The Blog

What does the perfect example sentence sound like? (Part 1)

(This is the first of a series of posts about recording example sentences.)

I haven't been posting many new blog entries lately. That's partly because I've been busy getting audio lessons ready to release. I thought I'd write a little about the recording process and what I'm trying to achieve...

Why you should focus on learning situational English

In my last blog post, I explained that there are two categories of sentences:

• things that you say about a topic
• things that you say in a certain situation

For example:

• topic: family - things to say when talking about one's family
• listener: family - things to say to your family

How I've been improving the lesson categories

My problem with categories

Have you explored the Categories page on PhraseMix? It's a useful way to review lessons on different topics, like business, shopping, or phrasal verbs. 

I realized something recently while writing Twitter messages to advertise some of the categories. I had...

"Correct" pronunciation is not always right.

A funny story

Back when I was a middle school English teacher in Japan, one day there was a big standardized English test. All of the Grade 3 students had to take it. I was asked to sit in on the test and help administer it by passing out papers and making sure that no one was cheating.

After a...

Tips for mastering English

If you've been reading the blog, you probably already understand PhraseMix's philosophy of language learning. But just in case you need a reminder, I posted a new page on How to Learn English. This is a collection of my best ideas for how to improve your English skill quickly. 

Take a look...