English guides, by your first language
The mistakes you make in English depend a lot on the language you already speak. These free guides are written for one first language at a time, the false friends, sounds and grammar that trip up French, Mandarin, Spanish and Arabic speakers, with the natural fix for each.
English for French speakers
See all →French and English share tens of thousands of words, which is exactly the trap. The two are close enough that French speakers read English quickly, then get caught by false friends, silent-letter spelling, and sounds French doesn’t have (the English "th", the "h" you must pronounce). These guides target the specific places French interferes with English, with the natural fix for each.
Animal Idioms in English: The Ones French Speakers Mix Up
You walk into a London pub and hear someone say they are feeling under the weather. You nod, but your brain immediately translates it to…
How French Speakers Mess Up Do/Does Questions
You walk into a shop in London. You want to ask the price. Your brain defaults to French word order. You say 'How much costs it?' The…
I Tink Dat: French Speakers Fix TH Pronunciation
You hear the word 'think' and your tongue instinctively slams into your teeth to make a /t/. You hear 'this' and you push out a /z/ like…
Adjective Order: French Speakers' English Trap
French speakers often place adjectives after nouns in French (e.g., une voiture rouge). In English, adjectives precede nouns (e.g., a red…
English Business Idioms French Speakers Get Wrong
You can run a meeting in English. Your grammar is solid, your vocabulary is wide, and then someone says 'let's touch base next week' and…
Why French Speakers Stress the Wrong English Syllable
Say the word 'information' out loud. If you just said 'inforMAtion', pushing the stress onto the end and giving every syllable a full clear…
Ship or Sheep? The Vowel French Speakers Can't Hear
You are in a meeting, you want to say 'we'll ship it tomorrow', and your English colleague looks confused. Why? Because you said 'we'll…
French Email Phrases That Sound Wrong in English
Your English is good. Your grammar is clean, your vocabulary is wide, and then you sign off an email with 'I remain at your disposal' and…
French Idioms You Translate Too Literally in English
You speak English well enough to make jokes now, and that is exactly where the trap is waiting. French idioms feel so natural inside your…
French Speakers and the Silent H Problem in English
In French, the letter h is mute. You write 'hôtel', 'heure', 'homme', and you say none of those h's. That is fine in French. The problem is…
Since vs For for French Speakers: Depuis Is a Trap
In French you have one tidy little word, depuis, and it does two jobs without complaining. 'Depuis 2020' marks a starting point. 'Depuis…
How Much Costs It? Why French Speakers Forget Do and Does in English Questions
French forms questions by inversion or intonation, with no do/does. That's why French speakers say 'How much costs it?'. Here's the…
8 False Friends That Trip Up French Speakers in English Business Meetings
In English, the agenda isn't your diary. French speakers: 8 faux amis that quietly derail business meetings, with the natural fix for each,…
Make or Do? The Choice French Speakers Get Wrong Because Faire Is One Verb
French faire covers both make and do, so French speakers say 'do a mistake' and 'make my homework'. A collocation map of the high-frequency…
Present Perfect vs Passé Composé for French Speakers
One sentence many French speakers produce is 'I have seen him yesterday.' It feels correct because in French you would say 'Je l'ai vu…
15 False Friends That Make French Professionals Sound Wrong in English Interviews
Actuellement doesn't mean 'actually'. 15 French false friends that quietly sabotage English interviews, with the natural fix for each, from…
English for Mandarin speakers
See all →Mandarin marks no tense, no plural, and no articles, so the hardest part of English for Mandarin speakers isn’t vocabulary, it’s the grammar English forces you to add: "-ed" past endings, "-s" plurals, "a/the", and final consonant sounds. These guides focus on exactly those.
English Idioms Mandarin Speakers Misunderstand
English idioms often use metaphorical language that does not translate literally. Mandarin speakers may interpret these phrases word for…
I very like it: Adverb, Adjective and Time-Order Traps for Mandarin Speakers
You say 'I very like it.' Your teacher writes a red line through it. You ask why. The answer is not that you are bad at English. The answer…
He, She, or It? Why Fluent Mandarin Speakers Mix Up Pronouns
You speak English fluently. You can debate quantum physics or order a complex meal without breaking a sweat. But then a native speaker…
Mandarin Speakers: Fix L, R, V, W, and Th Pronunciation
Mandarin lacks /v/, /θ/, and /ð/. It merges /l/ and /r/ into a single phoneme. This causes systematic errors in English: 'rice' → 'lice',…
Sounding Flat in English? Mandarin Tones vs English Stress
Mandarin is syllable timed. English is stress timed. When Mandarin speakers learn English they often give each syllable equal weight. This…
Chinese Idioms Chengyu English Equivalents: Stop Literal Translations
You have a secret weapon in your head called chengyu. These four-character Chinese idioms pack centuries of history into a tiny box. The…
Why English Words Feel Like They Need an Extra Vowel: Consonant Clusters for Mandarin Speakers
You hear the word desk. Your brain hears deng. You add an a at the end to make it deska. You hear strengths. You try to say it, but your…
The Plural 's' Trap for Chinese Speakers: Countable vs Uncountable
You are trying to say 'two report' or 'some advices' and the native speaker looks at you like you are speaking Martian. This is not because…
Too Direct or Too Vague? Mandarin Politeness in English Business Emails
You are writing an email to your boss. You want to be polite. You use the word 'please'. You think you are safe. Your boss reads it and…
Mandarin Has No Past Tense: 7 English Interview Mistakes
Here is the sentence I hear in almost every interview practice with a Chinese candidate: 'Last year I work at Huawei.' The time word is…
Stop Chinglish: Mandarin Topic-Comment vs English
You write a sentence, it looks fine, and your teacher circles it and says 'something is missing.' What is missing is usually the subject,…
Why Mandarin Speakers Drop 'a', 'an', 'the' in English
You say 'I am manager of company' and the meaning is clear, but something is missing, and that something is 'a' and 'the'. Here is the…
English for Spanish speakers
See all →Spanish gives you a head start on English vocabulary, then trips you on the machinery: the missing "do/does" in questions, an extra "e" before s-clusters ("estudent"), one verb "ser/estar" splitting into "be", and false friends like "actually" and "assist". These guides focus on what actually slows Spanish speakers down.
English Business Idioms Spanish Speakers Get Wrong
You walk into a meeting in London or New York and your boss says, 'Let's get the ball rolling.' Your brain instantly searches for the…
Double Negatives: Why Spanish Speakers Use Two Negatives in English
You are sitting in a meeting or a classroom and you open your mouth to say you do not have anything. What comes out is I don't have…
Spanish B vs V: Fix Your English Pronunciation
You are trying to say 'very' and 'berry' like they are the same word. They are not. In English, /b/ and /v/ are two distinct sounds. In…
Spanish Speakers: Stop Pluralizing Adjectives in English
You have a brain that loves patterns. Spanish trains you to mark everything. If the noun is plural, the adjective must wear an 's'. If the…
Make vs Do: Fix Your Spanish 'Hacer' Confusion
You open your mouth to tell a friend about your weekend plans. You want to say you are going to make a cake. The word 'hacer' sits heavy in…
E Before S: Fix Spanish Speakers' S-Cluster Pronunciation
You hear 'school' and your mouth wants to say 'escuela'. You hear 'speak' and you launch it with 'eh'. This is not a grammar mistake. It is…
Spanish Business Email Phrases That Sound Too Formal in English
You open an email to a British client or an American boss. Your fingers itch to type 'Estimado Sr. Garcia'. You hit send. The recipient…
Stop Translating Spanish Idioms Literally to English
You have a habit. It is a bad habit. You look at a Spanish phrase like 'tomar el pelo' and you decide to translate every single word into…
Present Perfect: Spanish Speakers' English Mistakes
Spanish speakers often say 'I work here since two years' in English. This is incorrect. The Spanish phrase 'desde hace' does not map…
15 False Friends for Spanish Speakers in English Interviews
You are sitting across from a hiring manager. You want to say you are currently available for the role. Your brain fires the Spanish word…
Spanish Speakers: Why You Drop 'Do' in English Questions
In Spanish, a question is just a statement with the voice going up at the end. ¿Te gusta el café? has the same words as Te gusta el café,…
English for Arabic speakers
See all →Arabic and English differ at the root: no "p" sound (so "p" and "b" blur), no capital letters, a different vowel system, and a present tense that drops "is/are". For Arabic speakers the hard parts of English are "p" vs "b", the articles "a/the", and word order. These guides tackle those head-on.
Stop Saying 'Istreet': Fix Arabic Consonant Clusters in English
You are trying to say 'street' but you hear 'istreet'. You are trying to say 'school' but you hear 'ischool'. This is not a random mistake.…
English Idioms Arabic Speakers Find Confusing
You hear 'break the ice' and your brain reaches for an Arabic proverb that describes social awkwardness with a physical image. Arabic uses…
Arabic Proverbs Translated Literally into English: The Real Equivalents
You carry a heavy backpack when you speak English. It is stuffed with Arabic proverbs. You look at a situation, your brain grabs an Arabic…
Arabic Speakers: Stop Pluralizing Uncountable Nouns
You walk into a job interview in London. The recruiter asks for your references. You confidently say, 'I have three informations about my…
Arabic English False Friends: 12 Words That Lie
You think you know these words. You see a familiar shape and your brain gives you a meaning that works in Cairo or Beirut or Riyadh. It…
P or B? Fix Arabic Speakers' P and B Pronunciation
You walk into an English class and say you want a Pepsi. The teacher hands you a beer. You did not make a joke. You made a phonological…
Word Order for Arabic Speakers: Fix VSO in Interviews
You walk into the interview room with strong vocabulary. You know the words. But when the recruiter asks a behavioral question, your brain…
A, An, The: Why "The English" and "I Have Information" Trip Up Arabic Speakers
You speak Arabic. You know the definite article al- functions like a marker before nouns. Arabic has no equivalent for the English…
Arabic Speakers: English Business Emails Without Over-Apologising
You learned to write a proper letter in Arabic, and a proper letter does not just barge in. It opens with تحية طيبة وبعد, it asks after the…
Arabic Speakers' English Preposition Errors Fixed
Arabic gives you a tidy little box of prepositions. You have fi, ila, min, 3ala, and a handful more, and they cover almost everything.…
Why Arabic Speakers Drop 'To Be' in English
Here is a sentence I hear every single week: 'I am work in a bank.' Or its twin brother, 'He manager.' Both come from the same place, and…