Richard

The Paleo diet is one of the most popular diets out there, with many people using this method. As many people in the spotlight, such as movie stars, athletes and entrepreneurs follow it, it is now common knowledge what the regime is all about. For those of you who are a bit unsure, it is […]

Do you love or loathe the prospect of giving a presentation? Quite interestingly, you may be in the minority if you love presentations as research suggests that most people experience varying levels of anxiety when faced with such a task. There could be a proverbial pot of gold at the other side of a presentation […]

Are you looking for new ways to supercharge your marketing strategy or to reach a particular target audience with well researched in depth information? An eBook and the opportunity to self-publish might just be the perfect solution. Here are 5 reasons why you should consider eBooks a necessity and an essential component in your marketing

With today being St. David’s Day, what better time to explore a language with more than half a million speakers and over 1,500 years of history? Many Englanders’ knowledge of Welsh might be limited to what they have seen on road signs, but there are a handful of words they will be quite familiar with […]

We speak the same language on both sides of the Atlantic, yet there are a few small but important differences in how we spell certain words. When typing, be sure to have your spellcheck set on the correct dictionary depending on whether you’re writing for a British or American audience. If you don’t, you word […]

Today marks the start of a new year on the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, and appropriately for us here at the Online Learning Academy, the Year of the Dog has commenced. For dog owners, every year is dedicated to their canine companion, but China has its own year especially for the animal. It’s one of […]

A lot of people forget that Facebook is a public forum, and a lot of what they do on it could create problems for them if it falls into the wrong hands. Today is Safer Internet Day, so if you have fears about your online safety, or you’ve already been harassed or exploited on social […]

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has just released its January 2018 update, with 240 brand new words making it into the publication, along with around 900 subentries. A notable theme among the latest entries is parenting, pregnancy and women’s health, with 47 of them coming from suggestions via the website Mumsnet. OED has long sought […]

As it’s Australia Day today, let’s take a look at some of the leading writers from Down Under. The country has certainly served up some notable and diverse contributions to literature over the years, and here are five very different writers worth exploring: 1. Patrick White Though born in London, White moved to Sydney when […]

One of the biggest telltale signs of weak writing is using the same words again and again. When reading a piece, especially out loud, it really sticks out like a sore thumb if the same words and phrases appear repeatedly, but how can you keep this to an absolute minimum? Use synonyms Today happens to […]

Following a 2006 report by the Department for Education and Skills, a system known as ‘synthetic phonics’ has been recommended as the “prime approach” to teaching children how to read, write and spell in the UK. Phonics, if you’re not familiar with the term, involves teaching what letters sound like; for example, the letter W […]

The turn of the year offers us a chance to change our lives for the better. Whether it’s to lose weight, be more productive or learn a new skill, we tend to set ourselves these goals when the melee of Christmas winds down and January begins. However, it’s often said that 80% of New Year’s […]

With just days of 2017 now remaining, perhaps you’re setting out some New Year’s resolutions for yourself, one of which might be to get more writing done. With the calendar changing from ‘7’ to ‘8’, we’ve set out eight pieces of advice that might get you scribbling during 2018.

Appropriately on what is the shortest day of the year, today is Short Story Day, and if your writing muscles need flexing, what better way to do this than to pen a quick, brief narrative? A common reason would-be writers give for not getting any writing done is that they “don’t have time”. It is, […]

A glaring spelling error can botch anything, and it seems like some marketers, broadcasters and other decision-makers might have been at the Christmas sherry a little bit early this year, with some extremely poor spelling slip-ups having made the recent news. Here are three of the most cringe-worthy Christmas cock-ups we’ve seen this

‘Tis the season to be jolly, and the best way to keep writers, editors and other grammarians full of festive cheer at this time of year is to avoid glaring spelling mistakes. Whether you’re writing your Christmas cards or planning a yuletide article, there are certain words that crop up in December that you don’t […]

A sports writer and head of a judging panel for an annual book award says the number of misprints and spelling mistakes creeping into publications is increasing. Graham Sharpe, who read 131 books nominated for this year’s William Hill Sports Book of the Year, says: “It certainly seems to me that there have been many […]

When people describe what they look for in a partner, knowing the difference between ‘there’, ‘they’re’ and ‘their’ is rarely something they mention, but a study has indicated that grammatical knowhow can result in dating success. According to the Evening Standard, research by TrueView, a popular dating app, shows that cramming your profile with textspeak […]

November 13 to 17 is Anti-Bullying Week, and is set up to encourage students, parents and teachers to stand up and speak out against a form of behaviour that the NSPCC claims “affects almost all children in some way”. The charity cites some alarming statistics about bullying in the UK, such as Childline performing

If you tell somebody with a 9-to-5 office job that you work from home, they will usually go green with envy. They assume it’s all a big skive, and they hear the word ‘home’ rather than the word ‘work’. Of course, there are obvious advantages to working at home, but many people find it a […]

Dogs rarely complain about whatever we give them from a tin, but even if it’s just for one day a year, why not make the extra effort and treat them to a specially prepared meal? Today is Go Cook For Your Pets Day, and your dog is sure to appreciate the break from commercial dog […]

Last week, we took a look at the effects of long words and complicated language, and how they can actually limit your writing rather than enhance it. In slight defiance of our own advice, this week we’re going to look at the longest words in our language (according to

When writers are trying to impress, a tendency they often have is to use long and obscure words. You might see penmen trying to dazzle readers with words like ‘crepuscular’, ‘pulchritudinous’, ‘quaquaversal’, ‘verisimilitude’ and ‘iconoclastic’. This is all well and good and there’s certainly a place for grandiose language, but are you confusing your writers […]

Today is Friday the 13th, a day connected with horror, fear and misfortune, and nothing sends a shiver down a writer or grammarian’s spine like bad spelling. Tools like autocorrect have made the gift of learning how to spell less valuable, and spelling errors harder to make, but they remain common in online forums, chat […]