the worst, bring the curtain down, bring to a close, bring to a head, bring to a standstill, bring to account, bring to bear, bring to book, bring to heel, bring to knees, bring to life, bring to mind, bring to senses, bring to the boil, bring to the test, bring under control, bring up, bring up on charges, bring up the read, bring up to date, and bring up to speed.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

The lyric poem, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, also commonly known as Daffodils, is Wordsworth’s most famous poem. I have designed this lesson as a way of showing you the rhythm of English. Because of their structure, poems like this one are a very useful way of demonstrating the typical rhythm of the English language. In this lesson you will first listen to the poem, then read it, and then explore the phonetic transcription. It also includes a biography of William Wordsworth, the poet, as well as the background to the writing of the poem. Finally, you will have the chance to test how much you have learned about stress patterns and rhymes in some interactive exercises.

Idiom Activation Pack - Bakery

Idioms are expressions that are natural to native English speakers. They are very confusing for non-native English speakers. They're confusing because idioms don't mean what the words say. You cannot literally translate English idioms into another language. The vocabulary in this British English lesson is important for students to learn and master. There are a lot of idioms in this lesson as well as a set of questions which I have designed to help you learn, remember, and use the vocabulary and make it part of your active vocabulary. If you are serious about improving your British English vocabulary, these common British English idioms are essential. The idioms are: Break bread, Bread and butter, Crackers, Crumpet, Earn crust, Crusty, Best thing since sliced bread, Upper crust, Bun in the oven, Piffy on a rock bun, Finger in the pie, Humble pie, Nice as pie, Easy as pie, Finger in too many pies, Pie in the sky, Knuckle sandwich, and Warm as toast.

Syllabic Consonants -ism

-ism is a suffix appended to the end of many English words. It means taking sides with or imitation of. Pronunciation-wise, -ism has a syllabic consonant /m/ at the end. In this lesson, we’ll look at how we pronounce some common isms. The -isms include, ageism, asceticism, atheism, Buddhism, capitalism, communism, Cubism, Druidism, dualism, Expressionism, Judaism, racism, Romanticism, sexism, and socialism.

Vowel in Ant / æ /

Activate the Vowel in Ant / æ / with this English Pronunciation Activation Pack. In this Pronunciation Activation Pack we will be looking at the ninth of the pure vowels / æ /. We will look at the letter combinations that give the / æ / sound. We will look at lots of words which have the / æ / sound in them. Finally, we will activate your ability to hear and produce the / æ / sound correctly. Letter Combinations for / æ / - The short vowel sound / æ / has these letter combinations: A in 99% of cases and rarely with AI, EI, and I. There are three other vowel sounds that cause confusion with the / æ / sound. 

Spelling

One of the most difficult parts of English is spelling. This is because many of the sounds in English are not always represented by the same letter combinations. This for this reason, even native English speakers find it difficult to spell some words. These lessons have been created to help you to learn how to spell some of the more difficult English words.

English in Use

The lessons categorised as English in Use look at the way we use English in everyday life. The lessons cover the actual use of English and examine grammar, punctuation, and functionality of the language. For any student studying English as a second language or English as a foreign language, English in Use lessons are particularly useful for improving speaking, writing, reading, and listening skills. These lessons will help you to develop your confidence in using different types of text such as fiction, newspapers and magazines, as well as learning to speak and write about things such as the weather and travel, as well as preparing you for typical situations such as ordering in a restaurant or buying a train ticket.

Idioms

Once I realised that idioms were incredibly problematic for my students, I set about gathering as many idioms as I could and making videos about them for my YouTube channels. I am determined to make idioms as accessible for all students as any other part of the English language. Reading and memorising lists of vocabulary is not the most productive, interesting, or useful exercise in English language learning. I wanted to create a series of lessons in the form of Activation Packs that would encourage the reader to not only learn and remember the idioms, but also to have fun with them, as having fun is a great aid to learning and remembering. It is important that you know as many idioms as possible as native English speakers use them with alarming regularity. I hope that as you work your way through the Idiom Activation Packs you will make some of the idioms your own and use them regularly like a native.

Sounds Rude

There is an important subset of English which is hardly ever touched on by teachers, and never by the textbooks. This subset of English is the English which sounds rude. The swearwords and curses, which make up a surprisingly large part of daily speech, are neglected by most teachers because, well, they sound rude. This course aims not to titillate but to teach the vocabulary that other teachers shy away from. If you are not offended by strong language, and would like to learn, remember, and use this "taboo" language, then you should take a look at these lessons. Please do not complain if you are shocked by the contents. You have been warned.

Conversation Simulations

Conversation or dialogue simulations use the latest technology to bring you as close an experience as you can get to an actual English conversation. By imitating real world conversations, you can practice your communication skills on any device and receive instant feedback on your mistakes and your accuracy. The conversation simulators also give you the chance to look at specific areas of English where you might be having problems.