Search results for 'tag:Vocabulary tag:Grammar' matching tags 'Vocabulary' and 'Grammar'

If it were only for a vocabulary,

pructus — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:16:39 GMT

Of course, he who has put forth his total strength in fit actions has the richest return of wisdom. I will not shut myself out of this globe of action, and transplant an oak into a flower-pot, there to hunger and pine; nor trust the revenue of some single faculty, and exhaust one vein of thought, much like those Savoyards, who, getting their livelihood by carving shepherds, shepherdesses, and smoking Dutchmen, for all Europe, went out one day to the mountain to find stock, and discovered that they had whittled up the last of their pine-trees. Authors we have, in numbers, who have written out their vein, and who, moved by a commendable prudence, sail for Greece or Palestine, follow the trapper into the prairie, or ramble round Algiers, to replenish their merchantable stock.

If it were only for a vocabulary, the scholar would be covetous of action. Life is our dictionary. Years are well spent in country labors; in town; in the insight into trades and manufactures; in frank intercourse with many men and women; in science; in art; to the one end of mastering in all their facts a language by which to illustrate and embody our perceptions. I learn immediately from any speaker how much he has already lived, through the poverty or the splendor of his speech. Life lies behind us as the quarry from whence we get tiles and copestones for the masonry of to-day. This is the way to learn grammar. Colleges and books only copy the language which the field and the work-yard made.

http://www.oldandsold.com/articles33n/essays-studies-6.shtml

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The underlined part is difficult.

What should this "If it were only for a vocabulary," mean?

Does it mean, "What the scholar has to do something about is only vocabulary, not real action"?

Re: Alternately vs. Alternatively

Cool Breeze — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:13:40 GMT

Mr Wordy
Different people have different opinions on this, so you pays your money and you takes your choice I guess. Here are a few (randomly Googled) definitions that agree with my position:

Yes, of course. I wasn't even saying you were wrong. I just found a definition in a dictionary that is fairly descriptive in its views and consequently it records actual usage, unlike prescriptive usage experts. Personally, I have no strong opinions either way. The fact remains, though, that 'alternate' is very often used to mean 'alternative'.

My liberal and descriptive attitude towards grammar and usage may have something to do with my studying the history of the English language. The only unchanging thing about it has been change. The grammar has changed, the vocabulary has changed, the pronunciation has changed and the meanings of words have changed - and will keep changing. Nice derives from Latin nescius, which means 'ignorant' but very few people object to its modern meanings even though every one of them was grossly incorrect when first used. Once a word has been used incorrectly for long enough by enough people, it becomes standard English.

People usually have nothing against changes that have happened before they were born but many object vehemently to changes that are taking place in their lifetime. That is human nature. It happens in all languages. It is a common belief that changes that are happening right now somehow seem to be spoiling the language.

Re: Be gone!

RayH — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:23:28 GMT

Huevos
Sorry for being so naive and misleading.

My comment wasn't aimed at you Huevos, it was meant as a caution about doing open-ended (and yes, naive) Google searches as a means of verifying grammar and vocabulary. Doing so almost always results in far more confusion than enlightenment.

Re: Legitimising dialect discrimination

Jon Salt — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:38:56 GMT

I think the problem is that people conflate accent and dialect. Accent varies from region to region when people use standard English. Vocabulary and grammar vary very little, and guessing nationality online can be tricky. If someone with an average educational background cannot use the vocabulary and grammar of standard English (as well as their own dialect, perhaps) then they are probably not a very capable person, and wouldn't be ideal for a white collar job. The older they are, the truer that is.

Books

anarainbow — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:31:47 GMT

Hi,

I would like to read some books in English. My level is more or less the FCE and I need to improve my grammar level and vocabulary. Could you recommend me some books?Â

Thank you!!!

Ana

I need help with the report

changeling — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:19:25 GMT

Hi everybody!

Iâm writing my part of the marketing report for our foreign colleagues. Could you, please, check my grammar and vocabulary in the following sentences? I appreciate your help

Macroeconomic environment of the project

Inflation and currency corrections

According to the monetary policy priorities for 2006-2008, approved by the resolution no 20 dated November 11, 2006 of the Board of the National Bank of Republic of Kazakhstan, two inflation scenarios for tenge have been developed subject to global oil prices that significantly influence the inflation tendencies in Kazakhstan.
In 2006, the scenario on high oil prices was unfolding. The Brent crude oil prices averaged $65.4 a barrel in 2006 and they continue to rule high in 2007, rising up to $75 a barrel. With all the measures taken to maintain price stability, the average inflation rate was 8.6% in 2006, which was slightly higher than expected rate of inflation under the scenario on high oil prices (6.9-8.5%). According to official data of the Kazakhstan Statistics Agency, annualized inflation rate as of June, 2007 was at 8.1%.

Thanks in advance

use of video at class-ideas

linguaprof — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:12:44 GMT

Hi! This is something I wrote for our teachers in Romania, I am sure many of you will find these ideas/tricks useful. I have a huge experience with using videos at class and I think it is esential for effective&interesting classes.

Use of video

Advantages
- more interesting and varied classes
- more "authentic" speaking exercises
- more opportunities for students to speak
- possibility for the tired teacher to take a short rest while
students watching the video-but don't use it as a simple "time
filler"!
- intensive "production" speaking exercises
- videos can be used for both accuracy and fluency type of
exercises

Watching 3-5 minutes, then:
- students asking each other questions-open and closed
- the teacher asking the students questions-open and closed
- the teacher saying sentences about the video which are not
true, the students have to correct him/her
- the students have to say true/ untrue sentences about the
video
- the teacher starts a sentence about the video, the students
have to complete the sentence giving true or untrue information.
- students might be asked to continue the story- they can
write the continuation down, or say it directly, depending on their
level

- depending on the students' level and speaking skills the
teacher can direct the activities- for example students will ask
questions only with Do they haveâ¦?, or Are thereâ¦? Or say sentences
with There areâ¦., in this way " Production" speaking exercises with
a video can be used teach a specific grammar structure. Don't forget
that interrogative mood is more difficult for your students, so for
the beginning ask them to say questions starting with the same
structure.

If you are tired, you can let your students note down things about
the video while watching it for 6-7 minutes, and then tell you what
they have just seen.

"Stop and go "exercises- these can be used in an extremely intensive
way to teach speaking. The exercises can be the same as at point 1,
but the teacher uses "frozen" pictures. In a 3-4 minute video, we
can find at least 50-60 suggestive images that can
be "authentically" used to provoke speaking.
We can stop the video repeatedly in the middle of a sentence,
students can be asked to continue it somehow.
We can ask students to predict what is going to happen in the next
moments- present tenses can be used too, not only future, so the
lack of appropriate grammar usage is not a problem.

Using DVDs with English subtitles
These can be used mostly with pre-intermediate and upper students.
The students can watch a 4-6 minutes video, with subtitles, then
- teacher can stop the DVD time by time, and analyze the
sentence that you heard and which can be seen on the screen). As we
discussed a our training, a sentence like "She hasn't discussed it
with her mother yet." can be analyzed according to the four language
systems and we can teach grammar vocabulary, functions or phonology
by it- in this case grammar especially. At lower levels it is
preferable to teach just vocabulary or one type of grammar
structure, at intermediate and higher levels students might like the
mixture of learning different systems and skills.
- students can play the role of the teacher, they can use the
remote control and instruct other students what to do (clever
children love these kind of situations), or "to teach" structures

Watching a "mute" video
- students can comment what they see in the pictures
- students can try to say what the characters say in the
pictures

Listening to the video, without watching
- students can imagine what is shown on the screen wile
listening to a commentary or people speaking on the video

Videos to introduce a topic
This often needs preparation, and a wider range of videos available
so that it can be of real help. Used well, it can be an
excellent "starting point" for a class- for conversational classes
especially.

These are a few ideas about using video at class- for a creative
teacher these activities don't need too much preparation. Don't
forget to make a difference between accuracy and fluency exercises,
and DON"T CORRECT your students while they try to express
themselves. Video lessons like the ones from the REWARD interactive
CDs accompanied by Video Resource Pack for teachers can help you
create even more professional classes

could you take a look at my brief report

changeling — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:21:30 GMT

proofreading needed

changeling — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:17:16 GMT

Hi everybody!

Could you, please, check my grammar and vocabulary in the following sentences?

Every now and then you will want to enjoy a whole chunk of baked meat. First, you should learn about making your meat soft and tender instead of dry and tough one. The top tip for a succulent baked ham is the right marinating process. It's better to buy fresh and low-fat ham. To make it really tasty, try to get cooled meat, not frozen one. Make this dish for Christmas party when the whole family gathers around the table. Your family and friends will eat it up! (will eat heartily? Could you suggest any idioms to say âto enjoy mealâ)

Thanks in advance

Re: Which language is most difficult language for people to learn?

Kooyeen — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:03:07 GMT

Just some quick comments:

1) It is obvious you can't tell which language is the most difficult to learn, because it's a subjective thing. "Difficult" means you are not able to do it well, but someone else might have no problems. Playing the guitar might be difficult for those who never learned how to use one, but it's pretty easy and enjoyable for many others. So I think I wouldn't have problems with Spanish grammar, since I'm Italian, but I doubt I would find Chinese ideograms quite easy.

2) Every language has some aspects you would find difficult, and others you would not find so difficult after all. All this is still very subjective. Some aspects you might want to consider are grammar, pronunciation, writing, speech registers, cultural aspects, regional aspects, etc.

3) The more a language it taught, the simpler it is to find what you need (more material = a better perspective and understanding). So English and Spanish, no matter how difficult and who finds them difficult, have a huge advantage: they are taught a lot. On the net you'll find an avalanche of websites to learn them, for free. Lots of teachers, lots of courses, lots of material. But now try to learn Finnish for example... how many forums to learn Finnish for free from volunteers are there online? As many as those for ESL? Hmm, no way. So less material --> higher probability of confusion and slower improvement.

4) What do you mean by learning a language? Learning the basic words? The basic grammar? Advanced vocabulary? Good style too? Perfect pronunciation? Learning about the major dialects too? And about the cultural aspects?
So the point is, at what level are you going to use a language you are learning? Maybe it's simple to learn how to say the most basic things ("hello, how are you?") in every language, but how about talking about eye surgery like a professor would? Attending a history lecture and understanding basically everything? You need "mastery" for that, and it's probably extremely hard to achieve for every language, no matter how subjective the difficulty might be.

Just my thoughts