Proper English

This week, we're looking at two words: fun and funny - and we do our level best to explain the difference in meaning, and also their history and origins. The Idiom of the Week is 'a barrel of laughs.…

In this week's episode we're all about the perfect tenses - and those two little old ladies are back in the café, gossiping over their cups of tea about this week's idiom, 'A perfect storm.'

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It's a bumper episode this week! We're looking back on the antics and escapades of our resident detectives, Davidson and Roberts as they investigate intriguing cases and discover exciting idioms and …

It's the end of the year, and so we're looking back on 2020 and looking forward to 2021. The idiom of the week is 'Another string to your bow.'

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So here is it is - Merry Christmas! It's the festive episode, and this year we're talking about some of the Christmas traditions around the world - and those two old ladies are back, illustrating wha…

This week's episode is an exercise in futility! Actually, that's what we're talking about. Futility. And how it has made such an impact on us that there are a large number of idioms to describe point…

As you probably know, one of our favourite subjects is food. We love food and we love cooking. So this week, we thought we'd share a couple of our favourite recipes with you! And those two old ladies…

This week, our intrepid detectives, Davidson and Roberts, are investigating the case of a missing person in a furniture store - while using a number of phrasal verbs to do with time! The Idiom of the…

So, what do you do in your spare time? Trainspotting, collecting teapots, playing chess… Everybody has a hobby, don't they?We talk about the origin of the word hobby and discuss the various hobbies w…

This week, it's about time. About time for what? we hear you ask. It's about time we talked about how the different ways we talk about time in the English language. The Idiom of the Week is 'Over the…

This week, we're talking about how we use numbers in the English language: mainly about ordinal numbers and fractions. What's an ordinal number? Find out in this week's episode! We're also considerin…

This week, we're having a laugh! We're talking about puns, and punchlines, and knock-knock jokes. The Idiom of the Week is 'You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.'

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We're revisiting superstitions for Hallowe'en - this time we asked our students to tell us about superstitions from their countries. The Idiom of the Week is 'Things that go bump in the night.'

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This week we're answering some of the questions about the English language our students regularly ask. The Idiom of the Week is 'Full of beans.'

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This week, we're considering word stress - and we don't mean getting all wound up about vocabulary! We're talking about the importance of emphasising the right syllables. The Idiom of the Week is 'To…

We're back with more discourse markers: last week it was stuff we say in conversation - this week, we're looking into the ones we can use in essays and reports. The Idiom of the Week is 'To bite your…

Well, this week it appears we're all about the little additions, the fillers, the conversational tags, known formally as discourse markers! And this week sees the welcome return of Davidson and Rober…

This week, we're considering some more of the miscellaneous items that don't really into any of the usual categories - the little challenges our students come up against from time to time. The Idiom …

This week, we're considering the past simple tense - and in particular, the different ways we pronounce the -ed at the end of the regular past participle. The Idiom of the Week is 'To be at a loose e…

This week, we're going back to school to learn about the phrasal verbs we use related to education. This lesson was inspired by Miriam and her Speaking Café in Goya, Argentina. This week's idiom is f…