'I arrived in 2005.' 'I work on Sundays.' 'The restaurant opens at noon.' These three prepositions — at, on, in — govern time expressions in English. Bengali doesn't use prepositions the same way. French is…
My daughter is 18 months old. She already knows 'no' — but she doesn't yet know 'however'. That one word, 'however', is the difference between a child's logic and an adult's argument. Conjunctions are the…
In hospitality, apologies are currency. A well-timed, sincere apology saves a table. A badly phrased one makes it worse. I've said 'I'm sorry, sir, that shouldn't have happened' a hundred times. But I've also heard…
When I was working towards French C1, I noticed I could guess words I'd never seen by breaking them apart. The same works in English. If you know that un- means 'not' and -able means…
When a French customer at the Ivy asked me how often I worked nights, I said 'I work night always.' The look on her face told me something was wrong. The correct order is: subject…
When I was working as a barista, I noticed that English speakers didn't say 'do a coffee' — they said 'make a coffee'. Not 'take a decision' but 'make a decision'. Not 'do progress' but…
At the immigration office in France, I once politely disagreed with an official — in French — and managed to change a decision. The key was not what I said but how I said it.…
In hospitality, a guest's body language told me more than their words. Arms crossed? Not happy yet. Leaning in? Interested and engaged. Looking around? Waiting for something. Understanding body language — and knowing how to…
Asking and telling the time is one of the most useful things in English. In Sydney, I had to be on time for every shift — and I had to understand when customers asked me…
Colours are some of the first words we learn — and some of the most useful. But English has lots more than just 'red' and 'blue'. Let's explore!
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Sourov Deb EI · SIRET 106 764 061 00011 · Saint-Pierre, La Réunion