Kitchen Vocabulary: The Food Words Every Learner Needs
Growing up in Bangladesh, I helped my mother cook rice on a clay stove every evening. We called it chul. In Sydney, the first kitchen I worked in had six different types of pan and…
Category: Vocabulary & Collocations
Word combinations, collocations, lexical sets, and vocabulary building across all CEFR levels.
Body Language at Work: What English Doesn’t Say
In twelve years of hospitality, I learned to read a table before I reached it. A couple sitting back with arms crossed — give them space. A family leaning forward, pointing at menus — they…
Numbers and Money: Maths English for Hospitality
On my second day in a Sydney restaurant, I gave a customer the wrong change. Not because I couldn't count — I could. The problem was the English. 'Out of twenty' meant he gave me…
Taste in Words: Describing Wine Like a Sommelier
At Uccello in Sydney, I once described a Barossa Shiraz to a table of eight. I used three adjectives — smoky, full-bodied, long finish — and the table ordered a second bottle. Language sold the…
Coffee Talk: Vocabulary from Behind the Espresso Machine
My first week at a Sydney café, a customer asked for a 'flat white'. I nodded. Then I stared at the machine for a full minute with no idea what to do. The other barista…
Describing Graphs & Charts in English (B2 — IELTS Task 1 / Business)
In my email archaeology project, I turned 15 years of data into readable summaries. The language of data is the language of business — and of IELTS Task 1.
Travel Vocabulary — From Airport to Hotel (B1)
I've moved between four countries. Every airport, every immigration queue, every check-in — here's the vocabulary that gets you through.
10 Essential English Idioms — With Real Stories (B2)
My first year in an Australian workplace, I understood every word but missed the meaning. Idioms. Here are the 10 I needed most.
Describing Places — Vocabulary & Adjectives (A2)
Réunion has a volcano, a lagoon, and a rainforest. Three completely different landscapes on one island. I'll teach you how to describe any place in English.
Collocations: Make vs Do — Never Mix Them Up Again (B1)
As a barista, you make coffee. As a manager, you make decisions. But you do the cleaning, not make it. This distinction cost me in my first English job.