During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, many students were thrown into virtual learning whether they were good candidates for it or not. Many adult students decided to “fall behind” despite future consequences to their education. However, such a decision is avoidable. The purpose of this article is to help learners take simple steps to become more effective in virtual learning.

From a linguist’s perspective, English is no more or less weird than other languages. Non-linguists erroneously believe English is somehow unique due to improperly analyzing inconsistencies and irregularities in the language.

All languages express opposite concepts (or antonyms) such as hot and cold, tall and short, or stay and go. Did you know that English has words that have the opposite meaning of themselves? How do speakers resolve the ambiguity that creates? What are the implications for vocabulary learning and teaching?

As a reader, a common mistake when you tackle a new document or passage is to go straight to the first paragraph and start reading right away. As you read, you realize you did not understand the beginning very well, so you have to start over! One of many ways to avoid this problem is simple and takes only a few minutes: Read purposefully from the start.