«I hear that the only reason Johnny got into college was because his dad pulled some strings with the president of the university.»
«I actually know a few people who work at the restaurant, so I'll see if I can pull a few strings and get you a table».
«You wait and see, he's going to start pulling strings to get this police investigation quashed».

We have not seen each other in a long time!

A: "Ugh, will it ever stop raining?"
B: "April showers bring May flowers, at least."

Today we want to share a pretty captivating educational video with you.

Here is a description:
In this lesson, you will learn how to comprehend English text and articles easier. You will also learn several useful English patterns, and then learn how to summarize the article. This lesson will improve your English fluency and comprehension ability. https://youtu.be/Ar6T7e0gTOY

dispense with:
1. To manage without; forgo: Let's dispense with the formalities.
2. To get rid of; do away with: a country that has dispensed with tariff barriers.

Happy Cosmonautics Day!

For instance, «reporters came storming out of the blocks with their questions as the disgraced senator exited the courtroom after the verdict».

Hey, guys!

It's time to revive our channels.

Welcome to September :)

Long Time No See :)

One more idiom for you.

Hey, guys!

We are back in the game, the chat problems will be solved today or even right now. Let's take a look at a peculiar site that we stumbled today: http://archive.gameswithwords.org/WhichEnglish/

Yielding a floor to the site creators:

By taking this quiz, you will be helping train a machine algorithm that is mapping out the differences in English grammar around the world, both in traditionally English-speaking countries and also in countries like Mexico, China, and India.

In the end, you can see our algorithm's best guess as to which English you speak as well as whether your first (native) language is English or something else.

Don't hesitate, try it right now and share your results in the @violachat!

General prepositions examples for beginners are here.

COLLINS WORD OF THE YEAR

‘Single-use’, a term that describes items whose unchecked proliferation are blamed for damaging the environment and affecting the food chain, has been named Collins’ Word of the Year 2018.

Single-use refers to products – often plastic – that are ‘made to be used once only’ before disposal. Images of plastic adrift in the most distant oceans, such as straws, bottles, and bags have led to a global campaign to reduce their use.

The word has seen a four-fold increase since 2013, with news stories and images such as those seen in the BBC’s Blue Planet II steeply raising public awareness of the issue.

Read all other words that got in the short list here: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/word-lovers-blog/new/floss-var-vegan-collinswoty-2018-is-here,452,HCB.html