Each unit is divided into five sections: English Masterclass (grammar), News Review (where an outstanding news story is thoroughly dealt with), Lingohack (headlines of the week's main stories), Vocabulary (idiomatic expressions) and Tim's Pronunciation Workshop.
Comma Queen is video series published by The New Yorker.
In 25 episodes Comma Queen (Mary Norris) explains a number of controversial and difficult grammar points. The series includes videos on “I vs me”, “which vs that”, "dangling participle", "singular their", "prepositions", "less vs fewer", "who vs whom", and so on. It also explains the correct use of punctuation.
The videos are concise, clear, and come complete with examples.
Mary Norris also delivered the talk The nit-picking glory of The New Yorker's Comma Queen at TED early this year.
It can be hard sometimes, when speaking, to remember all of the grammatical rules that guide us when we’re writing. When is it right to say “the dog and me” and when should it be “the dog and I”? Does it even matter?
Andreea S. Calude dives into the age-old argument between linguistic prescriptivists and descriptivists — who have two very different opinions on the matter.
Drop by Does Grammar Matter? at Ted-Ed for Andreea's full lesson, which includes comprehension questions, additional resources on the topic for you to explore and topics for discussion.
You're telling a friend an amazing story, and you just get to the best part when suddenly he interrupts, "The alien and I," not "Me and the alien."
Most of us would probably be annoyed, but aside from the rude interruption, does your friend have a point? Was your sentence actually grammatically incorrect? And if he still understood it, why does it even matter?
From the point of view of linguistics, grammar is a set of patterns for how words are put together to form phrases or clauses, whether spoken or in writing. Different languages have different patterns. In English, the subject normally comes first, followed by the verb, and then the object, while in Japanese and many other languages, the order is subject, object, verb.
Some scholars have tried to identify patterns common to all languages, but apart from some basic features, like having nouns or verbs, few of these so-called linguistic universals have been found. And while any language needs consistent patterns to function, the study of these patterns opens up an ongoing debate between two positions known as prescriptivism and descriptivism.
Grossly simplified, prescriptivists think a given language should follow consistent rules, while descriptivists see variation and adaptation as a natural and necessary part of language.
For much of history, the vast majority of language was spoken. But as people became more interconnected and writing gained importance, written language was standardized to allow broader communication and ensure that people in different parts of a realm could understand each other.
In many languages, this standard form came to be considered the only proper one, despite being derived from just one of many spoken varieties, usually that of the people in power.
Language purists worked to establish and propagate this standard by detailing a set of rules that reflected the established grammar of their times. And rules for written grammar were applied to spoken language, as well.
Speech patterns that deviated from the written rules were considered corruptions, or signs of low social status, and many people who had grown up speaking in these ways were forced to adopt the standardized form.
More recently, however, linguists have understood that speech is a separate phenomenon from writing with its own regularities and patterns.
Most of us learn to speak at such an early age that we don't even remember it. We form our spoken repertoire through unconscious habits, not memorized rules. And because speech also uses mood and intonation for meaning, its structure is often more flexible, adapting to the needs of speakers and listeners.
This could mean avoiding complex clauses that are hard to parse in real time, making changes to avoid awkward pronunciation, or removing sounds to make speech faster.
The linguistic approach that tries to understand and map such differences without dictating correct ones is known as descriptivism. Rather than deciding how language should be used, it describes how people actually use it, and tracks the innovations they come up with in the process.
But while the debate between prescriptivism and descriptivism continues, the two are not mutually exclusive.
At its best, prescriptivism is useful for informing people about the most common established patterns at a given point in time. This is important, not only for formal contexts, but it also makes communication easier between non-native speakers from different backgrounds.
Descriptivism, on the other hand, gives us insight into how our minds work and the instinctive ways in which we structure our view of the world.
Ultimately, grammar is best thought of as a set of linguistic habits that are constantly being negotiated and reinvented by the entire group of language users. Like language itself, it's a wonderful and complex fabric woven through the contributions of speakers and listeners, writers and readers, prescriptivists and descriptivists, from both near and far.
The expression would rather means 'would prefer to' and is followed by the infinitive without to. The contraction 'd rather is commonly used.
We use would rather when we are given a limited choice of things to decide on:
Would you rather stay here or go home?
'How about a drink?' 'I'd rather have something to eat.'
'What was all that about?' 'I'd rather not say.'
The preposition than is used if we explicitly mention the element which is not the case:
I'd rather see thrillers than romantic films.
I'd rather have coffee than tea.
However, would rather can easily be confused with some similar structures:
1 would rather like means would very much like:
I'd rather like a cup of coffee
2
We can use would rather to say that one person would prefer another or others to do something. In this meaning we use the structure would rather + subject + past tense.
I'd rather you went home now.
I'd rather you came next week.
My mum would rather we didn't see each other any more.
After this grammar introduction, let's practise the expression would rather with the meaning 'would prefer to'. rrrathergives us a great opportunity to orally practise this structure by presenting us with countless options to decide on. You can click on the tag 'categories' to choose the topics to discuss. Remember to give your reasons for your choice.
This is a site that offers grammar lessons (so far 31) in an original way. The grammar point is introduced in a short dialogue at the beginning. A listening comprehension check follows together with some short explanations about the grammar point in question. Finally there's a grammar practice activity.
Most of the lessons come complete with a video where the grammar point is also explained and Sound Grammar allows you to download the audio file of the conversation. A transcript is also available.
The layout of Sound Grammar reminds us of elllo, which is always a guarantee of quality and originality.
Intermediate students will greatly benefit from the site, although some of the lesson are also within the grasp of lower level students.
It offers explanations of the key points of English grammar through timelines, visuals and examples.
The grammar points explained on the site so far include:
- The tenses and modal verbs.
- The passive voice.
- Reported speech.
- Conditional sentences.
- Relative clauses.
The Verb Machine is an online game that we can find in the site of the British Council. It will be specially useful to language learners who are unfamiliar with the names of the English tenses and with concepts like active or passive (voice), continuous or simple, and perfect.
As you can see from the screenshot below, there are three options we can choose from to play. The practice mode gives us examples of the different tenses, voice, continuous and perfect mode by just clicking the coloured buttons at the top. It's a kind of theoretical background through examples.
In the tense game, the machines gives you a tense or verb form and an example sentence. You have to press the right coloured buttons at the top to match the verb form.
In the sentence game, you have to press the buttons to make the right verb form, but the machine only shows you a sentence.
Perfect English Grammar is a site where we can find tons of grammar-related activities about the most common grammar areas of interest to English language students. A lot of these activities can be downloaded in PDF format or done and self-corrected online.
In addition, Seonaid (the teacher behind the site) provides all kinds of explanations about all the grammar points in the site through a variety of media: written, video, infographics.
ELC Study Zone is a project run by the University of Victoria's English Language Centre (Canada).
It offers lessons and interactive activities in five levels (Upper Beginner, Lower Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate and Advanced).
There are four or five reading exercises per level and a grammar index about the most important points of English grammar.
Our Madrid Teacher series this week is intended for Básico 1 and Básico 2 students and deals with questions with the verbs there is and there are.
Before you watch the video, list as many types of shops in English you can think of.
Now watch the video and check which of the shops you thought of are mentioned.
Watch the video for a second time and note down all the questions with there is or there are the girl is asked.
Now answer the same questions about yourself.
Is there a swimming pool near your house? Yes there is. And where is it? It's just around the corner from my house. Okay. Is there a supermarket near your house? Yes, there is. And where's the supermarket? The supermarket is down the road from my house. And do you go shopping there? Yes, I do. Is there a library near your house? Not very near to my house, no. Where is it? It's in the next suburb. Ok. And do you ever go there? Yes, sometimes. Ok. Is there a train station near your house? No, there isn't. Is there a post office near your house? Yes, there is. And where is it? It’s in the shopping centre near my house. Ok. And is there a bank near your house? Yes there is. And where is the bank? The bank is across the road from my house. Okay, good. Where do you go for your food… where do you go shopping for your food? I go shopping at the supermarket. Ok. Are there any butcher’s or greengrocer’s or shops like that near your house? Yes, there is a butcher, a butcher shop just around the corner from my house. And do you ever go there? Sometimes, but I prefer to buy meat at the supermarket. Ok. Is there a cinema near where you live? No, there isn’t. So where do you go when you want to watch a film? Usually I go and I hire a film from the video shop near my house. Oh, ok. And where’s the video shop? It’s also in the shopping centre near my house. Everything's in the shopping center. Yes.
This week's Madrid Teacher episode is devoted to Básico 1 and Básico 2 students. One of the Madrid Teacher is interviewed and she tells us basic personal information about herself.
Watch the interview through and just find out about Natalia.
Watch the interview again and note down the questions that she is asked.
Watch the video clip for a third time and note down Natalia's answers.
You can check both questions and answers with the transcript below.
Now it's over to your. Answer the questions Natalia was asked about yourself.
Hi, what’s your name? My name is Natalia Perkalovich And where are you from? I am from Warsow, Poland. And how old are you? I am 34. Have you got any brothers or sisters? Yes, I have one older sister. And how old is she? She is 43. Err… what does she do? She is an editor. And where does she live? She lives in Mexico. What’s your favorite film? My favorite film is an American film called Stand-by me. And who is in the film? One of the actors is River Phoenix. Very good. What’s your favorite type of music? Hmmm… I would have to say pop. And your favorite singer or favorite band? Hmmm… yes my favorite singer is George Michael. And what’s your favorite song by George Michael? Wow, only one? Well, I really, really love all of them, but… Your all time favorite. Father Figure. OK. Very good. What are your parents' names? My parent’s names are Andrea and Teresa. And what do they do? My father is a scientist and my mother is a nurse. And where do they live? Right now they are living in the United States. Err… which city? College Park. And what kind of house do they live in? They live in an apartment. It’s a regular size.
In this Madrid Teacher video Thomas is asked questions about his new apartment by a colleague.
Self-study activity:
The activity is suitable for Básico 2 and Intermediate 1 students.
Watch the video through and try and understand as much as possible.
Vocabulary note: lounge is another word for sitting room in British English, as well as a public room in a hotel, theatre, or club in which to sit and relax [the hotel has a pleasant lounge and bar]. Another meaning of lounge refers to the seating area in an airport for waiting passengers [the departure lounge].
Watch the video again and answer these questions:
Is Thomas happy with his new apartment?
Which apartment is better, the new one or the old one?
Why?
Who does Thomas share his new apartment with?
Who did he share his old apartment with?
How old are the people Thomas is sharing his apartment with now?
How many bedrooms are there in the new apartment?
What do they use the lounge for?
Where did he work in his old apartment?
So, Thomas, I heard that you just moved to a new apartment.
I did.
And how is it, are you happy?
I’m very happy.
Mm-hm. Is it better than the old apartment?
It’s, It’s much better.
And why is it better? Is it bigger than the old apartment?
Not only is it bigger, but now I share it with people, with my friends.
Were you sharing and apartment before?
I was, and it was with someone whom I had not met before I started living
there.
So, it wasn’t a friend, it was a housemate.
Yeah, it was an old woman.
OK. And, now you are living with young people.
Yes, I, as I said I’m living with my friends, a man and a woman about my
age and with whom I share quite a lot.
Mm-hm. And how many bedrooms in your new apartment?
Three.
And do you have communal living space as well?
Oh, we have a, a lounge, a salon, quite large. It’s really a, a great spot.
It’s always got people inside.
That’s good. What do you use the lounge for?
Basically everything, because our bedrooms are not very large, so I do my
work on my computer at the kitchen table in the lounge. So, we also eat in the
lounge. We watch TV. Sometimes we have social gatherings. We read on the couch.
And where did you do your work in your last apartment?
In my bedroom. My bedroom was basically my only space in my last apartment.
In the new one, it’s all shared.
This week's Madrid Teacher entry deals with the use of the present perfect simple to talk about personal experience.
We use the present perfect simple this way when talking about our experience up to now in life:
I have visited Rio, but I have never been to Buenos Aires.
We use indefinite time adverbs like ever, before, never.
I'm sure we've met before.
The standard question in this use of the present perfect is Have you ever + past participle? Have you ever cooked a meal for more than ten people? If we want to talk about specific details about the experience, we usually change to the past simple and use adverbs of finished time (yesterday, last month, three years ago). Have you ever seen a ghost? Yes, I have. I saw one at my granny's house twenty years ago.
Watch the first video below and try to understand the conversation. Pay attention to the Have you ever...? questions. Also pay attention to the way the two Madrid Teachers sometimes change to the past simple to discuss detail of the experience they are talking about.
Remember the short answer: Have you ever seen a ghost? Yes, I have. No, I haven't.
The second video is a follow-up of the first one. But the conversation is a bit harder to understand for elementary students. However, it is interesting to watch because it very well exemplifies the change from present perfect simple to ask about experience to the past simple/past continuous to give details of that experience.
Video 1 Have you ever ridden an unusual animal? Yes I have. I’ve ridden an elephant. Have you? No, I have not. Have you ever tried any extreme sports? Yes, I have. I’ve jumped out of an airplane. Ah, skydiving. Yes! I’ve also been skydiving. Ah, isn’t it fun? It is! Have you ever fired a gun? Ah, yes I have. What did you shoot at? It was just shooting at a target. Ok. Have you? Yes, I have, also at a target. And have you ever hitch-hiked? Yes, I have, once in Boston. Ok. Have you? No, I’ve never done that. Have you ever given a speech to more than ten people? Yes, I have, to a room full of people when I was at school. Have you? Yes, I have. A few times at school. And have you ever sung in a karaoke bar? Yes, I have. I love karaoke. I have sung in several. Really? And what do you like to sing? All songs mostly. Have you? No, I’m too afraid. I’ve never sung in a karaoke bar. Ok. And have you ever worn a silly hat in public? Yes, I have for certain holidays or festivals. Have you? Well, not since I became an adult. When I was a small child, yes, but… I’m too grown-up now. Ok. And have you ever fallen down in public? I’m sure I have. Have you? Of course. I think everybody does.
Video 2 So have you ever slept in a tent? Yes, I have, when I was camping. Ah, ok. Where were you camping? I was camping in Connecticut where my parents lived. Ok. Was it a big tent? No, not big enough. How many of you were camping? Well, I think there were four of us. Ok. But it was good fun. Have you ever seen a shark? I have. Really? Fortunately only in the aquarium, because I think I would die of fear if I really saw one… Ok. … when I am swimming at the beach. Yes, of course. Have you? No, I can’t say that I have. They are very scary-looking creatures. I believe it. They really are. I love to watch television programmes about them. And have you ever played a joke on someone? Yes, I have. Once I went to visit a friend’s university and while he was out of his room I put the fish tank on top of his bed, an empty one but a large one, and then filled it to the top with water, so that removing that tank and all of its contents would be something he would have to come home to. That’s very, very cruel, especially if he came home very tired. Well, we were very good friends. Lucky! Have you ever fallen asleep when someone is talking to you? I don’t think so. That would be a bit rude. I know that I often fall asleep in front of the television, though. Ok. It’s a… it’s too easy sometimes. The sofa is very comfortable. Of course. Have you? Actually I have. I was talking to a friend very late at night and we’d had a bit of wine and in the morning she told me that I’d stopped listening. You just drifted off. She wasn’t too offended, I hope. No, also good friends. Good.
Our Madrid Teacher series post of this week is devoted to elementary students (Básico 1 and Básico 2).
In this video, a girl bombards a boy with How much and How many questions. Remember that we use 'how much' with uncountable nouns (that is, nouns that never take plural and never take an 'a/an' article), and we use 'how many' with countable nouns.
Watch the three-minute video and note down the answer the boy gives to each question. You may wish to pause the video player to give yourself a bit of thinking time. Then, answer the same questions about yourself. You can find the questions below.
How much coffee do you drink?
How many cups of tea do you drink?
How much chocolate do you eat?
How many pieces of fruit do you eat every day?
How much money do you spend on food every week?
How much money do you spend on clothes every week?
How much sport do you do?
How many times do you go on holidays every year?
How much television do you watch every day?
How much time do you spend on the internet every day?
How many times do you go to the cinema every week?
How many times do you brush your teeth every day?
How many times do you wash your hair every week?
In our Real English series we are showing three more videos to exemplify the use of the present perfect.
To be totally honest with you, the main benefit of the videos lies on the general revision of tenses and question forms learners are exposed to together with the listening practice, as very few of the questions in the street interviews or in the answers, for that matter, have to do with the present perfect.
The difficulty of the videos is higher than usual, so this week's videos are more suitable for intermediate students. Strong Básico 2 students will also be able to benefit from them if they read the subtitles.
In the first video, a really nice guy answers questions about his job -he is a messenger. At one stage he answers the question How long have you been a messenger for?, which shows the second use of the present perfect that we studied last week, present perfect to talk about a situation which started in the past and continues up to the present.
You can do an interactive exercise on the Real English site here.
You can watch the same video with English subtitles on the Real English site here.
In the second video Michael, a policeman in New York, answers some questions about his life. The two questions in blue refer to the use of the present perfect to talk about experiences. The question in red refers to the use of the present perfect to talk about situations which started in the past and continue up to now.
What's your name?
What do you like doing in your free time?
What did you do yesterday?
Apart from New York, what other towns have you lived in?
When did you live in Hamburg?
Where were you born?
Was that a long time ago? What's been the best year of your life? What have you been doing in the city today?
Were you good at school?
What's the most beautiful city in the USA?
Which is bigger New York or San Francisco?
Which is the most beautiful language?
What would you do if you won 10 million dollars?
What do you hope to achieve before you die?
What are you going to do tonight?
In the third video, once again we can see the difference of usage of the present perfect to talk about activities or situations that started in the past and continue up to now (first interviewee, the juggler, who answers the question How long have you been juggling today?) and to talk about experiences (second interviewee, who answers the questions Have you travelled abroad?, Where have you been?).
However, you shouldn't miss the third interview, where Minda shows her bubbly personality and extroverted manner. In addition, she answers a battery of questions we have been studying in our Real English series and that you can also use to revise all the grammar we have been studying throughout the series.
What is your name?
Would you spell that for me?
What are you doing right now?
Where do you live?
Where do you work?
How long does it take you to get to work?
How do you get to work?
When were you born? What have you been doing in the city today? Have you been to Europe?
What are you going to do tonight?
What are you going to do on your next holiday?
What do you like to do for fun?
Can you play any musical instruments?
What time is it?
What’s the weather like today?
In our Real English series we feature three video clips to constrast the difference between the present perfect and the past simple.
In the first video, a very pleasant couple answers several personal information questions. The questions mainly deal with the past simple and present perfect tenses. However, it's funny to notice the way the interviewer combines the two uses of the present perfect in his questions:
(1) Present perfect to talk about experiences, news or changes (similar to the use of present perfect in Spanish).
(2) Present perfect to talk about a situation which started in the past and continues up to the present (here we usually use a present form in Spanish)
Where were you born?
Was that a long time ago?
Were you good at school?
What did you do yesterday? What other towns have you lived in apart from New York? (1)
When did you live in Paris? Has anything ever happened to you? (1)
How did you meet? How long have you known each other? (2)('¿Cuánto hace que os conocéis?')
What do you hope to achieve before you die?
You can watch the same video with English subtitles on the Real English site here.
You can do an interactive exercise on the Real English site here.
In the second video the interviewer asks the question: What have you done this morning? to ask passers-by about activities they have been involved in during the morning (use 1 of the present perfect above to talk about experiences and give news). As the interviewer is asking the question in the present perfect, we must infer that the interviews are taking place at some time during the morning, ie, before 12am.
The second question is what did you do yesterday?, where we can see the use of the past simple to talk about activities done in a finished period of time.
It's funny to notice the way a lot of the interviewees answer the question What have you done this morning? in the past simple. That is due to the fact that Americans (I think the video was recorded in New York) generally prefer the past simple to give news, whereas in Britain the present perfect is generally used to give news, the same as in Spanish.
You can read the transcript of the video clip on the Real English site here.
In the third video, we keep emphasizing the difference between past simple and present perfect. Again, it's funny to check the way the girl answers in the past simple a question she was asked in the present perfect. Remember the differences between American and British English in this respect.
What did you do yesterday?
Where did you get married?
What have you done this morning?
You can watch the same video with subtitles on the Real English site here.
You can do an interactive exercise on the clip on the Real English site here.
8th March is the International Women’s Day. Last year we published this video by Kronos and Xplane which I think lends itself to a nice conversation lesson on the topic of change, women’s role in society today and in the past and the use of would to express habits in the past.
Lesson idea:
Before watching the video, discuss the way women’s lives in your country have changed in the last 100 years. Give some examples of the ways life for a woman today is different/similar to the life of a woman 50 or 100 years ago.
Now you can watch the video and check if any of your ideas are mentioned. You can also note down and discuss any details that may have drawn your attention.
Note the way modal auxiliary would is used to express past habits. We can only use would to express past habits if we are talking about actions: She would drive her children to school
whereas we can use used to to express past habits both to talk about states and actions: She used to drive her children to school; her family used to have a house in Hertfordshire.
At this stage you may like to go back to what you mentioned about a woman’s life 50 or 100 years ago and rephrase some of your ideas using would to express typical actions and habits.
Now some more questions to talk about changes in today’s world. Remember to use would for past habits to refer to actions and activities if you want to practise this grammar point.
Your city
How has your town changed in your lifetime? Is it a lot bigger?
Have a lot of immigrants moved into your town?
Have a lot of new houses been built? If yes, where and what kind of houses?
Have the shops and shopping areas changed?
Can you think of any other changes?
Work, family and free time
How have people’s lifestyles changed in your country during your lifetime?
Do people still do the same kinds of jobs?
Have any new industries developed? Have any old industries disappeared?
Has family life changed?
Do people still do the same kinds of things in their free time? Do they spend their money on the same things? Are their hopes and dreams the same?
Can you think of any other changes?
If you want to do a listening activity around International Women's Day, Are we equals?, a video starred by Daniel Graig comes in handy. Here we can see James Bond's femenine side. He teams up with Judi Dench to highlight the need for gender equality.
Self-study activity:
Complete the transcript of the video with the missing facts and figures. I think Básico 2 students can give the activity a try.
We're equals, aren't we 007? Yet it is (1) ... and a man is still likely to earn more money than a woman, even one doing the same job. You have a far better chance of entering political office or becoming a company director. As a man you are less likely to be judged for promiscuous behaviour, which is just as well, frankly. And hardly any chance of falling victim to sexual assault. And unlike the (2) ... women in the UK who lose their jobs annually due to pregnancy, there would be virtually no risk to your career if you chose to become a parent ... or became one accidentally.
For someone with such a fondness for women, I wonder if you have ever considered what it might be like to be one? The world has changed, but the numbers remain stuck against us. Women are responsible for (3) ... of the work done worldwide, yet earn any (4) ... of the total income and own (5) ... of the property. It’s not just about money and power. Every year (6) ... million girls are deprived of even a basic education and a staggering (7) ... million are sexually assaulted on their way to school. We are afraid to walk the streets at night, yet some of us are even more afraid to return to our own homes. At least (8) ... are victims of domestic violence. And every week, (9) ... women in the UK are killed by a current or former partner.
So are we equals? Until the answer is yes we must never stop asking.
If you want to find out more about the topic of International Women's Day, The Guardian published the online series Top 100 Women to commemorate Women's Day on 8th March.
On 4th March National Grammar Day was held, which is a good excuse for us to reflect on the way we learn English and on our grasp of grammar at a time when some official exams seem to have turned a blind eye on directly testing grammar; when there is a heated debate in countries like the UK and US about the limited knowledge of English a good share of the immigrants have; and when some British universities which participate in European projects complain about the poor language awareness of some of the students who come from the continent.
Get together with the members of your conversation group and discuss the questions below, most of which are taken from The New York Times learning network, in a lesson by KATHERINE SCHULTEN.
How good is your grammar?
How well do you speak and write in English?
Do you have better grammar when you write than when you speak?
How important is grammar for spoken and written communication?
What grammar errors do you make most often?
What errors do others make that cause you to cringe?
Have you ever taught English grammar to anyone?
In general, do you agree with the statement that education today emphasizes “expressing yourself” more than correctness?
Do you agree with John Challenger, who says that for younger people the content of the message is far more important than the structure?
Can someone with terrible grammar still be a clear thinker?
Would you hire that person for a job? Why or why not?
What importance do your English teachers give to grammar?
And if you wish to know how good your grammar is, you may like to try your hand at this Guardian grammar and punctuation quiz, where you have to answer 14 multiple-choice questions similar to those that year 6 pupils (11 years old) will sit in a National Test in spelling, grammar and punctuation in June.
In our Real English series this week we feature two videos where some passers-by answer questions to illustrate the use of comparatives and superlatives in English.
The first video is intended for Básico students. Passers-by answer these questions:
Who's older?
Which is bigger?
Who can cook better?
What's the most beautiful city in the USA?
What's the coldest country in the world?
Which is the biggest town in Ireland?
Which is the longest river in Ireland?
Which is the most beautiful language?
To revise the grammar behind comparatives and superlatives you can drop by our post Comparatives and school subjects, where we show an interactive book by Collège Marc Chagall with all the rules and lots of exercises.
You can also read Joanne's Rudling's entry about the 1:1:1 spelling rule on her Spelling Blog, where she gives us clear rules on when to double the final consonant in adjectives when forming the comparative and superlative.
The second video is a bit harder and it is intended for intermediate students. A passer-by answers the questions What's the best/worst decision you have ever made?
The same interview with subtitles can be watched in the second half of the video clip.
The New York Times shows a regular feature in their Learning Network specially thought out for English learners: Test Yourself in English, where readers are tested on their knowledge of English grammar, vocabulary and reading skills.
Every week two one-question tests are published, and the archive has run up around 300 tests so far.
Either if you are preparing for an English exam at an intermediate level or above or you want to practise just for fun, Test Yourself in Englishlooks like a good place to do so.
