Search results for 'tag:Learning English tag:Punctuation' matching tags 'Learning English' and 'Punctuation'

Re: question...

Grammar Geek — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:15:46 GMT

The first set require a captial letter at the start of the sentence, but either way is fine.

In the second set, "he said" is more normal, but "said he" can be used for literary purposes. People just learning English may want to stick with "he said" but there's nothing incorrect about reversing the order. In American punctuation the comma would go inside the quotation mark.

Re: Please help me proof it. Thanks

Cheese1987 — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:39:46 GMT

Julielai wrote:

Some parts in red for you to fix

Cheese1987 wrote:

Thank you!

Account of the recent language learning experience and insights gained through the course both inside and outside of class

      I have learnt some useful skills in the course in these months.(incomplete sentence) The most impressing (missing three letters) lesson teach me how to write a composition in an (article) appropriate (sp.) style. I do know it is important to choose the appropriate style and tone when writing. I also understand that language style can be classified as formal, neutral and informal before. However, I do not know how I can write in an appropriate style correctly. The skills are not taught when I am in secondary school. After the lesson, I understand choice of vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar, use of transitional words and phrases, use of punctuation and use of abbreaviations and short forms affect the language style. I feel happy that I know how I can write in an appropriate style now. I believe that I can match the type of writing more correctly and therefore, my writing will _not__ _be__ (Insert words here) awkward or unnatural.

      Reading English newspapers also helps me to improve my English. I am not used to reading English newspaper before. But I am required to buy South China Morning Post from the courses. From then on I try to make reading South China Morning Post to be my daily routine. I find that it is an effective way to learn more vocabularies. It also helps me to broaden my horizon(Review your use of not only but also) Now I read South China Morning Post form Yahoo. So I can read South China Morning Post everyday. I deeply believe that South China Morning Post is worth reading.

Personal changed feelings/opinions/attitude towards English language learning

    I am convinced that English language learning are stressful and frustrating before. I feel nervous when everyone is focus on me and when teacher is listening carefully. I believe this feeling comes from my self- doubt. I think classmates are step ahead of me. I also cannot correctly pronounce some sounds and sets of sound. To be frank, I have thought that English is no more important because I am in Chinese Language and Literature Programme. I no need to improve my English anymore.

However, my friends told me that mastery of the English language is important. Hong Kong being a service - oriented economy, the advantage of having a competent English-speaking work force has become all the more improtant. I know that being a Chinese Language and Literature student is only an excuse to avoid learning English (You shouldn't think like that! Nothing wrong with being a Chinese major.). This thought only badly affects my interest and progress of learning English. I do know that if I lose the interest of learning English, my English cannot improve anymore. I need to find some ways to prevent feeling so embarrassed.

     There are ways for me to prevent feeling so embarrassed. I think the most practical way is to improve English. I should study English continuously. When I find some words that I cannot pronouce, I will check the electronic dictionary immediately. I will also try to speak English with my friends. I believe I can speak English fluently if I often do that. My friends can also kindly point out my grammatical mistakes. They will not laugh at my absurd mistakes. Therefore, I will not feel embarrassed anymore.

Personal Learning Plan

Long term goals:

a)         To get a C grade in Use of English in Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination

b)        To get a band score of 7 in IELTS

Short term goals:

a)         To finish all the exercises in Advanced Grammar in Use.

b)        To keep reading South China Moring Post and Hong Kong Standard

c)        To write compositions

Materials to use:

a)         Advanced Grammar in Use Exercise book

b)        South China Morning Post

c)        Hong Kong Standard

Activities to engage in:

a)         To join some workshops held by ITC

b)        To exchange oversea in Summer

How often:

a)         Doing 3 exercises everyday

b)        Reading Newspapers everyday (Look up the difference between "every day" and everyday)

c)        Writing a composition every 2 weeks

Mode of learning:

a)         Keep doing exercise and composition

b)        Keep reading newspapers

Mode of assessment:

a)         To sit for Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination.

b)        To sit for IELTS.

Re: Please help me proof it. Thanks

julielai — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:06:53 GMT

Some parts in red for you to fix

Cheese1987 wrote:

Account of the recent language learning experience and insights gained through the course both inside and outside of class

     Some useful skill I have learnt in the course in these months.(incomplete sentence) The most impress_ _ _ (missing three letters) ~~me is the~~ lesson teaching me how to write a composition in a (article) approicate (sp.) style. I do know it is important to choose the appropriate ~~and~~ tone when writing. I also understand that language style can be classified as formal, Neutral and Informal before. However, I do not know how I can write in an approriate style correctly. The skills are not taught when I am in secondary school. After the lesson, I understand choice of vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar, use of transitional words and phrases, use of punctuation and use of abbreaviations and short forms ~~are a critical issue~~ affect~~ing~~ the language style. I feel happy that I know how I can write in an approiate style now. I believe that I can match the type of writing more correctly and therefore, my writing will ~~be avoided to regard as~~ ___ ___ (Insert words here) awkward or unnatural.

      Reading English newspapers also helps me to improve my English. I am not used to reading English newspaper before. But I am required to buy South China Morning Post throught the courses. From then on I try to make reading South China Morning Post to be my daily routine. ~~I find that not only vocabularies I can learnt more , but also the horizon I can borden.~~ (Review your use of not only but also) Now ~~when the days I cannot received Newspaper from the lesson,~~ I read South China Morning Post form Yahoo. So I can read South China Morning Post everyday. I deeply believe that South China Morning Post is worth reading.

Personal changed feelings/opinions/attitude towards English language learning

    I am convinced that English language learning are stressful and frustrating before. I feel nervous when everyone is focus on me and when teacher is listening carefully. I believe this feeling comes from my self- doubt. I think classmates are step ahead of me. I also cannot correctly pronounce some sounds and sets of sound. To be frank, I have thought that English is no more important because I am in Chinese Language and Literature Programme. I no need to improve my English anymore.

However, my friends told me that mastery of the English language is indispensible. Hong Kong being a service - oriented economy, the advantage of having a competent English-speaking work force has become all the more improtant. I know that being a Chinese Language and Literature student is only an excuse to avoid learning English (You shouldn't think like that! Nothing wrong with being a Chinese major.). This thought only badly affect my interest and progress of learning English. I do know that if I lost the interest of learning English, my English cannot improve anymore. I need to find some ways to prevent feeling so fear and embarrassed.

     There are ways for me to prevent feeling so embarrassment. I think the most basical way is to improve English. I should study English continuously. When I find some words that I cannot ~~ensure to correctly~~ pronouce, I will check the electronic dictionary immediately. I will also try to speak English with my friends. I believe I can speak English fluently if I often do that. My friends can also kindly point out my grammatical mistakes. They will not laugh at my absurd mistakes. Therefore, I will not feel embarrassed anymore.

Personal Learning Plan

Long term goals:

a)         To get a C grade in Use of English in Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination

b)        To get a band score of 7 ~~marks~~ in IELTS

Short term goals:

a)         To finish all the exercises in Advanced Grammar in Use.

b)        To keep reading South China Moring Post and standard

c)        To write compositions

Materials to use:

a)         Advanced Grammar in Use Exercise book

b)        South China Morning Post

c)        Hong Kong Standard

Activities to engage in:

a)         To join some workshops held by ITC

b)        To exchange in Summer

How often:

a)         Doing 3 exercises everyday

b)        Reading Newspapers every day (Look up the difference between "every day" and everyday)

c)        Writing a composition every 2 weeks

Mode of learning:

a)         Keep doing exercise and composition

b)        Keep reading Newspapers

Mode of assessment:

a)         To sit for Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination.

b)        To sit for IELTS.

Please help me proof it. Thanks

Cheese1987 — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:41:16 GMT

Please help me proof it. Thanks!

Account of the recent language learning experience and insights gained through the course both inside and outside of class

Some useful skill I have learnt in the course in these months. The most impress me is the lesson teaching me the skills to write a composition in a approicate style. I do know it is important to choose the appropriate and tone when writing. I also understand that language style can be classified as formal, Neutral and Informal before. However, I do not know how I can write in an approriate style correctly. The skills are not taught when I am in secondary school. After the lesson, I understand choice of vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar, use of transitional words and phrases, use of punctuation and use of abbreaviations and short forms are a critical issue affecting the language style. I feel happy that I know how I can write in an approiate style now. I believe that I can match the type of writing more correctly and therefore, my writing will be avoided to regard as awkward or unnatural.

Reading English newspapers also helps me to improve my English. I am not used to reading English newspaper before. But I am required to buy South China Morning Post throught the courses. From then on I try to make reading South China Morning Post to be my daily routine. I find that not only vocabularies I can learnt more , but also the horizon I can borden. Now when the days I cannot received Newspaper from the lesson, I read South China Morning Post form Yahoo. So I can read South China Morning Post everyday. I deeply believe that South China Morning Post is worth reading.

Personal changed feelings/opinions/attitude towards English language learning

I am convinced that English language learning are stressful and frustrating before. I feel nervous when everyone is focus on me and when teacher is listening carefully. I believe this feeling comes from my self- doubt. I think classmates are step ahead of me. I also cannot correctly pronounce some sounds and sets of sound. To be frank, I have thought that English is no more important because I am in Chinese Language and Literature Programme. I no need to improve my English anymore.

However, my friends told me that mastery of the English language is indispensible. Hong Kong being a service - oriented economy, the advantage of having a competent English work force has become all the more improtant. I know that being a Chinese Language and Literature student is only an excuse to avoid learning English. This thought only badly affect my interest and progress of learning English. I do know that if I lost the interest of learning English, my English cannot improve anymore. I need to find some ways to prevent feeling so fear and embarrassed.

There are ways for me to prevent feeling so embarrassment. I think the most basical way is to improve English. I should study English continuously. When I find some words that I cannot ensure to correctly pronouce, I will check the electronic dictionary immediately. I will also try to speak English with my friends. I believe I can speak English fluently if I often do that. My friends can also kindly point out my grammatical mistakes. They will not laugh at my absurd mistakes. Therefore, I will not feel embarrassed anymore.

Personal Learning Plan

Long term goals:

a) To get a C grade in Use of English in Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination

b) To get 7 marks in IELTS

Short term goals:

a) To finish all the exercises in Advanced Grammar in Use.

b) To keep reading South China Moring Post and standard

c) To write compositions

Materials to use:

a) Advanced Grammar in Use Exercise book

b) South China Morning Post

c) Hong Kong Standard

Activities to engage in:

a) To join some workshops held by ITC

b) To exchange in Summer

How often:

a) Doing 3 exercises everyday

b) Reading Newspapers everyday

c) Writing a composition every 2 weeks

Mode of learning:

a) Keep doing exercise and composition

b) Keep reading Newspaper

Mode of assessment:

a) To sit for Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination.

b) To sit for IELTS.

Argumentative paper! need help!! got a D on this!!!!!!

Anonymous — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 07:11:26 GMT

Hello i am currently taking english class over the summer..

and having trouble with English paper,

since english is my second language, as though i thought i wrote okay but

the professor gave me a D for this paper..

i don't understand its english 101 class and got a D for unclearity and lack of

explanations. and he said i need polish my punctuation which i don't know

what the hell it is, also i am too wordy?.... please guys help me to get an A.

here it is...

Even though its unfairness has been suggested from various points of views, the standardized tests in the United States have been used for college admission for almost 100 years. This problem-causing standardized test, the SAT, is also known as Scholastic Aptitude Test. The intended primary purpose of this test is to be a faculty instrument to predict the success of students in college. Also, the SAT is considered a measuring tool to gauge the level of studentsâ reading and mathematic comprehension. Carl Brigham, who developed the SAT as an intelligence test for the use in college admissions, once had said âthe SAT testing system ignored factors such as schooling, family background, and familiarity with Englishâ (Fleming). According to this statement, the SATs must be used as a fair source to test students because not only it affects college admission for students, but also for equalities for all test takers. Regarding the recent scholastic suggestions indicating the disadvantages that are followed by gender, minority groups, and misusage of the test materials, the SAT should not be used as a strong determining factor for the college admission.

One of the factors that results disadvantage of the SAT is gender of the test takers. It is universally known that the learning and problem approaching method significantly varies on gender. The SAT test is disregarding these facts because both genders get the same tests and be tested on it. Not surprisingly, few private schools have accepted theses facts anaccepting only one gender students . Based on the statistics from 270,000 students, Dr. Ken Rowe, Australian Council for Educational Research, found that both boys and girls performed between 15 and 22 percentile points higher on standardized tests when they went to single sexed high school (Rowe). This data proves that applying different teaching systems to different genders has led to better performance of students. McCullough, researcher at University of Wisconsin-Stout, also suggested that males are more intuitive, indirect, and abstract learners whereas females are more organized and analytical learners (McCullough). Therefore, each gender requires different learning approach system. And these characteristics in each gender should be carefully considered before giving out the tests and used as college admission.

In fact, an article titled âUnderprediction of Female Performance from Standardized Knowledge Testsâ states that there is an inaccurate prediction on the femalesâ performance in their freshmen year in colleges. It informs even though the femalesâ SAT scores are lower than malesâ by about 34 points on each section, the femalesâ have higher average grade points in their freshmen years of college (Poole). This suggests that the SAT is not well-structured enough to address the differences in gender learning process to represent the performance of female students in colleges. This male-favoring biased test should be corrected for better precision in determining the performance level of students in colleges. More specifically, the questions on the SATs should be changed to more analytical and organized questions for females while questions where intuitive thinking is required should be given out to male. Therefore, by gender, the test takers should get different SAT test in order to achieve its purpose.

Disadvantages of minority groups should also be considered as a factor of unfairness of SATs. The minority, African American, Hispanic, and Asian immigrants, score significantly lower than white students. Especially, on the verbal section on the SAT which tests college level vocabulary and reading comprehension. This section of the SATs is more disadvantageous for students whose English is not their first language. Also, The National Center for Fair & Open Testing found that even for bilingual students whose first language was English, the SAT inaccurately predicted college performance (FairTest). Although there is a replacement test for verbal section called âTOEFLâ which stands for âTest of English as a Foreign Languageâ. It does not entirely compensate the verbal section and represent the performance of the students. The TOEFL, also refers as English proficiency test, does not test college level of vocabulary and reading level, but it tests studentsâ capability of learning English. Therefore, with TOEFL, the performance of high school students further in college can not be predicted and used. Moreover, it costs about 4 to 5 times more than the SATs which causes to minimize the test attempts, and this factor also can not be ignored from the unfairness of the SAT. Also, the Rigidity usage of the SAT for college admission will automatically result in accepting less minority freshman classes (FairTest).

Everson and Michna, professors at Columbia University, have proposed that the family income influences on the score of the SATs. On the data titled as âObserved Relationship between Family Income & SAT Scores:â indicates the proportioned relationship between the family income and the SAT scores of students. It also suggests that the SAT score of the child depends on the race of the family and interestingly the race of the family also correlates with the family income. In that data, a student from a white family with an income above $ 70,000 would score above 1008 points on the SATs, and a child from an African-American with an income of lower than $ 10,000 would score below 675 points on the SATs (Everson and Michna). This statistic implies that the income of the parents directly affects the SAT scores of their children rather than their intellect. Since the income and class of the parents is usually determined by the educational level of parents, this could be interpreted as the SAT is designed and favors the students with highly educated parents. Therefore, based on the statistics, the SAT has preferential of certain ethnic race and higher income and educational level of parents.

In addition to those disadvantages, the SAT prep courses or materials are misused in various ways which violate the intended purpose of the SAT. Even though most colleges say that the college does not have specific cut-off lines of SAT scores for accepting students, there are an increasing number of students who are studying for the SATs only for higher scores. This is resulted from the common misconception from people that the comparative schools only accept the higher SAT scores and reject lower SAT scores (FairTest). McEntire, a researcher, had proposed a flaw of the SATs because 2 to 3 months of quick preparation of the SAT will significantly raise the scores. Therefore, those scores lack the relevance of the prediction of the studentsâ performance in colleges. Numerous test preparation materials are now on every book stores and even certain institutions are built solely in order to teach SATs. Even if the costs are up to $800-1000, parents are promoting students to attend SAT prep course (McEntire).

The Flaws along with illegal act upon taking SATs are abused globally, and this factor should be modified for a fair test. The following problem is time related disadvantages considering the fact that the SATs are given out to the students at the same time world widely. Therefore, students who took the test earlier in the one side of the earth provide information by posting the answers and discussing the problems on a certain website. This will give time differences for those who live in the other side of the earth and give pre-exposure to the test before taking the test. Not only this action is illegal and politically improper, but also raises the questions on the fairness of the SAT. Another abuse of the SAT can be suggested from the unjust time management. Because of the fact that the SAT also tests students time distributions for each problem, the SATs are should be taken in strict given time (Collegeboard). But few articles have reported the problems that were related to poor time management that results in giving extra times for students. Allen, a writer for home schooling, has proposed that the extra amount of time while taking SAT will improve the scores which disobey the purpose of the SAT (Allen). These time-related problems could be fixed by producing variety version of the tests, and also that test can be taken on computers which eliminate such disadvantageous factors.

Junior and Senior high school students are frantically studying to memorize SAT words and practice how quickly to apply mathematical theorems to the problems. Most upper classmen high school students undergo these rituals even though the SATs contain various flaws and unfairness factors. Regarding to previous discussions, those flaws are not appropriate enough to represent the potentials and abilities of studentsâ performance in their freshmen years in colleges. Even Testmakers acknowledge that high school grade-point average or class rank is the best predictors of first-year grades, despite the huge variation among high schools and courses (FairTest). Furthermore, the SATs should not be used as a definitive source for college admission. Itâs urgent for colleges to raise another valid standardized test which will eliminate such disadvantages and flaws. Such as for colleges not requiring the SAT scores from the students who falls in to top 20 percent could be a solution. And less concentration on the SAT scores, but put more weight on accepting students regarding their other curriculum such as leadership, activities, honor or awards, and GPAs would be an another solution. The current SAT materials are not apt to measure the studentsâ abilities of performance with those unfairness and disadvantages factors. Moreover, the SAT seemed it had lost its primary purpose of predicting the performance of the students, and what it actually stands for as Scholastic Aptitude Test.

thanks for reading this far but i am that frustrated for having freaking D.

you can email me with your revised version to wkawk2416@hotmail.com

or leave comments feel free to correct syntax + grammarical errors. thanks!

Re: at what on in?

Yankee — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:39:30 GMT

Hamoody_usa wrote:
Hello, everyone

How are you ?

I am glad to be with you in the best forum for learning English.

My English is not perfect.

I've been learning for a year and a half.

However, I have some questions. First of all, if I make any mistakes, please correct me. OK. Please have a look at everything in blue.

My question is about the subject (In view of the fact that you asked a number of questions, it would have been better to say "One of my questions ...")

at: a specific time (at 8:30, at noon)

on: a specific day or date (on Tuesday, on June 11th)

in: a month, year, season (in June, in 2001, in winter)

When should I use those , for example? For more detailed information, please use the search function on this site and/or post a new, more specific question.

Let's start with days, months and year.

Second, sometimes we use at with school but ohertime we use in ,,{{ really confusion))
"He is at school." --> This basically tells you where he is (location).
"He is in school." --> This is more the idea that he attends school.

What is the correct sentence:

I am on my way to come to you ? Is it right? No, try this: "I'm on my way to your house."

or "I am in my way."? The word 'in' is wrong. "I am on my way" means that I am on my way to a place that has been mentioned in the broader context.

~~please, if u can~~ Could you please tell me some differences between at.and on? There are many differences. Please post specific and separate questions.

Thank you so much

By the way, I have a small question about clean and wash.

Do they have the same meaning? Can I say "I wash my dishes." Yes, this means you wash your dishes regularly.

Or "I am cleaning my dishes"? Yes, this means you are cleaning/washing your dishes now.

How about 'body'? wash your body, or clean your body? It would be more typical to use 'myself' or to word it completely differently: "I washed myself." or "I took a shower/bath."

.. Before I finish. really small point

How about wipe and swap? I assume you must mean 'swab'. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=swab&r=66

Do they have the same meaning , too? No: swap

Thank you very much.

I really appreciate your help.

Hi Hamoody
I agree completely with Nona and khoff. In the future, please limit the number of questions in a single post and please try to make your questions more specific.

I have corrected the errors in your post (in blue). Please use proper spelling, capitalization and punctuation! I've also given you some answers, many of which are the same as Nona's answers.

Re: How to speak good english?

Goodman — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 23:10:09 GMT

_{I believe this question is best answered by someone who sees it from the former learner's point of view because natives don't have to go through the seemingly impossible phases that the ESL learners must go through. To put it in perspectives I would offer the following for your reference:}

_{There are many facets of in learning English, depending on what the level of expectation and willingness are, the result can be different.}

_{I say this because I went through the ordeal. To learn English, or any language well, one must learn and build a solid structure. This one worked for me:}

_{1) Good grammar (basics like Capitalization, punctuation, tenses, spelling and part of speech)}

_{2) Build a functional and practical vocabulary (not words you only see 3 times in your life time)}

_{3) Watch educational programs as often as possible to develop speech and sentence pattern recognition. These programs are usually produced by BBC or PBS whos used qualified people with perfect English skills.}

_{4) Read and practice. Many learners 's mother tongues are not spoken the same way and therefore do not use the facial and tongue muscel as does English. Therefore reading out loud is a good way to train these muscels to work with English pronunciations. This process takes the longest time because if one is to speak and sound fluently like a well-educated native, or somewhat like one, chances are, he can not do it if he mixes English pronunciation with the his native accent.}

_{5) Avoid using big words on simple sentences. Many learners have this habits. Sometime, it can be quite amsuing.}

_{6) Last one is - don't be shy about asking questions. No question is stupid! unless you repeated it 3 times}

_{That is my experiene and I think it has worked for me.}

please ,help me to correct my paragraph.

Toetoe — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 18:54:01 GMT

hi,

our teacher asked us to write a paragraph about the reasons why i wanted to learn english.i will be glad if somebody helps me to correct it and to omit my mitakes(including punctuation).

here is my paragraph:

Because of many reasons caused the actual world's conditions i took the decision to learn english.In a world ,that can be considered as a global village,english is the world lingua franca.as it is pratical and not complex ,it is spoken everywhere.In many countries,english had been choosen to be the primary language , in a way to solve the problem caused by the variety of local dialects.In india for exemple ,english is the official language alongside hindi.Another reason is that the importance of english in my country is increasing .This language is occuping more and more space in our school system.In some jobs ,speaking english has become an obligation.Also ,as english is the worldwide language ,many hitorical and idiological books are translated to it ,therefore learning it will allow me to find out new cultures and to enrich my knowledges. Finally,,learning english today has been inescapable ,neverthless we have to hold on our mother tongue.

Re: Vocabulary

Englishuser — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 22:14:45 GMT

Hi Nef,

Once again, please forgive me for quoting you in a clumsy way.

This also makes learning English so exciting; you need to learn British English, Canadian English, Caribbean English, Nigerian English, Australian English...

You have a lot more energy than I do, but that's good.

I think you definitely need to know 'world English'. It's a must, really. I'm currently studying South African and Nigerian Englishes.

Not to speak of learning the vocabulary of Chaucer and Shakespeare, something that's paramount to all of us, I should think.

I have never thought it was paramount to anyone except the people who thought it was paramount to themselves. I'm not one of them. " src="/emoticons/emotion-1.gif">

Perhaps you're right. At least people will be impressed with your English if you manage to use seventeenth-century vocabulary (and grammar). Perhaps I should try to imitate Shakespeare in my posts.

Speaking of professors of English, do you think they have vaster vocabularies than other native speakers (including English teachers)?

I think there's a huge amount of individual variation.

Interesting. I somehow find it unlikely that a Professor of English at the University of Harward, for instance, would know fewer words than a native speaker who hasn't studied English. English majors are, after all, required to read quite a lot.

Where are you from, EU?

Your question is a bit cryptical: EU could be an abbreviation for the European Union (in which case you'd want me to confirm your assumption that I'm an EU national, and not an AU national, for instance). Yes, I'm from the EU. Of course EU could also be an abbreviation for EnglishUser (which is probably what you meant), but as you can see I decided to answer the question my own way.

As we've been discussing the importance of knowing various words, I think I should mention that people know words differently. For instance, it's very obvious to most native speakers that 'tonga' refers to a small, light two-wheeled horse- or pony-drawn carriage or cart originating in India, but very few people would know that the word entered the English language sometime between 1870 and 1899 and that the word came from the Hindi word taga (my apologies for not being able to use appropriate punctuation marks or Hindi characters here). I personally think it's important to know a word well, so to say, which basically means you know something about its origin, various acceptable pronunciations, etc. Also, one should never forget to learn every known meaning, past and present, for each word in the language, no matter how archaic and obsolete some of them might be. To give you an example, the word 'pudding' means at least 15 different things (2 of which are archaic). (Not everyone knows that 'pudding' was used for a 'pudding' roasted within the body of an animal, for instance. 'Pudding' was used in this sense c. 1570 - 1799, and, in my opinion, this is an important piece of information.)

Re: Pop songs

Arvsworld — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 10:48:33 GMT

Learning English by listening to songs is not always the best path. Like you said, there are often lines or words that are omitted. A lot of lyrics are written to fit the music. This causes many lines in certain songs to be grammatically poor. If you randomly listen to any song out there, you may learn the wrong things.

You'll have to ask some of your most trusted native English speakers to recommend songs for you to learn from. Many people may not like the genre, but Copacabana by Barry Manilow is an excellent song - musically and lyrically. You can learn structure (but not punctuation), tenses, genders, third person, and general story-telling.

http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/copacaba.htm

If you read through each verse, you'll find that all his ideas are complete and well structured to clearly tell his story.

Many of the older songs have better lyric writing as well. Many songs made popular by the likes of Nat "King" Cole and Frank Sinatra have well written lyrics.

Try to avoid learning from songs that use too many metaphors, reduced forms or omissions and slang.

-A