Teachers' Library

➡ 1) Know your English well. Study hard then the exam is easier. However, we need a backup plan just in case...  ➡ 2) Treat the two or three paragraphs in the text individually or you will end up reading the text again and again which you don't have time for.  ➡ 3) Start reading (don't look at the options in part 1 yet). Rely on your instinct. When you are reading at a nice, normal speed, you might be surprised how the word just appears. Finish the paragraph.  ➡ 4) Check to see if your "instinctive predictions" have appeared in options A B C or D. If yes, then you are 99.9% right (always double check to make sure you instinct wasn't wrong) :))  ➡ 5) If you instinctively chose a word and it is not there, but an exact synonym is, then there is a very strong chance that the synonym is the right answer. (Again double check)  ➡ 6) So we come across a gap and we have no idea what the answer can be. Look at your options A B C and D and see if one of them happens to fit...

FEEL ONESELF - LET'S DEBUNK THIS MYTH Russians are often told by us native teachers (many of whom used to be ex-pizza deliverers before getting a CELTA) that FEEL ONESELF is incorrect and means, if used, to touch yourself in an "oh la la way!" Not entirely! My 45 years of research has come to an end and I will show you what's correct. ☝🏻 So here goes: 😇 1)  To feel oneself = to touch yourself in an "Oh la la way" really has to be used in the continuous to have that meaning. BUT, it is almost never used. TOUCH oneself would be the one to use.... if you honestly needed to inform someone you're doing this: 🤔 👉🏻 I'm feeling myself right now because I am bored and the internet is down. (better: touching myself) 2)  Now this is where is gets complicated when used in the Simple and is directly translated from the Russian "чувствовать себя."  a) We don't use the "reflexive" as often as many other languages do like Russian and Ger...

Achtung! This word is rude. Be careful how you use it! The basic meaning = to go to the toilet. ✅ To be/get pissed = to be drunk (In US English: to be angry)  - Oh, let's get pissed tonight on vodka. I had a hard week so I want to be so pissed.  ✅ To take A piss = to go to the toilet  - Stop the car for a minute, I need to take a piss.  ✅ To take THE piss a) To take THE piss = to make fun of, to tease  - Stop calling me "lissi gastarbeiter" Why are you always taking the piss out of me?  b) to take THE piss = to show shock, disagreement, joking  - You want me to walk from Moscow to Vladivostok? Are you taking the piss??? (=you must be joking)  - (Also: a piss-take: making us work for 48 hours without a break... what a piss-take that was!)  ✅ To be pissed off = to be angry, frustrated  - My flight was cancelled and I'll miss my holiday in Siberia. I am so pissed off right now.  ✅ To piss someone off = to annoy someone  - I sugges...

1) You MUST spend some time DAILY reading and listening to authentic sources! Choose boring themes you wouldn't normally read because the themes in the exam are not Harry Potter, Friends or BBC news. Watch some boring documentaries.  2) Time yourself when doing exam practice. If you don't, you'll have a shock on the day when you automatically work slower because you're more nervous!  3) In the Reading and Use of English, you MUST transfer your answers after every section and not all at the end. if your answer sheet is incomplete and the time is up, you won't be given any extra time. Your sheet will be ripped out of your hands and you will fail!  4) Paraphrase the reading texts and the listening question. If you don't know how to paraphrase for these exams, well, join my courses and find out!  5) Spend maximum 25 minutes (or 20 for FCE but 20 for CAE and CPE if you're a slow writer) planning your essay! Brainstorm your ideas and expand them with examples. Lin...