This article explores the use of idioms and fixed expressions in the Cambridge Learner Corpus. As language learners, we often feel a great sense of accomplishment on discovering a new idiom or fixed expression, and we’re keen to put it to use right away. Perhaps as a result of this enthusiasm, we are prone to errors and the expressions are often overused. In this article, find out which idioms and fixed expressions prove most popular with learners, as well as which ones are the trickiest to master.

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The Flipped Classroom Approach, what’s all the fuss about?

Many educators are familiar with the notion of a ‘Flipped Classroom Approach’: The Flipped Model has been adopted across a wide range of educational contexts, and English Language Teaching is no different.

So, what is it? Simply, it’s an approach that involves the reorganisation of what happens in class time and outside of class time. The traditional notion of classroom-based learning is turned on its head: One commonly-quoted definition is that homework becomes schoolwork, and schoolwork becomes homework.

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Teaching a group of business English students first thing on a Monday morning – short of going for a jog in sub-zero temperatures – is one of the surest ways I know of having to get out of bed and get into the swing of things snappily! I can’t say I look forward to the ordeal, but I can say that I don’t think I can remember a class which disappointed, and after which I didn’t feel energised. But perhaps I’m lucky.

However, when Kata asked me, as she always did, about my weekend on a particular Monday back in June, I really didn’t know what to say.

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