Lessons
Grammar, vocabulary, writing, speaking and pronunciation from A1 to C1. Pick a topic or follow a path.
Learning paths
For university
All lessonsB2 to C1: advanced grammar, academic vocabulary, essays, presentations and seminar discussion.
- Third conditional and mixed conditionalsHow to talk about a past that did not happen, and how to connect an unreal past with a present result.
- Passive voice: advanced usesPassive forms with two objects, reporting verbs, modals, infinitives and -ing forms, plus the informal get-passive.
- Reported speech: advancedReporting verbs and their patterns, reported questions, modal verbs in reports, and when the tense does not change.
- Participle clausesShortening sentences with -ing and -ed clauses to show reason, time, result or description, and keeping the subject clear.
- Linking words in formal writingConnecting ideas in essays and reports with however, therefore, moreover, whereas, despite and similar words, with the right punctuation.
- Academic vocabularyThe general words found in texts across all university subjects, such as analyse, evidence, significant and approach: word families, collocations and common traps.
- Opinion essaysHow to plan and write an opinion essay: a clear position, one main idea per paragraph, reasons with examples, and a conclusion that answers the question.
- Describing graphs and trendsHow to describe a line graph or bar chart: the four-paragraph structure, verbs and nouns for change, and the prepositions by, to, from and at.
- The environment and climateWords and collocations for environmental problems and solutions, from emissions and pollution to renewable energy, as used in the news and in essays.
- Media and the newsWords for newspapers, broadcasting and online news, the special language of headlines, and the vocabulary you need to judge whether a source is reliable.
- Giving a presentationHow to structure a short talk for a class, a seminar or a meeting, guide listeners from one part to the next, talk about slides and handle questions calmly.
- IntonationHow falling, rising and fall-rise tones change the meaning of questions, lists and polite replies, and why a flat tone can sound unfriendly.
- Inversion: introductionPutting the auxiliary before the subject after negative and limiting adverbs, after so and neither, and in formal conditionals.
- Inversion: advanced patternsNegative and restrictive adverbials, only-phrases, conditionals without if, and so/such fronting that put the auxiliary before the subject in formal English.
- Cleft sentencesIt-clefts, what-clefts and their relatives split one statement into two parts so that the important piece carries the emphasis.
- Hedging and registerHow to soften a claim with modals, seem, tend and perhaps, and how to choose formal, neutral or informal wording to fit the reader.
- Academic writing styleWhat makes writing academic: formal and precise vocabulary, an impersonal voice, careful claims and clear paragraphs, with typical calques to avoid.
- Summarising and paraphrasingHow to report someone else's ideas in your own words for essays and coursework, with the reporting verbs, the steps that avoid plagiarism, and a worked example.
- Seminars and discussionsHow to take part in a university seminar in English. Preparing, making a point, agreeing and disagreeing politely, asking for clarification and bringing others in.
- The subjunctive and formal structuresThe base-form subjunctive after suggest, insist and it is essential, the were-subjunctive, and fixed formal patterns such as lest and be that as it may.
- Ellipsis and substitutionLeaving words out after an auxiliary or to, and replacing clauses and nouns with so, not, one, do and neither, so that English sounds natural, not translated.