Exams looming ahead, the dreadded deadline is nigh! Is it “prone to jump” or “prone to jumping”? wonders a C1 student (both are correct. I use the latter, though). Should I plant a conditional sentence in the oral exam? thinks an Intermediate student. Let me tell you something. When it comes to oral tests there’s no such thing as a magic formula. That said, I can give you a couple of pointers you may want to consider…

Intermediate learners. One of the adjectives you should probably avoid is "important" (we’ve seen “influential”, “relevant”, “major”, etc.). Remember that a film can be entertaining, enjoyable, predictable, for example. Please, please don’t just say it’s a good movie, it’s a good idea. Ideas can be original, practical, unrealistic, etc.

C1 students. You are expected to show some serious knowledge of collocations and specific vocabulary “ruthless assassin” belongs to your spectrum. “Horrible killer” is definitely a no-no. Although I can imagine that sometimes a basic expression might be the only option that comes to mind. Anyhow, here’s a tip: use your hesitation to your own advantage. Show that you know how to hesítate in English (let me organize my thoughts for a seconds, I’m afraid I lost the thread, what I’m trying to get at is, and so on and so forth…).

Hello!!! I know, I know... It's been a while. Well, well...

My intermediate students might want to check out this website which offers some simple exercises that will allow you to practise those relative sentences you may or may not have problems with. Did you notice how cleverly I slipped THREE relative sentences in the previous sentence? Isn't that genius? Speaking of genius... My C1 students are still dumbfounded after that C2 + display on Monday. Granted, that excerpt from "The West Wing" may have been too demanding but hey you should be ready to face up to those kinds of challenges. Anyhow, I thought you might get a kick out of a this thought-provoking article that also delves into the murky waters of intelligence. It's a little long and clearly C2 but it's worth reading, if only for its vocabulary. By the way you probably know that The New Yorker is a magazine that centers on the cultural life of New York city. It's the kind of smart magazine that any would-be Woody Allen ought to read once in a while. For those of you less prone to bookish intellectualism here is a fun (short) article about real blunders made by businesspeople who should know better. That's all for now.