Welcome to the Leonardo English blog 👋

We’ve spent months working on a course English language schools will *hate*. It’s called “Demystifying Business English”. Here’s what’s in it, why you might like it, and how you can get early access to it.

Signposting is a simple and easy-to-learn technique that can improve your listening, writing and even presentation skills. In fact, once you know this technique, you will see it everywhere! Let us explain it to you with this step-by-step guide.

The Monitor Hypothesis is one of many ideas developed by Professor Stephen Krashen to help people learn a second language more effectively. What is this powerful idea about self-correction and how can it help you in your speaking?

Many English learners use ineffective strategies in their independent listening practice. Avoid this problem with our guide to intensive and extensive listening. We will show you how and why it is important to practise both of these techniques.

Curious about what happened at our June Conversation Session? It was a wonderful evening full of discussions about interesting films, books & TV series. Here's what happened.

Without linking words, your writing will be harder for readers to understand. This article explains linking words and their importance, gives plenty of examples and provides extra guidance on the most confusing ones.

This guide for English learners will help you identify your weak areas of pronunciation, understand what you need to improve and give practical tips on how to strengthen your vocal skills.

Used correctly, podcasts are a powerful tool to improve your English speaking. In this article we’ll share the best podcasts to improve your English pronunciation, and give you effective strategies to make the best of them.

Learn about our first ever "Murder Mystery" game for members, and guess who the guilty party might have been...

The business world is full of confusing phrases, acronyms and buzzwords. If you are entering an English-speaking workplace, don’t worry; we can help. We have prepared a handy guide to “translating” Business English.

It can feel frustrating when you have been learning English for many years, but you still struggle to understand native speakers. Our guide to better understanding native speakers explains the problems you may face and gives practical strategies to help you.

Word order in English seems at first to be straightforward. However, if you take a closer look with our guide, you can avoid many common mistakes made by upper-intermediate English learners. These are practical tips that you can use in both speaking and writing.

We've just launched an even easier way of finding an interesting podcast episode to listen to. Here's how to use the "Search by Tag" functionality to find an interesting episode to listen to.

Job interviews are already stressful, but what if your interview is in English, and you speak English as a second language? Don’t panic! We have some great tips to help you ace your English job interview, even if it’s online.

English grammar is not only hard, but it’s also confusing and sometimes it doesn’t even make sense! From adjective order to whom and who, here are my top tips on how to deal with difficult grammar situations.

Phrasal verbs are confusing, and there are so many of them. Sometimes, they don’t seem to make any sense. But can you ignore them? And, if not, what are some techniques to master them?

We had a special edition of our Members-only Icebreaker session on Wednesday, bringing curious minds together with curious objects in a “show & tell” session. Here’s how it went, and some of the unusual objects that were "showed and told".

If you want to express yourself powerfully in English, you need the right verb. We’ll show you where, when and why this is important and give you tips for learning new action verbs.

Our inaugural 21 Days of Idioms Challenge is now over. Here’s how it went, everything we learned, and a full list of all of the idioms in the challenge.

Minimal pairs are a simple tool to identify and correct pronunciation issues. Here is how you can practise them and use them as a tool to speak more naturally.

People often talk about “the British accent”. The reality is that there are many British accents and they can sound very different indeed! We will guide you through the main types of British accents and explain what all this means for an English learner.

A wide range of vocabulary is the very foundation of good English language skills. In this article you'll learn practical tips and simple strategies for improving your vocabulary from an experienced English teacher.

Is your goal to speak fluently with no hesitation? Perhaps that shouldn’t be your goal at all. This article shows how filler words can actually help you to express yourself more clearly.

Our next challenge will start on March 28th. Here's everything you need to know about it, and how you can take part.

Every English learner wants to speak English more naturally. Here are our top ten tips to sounding more natural in English, and the practical methods you can start using today.

Many English learners become obsessed with idioms and see them as a way to become a natural speaker of English. Let’s explore just how important idioms are… and the dangers of using them.

Using sentence starters is an easy way to lift your English to the next level. We will give you ten categories of sentence starters that are simple to use, explain each one, and provide you with plenty of examples. You can use them straight away!

We’ve teamed up with British Council EnglishScore to offer 1€ private lessons with British Council approved English tutors. Read on to see how you can get a private English lesson for less than the cost of a cup of coffee.

This week some amazing curious minds came together for not one but two different Icebreaker meetings. Here's how they went, and a sneak peek into some of the "icebreaker" questions we answered...

Do you avoid learning grammar? Do you feel that it’s boring and unhelpful? Read our guide for independent learners and let us change your mind. We’ll show you how to make grammar a “great” part of your English practice.

Business English isn’t as complicated as you might think it is. Here are a the most important steps that you can take to make sure your business writing impresses your clients and co-workers.

TED.com is an amazing resource for English learners. This guide shows you how to get the maximum benefit from the site by applying active listening techniques.

Spanish is a beautiful language with many things in common with English. However, you just can’t speak English in the same way you speak Spanish! Use our guide to discover the common mistakes that Spanish speakers make in English and how to avoid them.

English learners have a lot of options when it comes to choosing an English certificate. Learn the differences and find out which one is best to achieve your goals in English.

Are you afraid that your accent is holding you back from speaking better English? This article will help you understand the role of accent in pronunciation, and we’ll give you tips to speak more clearly.

Meet (and listen to!) Isabella, a curious mind from Germany. Learn about how she has developed a wonderful English accent despite having spent very little time in an English-speaking country.

Do you hate vocabulary lists? Do you feel that new words disappear from your memory soon after you learn them? It's time to learn about a much more effective way.

Listening is a powerful way to increase your fluency in English, but you need good strategies to become an active and independent listener. Here are our favourite 10 activities that will help you improve faster and more effectively.

There’s a lot more to improving your listening skills than just listening. This guide shows you how switching to active listening can help you learn faster and more effectively.

It’s now 2 years since we released the first episode of English Learning for Curious Minds. Here’s everything that happened this year, and some fun statistics about who was listening.

Meet Aminah, a curious mind from Thailand who moved to the UK last year. Learn about her English goals, and how she is planning to get her IELTS test to get her license to practise dentistry in the UK, all while taking care of her young baby.

Writing is an incredibly powerful skill for English learners that will help you improve your vocabulary, stop making the same mistakes, and become a more confident and eloquent speaker of English. In this guide, English teacher Emile explains why, and how you can make the most of this technique.

Used correctly, podcasts are a fun and effective way for your ESL students to improve listening skills. Your students will thank you for introducing them.

There are hundreds of thousands of English teachers to choose from. Here are our top tips on how to find the perfect one for you.

Looking for a bargain on your next English course? Here are some of the best deals for English learners this Black Friday, including italki, Preply, Mosalingua and Linguix.

Do you feel embarrassed and shy when using English? It doesn’t need to be this way. Here’s how you can become a more confident speaker of English and take your English to the next level.

Did you know that there was a way to use Google to learn a new word in English every day? Google launched this feature at the end of October, and it is available for free to anyone with an Android or iPhone device. Here's how it works (and why you should use it).

Meet Nadia, a curious mind from Russia who is keen to improve her pronunciation in English. Learn about her English-learning routine, and how she uses podcasts to improve her speaking skills.

What are the differences between the big four English tutoring platforms and how can you find out which is best for you? We asked English teacher Emile to review each website and report back with the good, the bad and the ugly.

Cambly is one of the biggest tutoring websites, offering English lessons online since 2012. How it is different to all the other English-tutoring websites, and what are some smart ways to use Cambly to learn English?

Verbling is one of the most popular tutoring websites, offering thousands of tutors for English and other languages. Can you use Verbling to learn English quickly and easily?

Preply claims to offer over 25,000 English tutors and private classes for as low as $2 an hour. How does it work, and is it actually any good? Read on for our detailed review of Preply.

italki is one of the biggest websites for English teachers, with almost 8,000 teachers to choose from. How does it work, and is it actually any good? Read on for our detailed review of italki.

If novels and news articles are too difficult to read, graded readers are a fantastic choice. You can enjoy a story and improve your English at the same time.

Matt Halsdorff and Christian Saunders recently teamed up to work on an amazing project about how native English speakers can adapt their language. Here’s what’s in it, and why it matters.

Tens of millions of people every year take Business English classes in the hope of getting a better job. But what actually is Business English, do you actually need it, and does it really matter?

There are 3 non-native speakers of English to every native English speaker. If you are learning English, what does this mean for you?

Millions of learners enrol at English schools every year. Are they wasting their money, and what are the alternatives?

The doors of The Leonardo English Academy will open on September 27th 2021. Here's everything you need to know about it.

Meet Jenneke, a curious mind from The Netherlands. Discover how she started speaking "International" English, and why she decided to focus on activating her "passive" vocabulary.

We just finished our first “Vocabulary Builder” challenge. Here’s how it went, all the words we covered, and everything we learned.

Can classic language learning methods help me improve my English? Here is how using an old-school method in a new way can help you improve your English.

Recording yourself speaking English is a powerful way to improve your fluency and see your progress over time. Here’s how to do it effectively.

“Chunking” originated in psychology and it changed how we think about memory. Here’s how you can apply it to learn English more effectively.

Meet Cassie, a Master's student in Translation and Interpreting with plans to become an interpreter. Discover why she decided English Learning for Curious Minds was the perfect tool to help her with real-time interpreting, and how she learned to have a fluent conversation in six months.

Saying the wrong word can be really embarrassing, but it’s part of the process. Use these tips and tricks to notice your mistakes and make them less often.

Meet Laura, "The Hungry Learner", and learn about her recipe for successful language learning. She has also been kind enough to provide a 7 day planner for how to maximise your use of podcasts to learn English, and how to build your own daily habit.

Can talking to yourself help you learn English? See what the research says and the most effective ways to do it

Here’s an English teacher’s best advice for finding truly effective English teachers to supplement your other English activities.

How many words did Shakespeare add to the English language? And how do we know if he actually invented them himself?

Learning English can be very expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. And, sometimes, even free resources are costly in another way: on your time.

A 30-day challenge with community accountability to boost your confidence, vocabulary, and writing skills in English.

Our first 30 for 30 Challenge saw curious minds from 13 different countries commit to using English for 30 minutes every day for 30 days. Here’s how it went, what they learned, and why this format is so powerful for independent learners.

Will listening to Adele or Beyonce really teach me English? Here’s everything you need to know about learning English from music.

Meet the new cover art for English Learning for Curious Minds, designed by the amazing Katie Mulligan from New York City.

Speaking English is hard because we often don’t say words like we should. Here’s how to understand connected speech and how to speak naturally yourself.

Meet Dawid, a software developer from Poland, and a new member of Leonardo English. Learn about his view on the Polish education system, and why he is such a big fan of Shadowing.

You can now listen to all of our bonus, member-only episodes on your favourite podcast app as well as on the website. Listen and learn wherever you want.

It’s normal to understand English better than you can speak it, but it’s still frustrating. Here’s why that happens and how you can fix it.

Yes, English accents and dialects can be confusing. Sorry. Here’s how to navigate American vs. British vs. Australian English and decide which one you should learn.

Last week, Leonardo English passed three exciting milestones. Here’s what they were and what they mean for our mission of building a more interesting way of improving your English.

After a successful 'test run' in February, we had our second set of Icebreaker sessions. They were a great success, and it's fantastic to see so many curious minds coming together to practise their English.

Don’t be held back by the lies your English teacher might have told you. Here is the truth behind 6 lies you might have been told in English class.

The way we learn languages is shifting, and it looks promising. Here’s what could change… and what probably won’t.

Meet Steven, a Chinese native and a recent member of Leonardo English. Discover why pronunciation is particularly difficult for Chinese speakers, and why he doesn't believe in traditional English learning methods.

You have unlimited options for English learning resources, but that can make it harder to find what works. Here’s how to find the gems and not get overwhelmed with choice.

To learn English you have to use it… but what if you’re shy? Don’t worry: introverts can master English, too—here’s how.

Meet Olga, a curious minds originally from Latvia, but now living in St Petersburg, Russia. Discover her English learning journey, and why she decided to become a member of Leonardo English.

What happens when you put curious minds from 10 different countries together for an "Icebreaker" session? A lot of fun, it turns out.

Meet Sidi, a new addition to the Leonardo English family. Discover how his English journey started, how it has changed over time, and how he overcame various difficulties to become a successful independent English learner.

Now, 1% of all Leonardo English memberships go towards carbon removal projects. It's a small step, but an important one.

You don’t need to take classes to master English, but there are challenges to learning English independently. Here are some strategies to overcome them and learn English successfully on your own.

Does using subtitles when you watch a movie in English help you learn more effectively? Or is it cheating? It depends. Here’s when you should use subtitles to help your learning, and when you shouldn’t.

Can you learn English entirely by reading? Or just by chatting with native speakers? Neither—you need a mix of input and output activities. Here’s why.

It’s a 2,500-year-old book about military strategy written by a Chinese general. Is there anything that English learners can take from it?

Paying attention might sound simple, but few English learners do it properly. Here’s why it matters, and how you can teach yourself to pay more attention and be a better English learner.

In our first members-only session of the year, curious minds from 9 different countries gathered to share strategies on how to learn English independently. There were some brilliant ideas, and it was a great chance to discuss tactics and help each other.

Learning English goes quickly at the beginning, and then all of a sudden it can feel like you’re not making any progress. Here’s how to continue to make progress when you’re stuck on the intermediate plateau.

Meet Francisco, a member of English and a curious mind with a fantastic sense of humour. Join him in his home in the south-east of Spain, and learn about his English learning journey.