More and more people of all ages now are becoming conscious and responsive to the importance of English. As a result online learning is becoming the first choice as it permits them to study at home. Online learning however, involves unique qualities on the learners' part. You can imagine the difficulties to overcome to do well in the virtual classroom.

If you read the Teacher Stumper series on EnglishSpark.com, you have probably heard of Mr. Maru and Sparky.  They are the characters at the beginning of every Teacher Stumpers article.  They help introduce the grammar point in context.  This week, both of them are joining the social network that everyone is talking about, Twitter.

They will be twittering in simple English.  Any English language learner can follow along and practice their English!

Another website has hitched a ride on the social-networking train. But this one puts a fresh and innovative spin on the mania with six degrees of separation. Multiply uses the web to collectively stitch a network of people you know and trust, without trying to increase the network with people you don't know. Instead, it gives you every sort of online tool for simply communicating with that core group of connections.

So what is Multiply all about?

Mr.Maru: What phone should I buy?

Sparky: How about a Phony phone? They are great.

Mr.Maru: Hmm, I think I'll get a Transonic phone.

Sparky: That phone is really nice too. Phone makes life a lot easier.

Mr.Maru: Phone?

Sparky: Yeah, phone is an amazing tool.

Mr.Maru: You mean, THE phone right? The phone is an amazing tool.

Sparky: Um, yes. The people can not communicate without the phone.

Mr.Maru: The people? Who are these people?

Sparky: Everyone. The most people need a cell phone.

Mr.Maru: Most people have good grammar too.

How do we use the articles a, an, and the? I went over the basics of a, an, the before, but today we are going to talk about some more details of how to use a/the. Today, we will talk about when to use and when not to use a, an, and the when talking in general.