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Really Learn English Phrasal verbs

Are phrasal verbs driving you crazy? Take a look at part 1 in our useful article on how to learn phrasal verbs.

Native English speakers use phrasal verbs all the time. So, if you want to learn English, you're going to have to learn them too. But how?

As you probably know, a phrasal verb is formed by a verb and a particle (which is usually a preposition: up, with, to, out, in, etc.). However, the meaning of the phrasal verb is often different to the meaning of each individual word within the phrasal verb. And this is what makes some of them so difficult. For example, with the phrasal verb to make up – you may understand make and up; but the whole expression is more complex. HOWEVER, there are a few tricks for learning them. Here are some key things that could help you.

1. Look at the particle!

The key to many phrasal verbs lies with the particle. For example, what do you think these phrasal verbs (shown in bold) mean?

a) House prices are going up.
b) She got over the cold after a few days’ rest.

You could essentially understand these phrasal verbs just from the particles. In fact, once you know the basic meaning of these particles (up means to go to a higher level; over means to go from one level/stage/place to another), then they can really help you understand the phrasal verbs.

2. Look at the verb!

Sometimes it’s the verb that can help you (in many cases, the particle is just there for decoration – to add some very subtle nuance to the meaning). For example, what do you think these phrasal verbs (shown in bold) mean?

a) My car broke down as I was driving along the motorway.
b) They were running about in the garden.

You could probably guess the meaning of these phrasal verbs just from the verbs. The particles are just extras!

3. Look at the context!

Another important thing is to look at the context. What are the people talking about? What’s being discussed? What’s the topic of conversation? Once you know that, you’ll find it easier to work out the meaning of the phrasal verb. For example, what do you think this phrasal verb means?

“You are rude and disrespectful and your attitude is appalling. We absolutely refuse to put up with it any longer! Either you change or you’re out!”

How to make small talk

This week, our top tips on how to make small talk in English.

You may be able to deliver killer speeches, wonderful presentations and professional talks on topics of your choice. But can you make small talk? There are times in life when you need to make casual conversation. And in business, the social aspect of a business relationship is often as important as the professional one. Here are some top tips for making small talk.

1. Listen

The number-one rule when making small talk is to listen. Make a conscious effort to remember what the other person is saying. Then, you can use this information to generate more conversation. 

2. Questions

In order to keep the conversation going, ask lots of open questions with question words such as who, why, what, when and where. For example:

a) What did you think of the conference?
b) Where did you go for your last holidays?
c) Who did you see at the party last week?

3. Interest

While you’re talking to someone, focus exclusively on that person. And use your body language to show that you’re interested: face the person, use eye contact and nod your head at appropriate moments. Also, use conversational fillers such as “ah ha/really?/amazing!” to show that you’re interested in what they’re saying... even if you aren’t!

4. Follow up

Follow up on everything that the person you’re talking to tells you. For example:

a) You’re a lawyer, aren't you? What motivated you to go into law?
b) So, you like tennis, do you? How often do you get to play?

5. Ego check

Try to avoid always turning the attention of the conversation back on yourself. For example, if someone mentions that they’ve just been to Italy, don’t respond with, “Oh, I’ve been there. We went there last year.” Instead, use this information as an opportunity to ask lots of questions about the other person’s trip: Where did you go? Who did you go with? What was it like? What did you see?

6. Watch out!

Avoid saying anything that could be interpreted as criticism or judgement; and above all, keep away from potentially controversial topics such as religion and politics.

Part 2 coming soon...

Improve English Listening

Listening to English is difficult. There might be noise, you might be tired, the other person might not be speaking clearly... there are a thousand things that could influence the way you listen. It isn’t a precise science, and it never will be.

But the good news is that you don’t need to understand every word in order to follow things. Experts have shown that we only actually hear/understand about 40% of the words during a conversation – our brain fills in the rest for us.

Take this as an example. Imagine you’re in the street. All of a sudden, someone stops you and starts to say something to you. At the same time they pull back their sleeve and point to their wrist. Without even listening to the words, your brain tells you that they’re asking you for the time.

Before listening, you need to activate your existing knowledge of the topic. You can do this by thinking about the context and the general theme. Once your existing knowledge has been activated, you can predict what people are going to say.

For example, if you know that everyone is talking about global warming, you can be more or less sure that they are going to mention things such as “CO2, carbon, Kyoto, Copenhagen” and “scientists”. And if they’re talking about tax, then you can be fairly sure that they’ll talk about “money, payments, the government, increases” and “decreases”.

The fact is that 90% of the people in the world say the same things as you and I – they just do it in different languages. Remember that! This means that 90% of the time you can probably guess what someone is going to say – you just have to trust your intuition.

Latest News

The London Language Centre has now been established for many years and it has built up an impressive collection of resources and facilities. We are one of the leading schools in London and have a growing student population. We work hard to keep prices low and we make sure that quality stays high.

We have expanded a great deal over the past year. Adding to our library resources, computer room facilities and we have a new TV lounge dedicated to students.

The London Language Centre is multiplying into several new schools and we have partner schools across the country and internationally. Our Largest school in London has over 15 classrooms

We are scaling down our provision of French and Spanish courses and increasing our courses in other areas. Including a wider range of summer courses.

We thank everyone for their contributions, especially students who have helped us to understand what they need so that we can make the school exactly as they like it.