Search from various English teachers...
Profile
Learning
French
Language Skills
EnglishNative
Lesson Feedback
Lesson history
 Last monthLast 3 monthsAll time
Completed lessons000
Attendance rate100%100%100%
Teacher reviews
No record
Activities
  • Corrected
    If you want to change the world, first change yourself.

    Hi! One of my greatest dreams in the world is to become fluent in English. I also have a project to help beginners (A1) to learn English and to become passionate about this wonderful language. Most of them are poor people who think that English is just for those who travel to English-speaking countries or those who have great intellect; my mission is to change their mindset and then let English language change their lives. If this story touches you, please help me to improve my English, so this way I can help them. Bless you all.
    0 voted
    May 22, 2020
    1
  • Commented
    Hello, I'm from London but grew up in the east of England - generally southern English in pronunciation with some curious vowels appearing occasionally, but only when I go back home!

    Like other non-military Brits, I would only use Ma'am to reply to the Queen (one never addresses the Queen first). I would use 'madam' to address customers in a retail setting etc. and am fairly happy to be addressed as such - I absolutely wouldn't expect it, but it is an acceptable option when they don't know your name. I would see 'miss' as belittling and 'missus' just sounds a bit rude. I have travelled a fair bit, and have found ma'am to be the norm in many countries, as a respectful formality it's fine.

    My maternal parent is called Mum, sometimes Mummy, but is most often addressed as Ma.

    As for Richard Madden in The Bodyguard, to my ear his Scottish accent makes his pronunciation of ma'am sound like mum: mʌm , although I can hear the similarities with an American 'mom'. I don't think many Brits were confused by his accent, but it was funny to see confusion come in from overseas - I think Graham Norton mentioned it on his show.

    I would pronounce ma'am with a long A: mɑːm , a British mum as mʌm and an American mom as mɒm (which to be fair, is nothing like it sounds when an American says it, but it is how it reads for my accent!)
    0 voted
    May 22, 2020
    0
  • Corrected
    0 voted
    May 22, 2020
    0
  • Answered
    Both are formed by water and can have a river / stream at the bottom. The words can be used interchangeably in most (if not all) circles. I'm only saying 'most circles' because there may be a very specific, technical difference between them, I can't guarantee, but I don't think so! If there is a difference, most people don't know it and wouldn't know if you used the wrong one. If you are writing something for scientific purposes, please wait for a more qualified answer!
    0 voted
    May 22, 2020
    2
  • Commented
    In relation specifically to the ones you mention, diffs and abs are not widely used. Abs to most people means abdominal muscles, or workouts that concentrate on those muscles.

    If you are being extremely casual (and a bit silly) you can use 'obvs' to mean 'obviously' - but it's very slangy and not recommended beyond anyone you know very well.

    If you were talking, for example, about school lessons, you could shorten lesson names to three or four letters - Geo (geography), Sci (science), Chem (Chemistry) etc. If someone said 'bio' in most contexts this would mean a biography of someone, rather than biology. In specific contexts such as school lessons, biology could be shortened in this way but it would be unusual.

    Obviously sci-fi is a common shortening, now a word in its own right, short for science fiction.
    0 voted
    May 21, 2020
    0
  • Answered
    "Don't go there" is a colloquial term and it means "Don't discuss that / That subject is off-limits / Let's not bring that up." So by "Hadn't gone there" she means that she wishes she hadn't started talking about her mother, or "let's pretend I didn't bring that up".
    0 voted
    May 21, 2020
    0
  • Answered
    "They have driven a car" means ever, in their lives - it could have been 50 years ago. "They have been driving" means it recently stopped, or with further explanation it could be continuing. eg Q: "Why is James angry?" A: "He has been driving a car". However, it could also mean continuing "I have been driving a car for six hours". Present continuous would mean the same thing, in principle: "I am driving". Note, you can't say "I am driving for six hours" to describe an action that is happening now, in this case the present continuous would be a future plan and would need further explanation: "I am driving for six hours on Thursday!"
    0 voted
    May 20, 2020
    0
  • Answered
    It's not common at all... with one exception. Generally 'form' would mean an individual tutor group: "I'm in Mister Smith's form" - although that is only in some schools and isn't widely used. As you say, 'year five' would be the more widely recognised age group (and for what it's worth, year five is ages 9 - 10). The exception is "sixth form" and you wouldn't necessarily use a definite article as it's quite colloquial. Sixth form is the A-Level years, so GCSEs are usually taken in the school year you turn 16, sixth form is then generally ages 16-18 - two school years of study. The correct term for this is 'Further Education' (post-GCSE study). "Where are you going for sixth form?" / "You're not old enough to drink, you're only in sixth form" but also "Do you go to this school?" "Yes, I'm in the sixth form."
    0 voted
    May 20, 2020
    0
  • Answered
    One proverb springs to mind: "The early bird catches the worm." It means if you take an opportunity early, you gain an advantage over others. It is sometimes used more literally to mean "take advantage by using the early morning". While I'm talking about proverbs, "be up with the lark" means getting up very early - when the dawn chorus starts!
    0 voted
    May 20, 2020
    0