So or Such? So and such are small, but important words, which can add emphasis to our sentences in a similar way to very or really. Their use often causes some confusion for non-native speakers. So is an adverb and must qualify an adjective or another adverb. So is found directly before an adjective in a sentence. So + adjective Your house is so big. (so qualifies the adjective big) Max is so tall. (so qualifies the adjective tall) His dog is so small. (so qualifies the adjective small) The film was so short. (so qualifies the adjective short) She did it so quickly. (so qualifies the adverb quickly) There are so many people here today. (so qualifies the adjective many) There are so few pandas left in the wild. (so qualifies the adjective few) He has so much money. (so qualifies the adjective much) We have so little time to do it. (so qualifies the adjective little) Such is a determiner and must qualify a noun or noun phrase. We use such even if there is an adjective between such and the noun it qualifies. Such + noun phrase You have such a big house. (Such qualifies the noun house) Max is such a tall man. (Such qualifies the noun man) He has such a small dog. (Such qualifies the noun dog) It was such a short film. (Such qualifies the noun film) There are such a lot of people here today. (Such qualifies the noun people) Hopefully not so difficult now!

Phrasal Verbs and Idioms Brush up your English, get back on track with your learning, don’t get stuck in a rut! During lessons, many students ask me how to make their English sound more natural. A great way to start this process is to learn some phrasal verbs and idioms. Using phrasal verbs can be very challenging for non native speakers, but being familiar with as many as possible will greatly improve your understanding of informal English. Start by learning one or two a day, practise using them and try them out on a native speaker! If you are an intermediate or advanced student of English, phrasal verbs and idioms can help to take you to the next level. The sky’s the limit! Start today!

"To grab the bull by the horns " While discussing with my French language partners on skype , a subject that often comes up, and offers the chance to improve your language fluency, is the use of idiomatic expressions . Today I thought I would try to explain the English expression "to grab the bull by the horns " Literally this means to take hold of the horns of a a male cow , to approach it head on and stop it from attacking you by holding its head away from you. In the sense of the expression , the expression means to tackle something head on , to deal with a difficult problem , to face up to a challenge and conquer it . To understand this better I will give a couple of examples of how the expression might be used in day to day life . I am at work and haven't been given a pay rise for ages . I don't think this is fair and I believe I deserve a better salary . In order to get a pay rise I need to talk to my boss and discuss it with him . Although this is difficult thing for me to do I decide to grab the bull by the horns " I go to my boss and ask for a pay rise , explaining that I think I deserve one . To give another example , for a long time I learnt French from books podcasts and the internet . I was always a little scared to take the next step of speaking face to face with someone , who would see my mistakes and my poor pronunciation . However one day " I grabbed the bull by the horns " I knew that to improve I needed real conversation practice and I started to contact native speakers on italki I hope this helps you to understand this expression better and may be able to use it in your English conversations .