Author: Sam Burns

  • A Critical Look at an Illustration

    A Critical Look at an Illustration

    Take a critical look at this illustration and learn English vocabulary and grammar at the same time!

  • English Fluency: Why to Speak More and Listen Less

    English Fluency: Why to Speak More and Listen Less

    I know what you are thinking, ELLs, “I don’t have any one to talk to!” But in this post, we’re not talking about talking to anyone, we’re talking about speaking out loud when we are studying and practicing English, not just listening, reading and watching. Yes! You can improve your English fluency by yourself! Let’s…

  • The Quick Crying Baby Checklist

    The Quick Crying Baby Checklist

    What a cute little baby!  Just look at her!  An adorable yellow set of clothes with wooden buttons, and a long, matching hat, like an elf‘s hat, but yellow.  She’s lying on a soft brown blanket, so cozy and comfortable. But if you were in the room with her, you wouldn’t have such warm feelings,…

  • Learning English and Time Management: Prioritizing

    Learning English and Time Management: Prioritizing

    Welcome back! In the last post we talked about setting time goals, but goals don’t mean anything if you don’t know how to reach them, and time doesn’t mean anything if you don’t use it correctly. So how can you make sure you reach your goals of spending time on English and using your time…

  • My Grandfather’s Memorabilia

    My Grandfather’s Memorabilia

    This is a short story of a young man who goes through some of his grandfather’s things after he dies for the first time, followed by practice activities for English learning.

  • Learning English and Time Management: Setting Time Goals

    Learning English and Time Management: Setting Time Goals

    As learners of new languages, it’s easy for us to see that time management goes a long way in helping us grow.  When we don’t manage our time well, our language acquisition slows to a grind, or possibly even to a halt, but when we make careful use of our time, we steadily make progress.…

  • A Group of Friends and a Bonfire

    A Group of Friends and a Bonfire

    Having set up the tents, they had to decide how to spend the evening hours on their first day camping on the island.  It was Friday night, and they had three days to camp before they had to go back to the hustle and bustle of city life. They saw the large pile of underbrush…

  • 7 Free English Learning Tools You Aren’t Using (but Should!)

    7 Free English Learning Tools You Aren’t Using (but Should!)

    We are lucky to be born in the modern age and have a broad selection of language learning tools.  Gone are the days of only being able to learn language in-person.  We can develop our language skills using primarily online tools.  There are free English learning tools everywhere! The traditional tool is a dictionary, but…

  • A Video Editor’s Morning Routine

    A Video Editor’s Morning Routine

    Ahhhh! What a way to start the day.  I’m just getting into my morning routine.  I’m a freelance video editor.  People take videos and send them to me.  Then I make them look good, charge them money, and send them back.  I don’t have a boss or work for a company.  I work directly with…

  • IELTS: A Healthy Approach

    IELTS: A Healthy Approach

    Read about a few solutions to the challenges of trying to pass the IELTS exam: putting English first, being patient, and having the right mindset!