Discover what's new or coming soon, including upcoming lessons and resources and product feature updates. 

Announcements

<h1>Introducing Individual Student Assignments</h1>

<p>Great news, teachers!</p>

<p>As of today, you can now select which individual students receive specific assignments within any class.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>Here&#39;s how it works:</strong></h3>

<ul>
	<li>Click on a lesson, video, or flashcard set in your Prepping or Teaching lane within any of your classes</li>
	<li>A modal will open with your assignment preferences for that lesson&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click the &quot;Students&quot; tab in the top navigation of the modal</li>
	<li>Switch the setting from &quot;All students&quot; to &quot;Some students&quot;</li>
	<li>Select the students you want to assign the lesson to&nbsp;and remember to hit &quot;Save&quot; inside the modal before closing it</li>
</ul>

<p>Only the selected students will see the assignment inside their class dashboard.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C5BgjG7wtaI?si=I4waw7z14JkLaeer" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>We know that a lot of you have been asking for this feature for a while now. So thanks for your patience, and we hope it&#39;s a big help!</p>

<p>All the best,<br />
Ben :)</p>

<p>Founder, CEO at Ellii</p>


Introducing Individual Student Assignments

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Learn tips on how to teach grammar and usage from our editors and grammar experts. 

Grammar & Usage

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Teaching with Ellii

<p>Idioms are pervasive in the English language, especially in TV shows and movies. Almost all students love idioms, and they generally enjoy learning these fun, wacky expressions of ours. But English learners know that idioms can be difficult to learn and remember because the words or phrases don&rsquo;t literally match the meanings. Luckily, there are a variety of fun ways to practice idioms. Try some of my favorite methods below, and please share your favorite techniques in our comments&nbsp;section.</p>

<p>With St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day just around the corner (March&nbsp;17), we&rsquo;re featuring our <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2146" target="_blank">Lucky Idioms</a> poster this month. But the ideas below can be used with any list of idioms that you want to practice in&nbsp;class!</p>

<h1>1. Posters</h1>

<p>When you hang our idioms posters (or ones your students have created) around your class, your learners will be exposed to them daily. Being able to visualize the idioms is very helpful for retention! Our premade posters&nbsp;include:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2146" target="_blank">Lucky Idioms</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2147" target="_blank">Spring &amp; Easter Idioms</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2148/" target="_blank">Eye Idioms</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2145" target="_blank">Love Idioms</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>2. Make Your Own&nbsp;Posters</h1>

<p>Have students make their own posters! Choose a list of idioms, such as the &ldquo;green&rdquo; idioms from page&nbsp;7 of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1867">St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day lesson</a>&nbsp;(Int &ndash; High Int). Get your learners to follow a similar style to our posters (e.g.,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2146">Lucky Idioms</a>) where they write the idioms and draw an image that represents the idiomatic meaning (have them try to include the literal meaning as well, if they can). This creative exercise will help students visualize and retain the meanings, and you can decorate your classroom with all the&nbsp;posters.</p>

<h1>3. Skits</h1>

<p>Writing dialogues and presenting skits is a fun, entertaining way to practice idioms, and students will get a lot of exposure both by writing their own dialogues and watching their classmates&rsquo; skits. Break your class into pairs or groups and assign about five idioms that they must include in their dialogues. Try to have more than one pair/group use the same idioms&mdash;this will ensure students are exposed to the idioms a few times in different&nbsp;contexts.</p>

<h1>4. Matchup</h1>

<p>Write out a list of idioms and definitions that you&rsquo;ve been studying in class. Or, better yet, have pairs or small groups of students write out the definitions in their own words. Cut up the word lists, hand them to another pair or group, and get students to match up the idioms and meanings. You could make this a weekly task where students have to bring in five idioms on a certain topic (they can find idioms and the meanings on the Internet, but encourage them to write the definitions in their own words to demonstrate their&nbsp;understanding).</p>

<h1>5. Speaking</h1>

<p>Sharing a personal experience really helps to plant an idiom firmly in your students&#39; minds. Put students into small groups, give them a list of idioms, and have each student choose one idiom. They will then talk about (or make up) an experience where that idiom applied to&nbsp;them.</p>

<h1>6. Writing</h1>

<p>Use one or more of the idioms as a prompt for a story that students can write in class or for homework. Try having students share and discuss their stories in small groups the next day&mdash;it&rsquo;s a good way to include pronunciation and speaking practice into this writing assignment. When you check their work, seeing the idiom(s) explained in context will let you know if the student has truly understood the&nbsp;meaning(s).</p>

<h1>7. Quizzes</h1>

<p>Put students into pairs or small groups, and have them create a quiz for another pair/group. They should write at least five sentences that demonstrate an idiom in context, along with a blank where the idiom would be written in. Exchange papers with another pair/group, or make copies and have all the pairs/groups do one another&rsquo;s quizzes. Alternatively, to save paper, the pairs/groups could take turns writing their quizzes on the&nbsp;board.</p>

<h2>Example</h2>

<p>She _______ that she wasn&rsquo;t seriously injured in the car accident&nbsp;yesterday.</p>

<p><strong>Answer:</strong> <em>thanked her lucky&nbsp;stars</em></p>

<h1>8. TV Shows</h1>

<p>Thirty‑minute sitcoms are generally full of idioms! More advanced learners will enjoy watching a show together in class and making note of all the idioms they hear (make sure you make notes as well because they often miss a bunch). Go over the meanings after the show. See if your students can guess the meaning of the idiom based on the context of the scene&mdash;they are often surprised that they can, which gives them a lot of&nbsp;confidence.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1868" target="_blank">St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day (Beg)&nbsp;Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1867" target="_blank">St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day&nbsp;(Int &ndash; Hight Int) Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1226" target="_blank">Discussion Starters lesson plan on <em>Luck</em></a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/saint-patricks-or-st-patricks-paddy-or-patty/" target="_blank">Saint Patrick&rsquo;s or St. Patrick&rsquo;s? Paddy or Patty?</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/exam-tips-english-learners/" target="_blank">Break a Leg &ndash;&nbsp;7 Exam Tips for English Learners</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2146" target="_blank">Lucky Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2147" target="_blank">Spring &amp; Easter Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2148/" target="_blank">Eye Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2145" target="_blank">Love Idioms</a></li>
</ul>

<p>Be sure to try our lesson series that focus on English idioms: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/77/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms&nbsp;1</a> (A Love Story), <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/78/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms&nbsp;2</a> (First Year of University), <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/102/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms 3</a> (Moving to New York), <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/79/lessons" target="_blank">Detective Series&nbsp;1</a> (The Case of the Missing Ring), and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/101/lessons" target="_blank">Detective Series&nbsp;2</a> (False Alarm).</p>


8 Ways to Practice Idioms in Class

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<p>Your students may hate taking exams, but I bet they <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-reasons-why-english-learners-love-idioms/" target="_blank">love learning idioms</a>! Here is a list of 7 exam tips full of idioms and everyday expressions to <strong><em>lighten things up</em></strong> before exam&nbsp;time.</p>

<h1>Tip #1</h1>

<h4>Know the test format inside and&nbsp;out</h4>

<p>When you <strong><em>know something inside and out</em></strong>, you understand it completely. That stressful feeling inside usually results from the fear of the unknown. If you know exactly which types of questions to expect, you will feel more relaxed on test day. This will help you perform better on the&nbsp;test.</p>

<p>Visit official websites for TOEIC, TOEFL, or whichever test you are taking, and learn the exact format for each section and&nbsp;question.</p>

<h1>Tip #2</h1>

<h4>Be prepared for Murphy&rsquo;s&nbsp;law</h4>

<p><strong><em>Murphy&rsquo;s law</em></strong> suggests that <em>anything that can go wrong, will go wrong</em>. Here are some things that can go wrong on test&nbsp;day:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Your pen will run out or your pencil will break (bring&nbsp;extras)</li>
	<li>Your eraser will break or run out (bring an extra&nbsp;one)</li>
	<li>You&rsquo;ll need to use the washroom (don&rsquo;t drink too much&nbsp;water)</li>
	<li>You&rsquo;ll get thirsty (bring&nbsp;water)</li>
	<li>Your phone will ring (turn off your&nbsp;devices)</li>
	<li>Your nose will run (bring&nbsp;tissues)</li>
	<li>Your stomach will growl (eat a high-protein&nbsp;breakfast)</li>
	<li>Your mouse batteries will die (bring&nbsp;batteries)</li>
	<li>Your pants will feel too tight (dress&nbsp;comfortably)</li>
</ul>

<p>All of the above will cause you to lose concentration. For the best results, prepare for the<strong><em> worst‑case&nbsp;scenario</em></strong>.</p>

<h1>Tip #3</h1>

<h4>Don&rsquo;t let examiners pull a fast one on&nbsp;you</h4>

<p>When someone <strong><em>pulls a fast one</em></strong> on you, they try to trick you. The writers who develop tests know <strong><em>every trick in the book</em></strong>. (<strong><em>Take my word for it.</em></strong> I used to be&nbsp;one.)</p>

<p>When you are using practice materials, don&rsquo;t just study the correct answers. <em><strong>Take note</strong></em> of all of the common <em>distractors</em> that exam writers&nbsp;use.</p>

<p>Here are some common distractors (incorrect answer choices, aka&nbsp;tricks):</p>

<ul>
	<li>opposite of the correct&nbsp;answer</li>
	<li>close to correct, but not&nbsp;correct</li>
	<li>contains a key word from the text or&nbsp;listening</li>
	<li>common misconceptions</li>
	<li>common usage errors</li>
	<li>true facts that do not answer the&nbsp;question</li>
	<li>draws on personal experience rather than information&nbsp;provided</li>
</ul>

<h1>Tip #4</h1>

<h4>Read each question with a fine-tooth&nbsp;comb</h4>

<p>When you read something<strong><em> with a fine-tooth comb</em></strong>, you read for detail. Though some parts of an exam require you to skim and scan, it is important to read <strong><em>every single word</em></strong> of the instructions or questions. Don&rsquo;t make assumptions. Make sure you know exactly what the question or section is asking you to&nbsp;do.</p>

<h1>Tip #5</h1>

<h4>Find the meat and&nbsp;potatoes</h4>

<p>Another expression for the main idea is <strong><em>the meat and potatoes</em></strong>. Whether you&rsquo;re taking the IELTS, the TOEIC, or the TOEFL, you will have to read and listen to many paragraphs. Paragraphs always contain a single main idea. Before test time, become an expert at finding the main idea in everything you read and&nbsp;see.</p>

<h1>Tip #6</h1>

<h4>Go with your gut</h4>

<p>When you <strong><em>go with your gut</em></strong> you use your human instinct. Your first instincts are often correct. When it comes to multiple-choice questions, eliminate the answers you know are wrong. The process of elimination allows you to choose the best remaining answer based on your <strong><em>gut&nbsp;feeling</em></strong>.</p>

<h1>Tip #7</h1>

<h4>Dot the i&rsquo;s and cross the t&rsquo;s</h4>

<p>When you <strong><em>dot the i&rsquo;s and cross the t&rsquo;s</em></strong>, you check for errors. When possible, <strong><em>double-check</em></strong> your answers and proofread your writing. This doesn&rsquo;t mean you should <strong><em>second-guess</em></strong> yourself. If you answered C for many answers in a row, don&rsquo;t be tempted to change your&nbsp;responses.</p>

<p><strong>Break a leg!</strong><br />
Tara</p>

<h1>Glossary</h1>

<h4>Idioms and Everyday&nbsp;English</h4>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>break a leg</th>
			<td>good luck</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>lighten things up</th>
			<td>to make a stressful situation feel less&nbsp;stressful</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>know something inside and&nbsp;out</th>
			<td>to understand something&nbsp;completely</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Murphy&rsquo;s law</th>
			<td>the idea that anything that can go wrong will go&nbsp;wrong</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>worst-case scenario</th>
			<td>the worst possible situation or&nbsp;outcome</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>pull a fast one</th>
			<td>to trick someone</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>every trick in the&nbsp;book</th>
			<td>every joke or way that exists to fool&nbsp;someone</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>take my word for&nbsp;it</th>
			<td>you should believe me (I&rsquo;m a credible&nbsp;source)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>take note</th>
			<td>to notice</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>with a fine-tooth&nbsp;comb</th>
			<td>in detail</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>every single one</th>
			<td>each one (do not leave anything or anyone&nbsp;out)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>the meat and&nbsp;potatoes</th>
			<td>the most important part(s), the&nbsp;basics</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>go with your&nbsp;gut</th>
			<td>to follow your instincts</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>gut feeling</th>
			<td>a strong feeling about something or&nbsp;someone</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>dot the i&rsquo;s and cross the&nbsp;t&rsquo;s</th>
			<td>to check one&rsquo;s&nbsp;work</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>double-check</th>
			<td>to check one&rsquo;s work&nbsp;again</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>second-guess</th>
			<td>to doubt oneself</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>


Break a Leg – 7 Exam Tips for English Learners

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<p>In English, the simple past tense is formed by adding <em class="inlineBlock">-ed</em> to the end of the regular verbs. If only all past verbs were that easy! The problem for English language learners is the many, many changes that occur when forming the past tense of <strong>irregular</strong>&nbsp;verbs.</p>

<p>Sometimes the vowel changes (<em>come</em> &rarr; <em>came</em>), sometimes the pronunciation changes (<em>read</em> &rarr; <em>read</em>), and sometimes the whole word&nbsp;changes (<em>eat</em> &rarr; <em>ate</em>). Sometimes there seems to be a pattern (<em>throw</em> &rarr; <em>threw</em>, <em>know</em> &rarr; <em>knew</em>), but there are always exceptions (<em>snow</em>&nbsp;&rarr;&nbsp;<em>snowed</em>).</p>

<p>English language learners can become discouraged with what they perceive as the endless memorization ahead of them, so English teachers can help by introducing fun activities for learning and reviewing irregular verbs. When one of our subscribers asked us for some ideas for irregular verb activities, I was only too happy to share my five favorites. Please add to the list and share your favorite activity in the comment section&nbsp;below!</p>

<h1>Activities</h1>

<h2>1. Irregular Verb Ball Toss</h2>

<p>Let&rsquo;s start with a quick and easy one that always goes over well with my students. Bring in a rubber ball (or use a small eraser, a scrunched-up ball of paper, or anything else that&rsquo;s light and safe to throw) and let the game begin! You may want to let students refer to a <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/grammar-usage/2161-irregular-verb-list-present-past">list of irregular verbs</a> when they&rsquo;re first learning them, but later on you can play it without the list. I prefer not to keep score during this game, but you may choose to. You can also choose if you should correct any mistakes or if another student should do&nbsp;it.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Choose an irregular verb and say the base form out&nbsp;loud.</li>
	<li>Say the name of a student and toss the ball to&nbsp;them.</li>
	<li>The student must catch the ball and say the past&nbsp;form.</li>
	<li>That student then chooses another verb and repeats the steps&nbsp;above.</li>
	<li>Continue until all the students have had a turn or&nbsp;two.</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Concentration</h2>

<h4>(on the&nbsp;table)</h4>

<p>This classic game is useful for reviewing all kinds of vocabulary and grammar targets. Cut up the verbs from the <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/grammar-usage/2161-irregular-verb-list-present-past">list</a> (one set for each group) or make your own verb cards. You could also have students make their own&nbsp;cards.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Arrange students into small groups (groups of three or four work&nbsp;well).</li>
	<li>Mix up the verb cards and arrange them facedown in a rough square&nbsp;pattern.</li>
	<li>One student starts by turning over any two of the cards. If that student gets a match (by turning over a base verb that matches the past form of that verb), he/she can keep the pair of paper slips. If there&rsquo;s no match, the student must turn the slips over again and place them back in the same&nbsp;place.</li>
	<li>Once all the slips have been matched up, students should add up how many pairs they have. The student with the most matches&nbsp;wins!</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Concentration</h2>

<h4>(on the&nbsp;board)</h4>

<p>This activity is my favorite for irregular verb review. It always goes over well and gets the whole class&nbsp;involved.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Draw a grid on the board with 20 squares (5 &times; 4). Write the numbers 1&ndash;20 in the top left‑hand corner of each square. Have a master grid for yourself that you can refer to with ten base verbs and ten corresponding past forms (use the <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/grammar-usage/2161-irregular-verb-list-present-past">list</a> below for ideas) filled into the grid (one verb per square, with the order mixed&nbsp;up).</li>
	<li>Divide the students into two teams. Ask one student from team&nbsp;A to choose one box. Write the verb in the center of the box. Have that same student choose another box. Fill in that box&nbsp;too.</li>
	<li>If the two boxes create a match (base verb + past verb), leave the verbs written in the boxes and give that team a point. If they don&rsquo;t match, erase both boxes and repeat the process with a student from team&nbsp;B.</li>
	<li>Continue until all the boxes are filled in. For the last pair of boxes, make it more challenging by having that team member guess the last box (i.e., if the base verb is chosen, write it in the box, but then the student must tell you the past form without seeing the last box, and vice versa). The team with the most points&nbsp;wins!</li>
</ul>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Note</h5>

<p>Most boards will clearly show which spots have been erased, thus making it easier for students to remember which numbers have already been chosen. To make it more challenging, when setting up the board, run the eraser over the center of each box before starting the&nbsp;game.</p>
</div>

<h2>4. Bingo</h2>

<p>Bingo is another classic, popular game that&rsquo;s easy to adapt for irregular verb&nbsp;review.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Make a copy of a <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/warm-ups-fillers/2172-bingo">blank Bingo card</a> for each&nbsp;student.</li>
	<li>Have students fill in the past form of any verbs from the <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/grammar-usage/2161-irregular-verb-list-present-past">list</a> below (one inside each square)&nbsp;in any order. The center square can be a &ldquo;free&rdquo; space, if you&nbsp;wish.</li>
	<li>Tell students they can yell out &ldquo;Bingo!&rdquo; when they have one horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line checked off. Higher‑level students must complete two&nbsp;lines.</li>
	<li>Using the <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/grammar-usage/2161-irregular-verb-list-present-past">list</a>, call out the base form of the verbs in a random order, one by one. Students can check off the past verbs that&nbsp;match.</li>
	<li>Continue until a student yells &ldquo;Bingo!&rdquo;</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="Bingo sheet" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/26/content_105_Bingo.png" width="320" /></p>

<p class="caption">Warm-Ups &amp; Fillers &ndash; <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/105/resources/2172">Bingo</a></p>

<h2>5. Relay</h2>

<p>Relay races are quick and easy to do, and they get your students&nbsp;moving!</p>

<ul>
	<li>Write two (or more, if you want more than two teams) columns of base verbs from the <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2161">list</a> on the board before class starts. The columns should be identical. (For a more challenging race, choose other, less common&nbsp;verbs.)</li>
	<li>Divide the class into two (or more)&nbsp;teams.</li>
	<li>Move desks and chairs out of the&nbsp;way.</li>
	<li>Line students up facing the&nbsp;board.</li>
	<li>When you yell &ldquo;Go!&rdquo;, the first student from each team must run to the board and write the past form of any one verb next to the base&nbsp;form.</li>
	<li>That student then races back and hands the marker or chalk to the next student in line. Continue until one team has all the verbs filled&nbsp;in.</li>
	<li>Give each team one point for each correctly formed (and spelled!) past&nbsp;verb.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Irregular Verb List</h1>

<p><img alt="List of irregular past and present verbs" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/25/content_103_Irregular-Verb-List-Present-and-Past.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">Grammar &amp; Usage &ndash; <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2161">Irregular Verb List: Present &amp;&nbsp;Past</a></p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/91/lessons">Simple Sentences</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons">Grammar Stories</a> sections for a variety of lessons on the simple&nbsp;past.</p>


5 Fun Activities for Irregular Verbs

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Stay up-to-date with ELT trends and ideas with articles from experts and teachers in the field.

Articles

<p>Last Monday (Feb 16) was Presidents&#39; Day in the US. While I was editing a post on our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/84/lessons" target="_blank">American Presidents lessons</a>, I wanted to double-check the capitalization and punctuation for this holiday. A Google search revealed disturbing results: <em>Presidents&#39; Day, Presidents Day,</em> and <em>President&#39;s Day</em> were used almost equally! So which version is correct, and how can we explain it to our students?</p>

<h2>Other Holidays</h2>

<p>If you consider other holiday names, such as&nbsp;<em>Mother&#39;s Day</em>, <em><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/happy-beatles-day-or-is-it-beatles-day/" target="_blank">Beatles&nbsp;Day</a></em>and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/april-fools-day-capitalization-and-punctuation-rules/"><em>April Fools&#39; Day</em></a>, it&#39;s easy to see where the confusion comes from. Even reference books sometimes disagree; for example, <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Merriam-Webster</em></a>&nbsp;(American&nbsp;English) prefers&nbsp;<em>April Fools&#39; Day</em>, while&nbsp;<a href="http://www.oxforddictionaries.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Oxford Dictionaries </em></a>(British English)&nbsp;prefer&nbsp;<em>April Fool&#39;s Day.&nbsp;</em>Often it depends on how you want to look at it. Is it a day for&nbsp;one fool (<em>April Fool&#39;s Day</em>) or all fools (<em>April Fools&#39; Day</em>)? Both are acceptable. Is it a day for our own mother (<em>Mother&#39;s Day</em>) or all mothers (<em>Mothers&#39; Day</em>)? Again, both make sense, though we tend to focus on our own mothers.</p>

<p>Some holidays are a bit less complicated. Is it a day belonging to the Beatles (<em>Beatles&#39; Day</em>) or a day about the Beatles (<em>Beatles Day</em>)? In this case,&nbsp;<em>Beatles Day&nbsp;</em>makes more sense.&nbsp;<em>St. Patrick&#39;s Day </em>celebrates one saint, as does&nbsp;<em>Valentine&#39;s Day</em>. But what about <em>Martin Luther King Day</em>&mdash;why not <em>Martin Luther King&#39;s Day</em>? Often the holiday name&nbsp;gets chosen and becomes&nbsp;the &#39;correct&#39; way&mdash;it doesn&#39;t matter if other ways make sense too. It&nbsp;sure can&nbsp;lead to many errors made by&nbsp;both English language learners and native speakers!</p>

<h2>Presidents&#39; Day</h2>

<p>The correct capitalization and spelling of this holiday is <strong>Presidents&#39; Day</strong>.&nbsp;Explain to students that this holiday now honors more than one&nbsp;president, so we can&#39;t&nbsp;write&nbsp;<em>President&#39;s Day</em>. But what about&nbsp;<em>Presidents Day</em>? This choice isn&#39;t so easily dismissed. If we use our&nbsp;<em>Beatles Day&nbsp;</em>analogy, then we write&nbsp;<em>Presidents&#39; Day</em> because it is a day belonging to the&nbsp;presidents (specifically, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln) more than a day about the presidents. But the concrete proof is in the reference books!&nbsp;<em><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Merriam-Webster</a>&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em><a href="http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Chicago Manual of Style</a> </em>both&nbsp;list this holiday as&nbsp;<em>Presidents&#39; Day,&nbsp;</em>so that&#39;s what I would teach my students.</p>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="collection"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/84/lessons" target="_blank">American Presidents</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/when-do-we-capitalize-president" target="_blank">When Do We Capitalize &quot;President&quot;?</a></li>
</ul>


Presidents' Day, Presidents Day, or President's Day?

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<h2>Troublesome words...</h2>

<p>You know how most people&nbsp;have&nbsp;trouble spelling certain words? The word that always gets me is&nbsp;<em>vacuum</em>. I can never remember if there is one C or two Cs.&nbsp;(It&#39;s one&mdash;but I just double-checked in my dictionary&nbsp;to make sure!)&nbsp;This can happen&nbsp;with many issues in English: spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc. Some rules&nbsp;are so troublesome&nbsp;to remember that not only do English language learners frequently&nbsp;mix them up, L1 speakers do too!</p>

<p>One such case that I find particularly tricky for myself and my students&nbsp;is directional words. There are so many rules about when to capitalize or lowercase these words that I find myself looking them up again and again in my style guide. I hope that, by blogging about them today, the rules will stick with me&nbsp;as well as&nbsp;with you and your students! Note that the rules may vary in&nbsp;different regions of the world, and even in different fields within the same region.</p>

<p>Note: This post is based on the popular North American style guide&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html" target="_blank"><em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em></a>, 16th edition.</p>

<h2>To the West or to the west?&nbsp;Western or western?</h2>

<p>According to&nbsp;<em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, sections 8.45&ndash;46, you don&#39;t normally&nbsp;capitalize directional words when referring to direction or location. You&nbsp;should write <i>He lives to the <strong>west</strong> of the church</i>, for example, and&nbsp;<em>She lives in the <strong>western</strong> part of Canada</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>a northern climate</li>
	<li>an easterly wind</li>
	<li>toward the south</li>
	<li>to the east</li>
	<li>in the southwestern part</li>
	<li>an eastward direction</li>
</ul>

<p>These words usually do get capitalized when they&nbsp;describe a region of the world or of a country, but there are some exceptions.</p>

<ul>
	<li>the East, the North, the South, the West (of a country)</li>
	<li>northern, southern, eastern, western (parts of a country)</li>
	<li>the East/Eastern (referring to the Orient), the&nbsp;West/Western (referring to the Occident or the Western Hemisphere)</li>
	<li>the East Coast, the West Coast</li>
	<li>Northern, Southern (in American Civil War contexts)</li>
	<li>Northern California, the Middle East, the Pacific Northwest, Southeast Asia</li>
</ul>

<h2>Tips for Students</h2>

<p>There are some patterns to make the capitalization of directional words easier for your learners to remember.</p>

<p>1. Directions (compass points) are not capitalized.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Should I go north or south?</li>
	<li>I traveled in a northeasterly direction.</li>
	<li>to the east</li>
	<li>southwest-facing</li>
</ul>

<p>2. The article&nbsp;<em>the</em> usually indicates that capitalization is required, except if the preposition&nbsp;<em>to</em> is used (in most cases).</p>

<ul>
	<li>He lives in the East.</li>
	<li>He lives to the east.</li>
</ul>

<p>3. Country/region names are almost always capitalized if they are followed by another noun.</p>

<ul>
	<li>North America</li>
	<li>West Africa</li>
	<li>the South of France</li>
	<li>Eastern Europe</li>
</ul>

<p>4. In American Civil War contexts, always use capital letters.</p>

<ul>
	<li>the North, Northern, a Northerner</li>
	<li>the South, Southern, a Southerner</li>
</ul>

<p>5. For terms denoting the area or culture of Asia (the Orient) and Europe (the Occident) or the Western Hemisphere, use capital letters.</p>

<ul>
	<li>in the West, Western society</li>
	<li>in the East, Eastern culture</li>
</ul>

<p>Do you have any other questions about directional words?&nbsp;Ask me in the comments section below!</p>

<h3>Related&nbsp;</h3>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/3598">Asking for Directions (Beg)</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/1720">Asking for Directions (Low Int &ndash; Int)</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2409">Prepositions of Direction</a></li>
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/9/flashcard_categories">Flashcards: Buildings &amp; Places</a></li>
</ul>

When to Capitalize Directional Words

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<blockquote>
<p>Nobody wants to be isolated&mdash;not even verb&nbsp;tenses!</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Most textbooks present verb tenses in isolation. Students study the simple present before moving onto the present progressive, simple past, etc. This is necessary at first because students need to learn all the rules and exceptions for the <strong>form</strong>&nbsp;(how to form the verb) and <strong>function</strong> (when it&rsquo;s used) of each verb tense in&nbsp;English.</p>

<p>After they&rsquo;ve learned a verb tense, however, it&rsquo;s not always beneficial to only give exercise after exercise where students must produce that one tense. It&rsquo;s easy enough to produce the simple present when it&rsquo;s the only tense being asked for, but can your students distinguish when to use the simple present vs. the present progressive? How about the present vs. the past and&nbsp;future?</p>

<h1>Mix It Up</h1>

<p>When I was teaching four‑skills classes, I found most textbooks were sorely lacking in this area. The tenses were only taught in isolation, and though my students could ace an exercise, they couldn&rsquo;t use the tense properly in general speech or writing. My TOEIC students had the advantage of studying/reviewing some or all the tenses at the same time.</p>

<p>When I saw how teaching and practicing multiple tenses worked for the &ldquo;big verb tense picture,&rdquo; I started creating my own review sheets that mixed the tenses. That way, my students learned how the tenses worked together, and they really understood the importance of <strong>context</strong> and <strong>time markers</strong>. They were better able to <strong>produce the correct tense in everyday speaking and writing</strong>. And as a teacher, I could easily see which tenses were still causing trouble for my&nbsp;students.</p>

<h1>Time for a Change</h1>

<p>At ESL Library, we strive to provide much more than the average textbook. We recently created a NEW, ready‑made mixed tense lesson in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section: <strong><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1963">Verb Tense Review 1 &ndash; The Simple&nbsp;Tenses</a></strong>.</p>

<p>This lesson offers 13 pages of various combinations of <em>the simple present</em>, <em>simple past</em>, <em>simple future</em>, <em>present progressive</em> (also known as <em>present continuous</em>), <em>past progressive</em>, and <em>future&nbsp;progressive</em>.</p>

<p>You&rsquo;ll find exercises that&nbsp;combine:</p>

<ul>
	<li>all six tenses</li>
	<li>the present, past, and&nbsp;future</li>
	<li>the simple present and present&nbsp;progressive</li>
	<li>the simple past and past&nbsp;progressive</li>
	<li>the simple future and future&nbsp;progressive</li>
</ul>

<p>The exercises include verb worksheets as well as speaking and writing exercises, so you will clearly see which tenses your students have mastered and which still require some&nbsp;work.</p>

<p><strong><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1997">Verb Tense Review 2 &ndash; The Perfect Tenses</a>&nbsp;</strong>is also available now. This review features a mix of <em>the present perfect</em>, <em>present perfect progressive</em>, <em>past perfect</em>, <em>past perfect progressive</em>, <em>future perfect</em>, and <em>future perfect&nbsp;progressive</em>.</p>

<p>We hope these worksheets are beneficial to you and your students! Please let us know what you think in the comment section&nbsp;below.</p>


Teaching Mixed Tenses

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<p>We recently had a customer ask us for more materials on the pronouns <i>we </i>and <i>us</i>. Her students had completed our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1624" target="_blank">Pronouns&nbsp;1</a> lesson, but they were still having trouble keeping <i>we </i>and <i>us</i> straight. The key to&nbsp;distinguishing between subject and object pronouns is <b>sentence position</b>. The following tips will work for <em>we</em>, <em>us</em>, and any other subject/object pronoun confusion!</p>

<h2>Subject Pronouns</h2>

<p>Subject pronouns (<em>I, you, he, she, we, they</em>) come before the main verb, either at the beginning of a sentence or at the beginning of a clause.</p>

<p>1. Before a verb (usually at the beginning of a sentence):</p>

<ul>
	<li><b>We</b> like our new house.</li>
	<li><b>We</b> can&rsquo;t remember how to get to the library.</li>
	<li><b>We</b> spoke to our teacher, and <b>we</b> asked if <b>we</b> could go home early today.</li>
</ul>

<p>2. After a relative pronoun such as <i>that</i>:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I think that <b>we</b> should get together more often.</li>
	<li>Do you believe that <b>we</b> will succeed?</li>
	<li>We asked that <b>we</b> be seated next to the stage. (Why <i>be </i>and not<i> are</i>? See our blog post on the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tips-for-teaching-the-subjunctive/" target="_blank">subjunctive form</a>.)</li>
</ul>

<p>Note: <i>That </i>is often dropped from the sentence, so students may be confused because they see <i>we</i> following the main verb (which is normally an object position). Tell them that in complex sentences, it is best to look for other verbs as well. If the position is after one verb but before another, it is a subject position, so <i>we </i>is needed.</p>

<ul>
	<li>We decided <b>we</b> will try that new restaurant. (We decided that <b>we</b> will try that new restaurant.)</li>
</ul>

<h2>Object Pronouns</h2>

<p>Object pronouns (<em>me, you, him, her, us, them</em>) usually come after the main verb. They are often found at the end of a sentence.</p>

<p>1. After a verb:</p>

<ul>
	<li>She called&nbsp;<b>us</b>.</li>
	<li>Can you remind&nbsp;<b>us</b> later?</li>
	<li>Our boss told <b>us</b> to finish the report.</li>
</ul>

<p>2. After a preposition:</p>

<ul>
	<li>He was&nbsp;worried about&nbsp;<b>us</b>.</li>
	<li>They bought this for <b>us</b>.</li>
	<li>It&rsquo;s up to <b>us</b> to get everything ready on time.</li>
</ul>

<h2>A Note About Let&#39;s</h2>

<p>Are your students confused by <i>let&rsquo;s</i>? This is a holdover from Old English that is still commonly used nowadays. It stands for <i>let us</i> and is followed by a base verb. We use <i>let&rsquo;s </i>when making a suggestion. I tell my students to think of it as a modal-type expression&mdash;that way, they will remember to use a base verb with it.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Let&rsquo;s go!</li>
	<li>Let&rsquo;s finish this later.</li>
	<li>Let&rsquo;s choose a movie to watch.</li>
</ul>

<p>For more practice on subject and object pronouns, try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1624" target="_blank">Pronouns&nbsp;1</a>&nbsp;lesson.</p>

We Vs. Us

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<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Effective use of the comma involves good judgment, with ease of reading the end in view.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;<em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>How can such a little punctuation mark cause so much trouble for both English language learners and native speakers? There are so many cases where commas are needed (such as with <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/restrictive-non-restrictive-adjective-clauses/" target=_"blank">non-restrictive adjective clauses</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adjective-order-and-punctuation/" target=_"blank">multiple adjectives</a>), where it&#39;s your choice to use them or not (such as with <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/in-defence-of-the-serial-comma/" target=_"blank">the serial comma</a>), and where they&nbsp;shouldn&#39;t be used&nbsp;(such as with <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/restrictive-non-restrictive-adjective-clauses/" target=_"blank">restrictive adjective clauses</a>). Also, as more&nbsp;of us text and write on our computers or other mobile devices, comma usage seems to be dwindling.</p>

<p>So where does this leave students who are trying to learn the correct way to use commas? Luckily, there are a few basic&nbsp;rules that will still be considered correct for a long time to come.</p>

<h2>Independent Clauses</h2>

<h3>Rule #1: Comma Needed</h3>

<p>If two independent clauses are joined by a conjunction (<em>and, but, so,</em>&nbsp;<em>or</em>), use a comma. This is true whether the subject is the same or different in both clauses. This is also true for imperative sentences where the subject is dropped.</p>

<ul>
	<li>They are just finishing up&nbsp;the report, so&nbsp;they&nbsp;are almost&nbsp;ready to present it to the boss. (<em>same subject</em>)</li>
	<li>She didn&#39;t like the restaurant I recommended, but her husband really enjoyed it. (<em>different subjects</em>)</li>
	<li>Discuss these questions with your group, and be sure to take notes during the discussion. (<em>imperative verbs</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h3>Rule #2: No Comma Needed</h3>

<p>If the conjunction is only joining&nbsp;parts of the independent clauses (i.e., the second subject and/or verb is dropped because it is the same), no comma should be used. However, if you teach higher-level students, you may want to point out that a comma could&nbsp;be added if the first clause is quite long (for the sake of readability&mdash;see the conclusion below).</p>

<ul>
	<li>We finished the report and presented it to the boss.</li>
	<li>They want to go skiing and snowboarding over the holidays.</li>
	<li>I&#39;ll call him tonight or email him tomorrow.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Rule #3: Comma Optional</h3>

<p>If the two independent clauses are very short, you can omit the comma. As noted in the intro, the trend nowadays is to omit the comma wherever possible. Note that students might be wondering how they can tell if a clause is &#39;short.&#39; Remind them that if they&#39;re in doubt, use a comma because that will always be considered correct. In fact, you may not want to mention this rule to your lower-level students&mdash;it might cause unnecessary confusion.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I cooked and she cleaned.</li>
	<li>Lisa made cookies&nbsp;and Pedro baked a cake.</li>
	<li>Raise your right hand and repeat after me.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Dependent Clauses</h2>

<h3>Rule #4: Comma Needed</h3>

<p>If the dependent clause comes before the independent clause, use a comma.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Even though it was raining, I didn&#39;t bring an umbrella.</li>
	<li>Because you reminded him, he&nbsp;brought the necessary documents to the meeting.</li>
	<li>If she calls in sick, I will take over for her.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Rule #5: No Comma Needed</h3>

<p>If the dependent clause comes after the independent clause, don&#39;t use a comma.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I didn&#39;t bring an umbrella even though it was raining.</li>
	<li>He&nbsp;brought the necessary documents to the meeting because you reminded&nbsp;him.</li>
	<li>I will take over for her if she calls in sick.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Conclusion</h2>

<p>Tell your students they can feel confident that their written work will always be correct if they follow the rules above. But make sure they also understand that some commas are optional (or can be&nbsp;added or deleted for readability even when it&#39;s not the usual rule). They will come across instances where the rules aren&#39;t followed to a T (and that&#39;s usually okay). The good news is that even if they make a mistake with the rules above, it won&#39;t always be considered wrong. If there is another comma case you&#39;d like me to blog about, just&nbsp;leave a comment below!&nbsp;</p>

<p>Source:&nbsp;<em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, 16th edition, sections 6.16&ndash;6.32</p>


Commas in Independent & Dependent Clauses

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<p>We&#39;ve got a new lesson about cardinal, ordinal, and nominal numbers on our site this month: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1957">Saying &amp; Writing Numbers</a>.&nbsp;It&#39;s important for English language learners to be able to count, spell out, and pronounce all kinds of numbers in English. Fractions are especially tricky when it comes to expressing numbers&nbsp;orally or writing them alphabetically. I thought I&#39;d expand on the fractions section of our lesson so that teachers and students have a handy reference guide of common fractions. (By the way, anyone who knows me will think it&#39;s&nbsp;<em>hilarious&nbsp;</em>that I&#39;m writing a math-related blog post, but I&#39;ll do my best!)</p>

<h2>Fractions</h2>

<p>Hand out this printable <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2170">list of common fractions</a>&nbsp;(or write them out on the board). Model the pronunciation for your students. Make sure your students notice the&nbsp;hyphen when fractions are written out, and point out that&nbsp;there is usually a space between a number and a fraction (e.g., 2 1/2, not 21/2).</p>

<p>*Note: In example 6,&nbsp;<em>a quarter teaspoon of salt&nbsp;</em>is short for&nbsp;<em>a quarter of a teaspoon of salt</em>.</p>

<h2>Practice</h2>

<p>After you&#39;ve gone over the list, practice by having students role-play using the scenarios they&#39;ve come up with. You could have them do it orally or have them write out their dialogues and present them to the class. Scenarios could include dividing something up (a pizza, a cake, building materials, toys, jewels, etc.), shopping, cooking, baking, measuring liquids, etc.</p>

<h2>Related</h2>

<p>Check out our new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1957">Saying &amp; Writing Numbers</a> lesson in the Functional English section. It has&nbsp;a list of cardinal (1, 2, 3, etc.) and ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) numbers, describes the purpose of nominal numbers (phone numbers, zip codes, etc.), provides rules for writing numbers, and has practice on&nbsp;common writing and speaking mistakes involving numbers.</p>

Saying & Writing Fractions in English

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<p>There are&nbsp;many commonly confused words in English, such as <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-to-too-and-two/" target="_blank">too/two/to</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-theyre-their-and-there/">there/their/they&#39;re</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-youre-and-your/" target="_blank">your/you&#39;re</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-explain-despite-vs-although/" target="_blank">despite/although</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/lay-vs-lie-lets-lay-this-matter-to-rest/" target="_blank">lay/lie</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/inquire-vs-enquire/" target="_blank">inquire/enquire</a>, etc. Words get&nbsp;confused because they have similar sounds, spellings, and/or meanings. Tara, our head writer, recently asked for a post about the difference between&nbsp;<em>assure</em> and&nbsp;<em>ensure</em> so she could include it in a lesson. While we&#39;re at it, let&#39;s take a look at&nbsp;<em>insure</em>,&nbsp;too!</p>

<h1>Assure, Ensure &amp; Insure</h1>

<p>Some would argue that these words are&nbsp;interchangeable since they can&nbsp;all be&nbsp;defined as &quot;to make certain; to guarantee.&quot;&nbsp;However,&nbsp;most people&nbsp;would argue (and most dictionaries would corroborate) that they are used for different situations. I&#39;d recommend teaching your students&nbsp;the most common uses (and differences)&nbsp;below.</p>

<table class="horizontal has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Assure</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>to tell someone that something will definitely&nbsp;happen</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/&aelig;&nbsp;ˈʃʌr/&nbsp;(ah-SHURE) or, when speaking quickly,&nbsp;/ə&nbsp;ˈʃʌr/&nbsp;(uh-SHURE)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>I can&nbsp;<em>assure</em> <strong>you</strong> that&nbsp;your&nbsp;package will arrive on&nbsp;time.</li>
				<li>The teacher&nbsp;<em>assured</em> <strong>the students</strong> that the test would only cover chapters 1 and&nbsp;2.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Teaching Tip:</th>
			<td>Look for a direct object that is a&nbsp;<strong>person</strong>.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Ensure</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>to guarantee that something will&nbsp;happen</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/ɛn&nbsp;ˈʃʌr/&nbsp;(en-SHURE)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>He took steps to&nbsp;<em>ensure</em> <strong>his gift</strong> would arrive before December&nbsp;25.</li>
				<li>Correcting homework as a class will <em>ensure</em> <strong>that your students have understood the previous day&#39;s&nbsp;lesson</strong>.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Teaching Tip:</th>
			<td>Look for a direct object that is <strong>not a</strong>&nbsp;<strong>person</strong>, or look for a <strong>noun clause</strong> instead of an&nbsp;object.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Insure</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>to buy insurance for&nbsp;something (see the definition for <em>insurance</em> below)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/ɪn&nbsp;ˈʃʌr/&nbsp;(in-SHURE)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>Do you want to <em>insure</em> <strong>your package</strong> against damage or&nbsp;theft?</li>
				<li>I <em>insured</em> <strong>my car</strong>&nbsp;for the maximum amount yesterday, so now I&#39;m&nbsp;broke.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Teaching Tip:</th>
			<td><em>Insure</em>&nbsp;is most commonly used for legal and financial purposes. Look for&nbsp;a direct object that is a <strong>thing</strong>, not a&nbsp;person.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>Teaching Tip</h2>

<p>I came across a great teaching tip from <a href="http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/assure-versus-ensure-versus-insure" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Charles Carson</a> to help your students remember these terms! (I found this tip&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/assure-versus-ensure-versus-insure" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Grammar Girl&#39;s website</a> in a post called <a href="http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/assure-versus-ensure-versus-insure" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Assure Versus Ensure Versus Insure</a>.)&nbsp;Students appreciate good memory&nbsp;tricks!</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;&hellip;use <strong>assure</strong> for things that are alive (remember that <strong>a</strong> is for <strong>alive</strong>), <strong>ensure</strong> to guarantee events and conditions (remember those two <strong>e</strong>&#39;s at the end of <strong>guarantee</strong>), and <strong>insure</strong> for all of the above in financial contexts (remember the <strong>i</strong> is for&nbsp;<strong>income</strong>).&quot;</p>
</blockquote>

<h1>Assurance &amp; Insurance</h1>

<p>How about the noun forms?&nbsp;<em>Ensure</em> doesn&#39;t have one, so we don&#39;t have to worry about that. And&nbsp;<em>assurance</em> and&nbsp;<em>insurance</em> have quite different meanings, so they are easier for students to learn than the verb&nbsp;forms.</p>

<table class="horizontal has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Assurance</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>noun</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>the state of being sure about&nbsp;something</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/&aelig;&nbsp;ˈʃʌ&nbsp;ˌr&aelig;ns/&nbsp;(ah-SHU-ranse) or, when speaking quickly, /ə&nbsp;ˈʃʌ&nbsp;ˌrəns/&nbsp;(uh-SHUH-rinse)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Example:</th>
			<td>You say the package will arrive&nbsp;on time, but what <em>assurance</em> do I have? It was two weeks late last&nbsp;time.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Insurance</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>noun</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>a policy/agreement where payments are made to protect something against future loss or&nbsp;damage</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/ɪn&nbsp;ˈʃʌ ˌr&aelig;ns/&nbsp;(in-SHU-ranse)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Example:</th>
			<td>Most people buy car <em>insurance</em>, home <em>insurance</em>, and life <em>insurance</em> to protect themselves and their&nbsp;families.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Show your students the word&nbsp;<em>assure</em> in context in the description of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/101/lessons/1926" target="_blank">Lesson 1, A Recipe for Disaster</a>, of our brand new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/101/lessons/" target="_blank">Detective Series 2,&nbsp;<em>False&nbsp;Alarm</em></a>. Did you notice that&nbsp;a lot of the examples above involved sending packages by mail or courier? With Christmas right around the corner, you could naturally use these terms in context at this time of&nbsp;year.</p>


Assure, Ensure & Insure

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<h1>Can I inquire about your inquiry?</h1>

<p>English-speaking countries around the world spell most words similarly. But there are a few American spelling differences that we&#39;re all familiar with, such as -or/-our (American&nbsp;<em>color</em>, British&nbsp;<em>colour</em>) and -er/-re (American&nbsp;<em>center</em>, British&nbsp;<em>centre</em>). However, one difference that many people have trouble remembering (myself included) is&nbsp;<em>inquire/enquire</em>. Which is British and which is American? Do they have the same meaning? What about the noun forms? Even though these words are quite formal (and therefore well-suited to a Business English or test-prep class), any English language learner would benefit from a refresher on which spelling to use in what&nbsp;country.</p>

<h1>Verb Form: Inquire Vs. Enquire</h1>

<div class="table-container">
<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>&nbsp;</th>
			<th>Inquire, Inquired, Inquiring</th>
			<th>Enquire, Enquired, Enquiring</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>More common in&hellip;</th>
			<td>American &amp; Canadian English</td>
			<td>British English</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Use in&hellip;</th>
			<td>US &amp; Canada</td>
			<td>other English-speaking countries</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
</div>

<p>Do the verbs&nbsp;<em>inquire/enquire</em> have the same meaning? The short answer is &quot;yes.&quot;&nbsp;They both are a formal way of saying &quot;ask about&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;investigate&quot;&nbsp;something.&nbsp;<em>Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary</em> (US), for example, lists both definitions under <em>inquire</em>. However, the traditional distinction is that&nbsp;<em>enquire</em> is used for &quot;ask&quot;&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>inquire</em> is used for &quot;investigate,&quot;&nbsp;so it is possible to see both forms used in the same country. Confused yet? My advice is to tell most students to stick with&nbsp;<em>inquire</em> in the US/Canada and <em>enquire</em> elsewhere, and only discuss the other possibility with higher-level students.</p>

<h1>Noun Form: Inquiry Vs. Enquiry</h1>

<div class="table-container">
<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>&nbsp;</th>
			<th>Inquiry, Inquiries</th>
			<th>Enquiry, Enquiries</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>More common in&hellip;</th>
			<td>American &amp; Canadian English</td>
			<td>British English</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Use in&hellip;</th>
			<td>US &amp; Canada</td>
			<td>other English-speaking countries</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
</div>

<p>Do the nouns&nbsp;<em>inquiry/enquiry</em>&nbsp;have the same meaning?&nbsp;Like the verb forms, both noun forms are formal and refer to &quot;asking for information&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;an investigation.&quot;&nbsp;American and Canadian English use&nbsp;<em>inquiry&nbsp;</em>for both meanings, whereas British English prefers&nbsp;<em>enquiry</em> for &quot;asking for information&quot;&nbsp;and <em>inquiry</em> for &quot;an&nbsp;investigation.&quot;</p>

<h1>Pronunciation</h1>

<p>What about pronunciation? Do&nbsp;<em>inquire</em> and&nbsp;<em>enquire&nbsp;</em>sound different? When you&#39;re speaking at a natural pace, they sound exactly the same. This is because unstressed vowels in English are pronounced with a schwa sound (/ə/,&nbsp;the sound in &quot;the&quot;).</p>

<div class="table-container">
<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Word</th>
			<th>Pronunciation</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>inquire</th>
			<td>/ˌən&nbsp;ˈkwaɪr/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>inquiry</th>
			<td>/ən&nbsp;ˈkwaɪ&nbsp;ˌri/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>enquire</th>
			<td>/ˌən&nbsp;ˈkwaɪr/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>enquiry</th>
			<td>/ən&nbsp;ˈkwaɪ&nbsp;ˌri/</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
</div>

<p>However, when&nbsp;speaking slowly or enunciating carefully (or pronouncing the noun with the stress on the first syllable), you will hear the&nbsp;difference.</p>

<div class="table-container">
<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Word</th>
			<th>Pronunciation</th>
			<th>Note</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>inquire</th>
			<td>/ˌɪn&nbsp;ˈkwaɪr/</td>
			<td rowspan="2">/ɪ/ is the sound in &quot;tin&quot;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>inquiry</th>
			<td>/ˌɪn&nbsp;ˈkwaɪ&nbsp;ri/ or /ˈɪn&nbsp;kwə&nbsp;ˌri/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>enquire</th>
			<td>/ˌɛn&nbsp;ˈkwaɪr/</td>
			<td rowspan="2">/ɛ/ is the sound in &quot;ten&quot;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>enquiry</th>
			<td>/ˌɛn&nbsp;ˈkwaɪ&nbsp;ˌri/ or /ˈɛn&nbsp;kwə&nbsp;ˌri/</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
</div>

<p>Do I tell my students all of this? You bet! Students generally speak slowly when they&#39;re learning another language, so they should learn to pronounce these words differently. But my students are always excited to try speaking quickly, so get them to try pronouncing these words with the schwa, too. It&#39;s also important for them to realize that when they hear a native speaker saying these words, both terms will probably sound the&nbsp;same. A note on the pronunciation of the noun form: Do you place the stress on the first or second syllable? In the US and Canada, both are possible. In fact,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inquiry" target="_blank"><em>Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online</em></a> (US)<em>&nbsp;</em>lists five different possible pronunciations! The&nbsp;<em>Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English</em> lists the two mentioned above. <a href="http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/enquiry?searchDictCode=all" target="_blank"><em>Oxford Dictionaries Online</em></a> lists only the stress on the second syllable in their British &amp; World English dictionary. We&#39;d love to hear from fellow teachers around the world in our comments section: Where are you, and how do you pronounce&nbsp;<em>inquiry/enquiry</em>?</p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Challenge your students by writing this on the board: &quot;Can I inquire about your enquiry?&quot;&nbsp;See if they can tell you what&#39;s wrong. (Answer: You shouldn&#39;t mix American and British spellings together. Choose one or the other, depending on where you live. In the US, use &quot;Can I inquire about your inquiry?&quot;&nbsp;In other English-speaking countries, use &quot;Can I enquire about your&nbsp;enquiry?&quot;&nbsp;You&#39;ll find the words&nbsp;<em>inquire</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>inquiry</em>&nbsp;used throughout our NEW Writing lesson:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1942">How to Write a Business Letter</a>. Try it with your&nbsp;class!</p>

Inquire Vs. Enquire

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<blockquote>&quot;Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.&quot;<br />
&mdash;Japanese proverb</blockquote>

<p>The holidays are upon us and students are restless! Their minds are on the festivities, so why not embrace the spirit and get students learning with holiday-themed activities?</p>

<p>Below are a list of upcoming celebrations and events with lesson ideas. These ideas get students to learn about different cultures, traditions, finances, statistics, and history. Spice up those lessons by integrating a web tool or app. Free web tools/apps that have holiday related templates and stickers, include <a href="https://storybird.com/">Storybird</a> (book), <a href="http://www.edu.buncee.com/">Edubuncee</a> (poster), <a href="https://animoto.com/">Animoto</a> (video), <a href="http://www.magisto.com/">Magisto</a> (video), <a href="http://www.toondoo.com/">ToonDoo</a> (comic/book), <a href="http://pic-collage.com/">Pic-Collage</a> (poster/greeting), <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chatterpix-kids-by-duck-duck/id734046126?mt=8">Chatterpix Kids app</a> (talking images), <a href="http://www.voki.com/">Voki</a> (talking avatars) and <a href="http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/">Makebeliefs Comixs</a>.</p>

<h3>Thanksgiving</h3>

<p>This is one of the most famous meals throughout history when two cultures came together to celebrate the harvest that arose from their joint efforts. Your students can retell the story in a Storybird or create Buncee presentations about this historical event. Check out our <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/holidays-events/fall-into-autumn">Thanksgiving and holiday</a>&nbsp;collections.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Black Friday &amp; Cyber Monday</h3>

<p>Two of the most important shopping events take place the day after Thanksgiving and on December 1st, when stores gather to offer sales. Students can learn about math, finance, and marketing.</p>

<p>Get students to create wishlists, then research the best deals for these items. They can share these lists with their parents who will appreciate their children trying to save them money. Students can compare and contrast a store&rsquo;s Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. They can use <a href="http://piktochart.com/">Piktochart to create infographics</a> that display their findings. You can show students this <a href="http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnfull/20141112/158350-INFO">Black Friday infographic</a> as an example. For more ideas, <a href="http://www.pearltrees.com/shellyterrell/black-friday-cyber-monday/id12998764">check out these bookmarks</a>.</p>

<h3>Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa</h3>

<p>Showcase your student&#39;s&nbsp;holiday traditions by getting them to collaborate on a recipe book with traditional meals and drinks that are popular during these celebrations. Your students can include information about the holiday in this recipe book. Create the recipe book with <a href="https://docs.google.com/">Google Docs</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://issuu.com/">Issuu</a>, or the <a href="http://www.redjumper.net/">Book Creator app</a>.</p>

<p>Invite a guest speaker, author, or class to help your students learn about these holidays. <a href="https://plus.google.com/hangouts">Google HangOuts</a> and <a href="https://www.skype.com/en/">Skype</a> are free video conferencing tools that allow up to 10 people on video. Students can interview guests and authors. They can teach another class famous holiday songs and the actions that go with the lyrics.</p>

<p>Take students on a field trip to learn more about these different holidays after you try <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/holidays-events/december-holidays">ESL Library&#39;s December Holiday</a>&nbsp;collection.&nbsp;In your area, you can find plays, festivals, or other events that are suitable for your students to learn about these holidays hands-on. You can also take a virtual field trip to historic places, countries, and museum exhibits using <a href="https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/home">Google&rsquo;s World Wonders site</a>. Find more virtual tour sites and activities related to <a href="http://www.pearltrees.com/shellyterrell/field-trips/id11881202">planning field trips here</a>.</p>

<p>Find more ideas, web tools, and apps related to celebrating <a href="http://www.pearltrees.com/shellyterrell/december-holidays/id6846664">Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa here</a>.</p>

<p>In what ways do you celebrate the holidays with your students?</p>


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