Hello friends,

It's great to be back writing this email. Here's a glimpse of what you can look find in this week's email:-

Just get started!
Article of the week: Eslei: How a New Generation is reinventing Spanglish
Common misunderstandings explained: practice vs practise
Bonus vocabulary

1. Just get started! 🎬

One of my private students is planning to take the Cambridge Proficiency exam in the next few weeks after 5 months of preparation with me.

I am confident he will pass.

How is this 17-year old high school student even at the point where he can consider taking such a challenging exam, let alone inspire confidence in his teacher he’ll pass?

The answer?

The sheer amount of stuff he does.

Whether it’s writing full-length exam-question compositions, reading articles online or full-length novels in English, or practising listening tests online, he does it all.

Every single week.

Now, there are many reasons why you may not be able to do as much as this student does and I’m not about to tell you you need to do more.

What I do want to emphasise is the importance of taking any action, no matter how small it might be.

We have an expression in English that something can be like trying to turn an oil tanker.

Turning such an enormous ship is a difficult enough feat in itself. However, at least the ship is already moving. Turning a stationary vessel round is practically impossible.

The point is it’s always easier to turn direction when you’re already moving. If you're standing still, the first thing you must do is start moving, no matter how slowly.

So, if your studies have ground to halt for whatever reason, just focus on the smallest action you could take to get going again. It won’t be feasible to watch a whole movie in English, nor write a 280-word article. But could you watch a 5-minute YouTube video? Could you practise the vocabulary at the bottom of this email?

Just doing the simplest thing possible to move you closer to your goal will make it so much easier to take the next step, and the next and so on. The rest will follow from there.

2. Article of the week📚: Eslei: How a New Generation is reinventing Spanglish

As a Brit living in Spain, I was drawn to this article on BBC Future this week about the rise of Spanglish in the United States.

This hybrid of the English and Spanish languages is nothing new. Spanish is almost a de facto second language in many parts of the US, so it’s no surprise the two languages have a mutual impact.

What caught my attention in this article, however, is the way Spanish is changing the English language, particularly among the younger generation.

If you’ve noticed the impact English has had on native speakers of your own language, there will be much here for you to identify with.

If you’re looking for just the smallest action you can take to kick-start, or re-start your English studies, reading this article could be it.

3. Common misunderstandings explained 😕: Practice vs Practise

Why does English have to have more than one spelling of the same word?

What can I say? Sorry.

This is actually quite a simple one. The difference in spelling of this word is a British/American difference. In the US, there’s only one spelling of ‘practice’ and it’s just that - practice.

It’s only in British English that both spellings are used. So how do you know when to use each one?

The rule is this:- ‘practice’ with an ‘i’ is a noun whereas ‘practise’ with an ‘s’ is a verb.

Look at these examples

1. I need to practise my English vocabulary some more.
2. You should pass the exam, but you need more practice on the listening questions.

Hopefully, you can see how the first sentence uses the verb and the 2nd the noun, hence the change in spelling.

One hack to help you remember the difference might be that the version of the word spelt ‘-ice’, which is a noun referring to frozen water, is the noun, so, by definition, the other spelling is the verb.

Remember, this distinction only exists in British English. If your aim is to write American English, you don’t need to worry about these spelling changes at all.

That said, if you’d like to... 'practise' 😉 try these questions.

Which word belongs in the gap, ‘practice’ or ‘practise’?

Leave your answers as a comment below, or send them to me at afarmerteach1@gmail.com and I’ll reply.

The doctor's __________ involves seeing patients in the morning and conducting surgeries in the afternoon.
It's essential to __________ good hygiene habits to prevent getting sick.
Before the big performance, the dancers had one final __________ to perfect their routine.
I used to ________ my ballet positions day and night.
It was my ___________ to go for a walk every day after lunch when I lived in France.

Don’t forget you can follow me on X, where this week I have taught my followers 5 advanced phrasal verbs. Join them today!

Have a great week everyone!

Andrew

4. Bonus: did you know the meaning of these words used above?

feat (n) an impressive achievement

grind to a halt (idiom) slowly come to a stop

Brit (n) a casual way of saying a British person

de facto (fixed phrase) something that exists by fact, rather than by right or law.

kick-start (v) make something start to happen

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