Search results for 'user:TeacherBrian'

Re: phrasal verbs

teacherbrian — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 15:31:35 GMT

Hello Phungninhbao Yes, two-word-verbs are not easy for people learning English! There are many of them in English. On behalf of all native speakers I apologise for this! And each one has a different meaning. It is almost impossible to guess the meanings! Even if one sounds similar to another, the meaning will probably be totally different! In some language books are lists of phrasal verbs. One good way to learn them is by doing a proper language course. This way you will probably learn a few new phrasal verbs each day. Of course we can always help you with any that you do not understand. But there are actually ....thousands! But you do not need to learn ALL af them! Some two-word-verbs (phrasal verbs) are used...

Re: phrasal verbs

teacherbrian — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 19:11:42 GMT

Yogi2005 wrote: Could you help me, please, with the sentences below? I need phrasal verbs. 1. She has really taken .............. her nephew and always buys him expensive presents. 2. When you take ..................... insurance, read the small prints. OK Yogi2005! You have convinced me! I apologise for being unhelpful! Danyoo has provided the answers and definitions.i.e. 1. She has really taken TO her nephew and always buys him expensive presents. 2. When you take OUT insurance, read the small prints. Another way of explaining these phrasal verbs is.. To " take to " is to "take a liking to" = to have developed an affection for.... To " take out " an insurance policy, is to start a new...

Re: bacchalaureate

teacherbrian — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 18:57:07 GMT

Dear Itasan " baccalaureate " is the correct spelling in BrE. Please accept my apologies for earlier mis-spelling! Here are some examples of the use of the word " baccalaureate " as used in the UK: 1. Some types of baccalaureate... International Baccalaureate (IB) The IB is an international qualification which is taught at 1,485 schools in 119 countries around the world under the auspices of The International Baccalaureate Organisation. Pupils in the IB programme study six subjects in their final two years, which must include... See www.ibo.org/ibo/index.cfm English European Baccalaureate (EB) The EB is awarded by the 10 European Schools of the European Union, which provide free education to the children of...

Re: atomize

teacherbrian — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 17:37:06 GMT

Dear Itasan My pleasure!

Re: attrition

teacherbrian — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 17:26:27 GMT

Dear Itasan In BrE, attrition n . = abrasion, the act or process of wearing out, especially by friction . We do not use 'attrition ' to describe the situation of a diminishing number of employees caused by not replacing staff who have left. A common business BrE expression comparable to AmE ' attrition ' is " natural wastage ", defined as loss of employees other than by redundancy. Here is an example of this usage in an official publication.... ______________________________________________________________________ " Staff Reduction Policy: • In the first instance should natural wastage occur in areas of the University where staff reduction might be needed, every effort will be made to manage those areas...

Re: Teaching with a stopwatch

teacherbrian — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 17:03:00 GMT

TeacherJoe wrote: In order to get students to speak out more in class and to speak more fluently, I often use a stopwatch. It may sound odd, but students really love to see how much faster and easier they can speak when after practicing. Beating the clock when speaking English is as fun as scoring a last-minute goal in football or getting to the finish line first in a race. Has anyone else here used a timer in class? Or have you thought about it? Yes. I use it often/sometimes (it varies.) It gets the students' adrenaline going, and is a surprising boost to language recall! But I always make sure that it is always seen as a fun activity, not some punitive or overly competive exercise! And some students hate...

Re: atomize

teacherbrian — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:50:17 GMT

Itasan wrote: LDCE says: atomize (2) especially AmE to divide something so that it is no longer whole or united: e.g. a society that has become atomized I wonder what is the British equivalent. . Dear Itasan In BrE we have atomize/atomise . = to reduce to atoms or fine particles , but I have not heard this applied to society. A BrE writer might say ".. a society that has become divided (or disparate )." But it would be helpful to know more fully what the writer wants to say before being too definite on the BrE words he may choose use. Regards

Re: thinking in english

teacherbrian — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:37:43 GMT

Reporter wrote: i could not understand how one can think in other language. i am just trying to learn English.in this global world english is become a global language. can anybody help me to thinking in english Dear Reporter Actually, no-one thinks in any particular "language"! We all think in "" ideas ", " concepts ", " feelings ", etc. So we do not actually think in words! We think in concepts, then translate our concepts into words in order to communicate our thoughts to other people! The more you use a language , the quicker you will be able to use the words of that language. With frequent use , the language response becomes more instinctive and automatic. When you speak, your English response will be so...

Re: bacchalaureate

teacherbrian — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:20:33 GMT

Itasan wrote: bacchalaureate I hear this is used for a 'bachelor's degree' in AmE. I wonder what is the British equivalent. Also, are 'bacchalaureate' and 'bachelor's degree' both frequently used in the US? Thank you. In Britain bacchalaureate has two meanings: 1) an examination intended to qualify successful candidates for higher education. 2) the university degree of bachelor. Some fifty years ago, the word bacchalaureate was rarely, if ever, used in the British education system, but it has become more common in recent years.

Re: to the bad/good

teacherbrian — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:14:11 GMT

Itasan wrote: Are the following BrE? 1. I am 200 dollars to the bad. 2. I am 200 dollars to the good. Thank you. Well, we in BrE are more likely to talk about pounds, rather than dollars! However, we would say... 1. I am £200 worse off. 2. I am £200 better off , or I am £200 to the good. We never say "I am £200 to the bad."!!! Regards

Re: phrasal verbs

teacherbrian — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:08:01 GMT

Dear yogi2005 For a native BrE speaker, the answer is very easy. I suspect that the answers are actually in the course book material from which you got the questions! May I suggest that you check your text books first before we give you the answers! With kind regards

Re: Are all possible?

teacherbrian — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 18:37:21 GMT

Yulysess wrote: What do you think about the alternatives below? Are all possible? Why and why not? Dear Yulysees In British English .... 1-"Turkey, where my grandparents come from , must be a very nice country." CORRECT. THIS FORM IS COMMONLY USED. IT IS NORMAL, CURRENT USAGE. 2-"Turkey, from where my grandparents come , must be a very nice country." CORRECT, BUT THIS WORD ORDER IS CONSIDERED TO BE VERY FORMAL . 3-"Turkey, wherefrom my grandparents come , must be a very nice country." 'WHEREFROM' IS NOT USED. SOME DICTIONARIES DO NOT LIST THIS WORD, BUT IT IS IN THE BOOK OF OFFICIAL SCRABBLE WORDS! 4-"Turkey, which my grandparents come from , must be a very nice country." 'WHICH' IS OKAY, BECAUSE YOU...

Re: Mystical things: astrology, tarot, etc.

teacherbrian — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 18:16:09 GMT

Sanz wrote: Do you think that all those kind of mystical things (astrology, tarot, ouija, etc.) are just lies and a way to swindle people or they really can help us? Some people say that it is all lies. But I am not going to publish my name in case I get struck down by lightning!

Re: little

teacherbrian — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 18:10:21 GMT

Dear Taka Its just a web address. You can have anything in a web address. It is just a code for the internet browser to use to find the page you want on the world wide web (www). Web pages are stored in 'directories' and sub-directories, and sub-sub-directories etc. Each one is separated by a "/" (which we call a forward slash). Therefore in the web address.... "http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/chickenlittle/", the code /chickenlittle/ is the name of a sub-directory of the directory called /disneypictures/ I hope this helps you. Regards

Re: Terrible at understanding different british accents

teacherbrian — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 17:46:11 GMT

Anonymous wrote: Apart from the London accent, I have great difficulties understanding certain british accents - I dont know the names of these accents as I stay in Asia. I have tried hearing british movies/talks but I dont seem to make any progress on this. Could someone give me any tips on how I can be any better on this issue? This is not an easy task! There are very many accents in Britain. One reason is that we are actually made up of four different countries! (England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland) And each area has its own original language sources. Also, for hundreds (thousands?) of years people in Britain didn't associate much with people living in other parts of Britain, so they all developed...

Re: Held + Responsible

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 23:02:30 GMT

Anonymous wrote: Please explain the grammar "held responsible" or "made redundant", using a participle and and adjective. " held responsible" and " made redundant" are common English collocations for these words in most contexts. There are many English words that can only be associated with a specific verb form. For example, in some countries they make a photograph . In GB we take a photograph . Unfortunately there is no rule. You just have to learn the collocations when you encounter them. Sorry! Some language course-books include special lessons on this subject, and gradually introduce more collocations as you progress. It's all good fun really! When you have learnt some of these different word pairs, try...

Re: FINISHES

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 22:46:30 GMT

Danyoo wrote: Stevenukd wrote: Dear Teachers, 1.– What’s the weather like? It’s very stormy. - How’s the weather? It’s drizzling rain / It’s gentle rain. What's the weather like: This sounds like you are asking about the general climate of a region. >>What the weather like in California? >>It's sunny and mild all year around. How's the weather: This is okay. Answers could be: It's drizzling. It's raining gently. It's snowing and very cold. It's very stormy (ok). 2. What does “ school finishes” mean? It means "school ends." It could mean that the school finishes at 3 pm on that day or it could mean the semester (or the school year) finishes on June 4th (for example). 3.– right now - at the moment...

Re: why?

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 22:32:33 GMT

Minhuoc wrote: Why is this sentence not right? "Not only does he forget his books, but he forgot his pens as well." Hi Minhouc! It depends on what you are trying to say. " Not only does he forget his books, (but) he forgets his pens as well ." would be correct, if this is what you mean. ____________________________________________________________________ The brackets ( ***) mean (that ) the word "but" is optional here, because it is implied by the previous clause.

Re: eat/take

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 22:12:04 GMT

So had/have scores highest for soup and broth . In BrE I agree with that, though I still wonder if google would be the best source for information about current usage because Eng Lang usage differs from country to country. However, fantastic research, paco2004!

Re: Shall and Will

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 21:48:14 GMT

Correction: "'You shall go to the ball, Cinderella", said her fairy godmother."

Re: My/me

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 18:32:31 GMT

Rishonly wrote: Following is a rule that can be applied in deciding the form of a pronoun--my or me. In a formal writing, if a pronoun precedes a gerund , use the possessive form of the pronoun--Your/our/its/their/my...etc. For example, (1) I hope you don't mind my asking about your weekend. (2) The students paid their dues without my asking them. In casual/informal usage, if a pronoun precedes a gerund, people tend to use also the objective form of the pronoun. (3) I hope you don't mind me asking about your weekend. (4) The students paid their dues without me asking them. I believe the usage of possessive nouns with gerund has been a contentious topic among grammarians for a while. Dear Rishonly,...

Re: Free discussions- topics to be debated

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 18:11:52 GMT

Dear Jackfook and Anonymouse . I think you have misunderstood the point of this thread, it is not a "topic debating" thread, it is a Resource of articles submitted by our teachers. In other words, the postings are by teachers, ... and the particular posting you have responded to is a suggestion list from one teacher to other teachers, listing potential topics for classroom discussion, subjects which may be used in order to help their respective English Language students to practise and develop their conversation and discussion skills. Regards

Re: BrE & AE

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 17:03:36 GMT

Accent doesn't really matter. To be understood is the main thing. Accents are cute!

Re: email vs. mail

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 16:51:37 GMT

Kajjo wrote: What are your recommendations to distinguish between email and "normal" mail. Do you think the following sentence is a solution (in the context of a website, as instruction to potential customers): ...You may order by sending an email or by postal mail. ... Any better ideas? Cheers, Kajjo You may order by post or (by) email. ..

Re: apple polisher

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 16:45:33 GMT

Itasan wrote: apple polisher LDCE says it is BrE. If so, what is the British equivalent? The BrE equivalent colloquial expression is bootlicker , = a person who behaves obsequiously (It has nothing to do with kicking anything!) Similar to BrE colloquial.. crawle r, = a person who behaves obsequiusly in the hope of advantage. Bootlicker has a negative/derogatory tone. Someone might say, concerning their own business relationship with their bosses, "I'm not going to lick anyone's boots. I work hard and do my job well, and that's about as far as am prepared to go." To lick someone's boots would be to clean them (their shoes, actually) with your own tongue, perhaps while they are wearing them! But I...

Re: can you understand my english?

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 16:22:41 GMT

Anonymous wrote: I want to write english like this: It is according to my height, my work, and my ability to divide the day. Does this sentence make sense or do i need to fix it? is it ambiguous? what do you think i mean in this sentence? This sounds like an application for a job, where the candidate has to justify his application and give three reasons why he thinks he is ideally suited to the job. Try this... I think I am the ideal person for this job because I am the right height (or very tall?), I am skilled and experienced in this kind of work, and I know how to prioritise. ______________________________________________________________ I hope you get the job. (What is it?)

Re: refund

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 16:12:30 GMT

rapped = reprimanded, from "to rap the knuckles" of someone, i.e. to discipline. oversees = regulates, or "supervises".

Re: perverse

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 16:00:54 GMT

Dear Student Spring Try these alternatives. I think they retain the flavour of the original meanings, but without using the word "perverse":- No matter what he says, she never fails to oppose him. Her strange ( and confrontational) character butchers his self-confidence. Brenndan obeys no one. On the contrary, this awkward child tramples all rules and boundaries. Being in an unreasonably uncooperative mood, she stomped out of the room and slammed the door. She knew that her skipping classes would hurt only her in a long run. Yet, for some strange reason , she continued doing it. ____________________________________________________________________ I hope this helps you.

Re: coed

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 15:46:16 GMT

Itasan wrote: I wonder what is the British equivalent of 'coed'? Thank you. Coed colloquial , three meanings:--- (1) n. BrE. a co-educational school, i.e. both male and female students. (2) n. AmE. a female student at a co-educational institution (3) adj. co-educational. In Britain we don't a special word for female students at a co-educational school. We call them students or female students, or sometimes we call them ' girls '!

Re: blind street

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 15:36:01 GMT

In BrE we have the expression " blind alley " which means (1) a cul-de-sac, and which also metaphorically means (2) to take a course of action leading nowhere. But " blind street "? I've never heard of it. Perhaps Mr Joyce is using his poet's licence. Or maybe you are looking at a mistranslation of the original text!

Re: abbreviation point

teacherbrian — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 14:52:19 GMT

BrE (1) Strictly speaking, all such abbreviations require a full stop (to show that they are abbreviations). (2) However, when an abbreviation is very frequently used, the full stop is often omitted, as in Mr and Mrs. Another example of this omission is in a modern Language Learners Dictionary, where the abbreviations adv. adj. n. v. etc. are everywhere, so you may find that the full stop is omitted. Date abbreviations such as "Apr" are also so frequently used that the full stop is consequently usually omitted when it is part of a longer date form e.g. 12th Apr 2005, or in a list of dates. (3) With a.m. and p.m. it is the same. The full stops are needed, but if you can get away with leaving them out,...

Re: Why does God cause destruction?

teacherbrian — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 18:52:55 GMT

Are we talking about evil or about destruction? Are they the same things? "If one is to reach to where one may be aiming, first it is necessary to know from where one is starting."

Re: Question

teacherbrian — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 18:31:32 GMT

Behnazzz wrote: thanks.... but can you tell me the meaning of levelled? To Behnazzz. Please note that nona the brit has also previously answered this question! See posting 171738 above. Kind regards

Re: What do they mean???

teacherbrian — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 15:29:36 GMT

Smart Girl wrote: Can you guys tell me what these 2 words mean? Anon Nona We have members who have these two names, I don't know there meanings? Are they English words? Nona is also the name of a Greek/Roman God. It also means grandmother is some languages (similar to BrE nan , which is informal for grandmother). It is also ANON spelt backwards!

Re: Kisses in society.

teacherbrian — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 03:19:09 GMT

Leandro_tami wrote: How do you react when you meet someone you don't know? Do you shake hands or kiss her/him ? The 'standard rules' in my country are: if you meet a stranger, you say Hello or Hi and then you shake hands (if the stranger is of the same sex than you) or give her/him a kiss on the cheek (if her/him is of the opposite sex). In the case of a friend, we usually give kisses on the cheek in both cases. In the case of special friends or relatives you could give her/him a hug. ps. I couldn't avoid the "her/him" thing. How can I say this without having this problem? Use " they ", " them "or " their " in such situations, or if you don't know or if it doesn't matter if the person is male or female, or...

Re: Christians - Muslims do they worship the same lord?

teacherbrian — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 03:01:40 GMT

King Robin wrote: The ancester of both christians and Muslims is Abraham. Then it is the same lord both are worshiping. Is it not right? Robin Not right! Yes, the two religions both have Abraaham as an ancestor, but their present beliefs are different, as shown by the replies received and world history. A common ancestry does not prove common belief. I come from my father, but I know I do not believe what he believed, and I do not worship what he worshipped. My sister came from from my father, but she does not worship what I worship. And even Christians differ in what they worship. Some worship Mary, some worship three gods in one, some worship Jesus. These can be quite complex subjects. I don't think...

Re: evolutıon???

teacherbrian — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 02:41:33 GMT

Thanks for your point. It is a good one and has made me think more about the issue. To me it seems that you are talking about the conditions which may or may not contribute to the emergence of life. But when I re-read the details of the actual scientific experiments, as quoted above, they say such things as "Jack Szostak is trying to make a living organism out of nonliving chemicals." "We're trying to evolve from an RNA that joins pieces of RNA to itself, to an RNA that copies itself and other RNA." "RNA, like the DNA of which all modern genes are made, is put together from four chemical units, or bases, plus phosphate and a sugar. Some of these building blocks have been made in labs, using gases and other elements...

Re: How can Christians help to END terrorist attacks in the Western World?

teacherbrian — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 02:03:41 GMT

Dear nona the brit Do you have any opinions or thaought about the original question. i.e. How can Christians help to END terrorist attacks in the Western World?

Re: Are men more intelligent than women

teacherbrian — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 01:47:56 GMT

It's an interesting question. Can anyone define what 'intelligence' means and how it is measured? If an elephant's brain is bigger than a man's brain, and a whale's brain is bigger than an elephant's brain, and neanderthal brains were bigger than modern man's brain (which is true!), which is the most intelligent?

Re: Jesus versus Santa Claus

teacherbrian — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 01:37:28 GMT

Robyn Terri wrote: I understand that Easter is celebrated at the same time as the passover because we know that is when Jesus was crusified, isn't that right? Easter (named after the European pagan goddess of fertility, Oestre), is generally attached to the celebration around 'Easter Sunday', celebrating the day and date of the resurrection of Jesus. The death of Jesus, on the same day as the Jewish passover , took place a few days before, on 14th of Abib, (Abib was later called Nisan) , on what is now known as 'good Friday' by some church groups. However, the annual day for Easter is always a Sunday. Here is a rhyme that will help you... "No need for confusion, if we but recall, that Easter, on the first...

Re: HELP PLEASE

teacherbrian — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 01:10:59 GMT

Anonymous wrote: in words such as freely,hardly,deeply Does it pronounce or in phonetic pronunciation? in words such as starchy,pinky , Does it pronounce in phonetic pronunciation? Hope you can teach me ,deeply thanks! in words such as freely,hardly,deeply... Is it pronounced or in phonetic pronunciation? Answer: is pronounced, using the phonetic alphabet, as in words such as starchy,pinky ,

Re: Plural Proper Noun

teacherbrian — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 00:55:18 GMT

Dear Analyst1 I agree with davkett's reply of 13th December 2005 8.39pm

Re: please any one can give me samples fo AE and BRE

teacherbrian — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 23:15:26 GMT

Moonlight100 wrote: hello i want samples of BRE and AE The luggage compartment of a car:- trunk AmE, boot BrE.

Re: Which kind of Br. Accent shall I follow?

teacherbrian — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 23:03:32 GMT

R.G. wrote: Hi ~~! Which kind of Br. accent shall I follow? There are many regional accents/dialects and there are 'social' accents in Britain. If you want to be widely understood, I suggest that you try to avoid all strong regional accents when learning. However, it is good to be exposed to various accents so that you will understand someone who speaks that way! It is also worth noting that, in time, your accent will naturally gravitate towards the accent being used by the people around you. As you become more competent, you may find that you recognise, and can speak in, a variety of accents, depending on your location, your audience and the situation. I know one Swiss/German student of English who...

Re: Writing and Speaking

teacherbrian — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 22:41:03 GMT

The problem is that you have learned to read and write English before you learned to speak it. Consequently you are always translating from your mother tongue (L1) into English (L2) when you are speaking. This causes the time delay. Babies and children always learn to speak first, and to read/write later. That is the natural/normal way that language is learnt. Age is also a factor. Some studies of the brain indicate that L1 is stored in the Broca's area of the brain, but that this gets substantially filled up by the time a person reaches their teenage years. So at 40, it is not going to be easy to learn L2. The brain has to force the new language in somewhere else, and then the brain has to find where it has put the new...

Re: What pticular forms of 'accent' are negatively qualified?

teacherbrian — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 22:22:05 GMT

The text you have provided and its website source shows that it is a specialist academic subject, and perhaps it needs an academic expert in the matter to explain the meanings. However, in ordinary English I think it means "What accents have unsatisfactory(negative) effects on other hearers."

Re: how to pronunce "princess' handbag"

teacherbrian — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 22:12:44 GMT

Hly2004 wrote: France's proposal Princess' handbag Congress' decision Or in BrE... France-iz Princess-iz (with the the 'e' as in b e d) Congress-iz (with the the 'e' as in b e d)

Re: Singular & plural words

teacherbrian — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 21:56:12 GMT

Guest wrote: What is the correct plural form for octopus octopuses ! I know it sounds strange. We sometimes think it should be octopi , or that octopus is both the singular and the plural form (as in 'sheep'), but no, the plural of octopus is octopuses .

Re: answerphone

teacherbrian — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 21:28:35 GMT

Itasan wrote: I wonder if this understanding is correct: 1. answerphone; answering machine - BrE 2. answering machine - AmE Thank you. The Oxford Compact English Dictionary says " answerphone n. Brit . a telephone answering machine."

Re: apple polisher

teacherbrian — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 21:18:23 GMT

To nona the brit Is that what (AmE ) apple polisher really means? I've never heard the expression.