How To Be Happy, Pronunciation Problems & English Exams
Improve your English, naturally.
Good morning & welcome to the August edition (How is it already August?!?).
If you subscribe, you will receive the newsletter in your inbox, but don’t forget to look at the website where I’ve been adding dozens of new resources each week to help you improve your English.
With rioting on Britain’s streets, swimmers being sick in the Seine, and wars raging around the world, I thought it’d be nice to bring a little light relief* to your inbox.
*Light Relief - a nice break from seriousness, something that allows you to relax and feel calm when events are stressful.
How To Be Happy-
Some of you may know I used to work in prison as a social worker, where everyday I led rehabilitation discussion groups with men who were locked up.
One of my favourite books that we often discussed was Happiness By Design.
It explains how the things we think will make us happy often do not, but it gives easy-to-read, data-driven suggestions for how to design your life to maximise happiness.
The main point of the book is that some people find happiness in ‘pleasure’, while others find the most happiness in activities with a sense of ‘purpose’.
As a ‘Purpose-Driven’ happy person, I found this book very interesting. And, as you are pushing yourself to learn more English, you probably get a lot of happiness out of purposeful activities, too.
And if you want to listen to a talk on the subject (with lots of idioms and metaphors and a fast-talking American accent), here’s a TED talk on the subject, too.
She uses so many idioms & metaphors, I promise I’ll write an article next week explaining them! But can you understand the concept by listening to the context?
Pronunciation Problems
I’ve started publishing articles on the subject of pronunciation on the Substack website. If you’d like me to write a post about the problems of pronunciation for your mother tongue, just let me know in the comments.
Testing Your English Level
Thinking of taking an English Exam?
Do you need a certificate for work or studying?
I love teaching IELTS exam preparation, and I think this is one of the best exams to take. It’s actually quite easy, if you know the structure of the exam, and practise answering questions to please the examiners.
If you go to the website, you’ll see I’ve created a section full of IELTs Top Tips, or if you want to learn more about the exam, here is an article.
Remember, the Newsletter isn’t just for students learning English with me.
You can share it with your friends, colleagues & family for free, too.
See you next time,
Angie