October 13, 2012

Weekly Finds: October 13, 2012

A Man With Magnifying Glass by digitalart
Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Every week, we’ll be sharing a list of posts, stories, news, or opinions that we've run across the Internet during the past week or two. We won't be discussing them in detail here, but we do encourage you to check them out as they could contain valuable ideas and insights for your IELTS exam.

If you're ready, here we go...

12 Negative Thoughts Holding You Back

The author claims that "your thoughts today create your life tomorrow." He thus shares twelve destructive thoughts to flush out of our minds.

English language is descended from ancient Turkey, experts claim

New Zealand scientists say Indo-European language family - including English, French, German and Hindi - originated up to 9,500 years ago in western Asia

Riddled with irregularity

Why are languages so different—and disorderly?

Learning while you sleep: Dream or reality?

Research suggests that sleep is an important contributor to learning, memory, creativity, and problem solving ability.

Essential lexical tools

The author shares a list of online resources that could help us with our vocabulary.

6 TIPS TO HELP YOU APPLY WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED

The author shares some tips on how "to act on our knowledge, and how we can overcome internal resistance for lasting positive change."

Democratic Dictionaries: From M to Nutter

The author shares her thoughts on online dictionaries.

An aha moment in lexicography

An opinion on the words recently added to the Merriam-Webster and Oxford Dictionaries Online.

More Pairs of Terms

The author shares his tips for correctly using the terms each other and one another.

The irony of using quotation marks for emphasis

People often use quotation marks to add emphasis to certain words but they’re actually subverting their intended meaning.

Does digital mean better?

The author shares his thoughts on technology as a tool in teaching the English language.

4 WAYS TO BECOME A GRAMMAR WIZ

Learning doesn't stop when you graduate from school. You can keep educating yourself in skills to use in your current life. A good grasp of grammar is one of those skills that can translate to any job.

Writers view on top punctuation howlers is the semicolon

The author shares some tips on how a semicolon should be used.

Who vs Whom

Who vs Whom: The Face-Off... Which one should you use? Which one is right?

100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English

Here's a very useful list on correct spelling.

A Chuck Close quote:

The author shares a very inspiring quote that could help us whenever we encounter challenges during our IELTS preparation or review.

Cool sites for English teachers

The author shares three sites where teachers could improve their teaching skills.

How to Deal with Problems Faced by Students of English?

The author discusses the main problems a person has to deal with in order to be a successful and satisfied language learner.

Accept or Except? The Top 10 Confusing English Words

The author shares some tips on using the right word at the right time.

The first written words of the English language

According to the author, the earliest known example of written words of the English language are preserved not in a book or manuscript, but in another location. Read where it was discovered.

5 Common Words That Create Failure

Your level of success is predetermined by the words you use every day. Do you agree?

A Man Once Tried to Raise His Son as a Native Speaker in Klingon

Computational linguist Dr. d’Armond Speers wanted to find out if his son (who was going through his first language acquisition process) would acquire the Klingon language like any human language.

10 COMMON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS THAT DRIVE TEACHERS NUTS.

The author shares ten of the most common grammatical errors that every teacher should aim to drive out their students.

'Make' or 'Do'?

It can be hard to decide when to use 'make' or 'do' in English. Read the article to learn the distinctions.

Are You Too Shy to Speak English?

Want to speak with confidence but just can't get the words out? The author shares some ways to overcome shyness. These could be useful for your IELTS Speaking test.