tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51577836182232722722024-02-22T05:40:40.677-08:00ONE CLICK ENGLISHThe words of an English language teacher & proofreaderDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206539431394628105noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157783618223272272.post-21636682753893990582024-02-15T04:32:00.000-08:002024-02-18T11:41:26.163-08:00Three Tips for Learners<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbqPQBFyropnqRuQKhIG8TPaSo8z_rlbm9-qaGt0LMiaysbISwy8IHC7FU0rXVXr_oECaDWciObcRzwe7JLvVSePDuOWimUt88BpQ7neB5ZRZEH0Dk8DEytCgJ_gB5PG7DYKZkkiZTBVXqo5AhoWhuymCvhn_7LqQvyDX43KQlHi2NOzaH-qUKTk095Xsp/s426/learning.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="237" data-original-width="426" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbqPQBFyropnqRuQKhIG8TPaSo8z_rlbm9-qaGt0LMiaysbISwy8IHC7FU0rXVXr_oECaDWciObcRzwe7JLvVSePDuOWimUt88BpQ7neB5ZRZEH0Dk8DEytCgJ_gB5PG7DYKZkkiZTBVXqo5AhoWhuymCvhn_7LqQvyDX43KQlHi2NOzaH-qUKTk095Xsp/s320/learning.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">When not teaching English, I try to teach myself a little Polish or Spanish. It's the former I struggle with more. Polish is a highly inflected language and even simple utterances can invoke several grammar rules. Take the sentence 'I drink green tea', for example. We have a subject followed by a verb, an adjective and finally a noun. In Polish, you not only conjugate the verb, but also make the adjective agree with the gender of the noun AND change the endings of both of those words as they constitute the object of the verb. Do you see what people mean when they say that Polish is a hard language to learn? I know I'll never speak the language perfectly, but no one is asking me to. Therein lies a problem when it comes to language learners' expectations: Some people want perfection; they want to be fluent and flawless. Very often, though, you can't be both. You might speak English fluently, but make a lot of mistakes. On the other hand, you might speak English perfectly, but your anxious avoidance of mistakes impedes fluency.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Learning a language is not confined to a classroom with a book and a teacher – that's only a part of the journey. So, I've compiled here some tips to help you along the path to becoming a competent user of English.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">#1 <b>Expose yourself to the language as much as possible.</b><br />This is not so easy when you're surrounded by people who don't speak English, but thanks to the internet there are a seemingly infinite number of resources. Find interesting articles to read or videos to watch. You'll hear lots of different accents and ways of saying things, more than what you get in a coursebook. It's good to put some time aside each day for this, even if it's only ten minutes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">#2 <b>Record new vocabulary.</b><br />By reading and watching films in English, you're bound to encounter new words and phrases. Write them down in a notebook or make a note on your smartphone – I have a long list of words in Polish which I sometimes glance at while waiting in a queue somewhere. The more often you see a word or phrase, the more likely it will stay in your memory. You can use Google or a good dictionary to find examples of the word in use. I also recommend <a href="http://youglish.com">youglish.com</a>, which allows you to search for spoken examples using YouTube.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">#3 <b>Find a speaking partner.</b><br />Unfortunately, your English teacher is not available 24/7. We have other things to do, believe me! This means that you'll need to find someone else to practise speaking with. You might have opportunities to do this at work. If you don't, then you can easily find someone through Facebook or a special app for language learners like Tandem. I've used the latter recently, and there are so many people out there wanting to practise their English, which is good news.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">These are just some ideas; I'm sure there are lots of others floating around out there. I also recommend keeping a diary in English. Just writing a few sentences each day helps to keep the language a part of your life, because persistence and dedication will always bring results in the end.</span></p>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206539431394628105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157783618223272272.post-7290407069925418222023-10-17T04:59:00.006-07:002023-10-18T08:47:00.704-07:00Why We Need Proofreaders<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwfD2_fpPT0j9P3CfPZFeB9aBY7p68s1iX42MPkttm2kDL5JgE4Qu_4ckA4JUQCy7B2hZP-Qimx1L3wNhKQSjQv09asvWKindGlyw7ZwCgdWX0yOrqrVhjKU_eG6PJPE9eTdC-gbp5m7NyCogvLDx0HtGZeU9vyNu-Q7vnuBy26bfT5sSlS3izwTXrLDsB/s509/proofreading.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Proofreading and proofreaders" border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="509" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwfD2_fpPT0j9P3CfPZFeB9aBY7p68s1iX42MPkttm2kDL5JgE4Qu_4ckA4JUQCy7B2hZP-Qimx1L3wNhKQSjQv09asvWKindGlyw7ZwCgdWX0yOrqrVhjKU_eG6PJPE9eTdC-gbp5m7NyCogvLDx0HtGZeU9vyNu-Q7vnuBy26bfT5sSlS3izwTXrLDsB/w320-h213/proofreading.webp" title="Proofreading" width="320" /></a></div>'To
those who care about punctuation,' writes Lynne Truss in her
bestselling book <i>Eats, Shoots & Leaves</i>, 'a sentence such as
“Thank God its Friday” (without the apostrophe) rouses feelings
not only of despair but of violence.' The book is heavy on hyperbole
and seeks to entertain as well as educate its reader, but it also
highlights a growing concern among some people about a perceived
decline in standards of written English.</span><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Facebook
is littered with poorly punctuated comments left by folks who show
scant regard for apostrophes, commas and capital letters. How many
times have you seen 'it's' (with an apostrophe) in place of 'its'? It strikes me as
odd that lots of people fail to observe this simple rule: Use 'it's'
when you mean 'it is' or 'it has'. “Yes, but who cares?” you
might say. I would argue that if we expect high standards in other
forms of public communication then why not on social media websites?
The problem is, you quite often see misplaced apostrophes in other
places as well. I recently found myself staring in disbelief at a
sign in a charity shop in England saying “All book's £1”. The
generally accepted rule is that an apostrophe is never used to make a
word plural. It doesn't matter if you're selling books, CDs, shoes or
dresses, you needn't employ this much misused punctuation mark.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Such
is the concern for the humble apostrophe that, for more than twenty
years, the Apostrophe Protection Society has been battling to
preserve it. “The little apostrophe deserves our protection,”
claims the website, (<a href="https://www.apostrophe.org.uk/">https://www.apostrophe.org.uk</a>)
where you will find many cringeworthy examples of misuse. I even
managed to find a group on Facebook called “Save the Apostrophe”.
Alas, it only has 194 members at the time of writing.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">From
my experience of teaching English and proofreading translations,
speakers of other languages seem not to have a problem with
apostrophes. I dare say it's a phenomenon occurring mostly in
English-speaking countries. The British linguist Randolph Quirk once
said, “It would be ironic indeed if the millions of people
diligently learning the language of Shakespeare took more care in
their use of English than those for whom it is the native tongue.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">There
is cause for celebration, however. Literacy levels have risen
dramatically the world over in the last two hundred years. According
to ourworldindata.org, only 12% of people could read and write in
1820. In 2016, a staggering 86% were literate. So, while the likes of
Lynne Truss bemoan the lack of regard for correct punctuation, the
bigger picture is looking very rosy indeed. And with so many forms of
written communication nowadays, and with so many of us using them,
there are bound to be mistakes. That's why we need proofreaders.</span></p>
Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206539431394628105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157783618223272272.post-26696248106378596442023-08-03T11:03:00.009-07:002024-01-18T01:42:04.856-08:00Introducing Shakespeare<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73UOmr0nFS30EBOURjnevamguqwIGwqTxf-j2xTgqdEcI-ZUhyqvQ4UptaNC6ew6wP9rVIo7uvNa4ue-g2mGCcIRjSftebSZEEYDkcyEK9ux9td5hs7u4KzfvuUsJIMQLKUWNUWh1Gbg9W7TPSqnTIpHATOENQlAh9-8W0W6msu4f3bBFKK83x97aaKdw/s605/7unk5c.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="How to teach the works of William Shakespeare to ESL students" border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="605" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73UOmr0nFS30EBOURjnevamguqwIGwqTxf-j2xTgqdEcI-ZUhyqvQ4UptaNC6ew6wP9rVIo7uvNa4ue-g2mGCcIRjSftebSZEEYDkcyEK9ux9td5hs7u4KzfvuUsJIMQLKUWNUWh1Gbg9W7TPSqnTIpHATOENQlAh9-8W0W6msu4f3bBFKK83x97aaKdw/w320-h218/7unk5c.jpg" title="William Shakespeare" width="320" /></a></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">A train threads its way through the darkening suburbs of Liverpool as bright orange flames leap up from people's gardens. It's Bonfire Night, and my fellow drama students and I are going to see <i>Macbeth</i> at the Royal Court Theatre. I don't remember the details of our conversation exactly, but there was some excited chatter about the prospect of seeing Pete Postlethwaite in the lead role. The memories I have of that evening are blurry at best, hardly surprising when you consider that it was more than twenty-five years ago.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">For anyone not familiar with English customs, Bonfire Night takes place annually on the fifth of November and commemorates the failed plot to destroy the Houses of Parliament in 1605. It is believed that William Shakespeare's play <i>Macbeth</i> was performed for the first time in 1606, so it's quite possible that the famous playwright was working on it when Guy Fawkes, a chief conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot, was discovered in a cellar underneath Parliament along with dozens of barrels of gunpowder. Naturally, the king of England, who was also Shakespeare's patron, didn't think kindly of the man who had tried to blow him to smithereens, and Guy Fawkes was subsequently sentenced to death.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Throughout my years of teaching English, I have introduced both Guy Fawkes and William Shakespeare to my students with the intention of sharing something of the culture in which I was raised. Guy Fawkes was basically a terrorist, the likes of whom we often see on the television news nowadays. Shakespeare, on the other hand, left an indelible mark on the world with his poetry and plays, so he was a good guy, and most people have had at least some contact with his work. <i>Romeo & Juliet</i> stands out as one of his most popular plays, for instance.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, how can we use Shakespeare in the ESL classroom? Obviously, there isn't much point examining the original text of his plays with students who are still getting to grips with modern-day English. Even native speakers like me struggle to read Shakespeare, although I find it interesting to see how English has changed since the Bard's time. While reading <i>Hamlet</i>, I came across the archaic word 'yesternight', whose meaning you can easily deduce, thanks to 'yesterday'. (I quite like the sound of 'yesternight', but I'll continue to say 'last night' as it saves me a syllable.) One way to get students engaged with Shakespeare is to give them a brief plot summary in simple English and get them to write a scene, which they can later perform if they choose to do so. Discussing the characters and the story is another option, e.g. How do you think Macbeth feels when he meets the witches?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">I feel this blog post wouldn't be complete without including some links to useful resources. The British Council website elaborates on what I've written here. (<a href="https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-make-shakespeare-easy-english-language-learners">https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-make-shakespeare-easy-english-language-learners</a>)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Teachers will find more ideas at this address. (<a href="https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teaching-resources/teaching-secondary/lesson-plans/intermediate-b1/shakespeare">https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teaching-resources/teaching-secondary/lesson-plans/intermediate-b1/shakespeare</a>) </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">And if you fancy reading Shakespeare in modern English alongside the original text, check out this website. (<a href="https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare">https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare</a>)</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Farewell!</span><br /></span><p></p>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206539431394628105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157783618223272272.post-8809910649921528312023-04-21T00:09:00.001-07:002023-12-18T01:47:59.548-08:00Summer School Highs & Lows<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhno1oESgQnGePFysw4v35OSN7MRUcoD39YKvsVv8hv535eW19SiMzZGSSTEOh3OY3PdbjKoaYzJBmoKjPE6pe7enCuizYwqElEu466c-DKpIta0-kDHyl8ZOxXH18flCFm76eGaNgcpz-Y33XQk4IYBLNiX4r7AkGD5TULZ1j3e72ajmxrXKZnrVZlEw/s1024/FootprintsInTheSand.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhno1oESgQnGePFysw4v35OSN7MRUcoD39YKvsVv8hv535eW19SiMzZGSSTEOh3OY3PdbjKoaYzJBmoKjPE6pe7enCuizYwqElEu466c-DKpIta0-kDHyl8ZOxXH18flCFm76eGaNgcpz-Y33XQk4IYBLNiX4r7AkGD5TULZ1j3e72ajmxrXKZnrVZlEw/s320/FootprintsInTheSand.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">There's
something a little bizarre about someone peddling cosmetics at 30,000
feet above sea level. Bemusedly, I watched a heavily made-up
flight attendant push her trolley full of wares up the aisle of the
plane to London. Things were about to get a lot stranger.</span><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm not
really a fan of big cities. Frankly speaking, I don't think the word
'big' does London justice; it's home to more than 9 million people,
which is greater than the population of some countries, and it's
estimated that 300 languages are heard among its many residents. I
didn't hear anywhere near that number at Stansted Airport, but I
certainly heard English spoken with different accents. After hauling
my suitcase onto a crowded tube train, I headed for Euston Station,
where another train would take me to the quaint market town of
Sherborne in Dorset. I was to spend the next four weeks at a boarding
school in the employ of Devon School of English.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The
summer of 2018 was one of the hottest on record. I distinctly
remember leading a group of perspiring teenagers onto a scorched
playing field to teach them how to play cricket. It's not the most
exciting game, I have to say, and in 35 degrees of heat it quickly
loses its appeal; but most of the students had never played it before
and were keen to know more. By the third week, however, interest had
definitely waned. There isn't much you can do with a cricket bat, two
Chinese girls who speak very little English, and a homesick boy from
the Czech Republic. The English lessons were on the whole more
successful. As summer school offers kids something different to what
they're accustomed to back home, I used my artistic licence to great
effect and had my students work on a comical dramatisation of “The
Hound of the Baskervilles”, for which they received a rapturous
applause at the end-of-school talent show.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A lot of
memories were made that summer, memories which people from as far
away as Chile will recall fondly, I hope. When Covid-19 hit Europe
two years later, the halls of boarding schools were eerily silent
throughout July and August. Businesses lost vast amounts of money. It
was a blow which, I'm sad to say, Devon School of English never
recovered from. After almost 50 years in business, the school was
forced to close in October of 2020. Language schools elsewhere
struggled to survive or suffered the same fate. There are signs that
the industry has bounced back since travel restrictions were
eventually lifted. Scrolling through the recruitment ads on TEFL.com,
I see a plethora of companies seeking staff this year.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I've
worked at several summer schools in the UK over the years, and I've
found the experience to be both challenging and rewarding. I would
definitely recommend it to any new teachers looking to develop their
skills inside and outside the classroom. You might even find yourself
wandering among the ruins of Corfe Castle or fending off fearless seagulls in Lyme Regis. It's much more fun than
flogging perfume on an aeroplane. But that's just my opinion.</span></span></p>
Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206539431394628105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157783618223272272.post-11976707746202361932023-03-24T03:13:00.005-07:002023-08-11T01:24:46.632-07:00Monolingualism in Britain<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEK5bt4FVYniEE8fK9wwL7tL61xbR44Ggmx2qXngEzVeBCuB5XUSP2R6SPw6Q6FQovztbxyJJgE88aru_dj7mK0LKrrtdEIw2vD6_oPeHi-Dt2UGN7cn8ImtoTGgs4C5aBwUc5vitVDNRd_i_ziVIx-epRVMb8mcIedIWqQWUGvLNSnlfmaRTzHfGkQ/s1283/uk-tourist-map.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1283" data-original-width="1043" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEK5bt4FVYniEE8fK9wwL7tL61xbR44Ggmx2qXngEzVeBCuB5XUSP2R6SPw6Q6FQovztbxyJJgE88aru_dj7mK0LKrrtdEIw2vD6_oPeHi-Dt2UGN7cn8ImtoTGgs4C5aBwUc5vitVDNRd_i_ziVIx-epRVMb8mcIedIWqQWUGvLNSnlfmaRTzHfGkQ/s320/uk-tourist-map.jpg" width="260" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This
headline from a popular British newspaper doesn't surprise me: “UK
voted worst country in Europe at learning other languages.” That
was in 2016, the year in which 17 million people voted to leave the
European Union in the Brexit referendum, triggering a political
earthquake that continues to be felt today. Politics aside, though,
why are Britons notoriously bad at learning another language? It's
not an easy question to answer, but in this post I will attempt to do
just that.</span><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span>Anyone
who has watched the first episode of the Netflix series “Red Rose”
will have seen a group of sixteen-year-old school leavers in the
north of England celebrate not having to endure any more “boring”
French lessons. This scene stayed with me, one reason being that
I, on the contrary, enjoyed learning French at school, although there
were times when I was expected to memorise long lists of verb
conjugations, a rather dull process that is best avoided, in my
opinion. Schools in the UK now allow pupils to opt out of modern
languages at GCSE level, a move which seems to support the view that
native speakers of English don't need to know another language. Yes,
English is a global language, but does that really give you an
excuse? Spanish is also widely spoken. Do Spanish speakers eschew
learning English for that reason?</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span>Journalists
and academics point to the conclusion that there is a monolingual
mindset in Britain, and it is rooted in the country's history.
Anglo-Saxon culture came to dominate much of the island of Great
Britain, and English evolved and became the language of power and
influence, which then spread to colonies overseas. Wikipedia gives an eloquent perspective: “The predominance of
English in many sectors, such as world trade, technology and science,
has contributed to English-speaking societies being persistently
monolingual.” There is a joke about Americans which could also
apply to the British. What do you call someone who speaks three
languages? Trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks two
languages? Bilingual. And someone who speaks one language? American.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span>At the
start of the Covid-19 pandemic, I was involved in an online
discussion about popular activities among Britons during the first
lockdown. I asked if anyone had spent time learning another language,
like Spanish. One man replied that learning to ride a unicycle would
be more useful. And there you have it. Never mind the professional and
cultural benefits of learning a language spoken by half-a-billion
people worldwide! That man clearly belongs in a circus, where his
unicycling prowess will be appreciated by a small audience of
like-minded people. His attitude is by no means
uncommon.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span>Admittedly,
I didn't bother much with languages after studying GCSE German and
French. It wasn't until I arrived in Poland in my late twenties that
I decided to immerse myself in another language. Since then, I've
gained a wealth of knowledge about Polish and Slavic languages in
general, and I'm glad to say that my level of Polish is around B1,
which means I can communicate in a variety of contexts. It also means
that I have a better understanding of the challenges faced by Polish
people learning English, how their language influences their speech,
and so on.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span>The
British may be largely reluctant to speak a language other than
English; however, there are many people who, like me, are trying to
buck the trend.</span></span></p>
Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206539431394628105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157783618223272272.post-59336782424302105502023-02-13T06:10:00.004-08:002023-02-13T12:49:06.185-08:00Of Words & Wizards<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaHlMve7GdB2pV3cTECJ5kMkolEl9s7vi2mklUGZGcDmH5rN2BZMmthY16Nru6xOabpqyjM8SlsUwHEDVneEa_bVBEnBZdyiY_ZghALTfFVPm3GF0t58-kNxUYfU57WJRtmZEEehXQzpmwIakM382_p4JDgUI4KJLHSgek5iPZlpRzpFyew-gJlJ-16g/s1425/pexels-vin%C3%ADcius-vieira-ft-3151954.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1425" data-original-width="950" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaHlMve7GdB2pV3cTECJ5kMkolEl9s7vi2mklUGZGcDmH5rN2BZMmthY16Nru6xOabpqyjM8SlsUwHEDVneEa_bVBEnBZdyiY_ZghALTfFVPm3GF0t58-kNxUYfU57WJRtmZEEehXQzpmwIakM382_p4JDgUI4KJLHSgek5iPZlpRzpFyew-gJlJ-16g/s320/pexels-vin%C3%ADcius-vieira-ft-3151954.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Aberto. That's Portuguese for 'open'. It's also a spell used to unlock doors in the magical world of Harry Potter, brought to us by J. K. Rowling. The hugely successful author at one time taught English in Portugal, so it's understandable that she drew some inspiration from the language spoken there. Latin and Greek also influenced the language of spells in the Harry Potter series.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Where does the word 'spell' come from? According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, it has its roots in Old English and is similar to the Old Norse 'spjall'. However, the other meaning of 'spell', to form words by means of letters, comes courtesy of a French word that likely displaced its Old English equivalent, and if you know anything about the history of Britain, you'll know how French words entered the English language, following the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Imagine, Harry Potter fans, if King Harold had said 'Alarte Ascendare!' and sent William the Conqueror and his army flying high into the air, English might not be the language it is today.</span></span><div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Now, let's move on to another famous wizard (wise -ard), who conforms more closely to the stereotypical image of an old, bearded man in a pointed hat: Gandalf. The name was taken from Old Norse by the author of “Lord of the Rings”, J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 - 1973), hailed as the father of modern fantasy literature. Gandalf is such a popular figure today that he even has his own Wikipedia page alongside actual living people, and if you want to see him nodding his head to dance music for ten hours, just search for “Gandalf Sax Guy” on YouTube. Ah, the magic of the internet!</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Tolkien was something of a wizard himself when it came to languages. He was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University and later held the prestigious position of Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, until his retirement in 1959. From his teenage years onwards, Tolkien loved inventing languages, something which he called 'glossopoeia', and fans of his books will be familiar with Quenya and Sindarin, which are spoken by the Elves of Middle-Earth.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's interesting to note that two of the most widely-known wizards from fantasy books were created by individuals with a background in teaching English. Is it mere coincidence? As an English teacher myself, there are times when I feel like escaping into a fantasy world where adventure beckons, far away from the confines of the classroom, but at the same time it's a joy to impart knowledge about a language that has such a rich vocabulary and history.</span><br /></span></div><div><p></p><p></p></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206539431394628105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157783618223272272.post-47974877894915669752022-08-05T01:27:00.008-07:002023-02-25T03:53:05.606-08:00Making Mistakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3fw1P09B0Q3E5Pc5FPgUwJCddijWxJFZ_Brg1PEdfdtrosLHmelrkYqqiv9ZYRkzbshfOkl4eQtcLpJVDKqNgGFsJKXSEwDGmIqNeJ_nr4LTZOthvHYL9KlwxKlqgtz6FYphuiVG96VcCCSSwoSyW7c7LjpliabjArBl-_qLMT31JpymBLFw8kTQr8Q/s1365/learn_note_sign_directory.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1365" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3fw1P09B0Q3E5Pc5FPgUwJCddijWxJFZ_Brg1PEdfdtrosLHmelrkYqqiv9ZYRkzbshfOkl4eQtcLpJVDKqNgGFsJKXSEwDGmIqNeJ_nr4LTZOthvHYL9KlwxKlqgtz6FYphuiVG96VcCCSSwoSyW7c7LjpliabjArBl-_qLMT31JpymBLFw8kTQr8Q/s320/learn_note_sign_directory.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">As an
English teacher, whenever I have a lesson online or in a classroom, I
expect my students to make mistakes, and students, in turn, expect me
to correct them. Mistakes are a natural and fundamental part of learning.
“By seeking and blundering we learn,” to quote Goethe. But what
constitutes a mistake? More specifically, what is a grammatical mistake? In order to answer that question, I am going
to tell you a story about a table.</span> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Once
upon a time, a husband and a wife bought a table from IKEA. It was a
beautiful, oval coffee table in walnut veneer, or it would be once
they had assembled it – and if you have ever bought furniture from
IKEA, you will know that it is not always easy to put it together!
When the couple returned home, they took everything out of the box
and lay all the pieces of wood and the screws and the bolts on the
floor. It looked fairly straightforward, and so they started to
assemble the table without carefully studying the instructions. Soon
they realised that something was wrong. The legs of the table were
not straight. They looked at the instructions and saw that they had
used the wrong type of screw.</span>
</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Speaking
another language is a bit like assembling furniture. You know that
words go together in certain ways, but in order to express yourself
effectively, you need to use grammar – the instructions which tell
you how to properly form a sentence. Often I hear someone say, for
example, “I very like chocolate.” It is perfectly understandable,
of course, but a native speaker of English does not use the word
'very' in this way. If you want to know the reason for this, it is
because 'very' modifies adjectives and adverbs only, so the phrase 'very much',
or 'really', sounds better here. Better still would be “I like
chocolate very much,” with the adverbial phrase placed at the end
of the sentence.</span>
</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">In my
opinion, the grammar of a language is a set of instructions rather
than a set of rules – rules imply a penalty when they are broken,
but there are no penalties when it comes to learning a language;
there are only opportunities to learn. It is my job as a teacher to
make people aware of the instructions, and to show them how words go
together. It is not my job to act as a police officer and penalise
students for “breaking the rules”.</span>
</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Anyway,
let us return to the story. Did the couple manage to assemble their
table from IKEA? After consulting the instructions again over coffee,
they succeeded in putting all the right screws in all the right
places, and they now have a beautiful, oval coffee table standing in
their living room.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">The End.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206539431394628105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5157783618223272272.post-28838141101887184172022-06-22T03:10:00.005-07:002023-06-02T01:10:07.511-07:00Time for English<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs9NgIFZuIKLSg67wASRORzx70vfzQW4rSLSZhMeU49KuQI_av0fDmEuJ1y6XsEhT7fGTZLLhbVWQe4SYVY0mqQnTlPtsrlIGO77CjbDaVGnF5jsYiozPoDA9ezktK6IwYMJ4jzlUa-u7vVLHQbK7XCL7kcK1R-k1RoWw8nSO1ZyWUACXqjGphICF_ng/s1999/pexels-pixabay-460672.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1376" data-original-width="1999" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs9NgIFZuIKLSg67wASRORzx70vfzQW4rSLSZhMeU49KuQI_av0fDmEuJ1y6XsEhT7fGTZLLhbVWQe4SYVY0mqQnTlPtsrlIGO77CjbDaVGnF5jsYiozPoDA9ezktK6IwYMJ4jzlUa-u7vVLHQbK7XCL7kcK1R-k1RoWw8nSO1ZyWUACXqjGphICF_ng/s320/pexels-pixabay-460672.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I was born on the 3<sup>rd</sup>
of June, 1977. It was a Friday, although I was obviously unaware of
that at the time. There were many things I would not have been aware
of, like Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee, the first democratic
election in Spain after years of dictatorship, and the untimely death
of Elvis Presley. The first Star Wars film was released that year,
and NASA launched its Voyager spacecraft, which would help us to
learn more about our solar system. I would spend the next two decades
learning about more earthly pursuits, however. I played computer
games and watched MTV, fairly typical of someone from Generation X. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">
<span><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Having been born in the
latter part of the 20<sup>th</sup>
century, I eagerly awaited the beginning of the next century – the
new millennium. As midnight approached on the 31<sup>st</sup>
of December, 1999, I joined a crowd of revellers gathered around the
clock tower in the market town of Ormskirk, in the north of England.
I spent the rest of the night having drunken conversations with
people I hardly knew. That was over twenty years ago now. The time in
between has robbed me of a fringe and given me wrinkles, but you
would probably still recognise me had you known me back then.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Time flows like a river,
it has often been said, and it carries each of us in its current as
it moves ever forward in one direction only. We count it, spend it,
save it and waste it; and we wonder where it goes and why we never
seem to have enough of it. The word ‘time’ is the most commonly
used noun in the English language, hardly surprising when you think
about the modern obsession with time. We are ruled by the clock and
the calendar. Time is money. We talk of hourly rates and weekly
wages, monthly expenses and yearly profits. We have created a world
in which every second has a monetary value, when really every second
that passes is priceless.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tCQL5oNmQiSjECn92bM3EEhv67N4vjCjZR9K5Ap8BVajpUNe8M_3AEBDgAfo74Ss0kPnO_PK-mM-IDbSF_2BgGQN6MwfYDyNUTlQHqS76e40XFRPBvb1fbAliGDhCWoewZEmd2DfsZ0iWRDYhaypHDrPxLLwII0joBF2RCSfOgwZQXmb5apUv2eTeA/s452/Lucy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="452" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tCQL5oNmQiSjECn92bM3EEhv67N4vjCjZR9K5Ap8BVajpUNe8M_3AEBDgAfo74Ss0kPnO_PK-mM-IDbSF_2BgGQN6MwfYDyNUTlQHqS76e40XFRPBvb1fbAliGDhCWoewZEmd2DfsZ0iWRDYhaypHDrPxLLwII0joBF2RCSfOgwZQXmb5apUv2eTeA/s320/Lucy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When it comes to English
grammar, time, or rather our perception of it, plays an important
role. Take the sentence <i>Lucy is sleeping on the
sofa</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, for
example. Our four-legged friend is, at this moment in time, lying on
her side with her paws outstretched, dreaming about whatever dogs
dream about. You will notice in that example the verb </span><i>be</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
in its third person form, but it has no meaning; it is an auxiliary
verb. The verbs </span><i>be</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
</span><i>do</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
and </span><i>have </i><span style="font-style: normal;">are
all used as auxiliary verbs, and the English language relies heavily
on them to convey various meanings with regard to time. To give an
example using the verb </span><i>eat</i><span style="font-style: normal;">:
</span><i>Lucy is not eating now; Lucy has
already eaten. </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Coursebooks
refer to these respectively as the Present Continuous and the Present
Perfect, names which send a shudder down the spines of some people. I
was never taught this grammar; I acquired it from an early age by
listening to and interacting with the people around me.</span></span></span><p></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: normal;">How
long does it take to learn English? There is no simple answer to that
question other than 'a long time'. I always say that practice is by
far the most important part of learning English. Use the language as
much as you can – every day, if possible – and when you do not
have an opportunity to speak or write in English, listen to a song or
watch a video; read an article or a short story. I will finish with a
quote from the American writer and philosopher Will Durant: “We are
what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05206539431394628105noreply@blogger.com0