Search results for 'tag:Paragraphs tag:Language schools' matching tags 'Paragraphs' and 'Language schools'

Re: The Callan Method

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:20:08 GMT

Hi everybody,

I strongly disagree with the views mentioned on behalf of the Callan Method. Just because it promises to get the student where he or she wants to, doesn't mean the Method deserves criticism. I've been teaching English both the traditional way and the Callan Method way for about a year and a half now and I find that the Callan Method is much more productive (great emphasis on 'much') because it forces the student to cope with real language and real life situations, not just nonsensical vocabulary (words like 'juggle' or 'juggler', etc which I believe are to be found in almost all elementary books, not the Callan ones, though).

The Method completely fulfills every single promise it gives to the student provided that a skilled and well-educated teacher (not necessarily a native speaker) holds the classes. The problem is that many language schools actually applying the Callan Method do not have well-trained teachers. To make matters worse, many teachers who claim to be teaching the Callan Method way are no more than common frauds who are likely to fit into the groups they are teaching - but not as teachers, as ordinary students who have great gaps in their knowledge. Their only goal is to make money. Thus, they knowingly bring shame on their well-qualified colleagues and the Method itself.

As far as the qualifications of lectors teaching the Callan way are concerned, I must emphasize the great need that is placed on their in-depth knowledge and practical understanding of grammar as well as vocabulary. Every time a non-professional teacher is confronted with the grammar in the Callan Books, they find out they are not suitable for the position of a teacher. In short, they do NOT understand what defective verbs are, they have difficulty in comprehending the various nuances of the verb have - used either as stative or dynamic, for that case, with or without DO-support, using the marginal modal auxiliary verb DARE, keeping pace with Robin Callan's explanation of the sentence structure which is broken down into sentences - clauses - clause elements - phrases - words and phonemes (which is, by the way, something that is an acknowledged fact supported by Quirk and Greenbaum and other leading grammarians), etc. As a result, they commonly give up teaching English the Callan way and turn towards teaching the traditional way because there they are not required to understand any such 'high' grammar, ie they are limited to simple terms which put as little effort on the part of the teacher as possible. Laughable, wouldn't you say?

To comment on the vocabulary used in the books, I personally find it well chosen, though I'd fill in some more lexical items in the higher stages, mostly in the stages 11 and 12. Apart from that, the vocabulary is often witty and easy to remember. I've grown to like the way it is proportioned in the books, though I still find that stage 1 is quite difficult for beginners who start learning English from the scratch. Nevertheless, what one might describe as sexual harassment or hatred towards women, I consider a witty and hilarious approach to teaching. I've asked my students on many an occasion about their personal feelings when being confronted with such chunks of language and ALL of them agreed that it was something unusual but not in the negative sense. As the words and phrases are groupped together in witty sequences, it was easy for the students to remember the words not only for a couple of hours or days but for long periods of time - without learning them at home again (!!!) which is something students normally do after finishing a course which uses the traditional approach of teaching.

So much to my comments, though I could still write much more than just those few paragraphs.

To conclude, for those students who are still thinking whether to take up learning English the traditional way or rather try the 'English-in-a-quarter-of-the-time' method ... well, I'd go for the latter.

College Motivation Letter... MountainHiker, you still on here?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:33:51 GMT

Hi all! I have written this to the best of my ability. I'm pretty secure about the language part, as I'm bilingual, but it's the culture part that I want to check works. Some stuff I need to put in there, like the reason for the GPA - it's part letter, part appeal. But, this is my question, does it come off as too smarmy, too corny, too vague, disorganized, paragraphs need switching around? I just really liked what Hiker said to some other people n here - I have tried to follow the question checklists s/he posted "(Introduction (very quick points) 1a) Who you are 1b) What you want to do 1c) Why do you want to do it 1d) What do you want from them 2) Detailed background 2a) Expand on who you are 3) Detailed background 3a) Expand on what you want to do and why you want to do it 4) Summary 4a) Summarize what you have told them 4b) Thank them for considering your application" and the list for another poster "1) You have a Communication Science degree 2) You want to obtain a Masters Degree in European Comparative Public Policy 3) You want to study at University of Essex 4) You have a passion for European Comparative Public Policy 5) You want to do what or influence what once you are done?" This is an online... ookay, off to edit *edits* *returns* ...online college offering a Liberal Arts MA. Fort Hays State University. And this is my letter: As an immigrant from Egypt with a BA in English literature, including comparative and cultural studies, a background in consciousness-raising work and gender activism, and a lifelong dream of a career conveying these concepts to others and inspiring them to make a difference, I respectfully seek acceptance at your Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program. Culture, critical thinking, history, and social analysis have been the most important fields of study (formal and otherwise) in my life for as long as I can remember. My mission since graduation has been to analyze and question accepted ways of doing things, including sexuality, the monolithic nature of official discourse, and the mainstreaming of the Arabic language and Islam while eroding indigenous tongues and other religions in my native Egypt. As an aficionado of historical narrative, especially that of my native region, the Middle East, and a keen observer of the unseen social currents of religious and gender politics, and cultural norms, mores and values, I have devoted myself to exploring what lies beneath the surface and is visible through the 'iceberg' model of culture. To this end, I have read over 150 books on history, culture, religion, politics and sexuality, among others, mostly about Arab culture. I already am teaching Middle Eastern culture and history at a small language school. The reaction I have received has made me eager to become qualified for a better teaching position in the field of culture/comparative studies. There is so much work to be done in this area to make people truly aware! However, I sense that before being qualified to do this, I am in need of a more thorough academic grounding in epistemology, anthropology and the science of critical thinking skills, as well as in the broader areas of culture and human knowledge, including cross-disciplinary studies and research on cultures outside the mainstream. I am confident that these fields are jut what I need to formalize the learning imparted by my sometimes tumultuous social-political personal experience. While the English Department of Cairo University, where I earned my BA, was a liberal oasis (my majors included Comparative Literature, Civilization and feminist criticism), I later found many of my fellow-Arabs were resistant to a liberal outlook. At that time, the newspapers were abuzz with news of the 'Satanist cult': trumped-up charges (later dismissed by judges as a total fabrication) brought by powerful police officials against American University boys and girls, arrested for wearing black and listening to heavy metal, tortured into confessing crimes they never committed. I became more and more frustrated as people kept telling me, "The newspapers say it; it must be true." For these people, the appearance of difference, and condemnation by the mainstream media, was enough to condemn these unfortunate young people whose only crime had been to assert some individuality and deviate from social norms. The issue became even more complicated and interesting when a number of Europeans I worked with, in a well-intentioned quest for 'cultural sensitivity', ended up with a prescriptive and restrictive definition of Middle Eastern culture: "No, no, boys shouldn't take Home Economics classes. We understand your culture." I preferred to view norms, mores, and values as separate entities and not succumb to the Orientalist view that, lumped together, unchanging and unchangeable, they constituted a monolithic 'culture'. Some of the other questions I asked myself were: What is collective memory? Can one find a descriptive, rather than prescriptive, model of culture? How far does respect for difference erode the rights of the dissenting individual in a collective culture? These are questions whose answers I hope to seek in your program. In 2001, my interest in sexual/religious difference took on a more overtly political nature with the Queen Boat case, where 52 gay men were arrested on trumped-up charges of, yes, Satanism. Unable to stand it any longer, I started a campaign to pressure legal organizations to give them representation in court ("But they're fags! Why represent them?") and alert international human rights organizations to the issue. This had some success; however, it became clear that I was next in line for arrest, and finally I sought political asylum in the U.S. Since coming here, I have studied cinema (earning an associate degree with a 3.8 GPA) made a film on the subject, and am currently preparing a documentary on the veil. In addition to your academic program, which seems to offer a roadmap to the answers for many of my questions, your university is ideal for me in that you offer a course to be taken completely online. This is beyond convenient for me, as I am busy with work and have found that commuting time cuts into my study hours; I would also find it impossible to relocate to Kansas at this time. Also, in an age where education can be, literally, a forbidding expense, my gratitude knows no bounds for your efforts to provide a quality education at a price I can actually afford. I feel it is pertinent here to mention that, just before the exams of my last year at university, I was among a group of students who were holding a peaceful demonstration against the interference of the secret police in student affairs, including sabotaging student union elections. The secret police pelted us with tear gas grenades and rubber bullets; I was unlucky, and had to be carried out of the university with a broken nose and upper respiratory inflammation. When exam time came round, I was not yet recovered (Egyptian universities base the entire grade on one final exam, not on coursework) but made an effort to come to exams and ultimately managed to pass all my tests. However, while my GPA in previous years was significantly higher, as you can see from my transcript, I was unable to make the minimum 2.5 GPA required for the last 60 hours of undergraduate study. This rather lengthy and tedious explanation precedes, as you may be expecting, an urgent and very heartfelt plea that you not allow this unfortunate occurrence to stand in the way of my chances for learning and the ultimate fulfillment of my life's dream. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Your university represents a dream to me, not least thanks to the convenience and cost, which means that the dream is finally within my grasp. It is my dearest hope to become a student at the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program, thereby gaining an invaluable academic grounding and ideological framework and positively influencing others thereby. If accepted, I pledge to apply myself to my studies diligently, and never give you cause to doubt the wisdom if your decision. Allow me to thank you, again, for considering my application. Yours sincerely

People fought in a Chinese translation forum

Lafingn — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:25:09 GMT

Hi, everyone! Happy New Year!

But I'm trying to be happy. I'm pulled into a debate over "the very English standard" in a Chinese translation forum. A "sensible" lad who crammed in China's New Oriental Language School asserts that many usages, including those in nytimes.com, economist.com, native speakers' blogs and more, are actually non-stardard and thus wrong. Even some in Oxford dictionaries now become "obsolete" or "unacceptable". One of his examples is about "which" used as relative pronoun:

A student who talks about 'strong rain' may make himself understood, but possibly not without provoking a smile or a correction, which may or may not matter.

He says which, referring a circumstance here, is a misuse. The original sentence is from the introduction to an Oxford dictionary. By the way, he also laughs at the part "but possibly not without provoking a smile or a correction" because he thinks it's bad English (maybe not very smooth for his limited reading), while I don't agree.

Also denied is another example from American Traditional Dictionary:

He left early, which was wise.

He says every teacher in New Oriental would frown on this because they were taught in school that the relative pronoun "which" should in no way substitute a foregoing sentence in the proceeding non-restrictive attributive clause.

Is that true, or the dictionary wrong?

My next question is what's your opinion about education New Oriental offers, if you happen to know. Since I really doubt about it.

He posted his comments(sorry for his dirty words)ï¼

Should any native English speaker look at what you put down here, he or she will definitely go to see a doctor as this foreigner will not only be amused, but also be suffering from a nausea and vomiting disease. Such trashy and junk words were put together to display how poor and messy your so-called English (in fact, even worse than typical Chinglish) is . You can certainly regard me as stinky because I have been so unluckily gotten into contact with you, a piece of ***. You can rest your mind that I am far inferior to you in this regard. How funny a stupid idiot like you could have an idea of building up a team! Do you believe that there are many other people on this world, who can be as similarly asinine as you are. Just go to the hell and kiss your mom's ass! Your so-called dream ( actually a kind of deliria) will never come true. Otherwise, our society as a whole will run into an overall catastrophe of deterioration of our population quality. BTW, you shall never compare yourself with violinqq, as doing so is like comparing a piece of *** with a brillant piece of jade.

My reply and comments on his English (he says he can't read because "it's a mess"):

while "poor" is my guts feeling to your lanugage, a second thought is carefully given to the reasoning why it should look so awkward. considering the paragraph Aurorean offered as a prototype in many aspects, a thorough examination helps to identify some factors that are about the language per se and that can be quickly wiped off upon notice; the rest factors, however, extend far beyond language due to their much deeper roots in thinking habits upon which words and patterns are selected.

Generally the language in question features lengthy and humdrum, which is often the lesson of Chinese English. On the whole, Chinese tolerates more repetition than English does. Oftimes parallel words and phrases, or structures of like meanings in Chinese break out powerful rather than demolish the strength. But in English, it's the other way around. Silimar elements piled on can be worse than grammar mistakes with their lower efficiency in conveying meaning and the breakup in reading, for it distracts readers, even annoys them. And Chinese is a more detailed languge. While many elements in English are self-evident and can be safely left out, doing so in Chinese is risky and would give an abrupt sense, though it can still be understood with a little extra effort. Chinese English is humdrum not just for a considerable amount of repetition, but also for a lack of lively vocabulary, sentence patterns, and other forceful expressions.

The above mentioned, it becomes apparent why and how literal translation, or writing English from Chinese structures, is problematic.

Let's proceed to the problems packed in the following paragraph, by courtesy of our Mr. Aurorean, the personality of amusing grudges and grievances, not thoroughly denied though could have been, thanks to the benevolence of the translation industry and many open-minded people. Thanks to Mr. Aurorean, for his unabashed display of his self-styled good english, which may otherwise help to benchmark many translators' work.

Should any native English speaker look at what you put down here, he or she will definitely go to see a doctor as this foreigner will not only be amused, but also be suffering from a nausea and vomiting disease.
Comments: very low efficiency. Simply put it like this: Any English native speaker at your words will... Well, "what your put down here" is self-evident in the context so it's needless. Should..... is a relatively big structure here but we don't like it to do a small job. "not only be amused, but also be" is childish logic, it's dull, not interesting, not funny.

Such trashy and junk words were put together to display how poor and messy your so-called English (in fact, even worse than typical Chinglish) is .
comments: just select one between trashy and junk, since either repeats the other here. We know such words "were put together", you don't have to speak it out, which means to emphasize. So it's needless too. poor and messy, just choose the latter, because messy conveys "poor". so-called is not a good word; the meaning is not ironic enough translated from chinese literally. So see my changes:
The bundle of words makes a valueless display of the english of yours. One won't think futher if it's chinglish or not.

See? You don't have to look sissy by shouting words like "such", "how poor", "how messy". You may have never been praised as a sense of humour by females. Well, that's okay. But you should at least know how to say barbed words in a polite manner. Or how you dare to pick up english as a gun?

You can certainly regard me as stinky because I have been so unluckily gotten into contact with you, a piece of ***.
Comments: a master of english don't end a long sentence with "***." the logic is baby level too. not attractive at all. Well, try some Shakespeare way:
What's in the name "Aurorean"
that we don't call by ***
but smells at well

You can rest your mind that I am far inferior to you in this regard. How funny a stupid idiot like you could have an idea of building up a team!
Comments: you know why you look sissy? because you tag and cap others with boorish lore. now calm down and check back your words, you were being so desperate. God won't tag you with "idiot", because he's merciful. We won't too, because it's overtly evident what a kind of thing before us. Your words reflect yourself. you are your words.

Do you believe that there are many other people on this world, who can be as similarly asinine as you are. Just go to the hell and kiss your mom's ass!
Comments: really childish logic. i'm so sorry but your imagination is so flat. You just hurt your mother. You are 30 something. So your mother is a senior now. God bless her. hope she survives you 'cause you two are to split into different ends of the world in the long run. Cherish the rest time.

Your so-called dream ( actually a kind of deliria) will never come true. Otherwise, our society as a whole will run into an overall catastrophe of deterioration of our population quality. BTW, you shall never compare yourself with violinqq, as doing so is like comparing a piece of *** with a brillant piece of jade.
Comments: Yuk, instead just say "I'm worried about your dream" to avoid sissy impression and create gentleman image. don't say "our society as a whole" because you are not supposed to be one of the leadership level right? "an overall catastrophe of deterioration of our population quality" sound lousy: words are too long. simply try "the end of the world", and it's more vivid and impressive. by the way, i'm not that great, and the world won't collapse for my individual existence. I'm so worried about your state of health. check your family tree and see if one or two cases of Alzheimer's disease or mongolian exist. by the way, who grants you the big position to compare? look at yourself, even a far cry from a botched creature by god.

Whose English is more acceptable? I'm in want of your opinions.

Thank you all in advance.

Re: Best way to learn English?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 23:56:46 GMT

shmsabahÃ
After a quick look ,the way my teacher and essay books say that an essay has a structure .
And topic sentences.
The structures generally of an essay are:

Introduction
Body
Conclusion
You can look in google for "five paragraph essay"until I'll find you a specific good example.
I think the place where are you learning should provide you with (model essay) more information on essay
struture,connectives to connect paragraphs and make the essay flow(similiar to driving a car)
and topic sentence.There is different essay types such as Argumentative essay,normal essay...The other thing to concider when writing essays is if you can use first person prounouns,formal ,informal language.

Please integrate the information at the end of your essay in a paragraph,give fewer example.
Your first draft looks good,but it need more cutting and pasting to look like an essay.
I'll give quick example of a topic sentence.
(Introduction)Please don't write introduction ,just introduce your topic
There is different English language schools in Emirate.Students choose the best language school for them depend firstly on the course cost,secondly teachers profile and finally transportion
(Topic sentence 1)
Cost (As you notice in T.S.1 you'll talk about cost only in this paragraph)
(Topic sentence 2)
Teachers profile(paragraph)
(Topic sentence 3)
transportation(Paragraph)
In conclusion or in summary,you can write either of these(sum up briefly what you said in you essay,don't introduce new ideas)

You can have a look at Nawal thread cause there is some suggestion on essay writing.But be careful don't change it to argumentative essay if the teacher doesn't want to.
Good luck in your essay,your english is really good.I hope I did good and no harm.

I hope bestÂ§

Re: COLLEGE MOTIVATION LETTER HELP!

Clotilde — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 19:05:51 GMT

Hi Savvy,

Thanks so much for all your help, my letter is looking better and better each day! I'm having trouble talking about my future plans (as in 5 years from now) because I do not know what exact career I want, I just know that I want a career in france. And this is a bachelor's degree I am going for. If you could help me with the last few paragraphs, that would be so great!

Thanks for everything,

Clotilde

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir or Madam,

Frank Lloyd Wright once said: âI know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happenâ. I came to know that if I set clear goals and work hard, I could envision my future and direct the path of my life. I have envisaged several tasks for my future and attending American Business School, Paris is one of them. My other goals include studying international business, learning a third language fluently, and traveling.

              Now, why do I want to study in Paris? I have moved numerous times in my life, ( pls delete including) to various parts of France, England and America. I am grateful to have had such an animated childhood where I could experience various cultures, and become bilingual, an endowment I treasure very much. Of all the places I have lived in though, my memories in France remain the fondest. The fresh baguettes and delicious pastries, the small roads, the overwhelming cafes at every street corner, the late meal times, our language, the summers spent in my familyâs beach house in Brittany, and just the overall French lifestyle; I miss it all so much...
            There are many reasons for my desire to pursue an international business major. Just the word âinternationalâ appeals to me greatly; I think of traveling, learning new languages, and working with foreign people. Business is something I have wanted to do for a very long time; therefore, it is clear to me that international business is the perfect major. I am confident that the American Business School, Paris is the best school for shaping my future the way I imagine. I have chosen the American Business School, Paris not only because France is my native country, and Paris my native city, but also because your eminent school has exactly the program and major I am looking for.
            âThe secret of joy in work is contained in one word- excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy itâ, said Pearl S. Buck. I am very confident about my decision to pursue an international business major, and I feel I will be able to excel in this field, because it is something that I am extremely interested in studying and that I will enjoy doing.

In the summer of 2006, I will be spending five weeks studying at a language school in Barcelona, Spain and staying with a host family. I am hoping this will help me get a head start on my goal of becoming trilingual, which I feel will help me greatly in my future in business. I am ready to commit myself to my studies for the next several years becauseâ¦? Although the exact career I want to do is yet to be determined, I know that I would like a career in France, which is why I would like to go back now. (bad sentence, how can I change it?)

I am determined to become an exceptional candidate for a career in this field by the time I finish my studies. I believe that ABS Paris is the ideal school for me and that I am just the right student for it.

I look forward to hearing from you soon,

Yours truly,

Clotilde Yver

Re: Best way to learn English?

Humor — Mon, 22 Sep 2003 10:51:24 GMT

Hi Aaron,
After a quick look ,the way my teacher and essay books say that an essay has a structure .
And topic sentences.
The structures generally of an essay are:

Introduction
Body
Conclusion
You can look in google for "five paragraph essay"until I'll find you a specific good example.
I think the place where are you learning should provide you with (model essay) more information on essay
struture,connectives to connect paragraphs and make the essay flow(similiar to driving a car)
and topic sentence.There is different essay types such as Argumentative essay,normal essay...The other thing to concider when writing essays is if you can use first person prounouns,formal ,informal language.

Please integrate the information at the end of your essay in a paragraph,give fewer example.
Your first draft looks good,but it need more cutting and pasting to look like an essay.
I'll give quick example of a topic sentence.
(Introduction)Please don't write introduction ,just introduce your topic
There is different English language schools in Emirate.Students choose the best language school for them depend firstly on the course cost,secondly teachers profile and finally transportion
(Topic sentence 1)
Cost (As you notice in T.S.1 you'll talk about cost only in this paragraph)
(Topic sentence 2)
Teachers profile(paragraph)
(Topic sentence 3)
transportation(Paragraph)
In conclusion or in summary,you can write either of these(sum up briefly what you said in you essay,don't introduce new ideas)

You can have a look at Nawal thread cause there is some suggestion on essay writing.But be careful don't change it to argumentative essay if the teacher doesn't want to.
Good luck in your essay,your english is really good.I hope I did good and no harm.

I hope you will like my lousy essay.