Understanding fast speech
UNDERSTANDING FAST (REAL) ENGLISH If you join a video game with native English speakers, one of the first things you will likely notice is how fast they speak. They may slow down for you, but not when they are talking with each other. If you are very good at the game you are playing –...
Hello English Teachers
I (Terry) taught English for 50 years. Very early on (about the time when the above photo was taken) I was struck by the fact that many students study English for ten or more years, but never learn it well enough to actually use it. My main interest, then, became to help them finish the...
The most popular video games can be great English-language-learning resources
The most popular video games can be great English-language-learning resources Graphics by Denis Samovol Terry Fredrickson December 19, 2018 A common perception of video gaming among non-gamers is that at best it is a harmless distraction and at its worst, it’s an addictive time-wasting impediment to getting ahead in life. While there certainly are dangers...
Our Targated Audience
OUR TARGATED AUDIENCE We are especially interested in those gamers who would like to be able to join in multiplayer games with English speakers. Many of them have never thought of doing this and, hopefully, we can motivate them to give it a try. If the gamers are skilled in a particular game, they can...
You can learn a lot of English for watching video games. You can learn even more by joining multiplayer games with English speakers. You can do this even if your English is far from perfect, but it is much better if your grammar is as correct as possible.
Grammar for Gamers will help you. We will focus only on the grammar that is most useful for video games. This will help you better understand what your teammates are saying and it should help your teammates better understand you as well.
Since you are gamers, we know you like to have fun. Therefore, we will try to make the subject of grammar as fun as possible and as easy to understand as possible. We will also use many examples from video games.
Topics : These are the topics covered in Grammar for Gamers: Introduction, Nouns 1, Nouns 2,Nouns 3, Verbs & verb tenses 1, Verbs & verb tenses 2, Verb forms, The Progressive, Present Perfect, Future, Modals, Active-Passive, Prepositions, Adjectives, Phrasal Verbs, Adverbs, Conditionals, Other Resources
Other online references you might want to use:
Modal verbs gamers need to know
Gamers use verbs like “may”, “might”, “could”, “must”, “should” and “could” a lot, especially when the situation becomes uncertain. These verbs are easy to use in the present, but many learners never use their past forms. You will learn how in this video. We have included many video clips to help you. (8 minutes)
Active Voice, Passive Voice
For some reason, many learners like to use passive forms of verbs much too often. In this video, you will learn how to choose between active and passive. Once again, our focus is on meaning rather than form. We think – in fact, we are SURE – that you will enjoy the video clips we have chosen. (8 minutes)
Prepositions you should know
A quick lesson on small words like “in,” “on,” “near,” “beside,” and “between”. There are several video clips from the video game “Ghost Recon Wildlands” (6 minutes). If you want a much more detailed resource on prepositions, Conor Monaghan’s guide is very good: https://oneminuteenglish.org/en/the-complete-guide-to-prepositions-in-english/
Adjectives: Describing people and things
An introduction to adjectives, how to form them from nouns and verbs and how to use them to make comparisons. The video ends with a Fortnite video clip featuring three-well known streamers. (8 minutes)
Phrasal Verbs
A quick look at two- and three-word verbs, especially those where you can’t guess the meaning of the verb by understanding its separate parts. These are known as phrasal verbs. We’ll help you recognize and use them. This is a hugely popular topic on the Internet, including Twitter and Instagram, so you will have no problem finding more examples. (6 minutes)