PhraseMix Articles

How do I build my English-speaking confidence?

Speaking a foreign language can be really intimidating. You know that you're probably making mistakes. You're worried that you might say something offensive and make people angry. It's stressful!

It's hard to make yourself speak when you don't feel confident, but to get better at speaking...

When should you use an exclamation point at the end of a sentence?

This is an exclamation point: 

!

When should you use an exclamation point at the end of a sentence? The answer is interesting because the way that it's used has actually changed quite a bit in the last 10 years.

The old rules

Here's how exclamation points have traditionally been...

21 English phrases for describing relationships

Relationships can be complicated. Here are some expressions for talking about all the different phases of a relationship with someone:

Not in a relationship

1. single

If you're not married or dating anyone, you're "single".

A: Are you seeing anyone?

B: No, I'm single.

2....

The 3 biggest improvements you can make to your English writing

I see a lot of emails and comments from English learners. Some of them are well-written, but others are filled with mistakes and hard to read.

There are so many different rules to follow and think about when you're writing in English. It might seem impossible to learn them all. But it's...

Why do English speakers mix present and past tense?

A PhraseMix reader asked this interesting question:

I have realized that some people use present tense mixed with past tense while talking about past events. For instance, check out the following statement:

I wouldn't say the man lied to his surbordinates yesterday. However, it is...

The "lean-back" language learning experience

The new Phrase Mixer review tool that I released last week represents an important new direction for PhraseMix Premium. It's the "lean-back" language learning experience.

"Lean-back experience" is a term that I learned at my day job at a large magazine publishing company. A few years ago,...

Memorize phrases with the Phrase Mixer!

The Phrase Mixer is a powerful tool for memorizing phrases. It automatically selects past lessons for you to review.

Launch the Phrase Mixer »

The newer the lesson, the more often it pops up in the player. This allows you to learn lessons really well at first, then review...

How should I use PhraseMix Premium?

Congratulations! You have a Premium membership. Now what? 

Here are some Premium features that you should try out:

• The Phrase Mixer audio review tool
• An audio player on each Lesson page
• Downloads of weekly collections of lessons
• Member-only articles 
• The power to create new ...

How to use the word "time" in English

Here's a list of useful collocations for the word "time":

What do people do with time?

• spend time on things
• devote time to things
  "Devote" is similar to "spend" but seems more thoughtful and purposeful.
• waste time
  (But not you, of course!)
• be out of...

How many lessons do you study per day?

A reader sent me an email asking me how many PhraseMix lessons he should study per day.

Personally, I would try to learn 2 new phrases per day. I would not only read the lessons, but try to search for other examples of each of the phrases on the Internet and on YouTube.

I would also spend 10-15...