Search results for 'tag:Spelling tag:English as a second language' matching tags 'Spelling' and 'English as a second language'

Re: The Callan Method

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:48:38 GMT

Good afternoon,

Students who enjoy learning and aim at success never accept purist teachers, ie such who correct them all the time, whenever possile. Although, I agree that tutors need limit their own mistakes in spelling, still some of those might achieve far more than others...

The number of Callan schools around the globe speaks for itself, and I am probably better destined to speak or it, as have learned English as a second language when 9. So, I would know how it really works to get to something just by repeating. We all do, or have you learned your mother tongue from grammar books, when 2?

Tom, Callan teacher since 1997

Re: Fun Learning Jokes :)

Lakshwadeep — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 05:23:12 GMT

You, mctastic, truly didn't understand the point of the quotation that precedes the word "Handey." If you would notice, then you would have realized that "Handey" is actually the American humorist Jack Handey. Why else would someone put the word "handy" in parentheses after a quotation? Perhaps you did not realize that you are the one who misspelled: you wrote "should" as "shoukd" and also wrote "seen" instead of "seeing."

Also, for my whole life I've never heard an American English speaker use "nut" as an predicate adjective. Remember that this forum is for people who are learning English as a second language. It is unproductive to blindly criticize a word when you don't even realize it is a person's name. Please be more aware of your own mistakes before you decide to judge those of others (of which Kooyeen had none). Finally to quote from you, with better spelling, "I just thought I should let you know as you were correcting the person above you when you needed correcting yourself!"

Re: "s" and "z"

Carson21 — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:25:56 GMT

I don't know what you guys are all on about with devoiced /z/. It's not a devoiced /z/, it's just /s/. In the example that someone above used, "vases"... I don't know about up North or across the pond (either one), but American Standard has that as /s/ in the medial and /z/ in the final. Well, if you pronounce the <a> like you do in "bratwurst" or "father", then the medial would become /z/.

Pter, the basic rule is this: final <s> becomes voiced to /z/ when it is final in most verbs and/or after a voiced stop (/g b d/ etc). It remains unvoiced /s/ for most nouns and adjectives. It also can voice when the closest (previous) consonant was already /s/. (Abuses, vases, faces, places)

Here's the other basic rule that will probably help you, even if at first it seems to be "maddening the unhelpful": In English, there are a million rules, and every rule has a million exceptions. English is probably as far removed from a loglang as you can get, so it helps to just accept what you learn at face value and imitate it, rather than trying to figure out "why". You can ask "why" all day and use up all the time where you could have been moving on to the next rule. Look at the general rule for each case, then apply it. You learn irregularities as you go (much like learning Spanish verbs).

The perfect example of an exception: assess. It has /s/ in the medial AND final. D'oh! Just have to remember that one.

As for how important it is that you learn the difference between /s/ and /z/... I don't think it's that big a deal. If the spelling shows <s>, then saying /s/ or /z/ won't make much of a difference if your goal is to just be understood. They're allophones, essentially. We could drop <z> from our orthography and get along just fine. However, if your goal is to sound like a native speaker, then, yes, it's quite important that you can make the distinction.

Last, if you pronounced all <s> as /s/... You might sound strange to most people in the UK and the northern United States (plus the commonwealth), but anywhere in the West, Southwest, South East, and Border states in the US, no one would think twice about it! There are a lot of people in those regions that speak English as a second language with Spanish as their first, and they tend to always use /s/ for <s> , regardless of typical conventions.

Questions for non-native speakers of English.

YoungCalifornian — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 07:16:05 GMT

I have some questions for those who speak English as a second language:

What elements of the English language (spelling, vocabulary, tenses, conjugation, contractions, et cetera) do you find simple and easy to learn compared to your native tongue? Which elements do you find more difficult?
Do you find that English is more difficult to speak than to read and write, or vice versa?
Lastly, what does English sound like? What I mean is, before you could comprehend the language fully, how would you have described it when spoken? Is it a harsh sounding language? What other languages do you think it sounds similar to (for instance, I sometimes have trouble distinguishing between spoken Spanish and Italian)?

Re: Agents required to work with us to source and sign up students for homestays in England.

gigi8351 — Sun, 13 Feb 2005 08:44:45 GMT

Hello,
I am presently in Barcelona ,Spain and would like ot know whether you need places for home stays. I will be moving to Lyon,France in July. I am fully bi-lingual English and French and have experience teaching both languages.
I would appreciate a reply. I would be very much interested in hosting for home stays.
Thank you,
Gisele

Gisele Palomino
Muntaner 235, 5Âº1Âº Barcelona Spain 08021
Tel 93 200 1239. Cellular 661-084-090

Dedicated to Creating a Positive and Productive Environment for learners of English.

Professional Profile

Dedicated, resourceful and innovative person who strives to help people change attitude towards learning languages. A facilitator and (exceptional) communicator who demonstrates patience, understanding and builds self confidence in language learning.
Caring and highly positive in the classroom .

Selected Skills and Accomplishments:

Â· Translated for the past 5 years. Native English and French .
Â· Develop innovative and tailor-made courses for individuals and groups
Â· Organize time, space and resources for immersion courses up to 10 consecutive days.
Â· Use unconventional methods and resources to teach grammar, spelling and specific related target language.
Â· Create comprehensive classroom language learning resources and abbreviated formulas to learn faster, encouraging students to practice , use the language whenever they can. Commended by the Director of Studies as â outstanding, very patient and a specialist in target vocabulary for business.
Â· Prepare and Execute telephone classes with various high level fluency learners.
Â· Train new teachers to carry out immersion courses.

Educational Assessment

Â· Reviewed numerous assessment methods and techniques- adopted effective tools that were essential to teaching specific target vocabulary .
Â· Recognized the need for individual attention and appropriate spacing to allow learners to fully comprehend.
Â· Created specific level learning booklet
Â· Designed presentations, negotiations and telephoning workbooks.
Â· Researched and planned best programs for clientsâ needs.

Education and Certification:

Certificate of Translation 1995
Certificate in Teaching English as a second language-1999
Certificate In Travel and Conference Organizing-1984
BA in Merchandizing and Language-1975
Translator Certificate English to French-1980

Work Experience
2003-2204
ESADE Business School
Barcelona Spain
Teacher of Business English and translation.
2000-Present
IKL Communication Training S.A.
Barcelona, Spain
Teacher of English to Business Professionals. Intensive Residential Courses, Seminars.

New York Lycee FranÃ§ais

1994-1996
Substitute Teacher of English
Young Learners

C.T.I.

1985-1999
President
Design and organize film production travel.
Tailor âmade high scale travel tours

Wayne Lachman Production

1983-1985
Manager/Director Film Travel
Negotiate contracts with suppliers for incentive groups up to 1500 people.
Organized incentive programs with lodging, activities, contests and closing ceremony.
Facilitate movie production filming permit and arrange for all personnelâs needs on location.

Re: Bi-lingual project assistant - Lyon

gigi8351 — Sun, 13 Feb 2005 08:38:35 GMT

Hello,
I am attaching my C.V for you.I am planning to move to Lyon and would be interested in doing this project. I am a native English and French speaker.
Yo may contact me at the following 93 200 1239 or 661 084 090.

Gisele Palomino
Muntaner 235, 5Âº1Âº Barcelona Spain 08021
Tel 93 200 1239. Cellular 661-084-090

Dedicated to Creating a Positive and Productive Environment for learners of English.

Professional Profile

Dedicated, resourceful and innovative person who strives to help people change attitude towards learning languages. A facilitator and (exceptional) communicator who demonstrates patience, understanding and builds self confidence in language learning.
Caring and highly positive in the classroom .

Selected Skills and Accomplishments:

Â· Translated for the past 5 years. Native English and French .
Â· Develop innovative and tailor-made courses for individuals and groups
Â· Organize time, space and resources for immersion courses up to 10 consecutive days.
Â· Use unconventional methods and resources to teach grammar, spelling and specific related target language.
Â· Create comprehensive classroom language learning resources and abbreviated formulas to learn faster, encouraging students to practice , use the language whenever they can. Commended by the Director of Studies as â outstanding, very patient and a specialist in target vocabulary for business.
Â· Prepare and Execute telephone classes with various high level fluency learners.
Â· Train new teachers to carry out immersion courses.

Educational Assessment

Â· Reviewed numerous assessment methods and techniques- adopted effective tools that were essential to teaching specific target vocabulary .
Â· Recognized the need for individual attention and appropriate spacing to allow learners to fully comprehend.
Â· Created specific level learning booklet
Â· Designed presentations, negotiations and telephoning workbooks.
Â· Researched and planned best programs for clientsâ needs.

Education and Certification:

Certificate of Translation 1995
Certificate in Teaching English as a second language-1999
Certificate In Travel and Conference Organizing-1984
BA in Merchandizing and Language-1975
Translator Certificate English to French-1980

Work Experience
2003-2204
ESADE Business School
Barcelona Spain
Teacher of Business English and translation.
2000-Present
IKL Communication Training S.A.
Barcelona, Spain
Teacher of English to Business Professionals. Intensive Residential Courses, Seminars.

New York Lycee FranÃ§ais

1994-1996
Substitute Teacher of English
Young Learners

C.T.I.

1985-1999
President
Design and organize film production travel.
Tailor âmade high scale travel tours

Wayne Lachman Production

1983-1985
Manager/Director Film Travel
Negotiate contracts with suppliers for incentive groups up to 1500 people.
Organized incentive programs with lodging, activities, contests and closing ceremony.
Facilitate movie production filming permit and arrange for all personnelâs needs on location.

Here Is The Origin and History of The English Language

Guest — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 12:30:24 GMT

English is a Germanic Language of the Indo-European Family. It is the second most spoken language in the world.

It is estimated that there are 300 million native speakers and 300 million who use English as a second language and a further 100 million use it as a foreign language. It is the language of science, aviation, computing, diplomacy, and tourism. It is listed as the official or co-official language of over 45 countries and is spoken extensively in other countries where it has no official status. English plays a part in the cultural, political or economic life of the following countries. Majority English speaking populations are shown in bold.

Antigua
Australia
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bermuda
Botswana
Brunei (with Malay)
Cameroon (with French)
Canada (with French)
Dominica
Fiji
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guyana
India (with several Indian languages)
Ireland (with Irish Gaelic)
Jamaica
Kenya (with Swahili)
Kiribati
Lesotho (with Sotho)
Liberia
Malawi (with Chewa)
Malta (with Maltese)
Mauritius
Namibia (with Afrikaans)
Nauru (with Nauruan)
New Zealand
Nigeria
Pakistan (with Urdu)
Papua New Guinea
Philippines (with Tagalog)
Puerto Rico (with Spanish)
St Christopher and Nevis
St Lucia
St Vincent
Senegal (with French)
Seychelles (with French)
Sierra Leone
Singapore (with Malay, Mandarin and Tamil)
South Africa (with Afrikaans, Xhosa and Zulu)
Surinam (with Dutch)
Swaziland (with Swazi)
Tanzania (with Swahili)
Tonga (with Tongan)
Trinidad and Tobago
Tuvalu
Uganda
United Kingdom and its dependecies
United States of America and its dependencies
Vanatu (with French)
Western Samoa (with Samoan)
Zambia
Zimbabwe

This compares to 27 for French, 20 for Spanish and 17 for Arabic. This domination is unique in history. Speakers of languages like French, Spanish and Arabic may disagree, but English is on its way to becoming the world's unofficial international language. Mandarin (Chinese) is spoken by more people, but English is now the most widespread of the world's languages.

Half of all business deals are conducted in English. Two thirds of all scientific papers are written in English. Over 70% of all post / mail is written and addressed in English. Most international tourism, aviation and diplomacy is conducted in English.

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The history of the language can be traced back to the arrival of three Germanic tribes to the British Isles during the 5th Century AD. Angles, Saxons and Jutes crossed the North Sea from what is the present day Denmark and northern Germany. The inhabitants of Britain previously spoke a Celtic language. This was quickly displaced. Most of the Celtic speakers were pushed into Wales, Cornwall and Scotland. One group migrated to the Brittany Coast of France where their descendants still speak the Celtic Language of Breton today. The Angles were named from Engle, their land of origin. Their language was called Englisc from which the word, English derives.

An Anglo-Saxon inscription dated between 450 and 480AD is the oldest sample of the English language.

During the next few centuries four dialects of English developed:

Northumbrian in Northumbria, north of the Humber
Mercian in the Kingdom of Mercia
West Saxon in the Kingdom of Wessex
Kentish in Kent

During the 7th and 8th Centuries, Northumbria's culture and language dominated Britain. The Viking invasions of the 9th Century brought this domination to an end (along with the destruction of Mercia). Only Wessex remained as an independent kingdom. By the 10th Century, the West Saxon dialect became the official language of Britain. Written Old English is mainly known from this period. It was written in an alphabet called Runic, derived from the Scandinavian languages. The Latin Alphabet was brought over from Ireland by Christian missionaries. This has remained the writing system of English.

At this time, the vocabulary of Old English consisted of an Anglo Saxon base with borrowed words from the Scandinavian languages (Danish and Norse) and Latin. Latin gave English words like street, kitchen, kettle, cup, cheese, wine, angel, bishop, martyr, candle. The Vikings added many Norse words: sky, egg, cake, skin, leg, window (wind eye), husband, fellow, skill, anger, flat, odd, ugly, get, give, take, raise, call, die, they, their, them. Celtic words also survived mainly in place and river names (Devon, Dover, Kent, Trent, Severn, Avon, Thames).

Many pairs of English and Norse words coexisted giving us two words with the same or slightly differing meanings. Examples below.

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

Norse --------------------English
anger --------------------- wrath
nay ----------------------- no
fro ------------------------ from
raise ---------------------- rear
ill -------------------------- sick
bask ---------------------- bathe
skill ----------------------- craft
skin ----------------------- hide
dike ----------------------- ditch
skirt -----------------------shirt
scatter -------------------- shatter
skip ----------------------- shift

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In 1066 the Normans conquered Britain. French became the language of the Norman aristocracy and added more vocabulary to English. More pairs of similar words arose.

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

French----------------English
close-------------------shut
reply ------------------answer
odour -----------------smell
annual ----------------yearly
demand --------------ask
chamber--------------room
desire-----------------wish
power-----------------might
ire---------------------wrath / anger

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

Because the English underclass cooked for the Norman upper class, the words for most domestic animals are English (ox, cow, calf, sheep, swine, deer) while the words for the meats derived from them are French (beef, veal, mutton, pork, bacon, venison).

The Germanic form of plurals (house, housen; shoe, shoen) was eventually displaced by the French method of making plurals: adding an s (house, houses; shoe, shoes). Only a few words have retained their Germanic plurals: men, oxen, feet, teeth, children.

French also affected spelling so that the cw sound came to be written as qu (eg. cween became queen).

It wasn't till the 14th Century that English became dominant in Britain again. In 1399, King Henry IV became the first king of England since the Norman Conquest whose mother tongue was English. By the end of the 14th Century, the dialect of London had emerged as the standard dialect of what we now call Middle English. Chaucer wrote in this language.

Modern English began around the 16th Century and, like all languages, is still changing. One change occurred when the th of some verb forms became s (loveth, loves: hath, has). Auxillary verbs also changed (he is risen, he has risen).

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The historical influence of language in the British Isles can best be seen in place names and their derivations.

Examples include ac (as in Acton, Oakwood) which is Anglo-Saxon for oak; by (as in Whitby) is Old Norse for farm or village; pwll (as in Liverpool) is Welsh for anchorage; baile (as in Balmoral) is Gaelic for farm or village; ceaster (as in Lancaster) is Latin for fort.

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Since the 16th Century, because of the contact that the British had with many peoples from around the world, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, many words have entered the language either directly or indirectly. New words were created at an increasing rate. Shakespare coined over 1600 words. This process has grown exponentially in the modern era.

Borrowed words include names of animals (giraffe, tiger, zebra), clothing (pyjama, turban, shawl), food (spinach, chocolate, orange), scientific and mathematical terms (algebra, geography, species), drinks (tea, coffee, cider), religious terms (Jesus, Islam, nirvana), sports (checkmate, golf, billiards), vehicles (chariot, car, coach), music and art (piano, theatre, easel), weapons (pistol, trigger, rifle), political and military terms (commando, admiral, parliament), and astronomical names (Saturn, Leo, Uranus).

Languages that have contributed words to English include Latin, Greek, French, German, Arabic, Hindi (from India), Italian, Malay, Dutch, Farsi (from Iran and Afganistan), Nahuatl (the Aztec language), Sanskrit (from ancient India), Portuguese, Spanish, Tupi (from South America) and Ewe (from Africa).

The list of borrowed words is enormous.

The vocabulary of English is the largest of any language.

Even with all these borrowings the heart of the language remains the Anglo-Saxon of Old English. Only about 5000 or so words from this period have remained unchanged but they include the basic building blocks of the language: household words, parts of the body, common animals, natural elements, most pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions and auxiliary verbs. Grafted onto this basic stock was a wealth of contributions to produce, what many people believe, is the richest of the world's languages.

Re: Word "check"

matthewg — Mon, 27 Sep 2004 10:44:22 GMT

English as a Second Language - Banking and Stocks Glossary

Cheque - Great Britain
Check - United States

The words are synonomous: "check" is the American way of spelling the word for the payment medium.

Spot a non-native speaker!

texas — Thu, 14 Aug 2003 19:55:48 GMT

This might be a strange topic, but let see how it comes out. I know English as a second language and not surprisingly, people can detect that even from my written work. Just the other day I was having a chat at a foreign message board, when a person came by claiming that sheâs an Irish and wants to talk to us (in English). What was funny though, is that her way of expressing her self in English didnât really sound like that of a native speaker. I challenged her on that, but people (who could speak even less English than I do) donât seem to agree with me. I thought, why donât I post some of those examples among native English speakers and see what they think. Can you help me?
Hereâs some examples of the Irish girl (ignore the spelling mistakes, just the sentence structure):

"â¦and that is why my dear friends that I am joining you in the English chatroom because I do not understand basically anything on the other chatrooms). I live in Belgium and I am taking classes starting from September. I just joined this site today and I am shocked at some of the English on here. I mean, what planet are some of you coming from? This chatroom needs some spice added to it. Anyone got any ideas? If not, I have got loads.

I know I am English mother tongue and most of you are probably foriners on here and it is easier for me. I do not want to take over your chatroom but folks English is thee international language of communication and it should be used properly. I just want you to use good English, thats all. Leann, I am waiting on your reply ) Anybody want to play, name that tune? "