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“I am gladder to be here than there.” I heard this sentence today, and being an English teacher, my first instinct was to correct it. “I am more glad to be here than there.” This seemed better, but still didn’t ring correctly in my ear. I further honed it to, “I am happier to be […]

English, like many languages, has two types of nouns: countable and uncountable. At least, this is what we are told. What if I said there was another type of noun. A noun that is both countable, AND uncountable? I found just such a noun with “pizza.” Let me explain: Countable nouns can be used with […]

I think every airport I’ve ever been to has had signs in English, and the people at the information desk have spoken English. I don’t know if this is true in every country, but it is true in every country I’ve been to. No matter what language is locally spoken, it seems you can get […]

One of the many weird quirks in English is our use of “by” and “until.” Many languages have only one word for both of these. One such language is German. My wife is German, and she is very proud of her perfect, accent-free English. I don’t remember her actual words, but she once said something […]

A few years ago I started teaching English online. While I have been teaching with some commercial companies, I also have been teaching a few lessons privately, as well. Until now, my private students have all come to my own house for classes. A friend of my wife asked if I would teach her kids, […]