Phonemes in English

Phonemes are the smallest possible sounds in a language which have a distinct meaning. So what does that mean in practice? Well, take these two words: kiss – miss When we say them, the only difference is the very first sound of each word: k and m This means that […]


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Persian

Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group that make up over half the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language, as well as languages closely related to Persian. The ancient Persians were originally an ancient Iranian people who migrated […]


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New Zealand English

New Zealand English (NZE) is a variety of English which is close to Australian English in pronunciation but has several subtle differences often overlooked by people from outside these countries. Some of these differences show New Zealand English to have more affinity with the English of southern England than Australian […]


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Neologisms

A Neologism is newly created (or “coined”) word. New words often apply to new concepts or inventions, or perhaps when an old idea takes on a new meaning. Some random neologisms: aspirin hyperspace internet Islamaphobia wiki bling wmd phishing Quite simply, these words did not exist several years ago. Trivia […]


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Native Speakers

A native speaker of English is a person who has grown up speaking English‏‎ as their first language or mother tongue‏‎. In terms of English teachers this usually means from one of the major English speaking countries: the USA‏‎, the United Kingdom, Ireland‏‎, Australia, Canada‏‎, New Zealand‏‎ or South Africa‏‎. […]


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