Drill english. Drill: Exploring Definitions, Types, and Uses in Various Contexts

What is a drill and how is it used in different fields. How does a drill function as a tool for making holes. Why are drills important in military training and education. How can drills improve skills and learning outcomes.

Understanding the Concept of a Drill

A drill is a versatile term that encompasses various meanings across different contexts. At its core, a drill refers to a tool or an activity designed for repetition and practice. Let’s delve into the multiple facets of this concept to gain a comprehensive understanding.

The Drill as a Tool

In its most common form, a drill is a tool used for creating holes in hard substances. These tools come in various types, including:

• Electric drills
• Power drills
• Pneumatic drills
• Dentist’s drills

Each type of drill serves a specific purpose, tailored to the material being worked on and the precision required. For instance, a dentist’s drill is designed for delicate work on teeth, while a power drill is more suited for construction and woodworking tasks.

The Role of Drills in Military Training

Beyond its use as a physical tool, the term “drill” holds significant importance in military contexts. In the armed forces, drills are exercises designed to practice and perfect military skills and procedures.

Military Drill Practices

Military drills encompass a wide range of activities, including:

1. Marching formations
2. Weapon handling
3. Emergency response procedures
4. Physical fitness routines
5. Combat simulations

These drills are integral to military training, helping soldiers develop discipline, teamwork, and proficiency in essential skills. During basic training, recruits often spend several hours each day engaging in various drills to build their physical and mental resilience.

The Drill Sergeant’s Role

A key figure in military drill training is the drill sergeant. These experienced non-commissioned officers are responsible for training new recruits, instilling discipline, and ensuring that soldiers meet the required standards of performance and conduct.

Drills in Education and Skill Development

The concept of a drill extends beyond military applications into the realm of education and skill development. In these contexts, a drill refers to a physical or mental activity repeated to enhance learning and skill mastery.

Educational Drills

In educational settings, drills are often used to reinforce learning and improve retention. Some common examples include:

• Math drills for arithmetic practice
• Spelling drills to improve orthography
• Language drills for vocabulary and grammar
• Music drills for instrument proficiency

These repetitive exercises help students build automaticity in fundamental skills, allowing them to tackle more complex tasks with greater ease.

Athletic Drills

In sports and physical education, drills play a crucial role in skill development and performance enhancement. Athletes across various disciplines engage in specific drills to:

1. Improve technique
2. Enhance coordination
3. Build strength and endurance
4. Develop tactical awareness
5. Foster team cohesion

Regular practice of these drills helps athletes refine their skills and prepare for competitive situations.

The Psychology Behind Effective Drills

The effectiveness of drills in learning and skill development is rooted in psychological principles. Understanding these principles can help educators, trainers, and learners maximize the benefits of drill-based practice.

Repetition and Muscle Memory

One of the key mechanisms behind the effectiveness of drills is the concept of muscle memory. Through repeated practice, neural pathways associated with specific actions or thought processes are strengthened, leading to improved performance and reduced cognitive load.

The Role of Feedback in Drills

Effective drills often incorporate immediate feedback, allowing learners to adjust their performance in real-time. This feedback loop accelerates the learning process and helps prevent the reinforcement of incorrect habits or techniques.

Innovative Approaches to Drill-Based Learning

As our understanding of learning processes evolves, so too do the methods for implementing drills in various fields. Modern approaches to drill-based learning often incorporate technology and gamification to enhance engagement and effectiveness.

Gamified Drills

Gamification involves applying game-design elements to non-game contexts. In the realm of drills, this can take the form of:

• Point systems and leaderboards
• Progress tracking and level-ups
• Virtual rewards and achievements
• Competitive and collaborative challenges

These elements can significantly boost motivation and engagement, making drill-based practice more enjoyable and effective.

Adaptive Learning Systems

Advanced learning platforms now use artificial intelligence to create personalized drill sequences based on individual performance and learning patterns. These adaptive systems can:

1. Identify areas of weakness
2. Adjust difficulty levels in real-time
3. Provide targeted practice opportunities
4. Offer detailed progress analytics

By tailoring the drill experience to each learner’s needs, these systems optimize the learning process and improve outcomes.

The Future of Drills in a Rapidly Changing World

As we navigate an era of rapid technological advancement and changing societal needs, the concept and application of drills continue to evolve. Looking ahead, we can anticipate several trends that will shape the future of drill-based learning and practice.

Virtual Reality and Immersive Drills

Virtual Reality (VR) technology offers exciting possibilities for creating immersive drill experiences. These VR-based drills can provide:

• Realistic simulations of complex scenarios
• Safe environments for high-risk training
• Enhanced spatial awareness and muscle memory development
• Opportunities for remote collaborative drills

As VR technology becomes more accessible and sophisticated, we can expect to see its integration into various drill-based training programs, from military simulations to surgical practice.

AI-Powered Drill Design and Analysis

Artificial Intelligence is set to revolutionize the way drills are designed, implemented, and analyzed. AI systems can:

1. Generate personalized drill sequences based on vast datasets
2. Predict learning outcomes and optimize drill intensity
3. Provide real-time feedback and performance analysis
4. Identify patterns and trends across large groups of learners

These AI-driven insights will enable educators and trainers to create more effective and efficient drill programs tailored to individual and collective needs.

Balancing Drill-Based Practice with Creative Learning

While drills have proven effective in many learning contexts, it’s essential to strike a balance between repetitive practice and creative, open-ended learning experiences. This balance is crucial for developing well-rounded skills and fostering innovation.

Integrating Problem-Solving into Drills

Modern approaches to drill design often incorporate elements of problem-solving and critical thinking. This integration can involve:

• Scenario-based drills that require adaptive thinking
• Drills with multiple correct solutions or approaches
• Collaborative drills that encourage teamwork and communication
• Reflective practices that prompt learners to analyze their drill performance

By embedding these cognitive challenges within drill structures, educators can promote both skill mastery and flexible thinking.

The Role of Creativity in Skill Development

While drills focus on repetition and precision, creativity plays a vital role in applying learned skills to novel situations. Effective learning programs often combine drill-based practice with:

1. Open-ended projects and challenges
2. Opportunities for experimentation and innovation
3. Cross-disciplinary applications of skills
4. Reflective exercises that encourage unique perspectives

This balanced approach ensures that learners not only master fundamental skills but also develop the ability to apply them creatively in diverse contexts.

As we continue to explore and refine our understanding of effective learning methodologies, the role of drills remains significant. By leveraging technological advancements, psychological insights, and innovative teaching approaches, we can harness the power of drills to drive skill development, enhance learning outcomes, and prepare individuals for the challenges of an ever-changing world. The key lies in thoughtful implementation, continuous adaptation, and a commitment to balancing structured practice with creative exploration.

Definition for English-Language Learners from Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary

plural

drills

plural

drills

Learner’s definition of DRILL

1 

[count]

:

a tool used for making holes in hard substances

• an electric/power drill

• the dentist’s drill

—

see picture at carpentry;

see also pneumatic drill

2 

a 

:

an exercise done to practice military skills or procedures

[count]

• During basic training, the recruits spent hours a day doing drills.

• a drill sergeant [=a sergeant who trains new soldiers]

[noncount]

(chiefly Brit)

b 

:

a physical or mental activity that is done repeatedly in order to learn something, become more skillful, etc.

[count]

[noncount]

—

see also fire drill

know the drill

informal

:

to know how something is done

:

to be familiar with a regular process, procedure, etc.

²
drill

/ˈdrɪl/

verb

drills;

drilled;

drilling

drills;

drilled;

drilling

Learner’s definition of DRILL

1 

:

to make a hole in something with a drill

[+ object]

[no object]

2 

[+ object]

a 

:

to teach or train (someone) by repeating a lesson or exercise again and again

b 

:

to train (soldiers) by making them practice military procedures and exercises

3 

[+ object]

US, sports, informal

:

to hit (someone or something) very hard

drill into

[phrasal verb]

drill (something) into (someone)

:

to force (something) to be learned very well by (someone) by repeating it again and again

— driller

noun,

plural

drillers

[count]

³
drill

/ˈdrɪl/

noun

plural

drills

plural

drills

Learner’s definition of DRILL

[count]

1 

:

a row of seeds planted by a special machine

2 

:

a special machine that plants seeds in rows

⁴
drill

/ˈdrɪl/

verb

drills;

drilled;

drilling

drills;

drilled;

drilling

Learner’s definition of DRILL

[+ object]

:

to plant (seeds) in a row with a special machine

⁵
drill

/ˈdrɪl/

noun

Learner’s definition of DRILL

[noncount]

:

a type of strong cotton cloth

drill_1 noun – Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes

1. [countable] a tool or machine with a pointed end for making holes
   • an electric drill
   • a hand drill
   • a dentist’s drill
   • a drill bit (= the pointed part at the end of the drill)

   see also hammer drill, percussion drill, pneumatic drill

2. [countable, uncountable] a way of learning something by means of repeated exercisesTopics Educationc2, Languagec2
3. [countable, uncountable] a practice of what to do in an emergency, for example if there is a fire
   • a fire drill
   • This is not a drill! Please evacuate the building.

   Extra Examples

   • The school has a fire drill once a week.
   • Air-raid drills and evacuation procedures have been practised.
4. [uncountable] military training in marching, the use of weapons, etc.see also pack drillTopics War and conflictc2

5. the drill

   [singular] (old-fashioned) the correct or usual way to do something synonym procedure

   • What’s the drill for claiming expenses?

   Extra Examples

   • Usually a midwife was present: if not, Mother knew the drill.
6. [uncountable] a type of strong cotton cloth
7. [countable] a machine for planting seeds in rows

Word Originnoun senses 1 to 5 early 17th cent. : from Middle Dutch drillen ‘bore, turn in a circle’. noun sense 7 early 18th cent. (as a noun in the sense ‘small furrow’): perhaps from drill ‘make a hole’. noun sense 6 early 18th cent.: abbreviation of earlier drilling, from German Drillich, from Latin trilix ‘triple-twilled’, from tri- ‘three’ + licium ‘thread’.

See drill in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee drill in the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of Academic EnglishCheck pronunciation:
drill

What is Drilling?

Drilling is a technique that consists of the repetition of oral patterns and structures. In this post, we’ll provide a definition of drilling (also known as oral drills), describe different types of drills and give you practical ideas for the classroom.

In approaches based on a Behaviourist view of learning, such as Audiolingualism, drills are considered a key element in the learning process. In this approach, drills are used to foster the formation of positive habits and focus mainly on the presentation and practice of grammatical structures. This approach has attracted fierce criticism for relying heavily on the belief that language learning occurs through imitation – however, the use of oral drills as a technique for language practice remained present in many approaches which are deemed to be communicative. They are often used in the controlled practice phase of lessons and aim at helping students develop accuracy before moving on to a more communicative language practice. They can also be used after error correction.

The use of oral drills by different methods and approaches contributed to a change in the nature of this technique. They were no longer used solely for the mere repetition of language structures, but also as an opportunity for controlled practice with an enhanced communicative element. Here are some examples of different types of drills and how they can be used in the classroom:

Repetition drills:

In repetition drills, students imitate what the teacher says. Repetition drills can be carried out with the whole class (choral repetition), smaller groups of students or with individual students.

One of the main advantages of performing repetition drills is that they help students gain confidence, and they help the teacher draw learners’ attention to phonological features of the target language. Repetition drills can be used to call learners’ attention to features such as connected speech and sentence stress. In the example below, the parts highlighted show a pattern teachers can call students’ attention to.

Substitution Drill:

In substitution drills, one element of the structure being practiced is changed. One of the most common ways of carrying out substitution drills is by providing students with a prompt in order to have them repeat the language structure:

Teachers might also opt to use a visual prompt in substitution drills. This might make the drilling more fun and dynamic. The teacher can also assign learners with the role of prompter, making the drilling completely led by students.

Question and answer

In question and answer drills, students are required to answer a question posed by the teacher. This can be used to practice adjacency pairs:

A popular way of carrying out question and answer drills in a more student-centred way is to provide students with written prompts and have them work in pairs or small groups to ask questions to each other. This can be done through the use of cards, technology resources, such as Padlet, or mingling activities like Find Someone Who:

A Padlet board allows teachers to encourage learners to post questions that can be used in the drilling. This makes the activity more communicative and student-centred:

We hope this post is helpful. If you’d like to know more about how to help your students practice language, don’t forget to check out our video about Practice.

Andreia Zakime is an Academic Coordinator at Cultura Inglesa São Paulo, a CELTA tutor and one of the co-founders of What is ELT?

Drill-motors, Lexicography, and the Middle English Dictionary

For the past three years the Text Creation Unit, a small group within the Digital Content & Collections department of LIT, has been busy revising one of the University’s oldest and most famous products and projects, the Middle English Dictionary. This post will not address the now 90-year history of the project, nor the technical or design aspects of our new interface, nor even the problems attached to sustaining a project like this over nearly a century. In fact, this post will seem a little roundabout, but trust me, it will eventually end up at the work actually being carried out, and at the sort of thinking, and the sort of crazy people, that go into it.

Consider, if you will, this classified ad from a local newspaper, dating from an era when there were such things as newspapers and classified ads (Detroit News, November 28, 1946):

In particular, look at these three items:

     1/2″ DRILL MOTOR, Thor make; 

     2 Dixson carpenter hand saws and 

     1 Black & Decker skill saw.

Dixson saws.

Take the ‘carpenter hand saws’ first. At first glance it has a minor spelling abnormality: ‘Dixson’ instead of ‘Dixon’ or ‘Dickson.’ But for anyone who knows saws, these sale items belong neither to Dixon nor to Dickson but are almost certainly saws made by Disston, the most famous of American saw makers. “Dixson” is a mistake, but what kind of mistake? It could be orthographic, the seller (not too sure of his spelling) allowing the more common ‘Dixon’ (or ‘Dickson’) to influence his spelling of the less common ‘Disston’. Or it could be an error of transmission — a scribal error if you will –; perhaps the ad was transcribed incorrectly; perhaps it was even phoned in and what we see is what the clerk at the Detroit News heard. Or perhaps the error reveals an underlying shift of pronunciation.  Sibilant clusters are particularly subject to metathesis in English. Perhaps the /st/ of Disston had metathesized in at least this speaker’s language to /ts/ and thence to the more common /ks/. I.e. perhaps ‘Disston’ had actually come to be pronounced ‘Dixon’ and the spelling we see is a clue to that development. My guess in this case is that the first explanation is the correct one, but all three are possible, and all three kinds of explanation are options for the historical lexicographer too, faced with a mysterious form in a 15th-century manuscript. Is it a simple unforced error, perhaps animated by analogy or mistaken for a more common word? Is it a scribal error, caused by similarity of sound or shape or by simple inadvertance? Is it a revelatory error, exposing changes in the spoken language which standardized spelling concealed: when a scribe spelled a word differently than was standard, does that difference perhaps represent a real change, or real variation, in the way the word was said? And of course, all of this presumes that the lexicographer recognizes an underlying identity between ‘Dixson’ and ‘Disston’. A modern lexicographer who does not know saws, or who is misled by appearances, might be tempted to create a whole new ghost word, or rather ghost brand ‘Dixon’, a non-existent mid-century maker of woodworkers’ panel saws.  If that can happen to a documenter of contemporary English, it is a much more frequent pitfall of the historical lexicographer. When a word is unfamiliar — and a lot about the Middle English period must always remain unfamiliar –, we are tempted, or even compelled, to posit a new word, demanding a new entry in the dictionary, failing to recognize an old word in its novel guise. Finally, whether to include either Disston or its byform Dixson in one’s dictionary depends on one’s policy with regard to names (e.g. personal and place names), and with regard to things denoted in some way by a name. Names work differently in many respects from other words and their presence in dictionaries is always a little uncomfortable.

Black & Decker skill saw

In dictionaries of modern language the issue is further complicated by the legal ramifications of trademarks and trade names, since companies do not in general like to see their expensively promoted brands converted by popular usage into generic terms.  The ‘Black and Decker skill saw’ listed in our 1946 ad clearly does exactly that. Though in 1946 ‘Skilsaw’ as a company and brand had been around for a couple of decades, it was only in 1937 that its iconic model 77 ‘Skilsaw’ worm-drive circular saw appeared on the market. As we see from our ad, within ten years, a saw by another company (Black & Decker) and probably different design could already be described as a ‘skill saw’ — much to the dismay of Skil. Both the spacing as two words and the lower-case ‘skill’ suggest that the compound name had already not only been rendered generic, but was transparent enough to devolve into its component elements.  Old-timers nowadays still refer to a portable circular saw as a ‘skilsaw’ (or ‘skill saw’), regardless of manufacturer, just as most people refer to a reciprocating saw as a ‘sawzall’ whether or not it was made by Milwaukee. The compound remains transparent (skill + saw), but has also remained fixed; there is no trace of ‘skill’ breaking off and productively forming new compounds like ‘skill drill’ or ‘skill grinder.’  

Finding  Middle English relevance for ‘skill saw’ is a bit of a stretch, since the legal trademark and tradename apparatus had yet to be created. But there are certainly generic words in English that began life as names (‘denim’ from ‘de Nimes’ for example), and this process was very active in Middle English, especially with regard to trade goods and medicines (which often bore the name of their inventor or supposed inventor). There are also innumerable compounds in Middle English, some of them containing ‘productive’ elements — elements that could recombine with other words to form new compounds — and some of them non-productive or fixed; some of them opaque (the identity of the component elements obscured by time), others transparent. Finally, like ‘skilsaw’ (which originally referred exclusively to a worm-drive saw but was quickly re-purposed to refer to a direct-drive ‘sidewinder’ saw like that created by Black & Decker), a great many nouns persisted even when their referent had changed. A word that means one kind of bird or fish in one part of the country, or in one century, is reapplied to refer to a different bird or fish encountered later, elsewhere, or imported from abroad, based often on only superficial or functional resemblance.  A great deal of an historical lexicographer’s time is spent trying to peer past the appearances to the underlying object, for a ‘lath nail’ in Devon might be a different sort of thing from a ‘lath nail’ in Yorkshire, and the same objects might appear in both places, with different names. Often, this effort is in vain, and one is left offering guesses or queried glosses like ‘some kind of fish, perhaps cod; ?perhaps in some quotations an eel.’  

As in the 14th century, so also today, it is often the language of everyday commerce and the trades that raises this issue with particular force. No one writing an expense report for the purchase of ‘40 pounds of brads’ is likely to pause to define what is meant by ‘brad’ or specify how a ‘brad’ might differ from a ‘nail.’ No one reading the account would need to ask, and no one needing to ask would have reason to read the account. A lexicographer having only the bare account in hand is left to guess, based on comparable lists elsewhere, on likelihood as established by context and situation, and on contrasts within the same text.  For example, if the same account lists both ‘nails’ and ‘brads’ but gives a cost for the former that is ten times the cost of the latter, the lexicographer might reasonably suppose that nails are different from brads and either bigger or more difficult to make.

Thor drill motor

The third item in our 1946 ad, the ‘½” drill-motor,’ is a case in point. So far as I can tell, this is not an official or manufacturer’s term, but purely a term of and by tradesmen: a term of carpenter’s cant, if I may. Note that the ad specifies a ‘drill-motor’ made by ‘Thor’. Now the contemporary Thor Tools catalogue is readily available, nowhere mentions the term ‘drill-motor,’ and in fact names this same 1/2″ tool a ‘drill,’ not a ‘drill motor.’ A ‘drill motor’ is apparently jargon for the official term ‘drill.’ This was news to me, though it should not have been.

A few weeks ago, I found myself on a Methodist mission construction team in the Keweenaw, refurbishing a 19th-century miner’s house from Central Mine, one of the most successful of the mass copper mines from the heady days of the copper-mining rush in ‘copper country.’ That’s just by background. I know my tools fairly well, and own thousands of them–but was confounded to discover that all of my fellow crew members referred to an ordinary everyday electric (cordless) drill or impact driver, not as a ‘drill’ but as a ‘drill-motor. ‘  I had never heard of such a word, yet every one of my teammates used it, as in ‘hand me that drill-motor, we need a coupla more screws over here.’ Being a word-hound, I of course looked it up, but could find it in no dictionary–I may not have looked hard enough. Being a lexicographer, I went looking for its prevalence, range, history, semantics, register, and so forth. Being a librarian, I’ll try to make the search at least a little educational.

First, I needed to know whether the word was a purely local usage, a fluke, an in-house joke, or something of the sort, so of course I asked Facebook. I asked the Home Machine Shop group on Facebook, since I happened to belong to it, and since machinists presumably have some acquaintance with tools.  Here are a few of the (as usual) conflicting responses:

[A]:  WE called them that 40 years ago.

[B]:  Not a new term

[C]:   I’ve lived in the south all my life and that term is rare down here. When I was in Ohio in the late 90’s it was frequently used there.

[D]:   I grew up in Mississippi and then have lived in Memphis area for nearly 50 years. I say “drill motor”.

[E]:   Drill motors too in PA.

[F]:   ..never heard that terminology here in Ontario before. Might hear a guy say ‘ pass me that cordless’ however…..  

[G]: Hear it in the South all the time … coming from Chicago, I needed an interpreter to tell me what it was.

[H]: Screw guns in my part of Texas.

[I]: I hear it all the time from 40+ yr old tradesmen.

[J]: In industrial catalogs, what many folks call “drill bits” are actually “drills” & what many call “drills” are referred to as “drill drivers” or “drill motors” in the catalogs. So, I think the ones you were referring to probably are more accurate that the general population.  [pfs: this seems not to be true: catalogues describe both the bits and the tools as ‘drills’; I have not been able to find any catalogue that labels the tools as ‘drill motors’.]

[K]: I agree with [J]. I’ve been corrected more than once at my work. A drill is a bit, a drill motor is the handheld tool that turns that bit. 

[L]: Simply a “drill” in my world. Central Alabama. It’s the yellow things I get for Christmas and my crew always ends up losing so I buy more. Then my old ones turn back up. A vicious cycle really.

Some people had heard of it, some not; for some it was standard. Some people thought it northern, absent from the south, others southern and absent from the north. And some advanced a theory that its use was essential to the disambiguation of the word ‘drill,’ implying that its origin lay in an attempt at clarification. ‘Drill’ can mean both the cutting tool and the machine that drives it, so one or the other (or both) need to be qualified in order to distinguish one from the other. If a ‘drill’ was properly the cutting tool, then another term (‘drill motor’) was needed for the machine; for some, this kind of unambiguous usage had achieved the status of correct, even to the extent that calling a drill a drill was incorrect. The phenomenon is common — it is why a ‘pen’ is called an ‘ink pen’ in some dialects, in order to distinguish it from ‘pin’ —  in those southern dialects in which ‘pin’ and ‘pen’ are pronounced the same; it’s why hockey is called ‘ice hockey’ in Britain (while the Brits would say that hockey is called ‘field hockey’ in North America). That theory may have some validity, but in any case it was clear that the term was not purely local — nor likely even regional.

What about its history? Here I turned to a few of the more easily searchable databases, Google books and a database of local Michigan newspapers, just to get a sense of where, when, and how often it showed up in print. This search is of course what led me to the 1946 ad with which I started this piece.

Google Books had only a few clear examples, but there were enough to show a trend that I expect a more extensive search would confirm. Google Books’ examples were recent, were more popular or educational than professional or technical, and were in some cases ‘defining quotes’ — whose authors evidently felt the need to explain a perhaps unfamiliar term.

Here, for example is Tim Gilles, Automotive Chassis: Brakes, Suspension and Steering (2005), p. 46:

Other times a portable drill motor is best. There are a variety of sizes of handheld drill motors. You will need to consider the speed of a drill press or portable motor depending on the type of metal and the size of hole being drilled.

And here is Jay Webster, Outdoor Power Equipment (2000), p. 9:

A drill motor is an electrically powered, hand-held motor that drives a drill bit used to drill holes. There are two general types of drill motors. Some are powered by a battery pack that fits in the handle… The other type is powered by an electrical cord plugged into a wall outlet.

And here, finally is Steven J. Filippini in a more narrative mode in Fix it or Pull it: Confessions of a Former Field Technician (2004), p. 11:

About halfway to the window, the drill motor stopped. Actually, the drill bit stopped and the motor kept going. The drill motor spun out of my hands only for a moment before I regained control. If the trigger button on the drill motor had been locked in, I would be telling you a different story complete with a black eye and fractured wrist. I tried to back the drill bit out of the wall but it would not budge. I reversed the direction of the drill motor and still couldn’t get the bit to move… This isn’t a good sign.

In all three cases, it is clear that the term refers to the tool (complete with trigger, chuck, etc.), not just to the ‘motor’ per se.  It also appears from the first and third examples that the compound is loose and transparent: that the item, once identified as a ‘drill motor’ can thereafter be called simply a ‘motor.’  The same is true of most of the examples from newspapers. Excluding ambiguous examples, there were plenty of clear ones from the late 1920s on. In fact, the term seems to have been born at roughly the same time that powered hand drills were becoming widely available.   The first examples I found were from the classified ads. 

• A 3/8 ELECTRIC drill motor, cheap. (– Detroit News, June 19, 1927.)
• AUTO MECHANIC tool cabinet..complete, including 1/4″ standard electric drill motor, Snapon and Blue Pointe. (– Detroit News, February 6, 1938).
• DRILL motor, 1/4″ capacity, $12. (– Detroit News, April 13, 1941).
• Drills, taps, dies, tool bits.., drill motors, chain fall, various tools (–Detroit News, Sept 13 1942).
• Vega tenor banjo, trade for electric drill motor. (– Detroit News, December 3, 1944).
• 5/16″ Black & Decker drill motor, sell or trade. (Detroit News, January 27, 1946).
• ONE electric drill motor, 1/4″ chuck, guaranteed in good condition. (Detroit News, February 10, 1946).
• WANTED–Springfield M-1903 gun as issued, in exchange for 3/8″-chuck heavy-duty drill motor. (Detroit News, November 12, 1950).

Some examples show that any powered portable drill could be referred to as a drill motor, not just electrically powered ones:

• One pneumatic drill motor, 3/4-inch capacity. (Detroit News, July 25, 1948)
• AIRCRAFT EQUIPMENT. 16 Chi. Pnu. Rivet Guns.., 38 Chi. Pnu Hand Drill Motors. (Detroit News, March 14, 1943)

By the 1940s, the term has begun to appear in news stories and informative articles:

Albert Metayer, 53, of 327 Grove Avenue, Highland Park, was fined $50 and placed on probation for one year for taking a drill motor from a war plant in which he was employed. Metayer said he had borrowed the motor for a friend. (– Detroit News, March 8, 1945).

NEW VERSATILE TOOL. A new tool [pfs: ?an electric version of the popular pneumatic impact wrench], no bigger than a common electric drill motor, said to result in easier tightening or loosening of nuts and bolts, was introduced at the Detroit-Leland Hotel today by Dirkes Industries.   (– Detroit News, August 5, 1947)

Kenneth Flitch..went from Plant 8 at the north end..to the tool crib at the south end to check out a heavy-duty drill motor, not realizing it was too heavy to carry. (–Flint Journal, November 8, 1953).

It was apparently not till the 50s and 60s that ‘drill motor’ began to appear in commercial ads. The first I have found is an ad for Rayl’s Hardware (Detroit News, November 8, 1953) for a drill kit that included “36 pieces, including powerful 3-amp. drill motor.” A similar ad the next year for Inkster Lumber advertised a 40-piece drill kit that included a “metal carrying case, 1/4″ drill motor, saw attachment, [etc.]” (Detroit News, Dec. 3, 1954). 

The word seems to have fallen out of commercial use more recently, but is still part of many people’s active vocabulary, as my crew can attest; just today a Facebook post on another matter entirely happened to say, “Some people call them [electric drills] ‘drill motors’. ” The term has been around for nearly a hundred years and belongs in the standard dictionaries as an established compound of precise meaning (distinct from the sum of its parts), relatively clear dates of occurrence, very clear derivation, and identifiable register.  Based on my limited evidence, this term appears to be in ‘common’ use, i.e., it is a term of workingman’s jargon more than a term of technical engineering. Most examples are from popularizing works, from the personal testimony of tradesmen, and from ads, especially classified ads where people tend to write as they speak and call things by the names that they actually use. As a minor but additional point of interest, since there is some evidence for the reversed form with similar meaning (‘motor drill’), ‘drill motor’ might even be classed among those rare compounds in English that mean the same thing regardless of order (e.g. jack screw = screw jack).

Dictionary-making for the curious

These same questions, and these same methods, more or less, are our daily pursuit in revision of the MED. It is work, above all, for the observant and the curious–for the kind of people who would pick up on an odd ad from 1946 and pursue its oddities to the ends of the earth, or the end of Google search results, whichever came first. Like our conclusions drawn from that one 1946 ad, it is always inductive in principle: we work from evidence of actual use, not from any suppositions about what the language should look like, though of course drawing on our expectations of how languages change and words evolve. When we meet a word or phrase or sense in a Middle English text that appears anomalous (perhaps not previously recognized or described), if possible we seek additional information from context, from source, from intrinsic likelihood, from earlier and later use, and from a search of relevant corpora. Unfortunately, the social media postings of the 14th century are not available to us, but we do what we can to establish meaning, semantic field, history, and social register. We look to see what terms are linked together, and what terms form opposing pairs, all in pursuit of understanding everything we read.  

Here, for example, is a passage from a late 15th-century abbreviated Middle English version of the encyclopedic text known as the Elucidarium. 

The gentill writyng of youre subtile sentens hathe geve me a superabundable swetenesse to conduse…breuely all these commendable queriblis to my memorable mynde, which is clepte the cloyster of connyng.

Everything about this suggests an author in over his head, attempting an elevated, alliterative, and Latinate style without quite the chops to pull it off.  “Superabundable” is found nowhere else in Middle English; the same is true of “querible,” which seems to be a nonce word based on mangled Latin, much like modern “quibble.” And the phrase “memorable mind” as a synonym for “memory” is similarly unique to this text. In short, this one sentence produced two new entries, and at least one new sense, but no confidence that the words in question had any life beyond the would-be eloquence of this one author.

A very different example emerges from a set of London church-wardens’ accounts:

• Payed for tyling of the Chirche..for ij Dayes..; item, for ij C Tyle, xvj d.; item, for iiij rose Tyles, iiij d.
• Payde for ij Ml tyle for the Chirche, xj s.; item for a Ml of Rose nayle, viij d.; .. for a quarter & di. of Rose tyle, xij d
• First, paid for Ml tile, price v s. vj d.; item, paid for a quartron rose tyle, xvj d
• Paid to the tiler for rose naile and sprig, ij d

The question here is like the question of “Dixson” saws. Is there indeed such a thing as ‘rose tile’ and ‘rose nail’? These can all be easily explained as errors (because of the similarity of -f- and -s- ) for ‘rofe’ (i.e. ‘roof’) tile and roof nail. But there are problems with that explanation, too, because (comparing similar accounts), these nail and these tiles are very expensive for ordinary roof nails and roof tiles. In the end, these appear to be common items, purchased as part of an ordinary maintenance schedule. But we do not know what they are, and if they are actually ‘rose’ tile and ‘rose’ nail, why they might be called that. Those who wrote, and those who read, those mundane accounts certainly knew, but our reconstruction has so far fallen short.

The same accounts provide examples of a word that (like our friend the drill-motor) may simply have flown under the lexicographers’ radar, namely ‘nil’ (straightforwardly borrowed from the Latin) in the sense of ‘an amount of zero’, as in “a score of six to nil”. There seems no reason not to take at least the first and third of these examples, both of which are accounts of rental receipts, as genuinely English (the middle example is perhaps better regarded as Latin):

• Resceyued for the said hous..of the leue called the late wyf of Gerard Morcys, for the termes of midsomer & Mighelmesse..nil, for hit was geven & perdoned hir for the Costs the said Gerard did in the said hows.
• Pro holy et ivy nil.
• Resceyued for the Rent of the seid Tenement for A yere & di..vnto the fest of Cristemasse.., nil.

On a similarly mundane level, we’ve added more than a thousand quotations from one recent edition of painters’ and artists’ recipes. Nothing could be more practical, or more rooted in actual usage, which for us, as for the original writers, constitutes much of their value. Here’s a single example, which bears comparison with the ‘skill saw’ : a noun phrase, based on a proper name: 

Blank de Spayne. Forsothe hit ys mad on the same wyse, save the platys of blank de Spayne mote ben often yscrapyd.

“Blank de Spayne” is evidently a kind of white pigment, probably white lead. But whether it actually comes from Spain, or always does, is unknown to us. We gave it a new entry, as a phrase, while remaining somewhat ignorant of its actual history as a substance.

Finally, thinking again of those ‘Dixson’ saws, and reading this time another work very productive of new information, we find in Henry Daniel’s Treatise on Uroscopy, a pioneering medical work dating to the year 1400, a pair of words, ‘to skorkle’ and ‘to skolker’. The former is found elsewhere, is related to the word ‘scorch,’ and means something like ‘to burn or alter by heating’; but the latter word is found nowhere else, has the same meaning, and is evidently simply a metathesized form of ‘skorkle’ (-rkl- changed to -lkr-).  An error? An authorial idiosyncrasy? A new word? Since it is found more than once, it is evidently not a simple error, and we have seen fit to accord it its own entry, confined for the moment to the semantic field of ‘pathology’ and defined as ‘to alter the nature of (a humor) by unnatural heat.’ Here are the examples we worked from:

• Al that that is gros and terrestre, i. thik and erthisshe, bleuith stil, and hete scaldith it and scolkerith it and brenneth it, and so causeth swarthede and blakhede in the vryn.
• It is verray tokne that tho .. humores that causen the ydropisi ar smyt & taken &t scolcret with vnkynde hete of the febre.
• Colre is citrin or elles redissh of his owen kynd, but when it is so that the colre is al fully aduste, i. al forschalt and brent and scolcrid, throgh exces of vnkynde hete, than it taketh a vile swart derk dymhede with a maner of grenehed.

Of such is our daily adventure.

In short, like all librarianship, our Middle English lexicographic enterprise, hidden away in the University Library, consists of sorting order out of chaos, not only to satisfy our craving for sense but for the benefit of others. It rewards the same sort of breadth of interest and omnivorous curiosity that find equal happiness in odd classified ads from the 40s and treatises on the examination of urine from the 14th century. It inculcates habits of observation that apply themselves willy-nilly to everything they meet. And it proceeds by piling detail upon detail into a shaky but real and genuinely useful edifice of knowledge, ever correcting itself and ever in need of correction.

Explore the Middle English Dictionary, and contact us if you have any questions. 

8 artists you need to know right now

In the past year, UK drill has burst out of its largely London-centric confines.

Inspired by pioneers in the UK, adjacent scenes have sprung up in Ireland, Australia, and even the homegrown hip-hop heartlands of Brooklyn, New York. Drake (of course) has got in on the act, collaborating with British producer AXL Beats on new track War, and Brooklynite upstart Pop Smoke has taken the world by storm with his blend of 50 Cent-indebted rap and ghoulish UK drill sonics.

But the genre is still young, and we’re seeing its sound continue to blossom. As 2020 gets underway, artists at the forefront of the scene are exploring uncharted territory.

Here are eight MCs and producers – a mix of up-and-coming artists and more seasoned stalwarts – who are currently navigating UK drill into its exciting future.

Two of the most prominent young members of the OFB crew, Bandokay & Double Lz made 2019 their year — and are set to repeat the feat in 2020. The two young apprentices have found their footing in everything from Afroswing tracks with Yxng Bane to the murky environments of Headie One’s raps. An impressive debut mixtape, Frontstreet, offered a broader showcase of their talents. Meanwhile singles like Ambush, Once In A While and Mazza continue to rack up views by the million with ease.

Jimmy, the white-masked rapper from Homerton, made his mark last year participating in fellow East Londoner KO’s Tim Westwood Crib Session and delivering a Next Up? freestyle that showed his ability to oscillate between sleek trap and the archetypal, macabre UK drill sound. Jimmy possesses a novelistic detail to his stories of grinding and sticking to the dogma of the streets — and along with the rest of the Homerton collective is set to push the transgressive genre of drill to unseen heights, both sonically and thematically, in 2020.Since bursting onto the scene with her debut single Need Focus, and a Who’s Got Bars? freestyle, TeeZandos has made one thing clear in her no-holds-barred lyrics: “Fuck being normal, I want to be the oddest one.” She refuses to sugarcoat her message, and oozes with the contemporary idiosyncrasies that every Snapchat-obsessed teenager in the capital can relate to – from getting your aunty mad, to heading out to tear up central London. Her music is dark and uncompromising, sure, but it also seems that TeeZandos is on her way to carving her own path in the ever-mutating scene.Woolwich’s Fizzler first turned heads with his Next Up? freestyle, which grew to become something of an underrated gem in the drill community. Shortly after, he banked on those shards of promises with a debut EP, WET IT SZN, full of candid metaphors and laser-sharp flows. With his consistency, undeniable chemistry with drill production mainstay Ghosty, and a Chip-like ability to never run out of bars, Fizzler shows no signs of slowing down.

A rising member of pioneering Brixton crew 150 (whose founding members include Grizzy, Stickz, and Mdargg), M24’s videos are peppered with recognisable faces from the UK drill scene — and he has the rapping credentials to justify the attention too. In 2019 he secured his position as one to watch in the ever-changing UK drill scene, and has shown the potential to crossover into the mainstream. With his gravelly delivery and pinpoint flow, M24 is among the best when it comes to crafting luxury-suite drill. M24 shows there’s nothing wrong with switching things up while still respecting the formula that’s made drill so hard to ignore in the first place.

808Melo is the producer behind Headie One’s Know Better, but is perhaps best known for being breakout Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke’s first-choice producer. Hailing from Ilford, 808Melo has been paramount in the transatlantic exchange of American rappers adopting UK drill’s ghoulish sonic palette to craft their own street stories. Having already worked with the likes of Sheff G and Lil Tjay, 808Melo kicked off the new year off with a production credit on Travis Scott’s new JackBoys project, and his growing influence is proving that it’s possible for UK sounds to penetrate the usually-ambivalent US rap audience.

The best UK Drill songs of 2020

27 May 2020, 14:11 | Updated: 17 December 2020, 12:24

The best UK Drill songs of 2020.

Picture:
Getty

Headie Once, DigDat, OFB. Zone 2, Poundz, Loski and many more have soundtracked Drill in 2020.

The sound of UK Drill is being heard all over the world with North Ameircan artists including the likes of Pop Smoke, Tory Lanez and Drake all using the genre’s trademark sounds.

So if you wanna keep up to date with all of 2020’s biggest and best new UK Drill songs around then this is the playlist for you…

1. Tion Wayne x Dutchavelli x Stormzy – ‘I Dunno’

2. Digga D – ‘Woi’

3. Headie One x Drake – ‘Only You Freestyle’

4. Unknown T – ‘Fresh Home’

5. Poundz – ‘Smooth Criminal’

6. DigDat – ‘Ei8ht Mile (feat. Aitch)

7. M1llionz – ‘Y Pree’

8. Headie One x Fred again.. – ‘Charades’

9. (Zone 2) Karma – ‘Out Of Line’

10. Teezandos X Isong – ‘Diamonds’

11. Bandokay x Double Lz – ‘OT Boppin’

12. Loski x MizOrMac – ‘On Me’

13. (67) Dimzy, LD, Monkey, ASAP, Liquez, R6, ST & SJ – Sports

14. iLL BLU Feat. #OFB (Bandokay x Double Lz) – ‘Magic’

15. M24 X Tion Wayne – ‘London’

16. Dutchavelli- ‘Only If You Knew’

17. G4 Boyz ft. G4 Choppa – ‘Prada’

18. Ivorian Doll – ‘Rumours’

19. Abra Cadabra – ‘On Deck’

Fall/Winter Weight English Drill Trousers

The traditional 100% combed cotton drill cloth closely replicates the fine-weave twill fabric used in the manufacture of uniforms worn by the colonial British army on the drilling fields of tropical outposts since the 1840’s. The dusty British khaki colored fabric was first used by the British and native armies in India. These unique pants are sewn to the same exacting standards as our finest dress trousers: the tailored “V” waist outlet allowing for a better fit, the buttons and button holes on both back pockets, the finished waistband, the French fly front – found, until now, only on the finest dress trousers.The khaki drill fabric makes them perfectly at home in dress or casual surroundings. Dry clean only. Available in either HFDF-forward pleat or HFDP-plain front. Sizes 32–44 even and 33–39 odd, each in short, regular, and long.

Standard Trouser Sizes

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Our trousers are cut from the finest British, Irish and Italian classic fabrics with high thread counts. All our trousers, dress and casual, are made in artisan old world shops in America or Italy. All are impeccably cut and sewn to the very highest standards, including a split waist-band for extra comfort and easy alteration, and piped fly seams and crotch lining. Some dress pants include a change pocket inside the right front on seam pocket as well. Available in either forward pleat or plain front, in sizes 32-39 even and odd sizes, and in sizes 40-44 even only. As with all fine trousers, these are unfinished.

90,000 Top 10 Sites for Learning English Listening Skills – EnglishDom Blog

Contents of the article:

If you ask our students two questions: “What do you definitely want to learn?” and “What is the hardest thing for you?”, very often you can get the same answer – to understand English by ear. Let’s be honest: developing this skill does take time and effort. But even with 3 minutes a day of listening, you are making significant headway.Let’s see what online resources can help us with this.

1. An excellent choice for those who take the matter seriously

esl-lab.com
The material on this site is divided into 3 categories: “Easy”, “Medium”, “Difficult”. Each mini-lesson has a clear structure. First, you need to answer a couple of questions before the hearing begins – this will help you understand the topic of the dialogue or monologue. Then you can listen to the audio recording and, if necessary, read its text. Then take a test to check your understanding and find out your result right on the site.Additionally, you can work with new vocabulary.

Read also

Phrasal verbs in English

2. Is there exactly one minute? Then you are here

listenaminute.com
As the name of the site suggests, you are offered a task for literally one minute. This is how long an audio recording made by a native speaker takes. Topics range from aliens and chocolate to plastic surgery and search engines.If you still have a little more free time to practice, you can do exercises that have a very interesting feature. By doing them, you refer to the text over and over again, and as a result, many ready-made structures are assimilated by themselves. This is how we once learned our native language.

3. Learning to listen and understand together with VVS

bbc.co.uk
6-minute podcasts are dialogues in which participants not only express their opinions on a particular issue, but also introduce listeners to new vocabulary, explain the meaning of idioms related to this topic.If you want to master classic British pronunciation, try pauses, repeating phrases after the speakers, and trying to imitate their speech. You can download audio recordings and texts to them, listen to podcasts directly on the site or subscribe to the newsletter.

4. Voice of America – for lovers of American pronunciation and for beginners

learningenglish.voanews.com
Many Elementary students find American English to be easier for them to understand.There is some truth in this, because we have all watched films in which, in addition to the Russian voice acting, the original speech of the actors is heard. Therefore, without noticing it ourselves, we are accustomed to American English. The Voice of America Listening Assignments have several advantages. The announcer speaks rather slowly and his speech is accompanied by the display of the text. After listening to the audio recording, you can work out new vocabulary and complete interactive tasks to understand the text.

Complete a topic in the online simulator:

5.Dialogue collection with a wide variety of regional accents

elllo.org
Have you ever heard a Canadian speaking to an Australian? Or a South African with a Czech? On the English Listening Lesson Library Online you will find dialogues recorded by people from a wide variety of nationalities. Indeed, in real life we ​​have to speak English not only with native speakers, but also with those who also taught it as a foreign language. This means that this practice will be very useful for developing listening comprehension skills.For optimal work on the dialogue, new words are highlighted in the text, and after listening, you can take tests right on the site.

6. Do you like to sing? Combine business with pleasure!

karaokeparty.com
Songs in English are excellent educational material. Even if you are not a karaoke fan, you might find this site useful. When you hear the singer’s voice, see the lyrics and sing yourself, all kinds of memory work for you. New words and expressions are learned much faster. And of course, you want to get as close to the original sound as possible – thus, imitating your favorite singer, you improve your pronunciation.

7. Mini-lessons from native speakers

engvid.com
Thanks to this site, you can understand if it’s time for you to start studying with a native speaker. Listen and watch as experienced teachers from different countries explain the subtleties of grammar and pronunciation, help you understand the difference between synonyms, teach you how to build phrases correctly, and simply give advice on learning a language.

8. Listening training plus mastering simple vocabulary

dailyesl.com
This site is a selection of audio materials on everyday topics: visiting a doctor, booking a hotel, preparing dinner, going to a hairdresser, etc.e. Listening to a short monologue, you get to know new words right in context. Each entry is accompanied by questions, tasks for online research (for example, for the topic “Cinema” it is proposed to find out on the Internet the prices of cinema tickets in different cities of the world), as well as links to similar materials from other web resources are offered.

9. Audio library for all occasions

eslfast.com
A huge selection of materials – 365 stories and more than 1500 dialogues. If you listen to one story every day, can you imagine how much your English level will improve in a year? After listening to the recording, you can do comprehension exercises, among which there are even crosswords and dictations.But the main “feature” of this site is the robot tutor Mike, with whom you can “chat” on various topics.

Read also

English from cartoons: Finding Nemo

10. Ideas worth sharing

ted.com
TED stands for Technology. Entertainment. Design “. This is an annual conference to which a wide variety of participants are invited: businessmen, geeks, musicians, designers, magicians. On the site you can find recordings of speeches on various topics, lasting from 3 minutes.Each video is accompanied by a text recording. According to the British newspaper Guardian, “TED lectures are the best thing you can see on the Internet.” See for yourself!

When choosing materials for independent work, remember one simple rule: you need to listen to what is interesting to you. If you study with pleasure, then the results will appear much faster, especially if you are simultaneously studying on Skype – EnglishDom.

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90,000 useful exercises for busy people ‹Inglex

What if you want to learn English, but your day is scheduled in minutes and it is not possible to allocate even half an hour? Today we will share with you some useful exercises that will help you improve your English proficiency by practicing 5-10 minutes a day.

How to learn grammar, vocabulary and improve pronunciation in 10 minutes

If you want to develop your speaking skills, you cannot do without knowledge of grammar structures, good vocabulary and correct pronunciation. We have compiled a selection of effective exercises that will not take much time and will help to pump three aspects of the language.

Grammar Exercises

Let’s not claim that in just 10 minutes you can learn all the grammatical topics of the English language.However, this time is quite enough to consolidate knowledge or refresh them in memory.

1. Take grammar tests

The tests will help you understand which topics you have already mastered well, and which still need to be tightened. For example, examenglish.com contains exercises for students of all levels, from Elementary to Upper-Intermediate. There are also tasks for preparing for international exams in English.

Time required: 5-10 minutes.

2. Do the small exercises

Learnenglish.britishcouncil.org provides many helpful exercises to help you consolidate your knowledge or revisit a topic you have learned, such as tenses, articles, adjective comparisons, and more. exercises in that your knowledge is tested automatically.

Time required: 2 minutes per exercise.

Read also

Exercises to increase vocabulary

If grammar is difficult to master in a few minutes a day, then with vocabulary everything is much easier.Taking a little time each day to learn words can help you expand your vocabulary with ease. To do this, you need to learn only 5-10 words a day, as well as repeat those that were taught in the previous days. We recommend not just memorizing vocabulary, but making example sentences with it and actively practicing in colloquial speech.

1. Choose synonyms

Choose 2-3 synonyms for the word. If you have recently started learning English, first come up with synonyms in Russian, then translate them into English.If you have already reached a confident level of proficiency in English, choose immediately in English.

Time required: 5 minutes.

2. Choose antonyms

You can choose several antonyms for a word. As in the exercise with synonyms, you can select antonyms first in Russian, and then translate them into English (for beginners) or immediately come up with them in English (for those who speak English at an intermediate level and above).

Time required: 5 minutes.

You may find that the exercises with antonyms and synonyms are similar, so they can be done together. However, their similarity may interfere with you – you will get confused, where is the synonym and where is the antonym.

3. Replace familiar verbs with phrasal ones

Phrasal verbs are one of the most difficult vocabulary topics in the English language. The fact is that they are difficult to remember, because they often seem illogical. For example, it is not immediately possible to guess that the phrasal verb to come into means “to inherit”, and break out is translated as “to escape from prison.”

We offer you the following exercise – take a verb you know and choose a synonymous phrasal verb for it: to believe in = to fall for (believe in something), to criticize = to put down (criticize), to control = to take over (take control). This will help you memorize phrasal verbs more easily, begin to catch them in the speech of native speakers and be able to use them yourself.

Time required: 5-7 minutes.

4. Compose collocations

Choose a word that you often come across in texts or colloquial speech, and see what other words it can be used with (in English, these are called collocations).For example, the word strong can be found in such phrases: a strong argument, a strong feeling, a strong smell, a strong taste. Not all words can be used together, so their compatibility must be checked in the dictionary. For example, in English you can say to make a mistake, but it will be incorrect to use to commit a mistake .

If you know ready-made phrases, you will speak much faster than if you learn a lot of single words.On englishclub.com you will find phrases with the most common verbs.

Time required: 5-7 minutes.

5. Solve Crosswords

The benefit of crosswords is that you not only learn new words, but also practice writing them. On the iteslj.org website you will find a huge number of crosswords of various difficulty levels on a wide variety of topics. Avid crossword enthusiasts can find more resources in our article “English Crosswords: The 8 Best Sites.”

Time required: 5-10 minutes.

6. Use visual dictionaries

The advantage of visual dictionaries is that you immediately link the studied word to a picture, so the words are easy to remember. All you need to do is choose a theme. We recommend paying attention to dictionaries with a detailed description of each object or phenomenon, one of these is visual.merriam-webster.com. This dictionary is suitable for those who already know English well and want to expand their knowledge in a specific topic.

Time required: 5-10 minutes.

Read also

Pronunciation exercises

If you want to speak with an aristocratic British accent, or if you like the American version of English, pay attention to the exercises to improve your pronunciation:

1. Learn tongue twisters

Repeatedly repeating tongue twisters, you will learn to pronounce difficult English sounds, develop correct articulation and even learn new vocabulary.You will find a selection of tongue twisters with explanations in our article “English tongue twisters”.

Time required: 5 minutes.

2. Read poetry aloud

We recommend reading children’s poetry because it is short and easy to remember. There are many poetry sites out there, such as poetry4kids.com, kidsworldfun.com, fizzyfunnyfuzzy.com.

Time required: 5-10 minutes.

3. Repeat after TV announcers

As a rule, announcers of national TV channels, such as BBC and CNN, go through a rigorous selection process before getting on the air.They hone their English pronunciation skills every day. We invite you to learn from them using the imprinting method – listen carefully to the presenter and monitor his articulation, then pause the video and repeat.

Time required: 5-10 minutes.

Read also

How to read, write, speak and listen in 10 minutes a day

In this section we will show you how to improve your key English skills – reading, listening, writing and speaking.Pay close attention to our recommendations, especially if you plan to take an international exam – there will definitely be tasks to check each of the listed aspects of the language.

Speaking exercises

To develop your speaking skills, you need to communicate a lot in English or do the following exercises:

1. Think in English

Train yourself to think in English by speaking your thoughts out loud.If you get into the habit of thinking in English regularly, you will soon be able to speak it like your native language.

Time required: 1-10 minutes.

2. Talk to yourself

Students are often haunted by the fear of making mistakes in speech, and this leads to the fact that the person does not speak at all. We have found a way out – talk to your reflection in the mirror. Perhaps such a proposal will seem strange to you, but it will bring a lot of benefits, because to yourself you can say whatever you want.

Time required: 5-10 minutes.

3. Describe pictures

Take any picture and try to describe it in as much detail as possible: who you see, what he is doing, what objects he is surrounded by, etc. If you have a high level of language proficiency and well-developed speaking skills, analyze works of art …

Time expenditures: if you are still a beginner, you can do it in 5 minutes, a pro will take 7-10 minutes.

Of course, communication with living people has not been canceled.If you have someone to talk to in English, you are very lucky, take this chance.

Listening exercises

Listening is one of those skills that you can practice on your own and it doesn’t take long.

1. Listen to songs and podcasts

The advantage of songs and podcasts is that you can listen to them from your mobile device on the way home, to the store, to work. Speak words, sing along to your favorite songs, so you will also practice pronunciation.For greater efficiency, record your speech on a voice recorder and listen to what sounds you need to work on.

Time required: 5-10 minutes.

2. Listen and watch the news

When you watch the news, you will not only learn about the latest events, but also listen to the competent speech of the announcer. Listening to the news, you can practice speaking as well – all you need to do is retell what you hear. There are a huge number of educational news sites that have exercises attached to the audio.The article “The 7 Best Websites to Watch News in English” has some great resources.

Time required: 7-10 minutes.

3. Write short dictations

Dictations train your hearing and develop your writing skills. You can find sites with good educational dictations in the article “5 sites with online English dictations.”

Time required: 7-10 minutes.

Reading Exercises

In order to benefit from reading English texts, pay attention to the vocabulary and grammatical structures that the author uses.Here are some more useful exercises that will help you improve your reading skill in a few minutes a day:

1. Write a summary of what you read

After reading the text, complete the written exercise – write a summary of the text, its main idea and main theses.

Time costs: no more than 10 minutes.

2. Take the International Exam Practice Tests

Choose the exam that matches your level of English: KET, PET, FCE, CAE, CPE, TOEFL, IELTS.To practice the skill of comprehending written information, complete the tasks from the Reading section. You can find mock exam tests on the following websites:

• Cambridge English – the official site of the Cambridge exams;
• Exam English – site with exam tests;
• English Tests – here you will find tests for the FCE and CAE exams;
• Flo-Joe is a practical resource for exam preparation.

Time cost: about 10 minutes per job.

Get news from English-language sources. British and American newspapers are suitable for this, for example: The Guardian, The Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Times. Don’t try to understand every word, just grasp the meaning. From the article “6 excellent websites with newspapers in English” you will find out which headings of information publications you should pay attention to.

Time required: 5-10 minutes daily.

Subscribe to the social networks of native speakers and pay attention not only to the illustrations, but also to the text below them. Through daily practice, you will acquire fast reading skills and become familiar with a lot of colloquial vocabulary and slang.

Time costs: no more than 5 minutes.

Writing Exercises

It is important to develop your writing skills if you are faced with the need to conduct business correspondence or plan to take an international exam.Next, we will tell you how to learn how to express your thoughts in English.

1. Describe objects

Take any object and describe its qualities in English. For example, you decide to describe a cup. What is it: blue, green, big, small, beautiful, comfortable? By doing this exercise, you will practice your writing skills.

Time required: 6-8 minutes.

2. Make notes

Make daily notes in English, for example: start an English-language Instagram page, and when making shopping lists, list all the necessary products in English.

Time required: 5-10 minutes.

What else can you do in 10 minutes

1. Spend time on social networks to the advantage

How can you do it? Subscribe to the group of our school in VK, there you will find many interesting and useful posts, interactive tasks and tests.

Time required: 10 minutes.

2. Translate advertisements and advertisements

On the way to or from work, translate signs, advertisements, advertisements into English.If you do not know how a word is translated, use a dictionary. The next time you come across an ad or billboard, you will most likely remember the word you learned.

Time required: 2-3 minutes.

3. Play games

Play games in English. On the sites merriam-webster.com and funbrain.com you will find a variety of games, both entertaining and educational.

Time spent: 5 minutes is enough for one game, but no one forbids playing longer.

And if you have more than 10 minutes a day, then the most effective way to spend it is to study with an English teacher via Skype at our school.

It is impossible to learn English in 10 minutes, it will take a lot of preparation and a couple of years of hard work. However, by paying attention to language on a daily basis, you will develop a healthy habit that will make English a part of your daily life. So, step by step, you will not only memorize new vocabulary and learn grammatical constructions, but also begin to feel the language and understand its logic.

© 2021 englex.ru, copying of materials is possible only with a direct active link to the source.

How to Train English in the Morning | Grade Education Center

What a person eats for breakfast affects his well-being throughout the day. It is not for nothing that scientists note that the morning meal is the most important, and in no case should you skip it. A balanced breakfast not only “starts up” the metabolism, but also prepares us for serious achievements and challenges.

This principle can be applied to learning English as well. Indeed, in the morning the brain perceives information much better than in the evening, so experts advise starting the day with a few pages of a book or educational video and thus set yourself up for a productive day.

READ ALSO: 4 Best Graphic English Dictionaries

So, the brain really needs a charge of vigor in the morning. Therefore, we recommend combining a healthy breakfast and learning English.Plan your day correctly and you can be proud of your extraordinary mornings!

Make it a rule to recite all your morning rituals in the kitchen

Say the names of household items and products aloud. Let it become a new healthy habit – like a glass of water on an empty stomach.

For example, if you need to open the refrigerator, first tell yourself I’m opening the refrigerator . And then say aloud all the steps in making your morning omelette:

First, I crack open two eggs. – First I break two eggs.

Second, I add a pinch of salt. – Then I add a pinch of salt.

Next, I mix the eggs for 30 seconds. – Then I beat the eggs for 30 seconds.

Then, I heat up oil in a pan. – Then I pour the oil into the pan.

Last, I scramble the eggs. – Finally, I stir the eggs.

Cooking a regular breakfast will immediately become more interesting, and your brain will take on a light load and wake up with you.

Try humming your favorite English songs while cooking

You will not only get a positive charge for the beginning day, but also practice your English rhythm melody and pronunciation. After all, learning through songs is very effective because as you sing, you improve all your language skills – from speaking to vocabulary. Experts advise starting with reggae – this genre of music is slow and calm, so humming will be quite simple.

Another way to have a productive breakfast and get inspired is by watching English-language videos.For this, speeches from the TED educational platform are ideal, where people share their experiences in various fields and motivate viewers by their own example. The average duration of such a video is 15 minutes, which is approximately how long a full breakfast lasts.

The world needs to know about your champion breakfast

Social networks have long spread the trend of showing their menu to the virtual community. Therefore, before grabbing a fork or spoon, take a picture of your breakfast.Modern technologies make it possible to turn even such an ordinary picture into a work of art.

After your meal, try to reflect on healthy eating, the importance of having a balanced breakfast and getting the day off right, or simply share the recipe with your friends.

Unleash your inner blogger, but do not forget – the text should be written in English. Your social media post will probably inspire someone else to make their morning productive and practice English in their daily life.

Sign up for English courses at the link to feel confident both in the kitchen and at a business meeting.

90,000 How to improve your English listening comprehension: 2 algorithms

Listening is a skill, and any skill needs to be developed (= trained). But many English learners mistakenly believe that listening to English is enough to do this. Alas, this is not the case.

It’s like walking in a park hoping that doing this will help you build endurance for the upcoming marathon.Endurance is also a skill. To develop it, you need to run 1 lap first, then 2, then 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 … and so on, so that your body is trained enough for long runs. It’s the same with listening.

In this article, we will name the 2 most important rules that will help your ears not only hear, but also hear English.

First rule: replace passive listening with active listening

Despite the fact that listening is a passive skill (as opposed to speaking and writing), in life you will need active listening .In life, we not only listen, but also react, respond to external influences. Some of the information – unnecessary, unnecessary, noisy – during communication, we can weed out, “ignore”. But we will definitely catch the one that is required for the response.

Also read: Training “Audio Call”: swing the skill of translation by ear

During your listening practice, you need to create the same “need to respond” situation. If you are studying from a textbook with an audio CD, then perform tasks such as “listen to the dialogue – answer questions about its content.”If without a textbook, then come up with tests for yourself:

– Listen to a podcast or video and record content. After – check yourself. The Daily English Dictation Youtube channel will help you, where a dictation is read in one video, and the correct answer is given in the next.

– While listening to the audio recording, write out the basic words: nouns, adjectives, verbs. After that, read their sequence and try to guess the content of the entire text. For audio recordings, see 10 English Audio for Beginners and Best English Podcasts.

– Try to imagine a picture of what is happening, relying only on sound. For example, turn on an episode of a series in the original (with which you are familiar, but have not yet seen this particular episode) and listen to an excerpt from it, without looking at the screen at that moment. While listening, imagine what is happening at this moment: who is talking about what, what is happening in their life this time? After this “procedure”, run the excerpt again and watch it together with the picture. Were all your assumptions correct?

Help article: Where to watch TV shows in English: list of free sites

– Look for specific information in the audio.For example, listen to the recording of the weather forecast and try to hear the number of degrees. Or listen to sports news and read the results of the match there.

Go with the flow – not suitable for skill development. Action is needed!

– Practice semantic forecasting. To do this, turn on some audio recording and listen carefully to its content. After a while, press pause and try to guess what will happen next. Introduced? Switch on, listen further and compare.

– Take listening training in the Lingualeo app. The mechanics of our training are also built on pumping active listening: you are invited to listen to an audio recording, and then perform a series of exercises for understanding. Workouts are available in the iOS and Android app.

SUMMARY: Don’t limit yourself to passive listening. Yes, listening to English is important and necessary. But listening alone will not develop and improve your skill. When you are engaged with any audio recording, be sure to pursue some goal: predict the content, hear the answer to a certain question, record the sequence of events, etc.So you will learn to isolate the information you need in speech.

Second rule: work on your pronunciation

People with an ear for music (their listening, as a rule, is at their best), very quickly master all the smallest details of correct pronunciation and speak without an accent. There is also a feedback: working on your pronunciation, you will improve your listening!

Also read: Heading “We parse complex sounds of English on video, tongue twisters, songs”

Scientifically proven that we will better hear what we can say ourselves.Therefore, we offer you an algorithm of work, which our friend and popular video blogger Olga Kozar shared with us.

Algorithm for working with audio recording for any level

The algorithm is suitable for a student of any level (the main thing is that the audio recording corresponds to it). You need audio and its script, i.e. text. Audio with lyrics can be found here.

1. For the time being we put the text aside (do not read it!) And listen to the recording, trying to make out the content (2-4 times).If after these auditions you still do not understand most of the recording, then listen again until you understand. Since the goal is to hear and understand at least something, but everything is better.
2. Next step: take out the script and listen again, following the text. Note: At this stage, you do not need to know the meanings of all words. Desirable ratio of ~ 80% familiar words and 20% unfamiliar (this will be your vocabulary gain). You can watch the translation after training, but for now try to guess the context (1 time).
3. Further – listen again without text (1 time).
4. Then we listen, follow the text and repeat , copy, monkey after the announcer! (2-3 times). Your task is to get as close as possible to its sound.
5. Listening again without text (1 time).

For those who like to hear: Olga’s video about this algorithm

Algorithm for working with audio recording for medium and high level

If your listening is already “above this”, but you are not ready to stop there, a more complex algorithm for working with audio recording will suit you.Audio and script are required again.

1. Again, listen to audio WITHOUT text (1-2 times, or rather, until we understand most of the content).
2. We write down words by ear, that is, we make a transcript (as in a dictation). You will not understand something. This is fine. Try to guess from the context.
3. Now we take out the script and check our transcript for correctness.
4. Listening and following the original text (1 time).
5. Take a pencil, break the text into pieces and make notes about intonation and stress.Where is the announcer’s pause? What are the drums words? Where does the announcer’s voice go? Up? Way down? Etc.
6. Do not forget about the main step: copy after the announcer (2-3 times).
7. We listen again without text (1 time).

SUMMARY: while working on listening, be sure to work on your pronunciation! Repeat the audio text after the announcer, try to get as close to his sound as possible. Pronunciation and listening are closely related and mutually reinforcing.

Don’t get us wrong

Just in no case think that we advise you to stop just listening to podcasts, watch TV shows, films, commercials in the original and stop digging into the lyrics of your favorite songs. All this is useful, and most importantly – interesting (interest is the key to success in learning a language).

We just insist that your listening needs to be “pumped” , and all the procedures just listed will be, as they say, for the soul.

The pleasure of English has not been canceled!

Let’s summarize

• In addition to passive listening for fun, practice active listening training. To do this, when listening to any audio recording, you must pursue a specific goal.
• While working with audio, work on your pronunciation: copy and repeat after the announcer. When you learn to pronounce, you will learn to hear it.
• Do not forget to train the recognition by ear of certain words you have already learned through the training of Listening and Audio Call.

Well, friend, for today we are done. And may strength and perfect hearing be with you!

90,000% d1% 82% d1% 80% d0% b5% d0% bd% d0% b8% d1% 80% d0% be% d0% b2% d0% b0% d1% 82% d1% 8c – from all languages ​​to all languages ​​

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90,000 How to Train Your Speaking Without an Interlocutor Without Being Considered Crazy – Skyeng Magazine

We’ve got great news for introverts and shy people! You don’t always have to talk to people to develop your speaking skills.English teacher Lyubov Fateeva suggests eight ways to help you improve your speaking without an interlocutor.

Learning any language requires more than just speaking skills. You also need to be able to perceive speech by ear, read and write. It doesn’t matter if you practice speaking alone or with a teacher, it is simply impossible to speak without contact with other skills. Therefore, my advice is aimed at developing all four skills.

Listen to things that suit you in terms of level: podcasts, videos from Youtube, films with simple dialogues.Separate from there what you understand. Repeat what you hear in your head. At one time my colleague was very much helped by BBC Radio, which he could listen to for hours – the brain itself found repeated words, memorizing them over time.

But just listening is useless. You also need to repeat. Choose your favorite movie, episode of a TV series or a piece of video (preferably with dialogues), turn on subtitles, pause at the right moment and play monkey! Imitate your favorite character, his intonation, his “erm …” , “well …” , “How you doin ‘?.. ” For example, I spent my entire youth without the Internet, but with the Shrek disc with subtitles. By the ninth grade, I knew all the lines of all the heroes by heart, and I was especially good at Donkey.

For those who get bored with just repeating, there is Shadowing (shadow repeat method). This is another curious technique where you repeat over audio, gradually decreasing the time between cue and imitation. After a while, as simultaneous interpreters, you will be able to speak word for word with the actors!

If you have small children, read them children’s books in English – often, in large quantities, and with expression! No children – read to the cat.In children’s books, there are usually very colloquial expressions, natural, and in context, and with illustrations – just what you need. If you think that only children should read fairy tales – take chick flicks (female romantic prose) or short detective stories with a lot of suspects.

In this case, you should not just read aloud, not knowing how to speak correctly – you can get used to the wrong pronunciation, and it will be difficult to correct it. If you watch TED talks , watch them on the official website: there each video has a tab transcripts , the text of the entire speech with timecodes and easy navigation.If you listen to podcasts, you can also find texts for them.

Have you read a paragraph, article or chapter? Retell it right now to a cat, dog or reflection in the mirror in your own words. Imagine that there is a small child next to you, and explain to him in an accessible simple language. Let there be mistakes at first, and you will take a lot, even if from the original! The main thing is to tell something based on what you read.

Replace speaking with writing. Whatever you want to say, write it down first. The paper will endure, and you will learn to formulate.Write directly as you would say. Then reread it meticulously and reformulate it beautifully. Or, even better, more understandable. Where to get inspiration from? From the internet, of course. Don’t try to write “For Whom the Bell Tolls” right away, just search for a few questions for “conversation questions” in Google and answer them.

One of my students had a daily assignment: 10 sentences in writing in response to questions like “What is the best pizza?” or “What’s more important: family or career.”Six months later, I jumped to the level!

If you have nowhere to go for ideas, try keeping a diary or blog in English. The most advanced can try their hand at freewriting. The essence of the technique is to take a blank sheet and write everything that comes to mind, any reflections on the fate of peoples. Only write in English!

It is very important to get used to the sound of your own voice in another language. And yes, it’s not strange if no one sees you. And if he sees, you can pretend to be on the phone and walk around as an important bird.

What to talk about? You can simply describe what you see or comment on your actions: “Here I am leaving the house. Did I take an umbrella? But if I don’t take it, it’s going to rain like that, forever. So, keys, phone … Bye, cat! Is the elevator not working? Well, what kind of Christmas tree-sticks … “

You can talk in the shower. The noise of the water will hide your embarrassment in front of the household, and you will finally be able to speak out for the day: how you missed the bus, how great the day was, how he ate ramen for lunch, but he was not very good. And in the morning in the shower, you can practice the future tense and think over a plan for the day: do not forget to send a letter, do so many things and have time to meet with friends.

Imagine that you are Chandler from Friends. Or Dr. House. Or anyone whose words often sink into your soul. You were naughty at the grocery store, you were unfairly scolded by the boss, but you seemed to be numb, and only at home could you express your indignation? Indignant in English! The caustic and witty words of Chandler, House, or Mrs. Maisel. Wash the dishes and chastise your enemies! Your English will benefit from the emotional context.

You can also have an imaginary talk show.Imagine: you are your own Urgant, Jimmy Kimmel and the morning radio show. On the way to work in the car or at home at breakfast, greet the “audience”, joke, tell us about the weather and the news, and finally interview the main guest (who, if not yourself!)

Sing along to your favorite karaoke songs! The chic part is to imitate and sing along so that your pronunciation matches that of the singer or singer. This is how I honed my American Midwestern accent while obediently studying British in school.

From the pros: in the 21st century it is not necessary to book a table in a karaoke bar in order to come off your heart to the songs of your favorite artists. You can sing without leaving your home – the internet is full of suitable videos. Type in the name of your favorite song, add the word karaoke and enjoy!

Send yourself audio messages in messengers. You can write down a topic, a monologue from a movie, or a poem. Then listen again in a week, and rewrite.

What’s good: It’s such great speaking, where you have endless attempts to say what you want.This is how I started in Spanish: I just described the day crookedly. Then less crooked. Then it’s generally good.

Remember that all these tips are effective under one extremely important condition: even if you do not have an interlocutor, you must have feedback. Find a teacher to review your written work. Be sure to check yourself with a dictionary. Don’t start using many new phrases until you are sure you understand what they mean and how to say them.

In order not to be limited by the advice from the article and not to get confused when meeting real foreigners, subscribe to the free e-mail course “Chatting in English: 10 Lessons for Hassle-Free Communication”.With its help, you will learn phrases for pitches, analyze examples of dialogues from films and learn about the cultural characteristics of English-speaking countries.

Chatting in English: 10 Lessons for Hassle-Free Communication

Learn how to chat without problems in any situation! 10 letters from greeting to goodbye.

You will receive an email with instructions soon. In the meantime, sign up for a free online lesson with a teacher and get 2 more lessons as a gift.

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How to train conversational English / Habr

Speaking practice during training is given only 10% of the time . This is very little, because the main goal of those who learn English is to speak fluently.

Most students only speak in class with the teacher. At home, they mostly do grammar assignments, learn words, read, listen. All this is silent. Then we wonder where the dog’s effect and the language barrier come from.

To speak English fluently, to train the speaking skill you need daily .Below are a couple of tips on how to do this.

The service is free. Go to Telegram bot

Start by speaking

Get into the habit of starting any English lesson (even when doing your homework) with 5-10 minutes of speaking. Aerobatics will record his speech on a dictaphone and re-listen.

What to talk about:

• Tell us how your day was / week / weekend (follow the times)

• Tell about your plans for tomorrow / weekend (focus on constructs to express the future )

• Retell the content of the last movie that you watched

• Tell what was the last video youtube watched on

• Retell the last 3 phone conversations or conversations in the messenger

• Select a room and name all the items you see.You can add a detailed description of them.

• Take any object in front of your eyes and tell its story how you use it, if you like it and why.

• Tell us what was in the news today.

• Tell us in detail, how did you do something today (for example, cook soup, do the cleaning, collect the bag, change the wheel from the car)

• Google questions on a topic of interest to you (for example, here http: // iteslj.org / questions / ) and answer 10 of them

Try a language exchange

A language exchange assumes that you are helping an English-speaking student to learn Russian, and he will help you to learn English. Communicate in one or another language, helping each other to improve their speech.

There are a lot of applications for finding a partner for communication today, I wrote in detail in this article. The most popular today is Tandem.

What you need to remember: it is rarely free and of high quality.Therefore, you will have to spend time looking for the interlocutor and understand that this is not a lesson with a tutor, no one will correct every of your error . Girls need to be prepared for the fact that most young people who offer a conversation are more interested in romance than in language learning.

Sign up for a conversation club

Online conversation club – ideal for daily speaking practice:

• such clubs are held in instant messengers, you do not need to spend time on the road,

• you can communicate in them around the clock ,

• club members came there specifically to improve their speaking skills,

• no need to spend time looking for a communication partner and looking for tasks,

• there are curators in the clubs who moderate the conversation, correct mistakes and give recommendations for improving spoken language.