Conversations: a blend of speaking and listening skills.

The below resources are designed to sharpen your listening but also increase your vocabulary while providing structure:

• Reading: articles shows grammar, vocabulary, structure, coherence and cohesion. Questions are designed to focus on detail, rather than gist.

• Listening: our ears need training; what we hear must be clearly translated into words we comprehend. Listen to the speaker’s pronunciation and how words fit together.

• Phrasal verbs: be familiar with them. Although you need not use them in conversation, native speakers will use them. Therefore, learn and understand them and the context in which they appear.

These resources focus on speech, structure and word use:

• Irregular verbs: English has many past tense irregular verbs, with some having multiple forms.

• Word use: some words have multiple meanings, some words are more suitable, and some have particular patterns.

• Pronunciation: it’s not always how we say a word, but how we say words, how we give meaning, and how we express ourselves.