Re: common mistakes

Mr Wordy — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:48:39 GMT

(Note: I'm a British English speaker, and there may be UK/US usage differences here. There may also be differences in personal preference.)

I would generally use "congratulations on". In cases such as "Congratulations on/for your marriage", or "Congratulations on/for your recent promotion", "for" sounds wrong to me. But in cases such as "Congratulations on/for doing such a great job", or "Congratulations on/for making this a success", "for" does not seem so wrong (though I would personally still use "on").

"Two teas, please" is perfectly natural to me.

Re: help for my thesis about english as a global language.

Kooyeen — Wed, 09 May 2007 22:14:19 GMT

Hi,
here are my comments, quick comments. The first thing that comes to my mind...

1- Why English is the most predominant language nowadays? Why has it become a global language? Because most companies that deal with technology or software are in the US. Technology and science = English.
2-Many people think the spread of English is related to the economic and political supremacy of U.K and U.S.A.. If another nation will be more powerful in the future, could English lose its prestige as it happened for Latin or French?
No, everybody is learning English. I don't think many years ago most people in the world were learning Latin. Plus English is much more simple to teach and learn than any other language.
3-Can English be considered as a positive factor in the international growth of the economy? Yesâ¦ noâ¦.. why? Yes. Global language = global relationships
4-Could the âleadershipâ of English as a âglobal languageâ cause a levelling of the culture into a âglobalâ culture, so to becomeÂ¬ a danger for minority cultures and traditions? Yesâ¦, Noâ¦, Why? It is already a global culture. Everybody knows Madonna, The Simpsons... they are American. We all know a lot of things about the English speaking world. Now, who knows Vasco Rossi in the world? And Pippo Baudo? They are extremely famous... here. No English = no popularity in the world
5-The spread of English around the world has generated new varieties of English in the different territories where it has taken root. Could this aspect be a loss for international communications? Yesâ¦, Noâ¦, Why? No, many varieties, but regional varieties. There will (hopefully) always be a "neutral" variety, the one you'll hear on TV news, main movies, the one you'll read in textbooks, newspapers, most of the internet.
6-Many experts say that the rise of English as a global language has caused the disappearance of minority languages . Is this a loss, according to you? I don't know of any languages that have disappeared because of English as a global language, so I don't know. It could be a loss if they have been replaced by British English. (LOL, kidding)
7- With the spread of English globally, new words and new varieties have emerged. Do you think it could be a serious danger for Standard English? Standard English doesn't exist. "Dude" is a new word, and it's fine, dude.
8- Nowadays the most important requirement in order to get a job is a good competence in English. Could the loss of this requirement be a disadvantage in our society? I don't understand your question.
9-Has âInternetâ influenced the spread of of global English according to you? Will it help English maintain its global influence? Yes, and yes. Definitely. The net brings English everywhere, the real net is English. If you don't know English, you are not really using the net.
10-Some experts have seen the promotion of English around the world as a neo-imperialist project or as a linguistic discrimininations. What do you think about it? I don't know. English rulezz.
11-Many European countries, as Italy and France, defend their mother-tongue; many others consider English very important for international communications and relations. Is the role of English in Europe a danger or a resource? Italy doesn't defend its mother tongue, no one knows what's real Italian anymore. In some areas it's not even spoken much. I think that less than 1% of what I say is in Italian, so... English in Europe is a resource, definitely. But they try to teach British English, which is not good. (LOL, kidding)
12-Inevitably, the formation of new varieties of English raises the spectre of the possible dissolution of English into new languages as it happened when Latin gave rise to the various Romance languages. Is English in the same danger? No, there wasn't Internet, blogs, Hollywood, BBC, Associated Press, Madonna, The Simpsons in Latin, when there was Latin. And there weren't billions of schools, teachers, forums, blah blah, to learn Latin. And Latin was not so simple...
13-Will those who speak English as a native language automatically be in a position of power compared to those who have to learn it as a second or foreign language? Yes, damn, I wish I was born in the US, I would have saved a lot of time and I would already be ruling the world by now.
14-Surfing the web I have read how many English, American, Canadian or Australian scholars think that a god knowledge of English is enough for their career. As a matter of fact, when we read a book of an Anglo-saxon writer, the bibliography is only made up of English texts. Is it a disadvantage for writers of books written in another language? Is this a negative aspect? You write in Italian = you write for Italians. You write in English, you write for the world.
15-In the past the European Union adopted a âlingua francaâ: Esperanto, but this project failed. Could English be the next experiment? English is already a lingua franca. Well, not exactly, but it'll be so in the near future.
16-Many experts and linguists discuss about the âEnglish questionâ. What is your opinion about the future of English? Will it remain the worldâs language? Probably. Unless we are attacked by aliens, then we will speak some strange language from space.
17-In many countries the teaching of English as a âforeign languageâ is compulsory. What do you think about it? What could the consequences be? Good.
18-What is your opinion about learning English nowadays? Is it a way to enrich our culture or merely a way to adapt ourselves to modern society? English = communication with the whole world = access to information = culture
19-Can a global language eliminate the motivation for non native speakers to learn such an important language ? And for native students will the presence of their language as âglobal languageâ make them lazy about learning other languages or reduce their opportunities to do it? I don't understand the question. If you mean that natives then won't need to learn any language, well, yeah, they won't need. So what should they do? They should teach their language! And for free! Better yet, I'd like to be paid for learning! LOL

That's all. Hope you like my answers

Re: Yay for me

MrPedantic — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 23:30:31 GMT

Interesting. I don't think this is common in British English yet. But then, a slightly less elated expression would probably be more likely in BrE, in those contexts:

1. I found Â£10 in the street. Bugger. Now I suppose I'll have to go to the police station and hand it in.

2. Looks like I'm first in line for the promotion. Just my luck. Now I suppose I'll have to start going to all those conferences in Birmingham and giving presentations.

MrP

Search results for 'tag:Promotions tag:British English' matching tags 'Promotions' and 'British English'

Re: common mistakes

Re: help for my thesis about english as a global language.

Re: Yay for me