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LauraM

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Everything posted by LauraM

  1. I have seen it written both ways. It's the same word, just spelled differently. With either spelling, it's a euphemism for "Jesus!" or "Jesus Christ!" used as an exclamation. Such use of the name is offensive to some Christians so therefore, the euphemism. But "jeez" and "geez" have become so standard that people may not necessarily be aware of the origin of the words.
  2. For non-native and native speakers alike, please let us know if there were any characters in any English language books that helped you in your study of the language in any way. Were you inspired to keep reading because you found the character appealing? Was the character's use of the English language instructive for you? Or perhaps a character made a memorable impression and you felt encouraged to keep reading in English? For me, the character that comes to mind is Sherlock Holmes, the iconic detective of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories and novels. I've read several of the works over the years. The character and his use of language always fascinated me. Let us know your favorites!
  3. Yes, we have both native speakers and non-native speakers using the English section. I think it's been a very enjoyable way to brush up on grammar and learn more about the fine points of the language. I've learned a lot here, too. Unfortunately in this day and age, so often we're exposed to incorrect English grammar and spelling that we're all in the same situation, whether we are native speakers or non-native speakers of English. We're all hearing and seeing incorrect grammar so much that it's easy to forget what the correct grammar is. I've never heard anyone say "borrowed me some money." But I have heard "get me some money" which is also incorrect grammar It's that same incorrect sentence construction; adding "me" after a verb that doesn't need it. And of course, the mispronunciation of words that is specific to certain geographic regions -- such as you mentioned -- is yet another one of those peculiarities! That's strange how people add a nonexistent "r" when they pronounce wash!
  4. Yes, I've seen those and many other errors in spelling. It is curious that people confuse "definitely" with "defiantly" which are two different words with two different meanings, as thekernel pointed out. Another one I see often is "perogative" instead of "prerogative." People have mentioned many other examples on this thread that I have also noticed. Sayitwell, I think the erosion of standards in language use -- vocabulary, spelling and grammar -- is pervasive. I think some of it may be due to the influence of texting, social media and the Internet and the reliance on spell checkers. In the U.S., where I live, I think that education standards are not what they once were. Students are not learning these basic skills. Overall, expectations of proper grammar and spelling don't appear to be as high as they once were. So people are getting accustomed to just getting by. Plus, they see these common errors so frequently they probably don't even recognize them as such.
  5. I agree. This has been an enjoyable thread. I'm glad there is still interest in it. "Mollycoddle" a great addition to our collection! The word sounds familiar. I think I have seen and/or heard it at some point. I think the word "coddle" is funny sounding in and of itself and then adding "molly" makes it even funnier. There are a couple of words not yet mentioned here that I have always found funny sounding. There is "befuddle" which means to make confused or perplexed. And there is "bamboozle" which means to fool or to cheat someone. A funny word, although not a nice thing to do!
  6. Yes, I think a poll would be a great idea! I like this topic. I think it's an important one because we do need to be aware of the various dialects of English worldwide. It's fascinating how the language -- both pronunciation and vocabulary -- evolves, region by region. Same language, but subtle difference. I like the accents of the American South, which vary a bit region by region but they are all similar. The "Southern drawl" as it's sometimes called, as often people will speak more slowly and draw out the words. I think the sound of the language and the idiomatic expressions are so expressive. And yes, I also Irish and Scottish accents. They have a beautiful, musical sound.
  7. "Fewer" and "less" are two words that are sometimes confused. While they both refer to a smaller amount or quantity of something, they are used in different circumstances. "Fewer" refers to amounts that you can count individually. Let's use "books" as an example. You can count the number of books you have. So you would say "I have fewer books than I used to." "Less" refers to amounts that you can't count individually. Let's use "space" as an example. Space is a quantity but you can't count it individually, So you would say, "I have less space in this apartment than I did in my previous apartment." If you put the two concepts together, you would say, "I have fewer books than I used to because I moved into an apartment with less space than my previous apartment." Here's another example. "This store has less coffee for sale than the other store." But you would say, "This store has fewer brands of coffee than the other store." Coffee is a mass quantity that you can't count. But you can count the number of brands of coffee that you see on a store shelf. Can you think of some examples to help us illustrate the difference?
  8. cecil15, I agree on all points. I'm a native speaker of English and I was fortunate to be raised by parents who were very strict with grammar. I didn't have a chance to develop any bad habits because they always corrected me. Looking back, I am extremely appreciative! Unfortunately, even among native speakers in the U.S. where I live, you will hear a lot of incorrect grammar. People who fall into these habits in daily life will have a more difficult time in circumstances in which proper English grammar is imperative, such as in a job interview as you mentioned. I hear all kinds of errors in daily speech. For example, people will say "There's a hundred children in that school," for instance. It should be -- "There are a hundred children in that school" -- because "a hundred children" is a plural subject. On the other hand, if you said "There's a gifted child in that school" that would be correct because it's a singular subject. Despite the pervasiveness of poor grammar in society and culture, you are still held to high standards generally in professional settings. Considering how much competition there is for jobs these days, using poor grammar would put you unnecessarily at a disadvantage.
  9. You might want to try practicing your reading skills with some basic or simple texts in which you are familiar with most or all of the words. Rather than reading aloud or sounding out all of the words in your mind, try to take in several words at once, as you would likely do in your native language. As much as possible, avoid translating what you're reading into your native language, and instead let your mind comprehend the English words, just as you would if you were listening to someone speak. As you get familiar with the process see if you can read more quickly. Try skimming a passage to see how much of it you comprehend. Then go back and read more slowly and see what you may have missed. That's what I would do. Does anyone else have some suggestions? What's working for you?
  10. LauraM

    Commas

    Yes, that's a great example. We use a semicolon to link two independent clauses that have no connecting words. Your sentence is a perfect example. Here are two more. "It's the middle of September; time goes by so quickly." "He was waiting at the train station; it was getting late and he was concerned." As for colons, we use those when a list will follow. Here's an example: "When I get to the department store, I'm looking for several items: a pair of shoes, a wallet, a scarf to match my coat, a carry-on bag, and a case for my phone."
  11. LauraM

    Commas

    Yes, Commas. The use of commas is a challenge for native speakers of English as well. As for "clauses" here are a few basics. Use commas to separate independent clauses of a sentence with any of these words, which are known as coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet. An "independent clause" means that part of the sentence could stand alone. Example: "I was walking out the door, but I stopped first to make sure I had my keys with me." This, on the other hand, would be a "dependent" clause, meaning it can't stand alone. So there is no comma. "I was walking out the door but was feeling reluctant to leave." You can get more details at this online guide from Purdue University. There's a whole section on commas. It's quite handy. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/01/
  12. Yes, I can relate to that. I also believe that literature can change society. Through literature authors can give us a vision of possibilities that we may not have considered. They might inspire us. They might also challenge us collectively to do better and to be better as humans. Literature can evoke all kinds of deep emotion from compassion and love to shock, dismay and outrage. I think literature can take simple stories of ordinary people and universalize them -- make them meaningful and timeless. That's the case with such classics in English literature as Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" or Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women." I think literature can also warn us of what may happen if we lose our humanity; if we become callous, indifferent, or if we sacrifice our liberty. George Orwell's "1984" is a good example. It's a cautionary tale of what might happen if we were to lose the freedom we take for granted. I'm very glad we have this section of the forum, to share some of our favorite books and authors and subjects related to published works in English. I know from reading other threads that there are many here who learned English and were motivated, in part, by their interest in reading various works in English.
  13. Thanks! Those are some very inspiring quotes! Thank you so much for sharing them with us. The works of Napoleon Hill have been life changing for many people I know. I've benefited from his work as well. Here are a couple of my favorites from him: "Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting." "Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success."
  14. It would still be "Take the dog with you." Same with your second example. It should be "Take grandma to the hospital." Or alternatively: "When you go to the hospital, take grandma with you." Same with your examples as well. It would be "take the dog to the vet" regardless of the purpose of the trip. The defining factor is the perspective: Take = to carry or transport something or someone to a destination Bring = to arrive at a destination with something or someone. If you are at home and you go somewhere you "take" something or someone with you. Once you reach your destination, you can then say that you remembered to "bring" something or someone with you. Or past tense you "brought" something or someone with you.
  15. That is a baffling word, as it is pronounced completely differently from the way it is spelled. Phonetically, it is pronounced "WEE-Gee" -- long "e" vowel sounds with the emphasis on the first syllable. It makes no sense but that is how it's pronounced!
  16. Yes, exactly. It's in daily conversation that people sometimes make the error of interchanging the two verbs. This is an error that native speakers of English sometimes make, too. When we choose which verb to use we have to remember our perspective. You're also right that "get" can substitute for "bring" as in that example. Let's say, I am at a restaurant. I can ask a waiter to "get me another cup of tea" or I can ask him if he will "bring me a cup of tea." They are interchangeable.
  17. Bring and take are two verbs that are not interchangeable. There is often some confusion as to which one to use as they seem to mean the same thing. Bring means to come to a place with something, or arriving somewhere with something. Take means to carry something with you when you go. The differences are more clear when we use examples. If you are going to the store, you take your money with you. You call your friend whom you are going to meet at the store and tell him, "Don't worry, I'm going to take plenty of money with me." When you get to the store and meet up with your friend, he might ask you, "Did you remember to bring the money?" You would then say, "Yes, I did remember to bring it." Here another one. Let's say you're sitting down. You ask your friend to bring you the newspaper. When you finish reading it, you get up and you take it with you and put it in the recycle bin. So now you know the difference! Can you think of some other examples?
  18. Thanks for sharing this, kitkat0124. I thought the study findings that the speaker shared are really fascinating and worth paying attention to. I can see how reverting to something familiar that evokes one's native language could impact your learning of another language. As he pointed out, the brain will revert to old patterns and neuro-pathways rather than make and/or retain new ones because the brain is looking for shortcuts. This makes a lot of sense to me. I think it has larger implications. It's also why breaking an old habit and/or replacing it with a new one is challenging. It's been shown that if you can change a habit for 20 to 30 consecutive days (I've heard both numbers) that you can make a permanent change. So it seems this same principle applies to learning a new language. You have to keep practicing it and not let yourself revert back to your native language. That would be extreme immersion, for sure, but I think worth it if one is motivated to learn. My immersion has never been this extensive as I've never lived in a foreign country to learn a language Has anyone had this kind of experience? Do the principles and concepts in this video ring true if you have?
  19. Yes, I agree and I can relate. Random word lists are more difficult. What I found much more helpful was to learn words in a context, i.e. to learn several words that might all be used in a particular situation. Let's say, for instance if I want to talk about gardening, then I need to know the names of the tools in the other language, as well as the verbs that describe their actions. Also, I would want to know the names of various plants and flowers. So learning such words all in a context worked much better for me.
  20. Yes, I find the short-cuts annoying as well. It really seems counterproductive. I find it much faster and easier to just use the auto-complete function on my phone than to try to remember or think of these short-cuts! I do think many of them are unnecessary. Abbreviations are fine, but it can be taken to an extreme making it difficult for a recipient to decipher what are sometimes idiosyncratic abbreviations. I think it can wind up being a bad habit, such laziness. People may eventually forget how to spell properly. But as to the larger issue, it leads one to wonder what this is doing to our collective language skills when communication becomes so constrained like that.
  21. I never thought of German as sounding "aggressive." The language came across to me as expressive and dramatic. I think that's probably due to my early exposure to German opera as a child and a bit later on, in foreign films and documentaries. I always thought of the language as somewhat theatrical in a good way, in that you could express a range of emotion and the words and the sounds of the words seemed to match the emotions both positive and negative. I perceived it as quite different from the mellifluous sounds of the romance languages in which you can say terrible things and still sound quite soothing!
  22. Yes, I think what's interesting is how frequently we use metonymic expressions in daily life. They are everywhere! Your example is a metonymy -- "My computer is rendering a video." Yes, just as you said "computer" = the specific programs that are doing the rendering. The difference between a metaphor and a metonymy is that a metaphor draws a comparison between two concepts. So if you were to say "The pen was my sword" that would be a metaphor. But a metonymy is the substitution of a word for something else. A word becomes a representation of another word. Thus when we say "The pen is mightier than the sword" the "pen" represents the written word and the "sword" represents war or military intervention. It's easier to see this through examples. For instance, at a restaurant we wind up using a lot of metonymic expressions. If we get a free meal, we say "it was on the house," meaning the restaurant pays for it. Instead of saying a meal, we might say a "dish." So in another example, the "house specialty" is a "dish" (meal) that the restaurant (house) is known for. If you're drinking coffee, you might tell the waiter, "I'll have another cup." Cup = coffee. So there are lots of these in many circumstances in our lives.
  23. I have had that same experience with Spanish in the years that I was learning it. I would hear a fluent speaking inner voice that had flawless pronunciation. You are not the only one! I do think that with speaking a language we must make that connection with the voice that we hear, both in our own heads, as well as the voices of native speakers that we hear. By that I mean, that speaking is a motor skill as well. So as you point out, part of it is learning how to formulate vowels and consonants that are not familiar to us. Kind of like learning techniques in sports, e.g. how to do the various strokes in swimming -- freestyle, butterfly, etc. -- or the hand-eye coordination it takes to play tennis. I think as with sports, that we just have to practice so that we have less and less of the disparity between the inner voice and our increasing ability to speak the language fluently.
  24. Yes, this is absolutely astonishing to contemplate. So many languages with so few speakers! I had no idea that half the world's languages had fewer than 10,000 speakers. And even more amazing -- and very sad, I agree -- those languages that are on the verge of extinction. And Vanuatu, wow! That's astonishing as well. But at least they have found a common language with which to communicate. These language numbers, of course, will always be estimates. There are still mysteries in the world. I remember a few years ago, when the "uncontacted" people were found in the forests in South America. Remember that? Communities that literally have no knowledge of our contemporary world. There are also such "uncontacted" people in New Guinea. It's kind of the same way with these languages that exist in a kind of timelessness undisturbed by the modern influences until, sadly, at some point, their speakers all die out.
  25. This is the first I have heard of this. Thanks for sharing. Being an American I can't vouch for the accuracy, but some of the disparities in meaning are quite amazing, to the point of being amusing. But not so much so, if there is this kind of misunderstanding between people! It could lead to some awkward situations. This one in particular really struck me: What the British say: "With the greatest respect" What the British mean: "You are an idiot" What foreigners understand: "He is listening to me" It's worth checking out the whole list. Collectively, they are really astonishing.
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