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Cause and Effect transition words

Janean Fischli, August 18, 2025

In academic writing, transition words can improve the style and flow of your writing […]

When Life gives you Lemons

Hela Goodwin, July 18, 2025

Since the lemons on our tree started ripening a few weeks ago, I’ve been […]

Word of the month: Beasties

Hela Goodwin, June 20, 2025

Beastie noun a real or imaginary animal or creature. With our younger or middle […]

Flashcard Fun

Janean Fischli, May 20, 2025

Some of the favorite resources of our young learners’ teachers are flashcards. They are […]

Confusing Words: Also, Either

Janean Fischli, May 1, 2025

Often English language learners confuse the words also and either, when used as adverbs […]

Word of the month: Cloudburst

Janean Fischli, April 1, 2025

A cloud burst is a sudden, heavy rainfall that usually occurs very locally and […]

SAT classes at Primavera English

Hela Goodwin, March 12, 2025

Hoping to study in the United States after high school? If so, you are […]

Where the wild things are

Hela Goodwin, February 19, 2025

Last week at Primavera English we wrapped up our Colonia de Vacaciones program with […]

Pulling someone’s leg

Evelyn Koppschall, February 10, 2025

The expression “to pull someone’s leg” is a common expression you’re sure to hear […]

Word of the month: Habitat

Janean Fischli, January 29, 2025

Habitat N. a place where a plant, animal or other organism lives and has […]

Turning over a New Leaf

Hela Goodwin, January 9, 2025

New Year’s Resolutions are hard to hold to, but how about ‘turning over a […]

Parachuting?

Janean Fischli, December 16, 2024

It is December again and our kids activity classes are in full swing. This year, one of the teachers was inspired to make a parachute...

Island. Why don’t we say the “s”?

Janean Fischli, November 7, 2024

In Old English, the word for land surrounded by water was igland, which later became iland. However, mistaken English scholars changed the spelling...

Word of the Month: Bluster

Jeanette Boller, September 20, 2024

In recent days here in Asuncion, there has been a lot of wind, which made me think of this word...

Until the Cows Come Home

Jeanette Boller, August 16, 2024

Every language has its sayings and idioms, which cannot always be understood by knowing the meanings of the individual words...

Hard and Hardly

Evelyn Koppschall, May 28, 2024

What’s wrong with the use of the word hardly in this sentence? Fiorella was trying to show the contrast between a hard (or strong or fierce) wind and gently falling rain. However...

Word of the Month: Cultivate

Hela Goodwin, May 8, 2024

Here at Primavera English we try to cultivate studious atmospheres in our classes. However, when I’m not teaching English...

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around

Evelyn Koppschall, April 12, 2024

There’s a reason we remember children’s songs and skip rope chants long after we cease to be children. Children’s brains are more receptive to growth, and the music, rhythm, and joyful memories that accompany the words of a song or skip rope chant help to stamp the words into a child’s memory forever...

Matti

Hela Goodwin, March 1, 2024

Meet Matti – the newest member of the Primavera English team. He lives out in our yard and loves to eat peanuts and fruit. He’s super friendly...

Word of the Month: Resolution

Jeanette Bazeley, January 8, 2024

Happy 2024 to everyone! Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? Many people like to make a fresh start at the beginning of a new year. They decide to change their habits or improve themselves in some way...

Word of the Month: Engagement

Janean Fischli, November 23, 2023

Wow, December is almost here! At Primavera English, we are celebrating the engagement of...

Riddles

Janean Fischli, October 11, 2023

With young learners, riddles are a great/fun way to practice comparatives and superlatives, as well as English vocabulary. The theme of the riddles can be adapted to any vocabulary topic and students love the challenge of figuring out clues, ...

Actually or Currently?

Janean Fischli, September 12, 2023

Don’t get confused! The word actually does not mean currently, as it does in Spanish. Native Spanish speakers are tempted to say a sentence like, “I am actually living in an apartment.” In English we would use the word currently or right now in this sentence: I am currently living in an apartment...

Live or Leave?

Janean Fischli, July 27, 2023

Say these words: hill, heel, slip, sleep, ship, sheep. Did you make a different sound for the vowels in each pair of words? In English, we have 26 letters in the alphabet, but many of the letters can make more than one sound and other letters make sounds that might seem very similar to a non-native speaker...

Shoot the Breeze

Yolanda Wegner, July 12, 2023

Remember last month’s post? Well, if you drop in on someone, you often stay for a while and shoot the breeze or have a casual conversation with that person...

Dropping In

Evelyn Koppschall, June 12, 2023

On weekends I enjoy dropping in on old friends. If a friend wants to chat with me, I hope they feel free to drop in, too. If you’re walking down our street and want to find out more about Primavera English, ring the doorbell and drop in for a visit...

Monarch Butterflies

Janean Fischli, May 18, 2023

Many students study with us with the long or short term goal of taking the TOEFL or a similar test. Perhaps the most challenging part of these tests is the writing section. Why is this?...

Word of the Month: Adaptable

Yolanda Wegner, May 1, 2023

To be adaptable is important in order to survive in our ever-changing lives. This is true for humans, animals, and plants in ways that are both physiological and behavioral, long term and short term...

Idiom: Walking on Thin Ice

Yolanda Wegner, April 21, 2023

This expression describes a situation in which someone is doing something risky or dangerous that could have unpleasant or serious consequences...

Five More Minutes

Evelyn Koppschall, April 13, 2023

Five o’clock p.m. is a close, fetid time of day, when the cobbled roads steam and the concrete walls of buildings seethe with foul hot air. I’m sitting in my classroom, trying to look perky, my hair tucked wetly behind my ears, when my student walks in...

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