English is Tough Stuff: A Funny Poem about Pronouncing English Words

Below is the funny poem “English Is Tough Stuff (A.K.A. “The Chaos”)” by G. Nolst. It was first published in 1929 in a book to help people improve their English pronunciation (“Drop Your Foreign Accent”).  Most native English speakers can’t get very far into the poem without mispronouncing a word.  How soon before you get … Read more

The Fur Trade

These funny bloopers are actual mistakes by students I have tutored in Conversational English, and are from my humor book. All over Europe people wanted more animal hair. The Hudson Bay company was found in the Canada woods. Fur hunters catch furry animals, wash them, and dry them, and then sell them for women who … Read more