A bit of English every day
Welcome to my English learning support space! Here you’ll find some written explanations, as well as videos to help you become familiar with the sound of English from all around the world. Some of them are about learning the English language, but you can also find videos about traveling, cooking, music and many other topics. You’ll find shorts, reels, and longer videos so you can choose the format you like best. Just make sure you have your computer or phone settings on English in the language section! Learning to communicate in English with confidence can be a challenge, but there’s a secret to making it easier: put a little bit of English into your everyday life.
False friends: toast and marmalade
Today we have two false friends because they’re often found together. The English word marmalade sounds very similar to the Italian “marmellata”, but it actually refers only to jam made out of citrus fruits: oranges, lemons, grapefruit, cumquats, etc. “Marmellata” made out of other fruit is called jam, or jelly if all the solid parts of the fruit have been strained out. Jam, jelly and marmalade are generally eaten on toast, which is not what Italians call “toast”, but what they call “pane tostato”, usually with butter as well. If you find “toast” on a menu in Italy it generally means a toasted sandwich with ham and cheese inside, which wouldn’t taste very good with marmalade.
Foto di Calum Lewis su Unsplash