ABA Journal The digital English academy

At first glance, this might seem very simple. Then, in just a moment, you realize that you don’t know which to choose. Is it at or in? Don’t worry! With a little study and some ...

...ZZZZZzzzzz....

What? Oh sorry, we were just having a cat nap.

Have you ever heard someone use this expression? It means to have a short nap during the day.

It is not hard to understand where the expression comes from: in the early 1800s, people began using this term to describe short periods of sleep during the day that were similar to those cats have. Cats are notorious for sleeping up to 12 to 16 hours a day! Sometimes they sleep for several hours, but often they just doze in the sunlight for minutes at a time.

However, do you know the origin of napping? It all started in Ancient Egypt. The cat was a sacred animal at that time so the Pharaohs began to  emulate this animal's behaviour.

Beyoncé, the Queen of Pop and R&B.

She has been singing since she was a child and now, after recently having her own child, released her fifth album Beyoncé which immediately went to #1.

Today, we will be using her song XO to learn some new English vocabulary. Ready? This is what you have to do:

1. Read the lyrics
2. Understand the vocabulary
3. SING!

Translating idioms to english can be a great way to learn english and enrich your vocacbulary. Today we have a look at idioms from Finland.

When you’re alone, do you talk to yourself? I do. I will have whole conversations with myself while cooking, cleaning, or driving a car. I’m not embarassed about it, although I know I might look strange to other people who walk into the room (I try to do it only when nobody will hear or see me talking, but sometimes I get caught...).

I know I’m not the only one—it’s a funny habit, but it’s pretty common. For me, it helps me to think more clearly. If I think out loud, literally speaking my mind, then I can reason through a problem or situation more quickly and effectively. If I am silent, it’s a bit more difficult to think straight.

Even if you don’t have the same experience with talking out loud, it’s still a good idea to talk to yourself if you’re preparing for the TOEFL. That’s because a quarter of the test actually is talking to yourself. Well, technically, you speak into a microphone, but there is nobody listening as you talk, and nobody responds to you, so it’s very similar to talking to yourself. And in general, to improve your TOEFL scores, you will want to practice doing the tasks that the test requires of you.

At the ABA Book Club, each month we review and recommend a great book for you to practice reading in English.

Today, the ABA Book Club will be reviewing comedian Tina Fey's book Bossypants. It is, as you would expect from a comedian, very funny. Also, insightful and full of lessons learnt.

Tina Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. She has received many, many awards, including seven Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.

With Halloween just around the corner it’s a great time to learn some vocabulary used during this fun day.

Imagine someone does something you do not like. Saying “I don’t like it” or “I don’t like this” can sound a little bit childish. So today we will learn a couple of ways to say ...

Check out the list of the most common student writing fails and tell us which one you are guilty of committing the most often! Keep scrolling down and you will find 6 ways to reduce ...

Welcome ABA Friend! Let’s look at something that many students get a bit confused with. First of all, read the following passage: Do you think we will ever get used to working or studying all the ...

“We love you more than you know” Such a great, uplifting song by Awolnation. Do you know what uplifting means? If you think about it, it is made up of the word “up” and “lift”, ...

Are you currently a student? Do you have to do any revising? If you answered “yes!”, then this lesson is for you! Today we are going to learn 12 tips to make revision a time to ...

Hello! Remember we wrote a post about autumn vocabulary? Well, here is a post dedicated to the beauty of spring! Spring Vocabulary Awakening – an act or moment of becoming suddenly aware of something. Barefoot ...

“If I spoke better English I could move to England, and if I won the lottery I would move to Thailand…” It’s nice to dream isn’t it? When we want to talk about an unreal ...

Ready to learn some English and put your dancing shoes on? Excellent! Eliza Doolittle has been on the ABA Blog before, with her song Skinny Genes, remember? And today we will be learning with a different ...

160 years ago today, on the 16th of October 1854, Oscar Wilde was born. So… Happy birthday, Oscar! Wilde was a writer and poet from Ireland. He became one of London’s most popular playwrights in ...