"What are tips?" In fact, the word 'tip' has a few different meanings and uses, but for this article, tips are extra money given for some service (for example, extra money given to a waiter after a meal). Tipping is really important in America. So, today let's talk about how to tip. I want to focus on tipping at a restaurant--it’s the classic case. "When should I leave a tip?" 95% of the time, you should leave a tip when you go out to a restaurant, whether it's breakfast, lun

There are generally four main motivations for those who want to improve their English: 1. Work (either current work or career development) 2. Study Abroad 3. Travel 4. Interest in English I will focus on the first one today, particularly a branch of English called ‘Business English’. I'm writing this article to clarify some confusion many English learners seem to have about the meaning of this particular branch of English. I want to explain what most students seem to think bu

Whether we like it or not, ‘bad words’ (aka: 'dirty words' or ‘curse words’) are part of every language. The interesting thing is, the reason they are ‘bad’ is often cultural. For example, why is ‘bitch’ a bad word? If you look up ‘bitch’ in the dictionary, you will find this: ‘a female dog’. To be honest, I have no idea how this word became offensive, but in most situations, it is. So, it’s important to understand how these words are used in language, even if you don’t want

Pizza is a classic Western food and it’s becoming more and more popular in China. Although I like it, I don’t often eat pizza. Why not? Two reasons: One—Eating pizza is a great way to become ridiculously fat. Two—My wife (who is awesome and cool and beautiful, hehe, hello), doesn’t really like it. Well, she went out of town for the day and suddenly I realized, 'AW YEAH! IT’S PIZZA TIME!' So, I went to Mr. Pizza and ordered a vegetarian pizza (no meat). I looked around the res

The question people always ask me is, 'How do I improve my English?' Unfortunately, it's so general that any in-the-moment answer is never going to be particularly insightful. So, I thought deeply about it, gazed toward the horizon, smoked a pipe, and even put on my 1970s vintage roll-neck sweater. I feel confident, now, to answer the question. Read on, friends! Oh, and make sure to check out the corresponding video--there's a bonus tip! 1. Confidence is Key A lot of people h

You may believe that most Americans are extremely easygoing, that they freely say and do whatever they like. It's a myth. It isn't true. Surprisingly, many Americans are quite traditional. There are certain things they feel uncomfortable talking about; many things that unaware travelers might do which could make them uneasy. An obvious example might be, say, tickling a local on the street with a falcon feather -- a bad idea. But some things are less obvious. If you travel to

Coffee is my favorite drink in the world. Coffee shops usually have a large variety of coffee drinks, so it can be confusing to know the difference between one drink and another. Today, let’s go over these. First, coffee isn't always made the same way. Actually, there are lots of ways to make it. French Press It's really easy to make coffee with a french press. The coffee is steeped in water and then separated after a few minutes. The beans are ground coarsely (big pieces); a