As we know ( or should know ) THE PASSIVE TOOL is more prevalent in English than in other languages. Why this is so may be due to the power of inflection in English. In the dictionary inflection is considered, among other things, to be a bending or deviation in the voice or in the grammar which may change or alter the relations between case, number, gender, person, tense and so on. In English we often prefer to put the weight on the object or the receiver of the verbal action, as in a punishment. So instead of saying “The Court gave  Jones a six-month sentence” or “Jones received a six-month sentence”, we say “Jones was given a six-month sentence”. Obviously the circumstances dictate which we use but in an atmosphere of a public outcry against the said Jones, most newspaper editors would bow to the general public’s demand for blood and sate it. At the same time the editor woud avoid using a meaningless subject like The Court. Using newspaper vernacular the whole exercise of economy of expression could be rounded off with the non-finite form “Jones given six-month sentence”.

Read more

“I told him not to smoke in bed but he insists on smoking in bed nevertheless”

“I told him not to smoke in bed but he will smoke in bed nevertheless”

“I wish he didn’t smoke in bed”

“I  wish he wouldn’t smoke in bed”

Read more

The “Causative” is a brilliant conceptual tool lacking in many other languages. This is the simple ( for the English ) way of saying that you pay another person or enterprise to carry out a task which you are incapable of doing yourself. Perhaps the task is is too technical and so you contact a computer specialist, a mechanic, an electrician or a plumber and so on. Perhaps the task is impossiblephysically for example, you can’t cut your own hair. So you go to the barber or hairdresser to have your hair cut, washed, permed or streaked. Under a third category, we have specialists often of a medical nature: you can have your mouth looked after by a dentist, your eyes by an optician and your general health or aesthetic worries by a doctor or surgeon. If you are lazy or clumsy, you can have your windows cleaned or your kitchen painted. If you are rich, you can have everything done for you. There is a group of esoteric skills or services; you can have yourself embalmed, for instance, or you can find a taxidermist to have your cat stuffed. Then there are the myriad of daily problems: breakages, breakdowns and failures which you need to have seen to or dealt with.

Read more

“Take that!”

“No, thanks. I’ve already got one.”

I’ve taken to taking down the dictionary from the shelf in order to take stock of the more odder varieties of vocabulary. I take it you take my meaning because taking people through the vagaries of vocabulary takes me back to when I used to take my girl-friends to the British Museum to take a look at some of the rarer books there. I couldn’t take them out of the library nor could I take photocopies but I could take all the time in the world to take down in my small notebook everything it might take to take a First at Oxford.

Read more

In reply to those who ask, “When does the course begin?”

This place is like a train. You can get on it and off it when you like. The carriages are segregated according to your level of English but you can get into any carriage you like within reason. All you have to do is improve your English. Bob’s the driver and Nina’s the brakeman.

“Bob scribbled out this Present Modals Chart with The Sevens during a recent football match. It took him over an hour because there were quite a few distractions and he kept writing the wrong sentence and had to correct it. Then he had to put patches and there were smudges but finally, as you can see, the finished object is in some ways a masterpiece. So there you are! He has deigned to share it in its unique form. He’s waiting for the next match to scribble out the past tense.”

Read more

The pronunciation of the regular verbs is one of the most negected aspects of English teaching, and there isn’t really any excuse for teachers not drilling it into students until they do it by second nature. Of course, in languages where pronunciation follows strictly the written form, there will be a great deal of resistance even sometimes from under-trained teachers. However this is no excuse and students should demand more than just an “explanation” with half a dozen examples. Below you will see a “few” examples. As you will see the meaning of the verb is not at all important to the pronunciation group which the verb belongs to.

Good luck!

Read more

Some Thoughts and Practice on Consonant Pronunciation

One of the secrets of good pronunciation is the correct use of the lips, teeth and tongue when pronouncing the consonants. This, however is not as easy as it seems. English is a language where the consonant is very dominant and all phonetic sounds ( except the first in a sentence or phrase or clause that begins with a vowel ) begin with a spoken consonant.

This means that English, although not being aware of it, elides the last consonant of a word which precedes the following word that begins with a vowel ( that is, a spoken vowel ). Vowels sometimes take consonant- pronunciation i.e. University Europe. An added complication is the regular verb. The regular verb has a very simple form. If we analyse or just write out one, it is easy to demonstrate.

Read more

Can a canny can-can dancer open a can of beans?

Can you do the can-can in a can-can on a can?

GOT YOUR ATTENTION?  Well, we can go…!!!!

1. Anyone can be a teacher these days.
2. My sister can be very infuriating.
3. It can be very cold there at Easter.
4. You can be the teacher and I’ll be the pupil.
5. I can be there at eight o’clock.

Read more

Obviously it isn’t easy to accept that a language can be simplified  but in reality, all the languages that exist are equally simple. It’s simply that, like a huge building, the size inhibits us. We must think that if a room is simple, a building of ten thousand rooms is just as simple but obviously, there are passages, stairs, lifts, swimming pools, restaurants or what have you. Perhaps it becomes a maze, a veritable labyrinth. However this complexity is in reality, simplicity itself. It can all be put onto a minute memory-stick. Open your mind! If you approach a language with an open mind and a little intelligence, organisation, enthusiasm and optimism, you will learn. On the other hand if you close your mind, expect everything to be translated, are pessimistic about achieving your objectives or try to learn without organisation, you will defeat your purpose and join the army of anti-foreign-language brigade; the members of which are still in the majority……..unfortunately.

Read more