If you had all the money in the world, which home would you want to buy?Cast your vote below! Let's see which house wins.

Did you notice the use of "If" in the first sentence? This is known as a CONDITIONAL sentence. We use this to talk about situations in the past, present, and future that occur only when a condition happens. If a condition occurs, then it will result in something. For example, if I had all the money in the world, I would buy a brick mansion with a gate.

There are four types of CONDITIONAL patterns as you can see from the chart:
1st conditional (a situation that will most likely happen in the future)
2nd conditional (a situation that is unreal or almost impossible)
3rd conditional (a past imagined situation that has no chance of happening)

Notice there is one more condition not listed above. It's the 0 conditional. This is a situation that is always true and the sentence is formed by present simple, comma, present simple. For example, "If I eat too much, I feel sick" or  "If I put ice cubes in hot water, it will melt." These conditions will always be true.

Sometimes the difference between the 1st conditional and 2nd conditional is not quite clear to some students. The difference can be sometimes based on our own opinion of the situation (whether we think it's possible or not.) If you look at the example for the 2nd condition, it's possible that if she saved a lot of money, she could buy the mansion. However, she is a shopaholic and it is almost impossible for her to save a lot of money, so it's unlikely to happen. 

For the 3rd conditional, it's always talking about a past event that will not have any chance of ever happening. Most of the time, we use this to express regret. I regret not buying the lottery because if I had, I would have bought the mansion already. It's an unreal situation. We'll never know if it will happen or not!

We all get sick or feel down sometimes, but what always helps us feel better right away is when we hear words of encouragement. Whether you're writing a get-well-soon card or meeting a friend who is sad or frustrated, it always helps to know what to write or say! Start practicing with some of these easy phrases below.

Notice two important phrases that are used quite often, the phrasal verb "cheer up" which means to be happier and less worried. Another one is the idiom, "hang in there" which means be patient, don't give up, keep going!

Just as you should do with learning English, "hang in there!"

I love to eat bread. I don't think there's one type of bread I don't like. I especially love french bread. I recently made my own garlic bread using a loaf of french bread and it tastes great when it's fresh out of the oven when the cheese is still nice and hot.

There are so many types of bread and it's always useful to know the difference for when you're at a restaurant, Starbucks or shopping at a grocery store.

Do you like bread and what's your favorite kind?

There are certain words that are spelled incorrectly even by native speakers. I must admit, I'm one of them. I always forget that "every time" is not one word. If I'm typing or writing very fast, I always get it wrong!

I think the confusion is caused by words such as "everyday" and "everyone" known as COMPOUND WORDS. This is one word made by joining two or more words together (every +day / every +one). Because of this, a lot of people think that "every time" is also a compound word but it's not! Always remember to separate the two words.

A way that helps me remember this when writing is to think of Mr. Broccoli and his girlfriend, Miss. Tomato. They break up every time because they're so different. It's a sad story but they break up every time! ("break up"= leave each other)

I'm sure we've all, at some point in our lives, wanted to fall asleep or "doze off" in boring meetings or lectures. Whether as a student or employee, these instances happen too often! I know it's happened to me more times that it should.

So what are some ways of making YOUR presentation more interesting and engaging to listeners? As a teacher, below are some things that I always remember and it's been helpful to refer to every time. Is there anything else you could add on to the suggestions below?

As I've mentioned in some of my previous posts, we've been doing some home renovations and we're finally done for now! It was a busy few weeks of cleaning and organizing. Now that we finally have a clean home and a bed to sleep on, I've been feeling very peaceful and satisfied because I no longer have to worry about moving furniture around, keeping my clothes in suitcases, or being in a dusty home! What about you? What do you feel today?