Ask me your English language related questions
Post 22 of 87
Replying to [EnglishRyan]:
This is a good thread in terms of learning a few english language on how to speak and how to learn the language it self.
But how can you teach other people in one class mixed with arabs, chinese, japanese, koreans and other people who dont speak that much english and make them more fluent in speaking it?
Do you have any excercise that you do? Isn't there are problems in there mother tongue when speaking the english language?
This is a good thread in terms of learning a few english language on how to speak and how to learn the language it self.
But how can you teach other people in one class mixed with arabs, chinese, japanese, koreans and other people who dont speak that much english and make them more fluent in speaking it?
Do you have any excercise that you do? Isn't there are problems in there mother tongue when speaking the english language?
14 Nov 2007 22:20
Post 23 of 87
Replying to [EnglishRyan]:
Hi, I have worked as English teacher full time and now work part time in Japan. My students often ask me about plural form. English is very complicated and have many exceptions, right?
Last month we focused on suggesting good restaurants and dialog goes like this; "You could go to Royal Pavilion. They have good pizza and great spaghetti" and another dialog goes "You could go to ABC house. They have excellent soups and various kinds of curries".
Here many students asked me why spaghetti can't be plural. I explained pizza or spaghetti are plural already like "people" but they are counted like a pizza or two pizza?(no "s"??).
I got another question why "soups" and "curries" - soup and curry are basically uncountable, right?? Cake too. We can count cake like "a cake" when we talk about a big whole of cake, while we should say a piece of cake to talk about small one. However, when we talk about many kinds of pieces of cake, we actually say "cakes"?? On the menu, we see "PIZZAS&SPAGHETTIS". It is really confusing. I always try my best but end up explaining, English is still growing and there are some expectations. What do you think??
Hi, I have worked as English teacher full time and now work part time in Japan. My students often ask me about plural form. English is very complicated and have many exceptions, right?
Last month we focused on suggesting good restaurants and dialog goes like this; "You could go to Royal Pavilion. They have good pizza and great spaghetti" and another dialog goes "You could go to ABC house. They have excellent soups and various kinds of curries".
Here many students asked me why spaghetti can't be plural. I explained pizza or spaghetti are plural already like "people" but they are counted like a pizza or two pizza?(no "s"??).
I got another question why "soups" and "curries" - soup and curry are basically uncountable, right?? Cake too. We can count cake like "a cake" when we talk about a big whole of cake, while we should say a piece of cake to talk about small one. However, when we talk about many kinds of pieces of cake, we actually say "cakes"?? On the menu, we see "PIZZAS&SPAGHETTIS". It is really confusing. I always try my best but end up explaining, English is still growing and there are some expectations. What do you think??
15 Nov 2007 18:15
Post 24 of 87
Replying to [kukuding]:
Hey kukuding,
Teaching a class of mixed cultural backgrounds poses a few challenges but also has some benefits. As you pointed out, there are a number of issues when it comes to teaching pronunciation to a class such as this (for example, Asian students typically have trouble pronouncing English Ls, however this is not an issue for Arab students). On the other hand, a classroom populated with students speaking a spectrum of languages restricts them from interacting with each other using any language but English. I enjoy cl like this because it forces students to explain their opinions in English; there are no short-cuts.
The second part of your question reminds me of a Korean man I met in Dubai who could speak fluent Arabic and almost fluent English and had achieved this within 3 years. He said what worked for him was to build his vocabulary every day and listen to English and Arabic conversations very closely. He noted how certain phrases were delivered and reproduced them when he spoke. This man also did not use any textbook outside a basic grammar textbook. I am not suggesting you give up cl altogether, but if your goal is to speak like a native person, speak English as often as you can and listen closely. There are some great web resources, too, exhibiting native English conversations on a variety of topics with the purpose of demonstrating to the non-native speaker how conversational English is used.
All the best
Ryan
Hey kukuding,
Teaching a class of mixed cultural backgrounds poses a few challenges but also has some benefits. As you pointed out, there are a number of issues when it comes to teaching pronunciation to a class such as this (for example, Asian students typically have trouble pronouncing English Ls, however this is not an issue for Arab students). On the other hand, a classroom populated with students speaking a spectrum of languages restricts them from interacting with each other using any language but English. I enjoy cl like this because it forces students to explain their opinions in English; there are no short-cuts.
The second part of your question reminds me of a Korean man I met in Dubai who could speak fluent Arabic and almost fluent English and had achieved this within 3 years. He said what worked for him was to build his vocabulary every day and listen to English and Arabic conversations very closely. He noted how certain phrases were delivered and reproduced them when he spoke. This man also did not use any textbook outside a basic grammar textbook. I am not suggesting you give up cl altogether, but if your goal is to speak like a native person, speak English as often as you can and listen closely. There are some great web resources, too, exhibiting native English conversations on a variety of topics with the purpose of demonstrating to the non-native speaker how conversational English is used.
All the best
Ryan
15 Nov 2007 18:24
Post 25 of 87
Replying to [wendy fang]: In my opinion , as a foreign trade businessman ,the spoke english is very important .maybe we need loudly reading it every morning .i trust we must improve it if we keep do it .sometimes i will very motive if i read a good article .i think it's a pleasant fun for me
15 Nov 2007 19:31
Post 26 of 87
Replying to [EnglishRyan]:
![[em1]](http://img.alibaba.com/images/eng/style/icon/emoticons_smile.gif)
Hi,Ryan,iam chinese majored in english,but my written english is poor,Could you give me some advice ?![[em15]](http://img.alibaba.com/images/eng/style/icon/emoticons_wish_you_wealth.gif)
Hi,Ryan,iam chinese majored in english,but my written english is poor,Could you give me some advice ?
21 Nov 2007 22:01
Post 27 of 87
Replying to [mayumi]
Hey mayumi,
Yeah, teaching countable and uncountable nouns can be frustrating. I usually use the analogy of eating dinner with friends. Picture a square table with you and three friends sitting at it. If everyone is eating the same flavour of curry, you would say to your guests, "let's eat our curry". However, if everyone is eating various flavours, you would say, "let's eat our curries". By asking your students to picture it in this way, they will more easily decipher when to use these forms. So if we take your spaghetti example, if you and three friends are about to eat the same spaghetti recipe, you would say "let's eat our spaghetti", otherwise, "let's eat our spaghettis".
Good luck!
Ryan
(quote)
Hi, I have worked as English teacher full time and now work part time in Japan. My students often ask me about plural form. English is very complicated and have many exceptions, right?
Last month we focused on suggesting good restaurants and dialog goes like this; "You could go to Royal Pavilion. They have good pizza and great spaghetti" and another dialog goes "You could go to ABC house. They have excellent soups and various kinds of curries".
Here many students asked me why spaghetti can't be plural. I explained pizza or spaghetti are plural already like "people" but they are counted like a pizza or two pizza?(no "s"??).
I got another question why "soups" and "curries" - soup and curry are basically uncountable, right?? Cake too. We can count cake like "a cake" when we talk about a big whole of cake, while we should say a piece of cake to talk about small one. However, when we talk about many kinds of pieces of cake, we actually say "cakes"?? On the menu, we see "PIZZAS&SPAGHETTIS". It is really confusing. I always try my best but end up explaining, English is still growing and there are some expectations. What do you think??
Hey mayumi,
Yeah, teaching countable and uncountable nouns can be frustrating. I usually use the analogy of eating dinner with friends. Picture a square table with you and three friends sitting at it. If everyone is eating the same flavour of curry, you would say to your guests, "let's eat our curry". However, if everyone is eating various flavours, you would say, "let's eat our curries". By asking your students to picture it in this way, they will more easily decipher when to use these forms. So if we take your spaghetti example, if you and three friends are about to eat the same spaghetti recipe, you would say "let's eat our spaghetti", otherwise, "let's eat our spaghettis".
Good luck!
Ryan
(quote)
Hi, I have worked as English teacher full time and now work part time in Japan. My students often ask me about plural form. English is very complicated and have many exceptions, right?
Last month we focused on suggesting good restaurants and dialog goes like this; "You could go to Royal Pavilion. They have good pizza and great spaghetti" and another dialog goes "You could go to ABC house. They have excellent soups and various kinds of curries".
Here many students asked me why spaghetti can't be plural. I explained pizza or spaghetti are plural already like "people" but they are counted like a pizza or two pizza?(no "s"??).
I got another question why "soups" and "curries" - soup and curry are basically uncountable, right?? Cake too. We can count cake like "a cake" when we talk about a big whole of cake, while we should say a piece of cake to talk about small one. However, when we talk about many kinds of pieces of cake, we actually say "cakes"?? On the menu, we see "PIZZAS&SPAGHETTIS". It is really confusing. I always try my best but end up explaining, English is still growing and there are some expectations. What do you think??
22 Nov 2007 11:55
Post 28 of 87
Replying to [EnglishRyan]:
Isn't the same applied to "fruit" and "fruits"? If I use "fruit" as a synonym for "produce", it's uncountable - otherwise it's countable... I believe!
For example, if somebody asks me what I had for lunch, I might answer, "I had fruit". That's just a general statement, without saying what kind or how much. But if I had a banana, an apple and a peach, then I would have had three fruits (with an "s" in the end). Correct?
By the way, tried to contact you via TM, but it didn't work. Could you try to contact me, please?
Isn't the same applied to "fruit" and "fruits"? If I use "fruit" as a synonym for "produce", it's uncountable - otherwise it's countable... I believe!
For example, if somebody asks me what I had for lunch, I might answer, "I had fruit". That's just a general statement, without saying what kind or how much. But if I had a banana, an apple and a peach, then I would have had three fruits (with an "s" in the end). Correct?
By the way, tried to contact you via TM, but it didn't work. Could you try to contact me, please?
22 Nov 2007 12:15
Post 29 of 87
Replying to [maria liu]:
Hi maria liu,
When writing in English, organize your thoughts into short, concise sentences linked with cohesive phrases and grouped into coherent paragraphs.
What does that mean?
Well, it means that each sentence should have one idea and should link to the sentences before it using cohesive phrases such as - in addition, therefore, whereas, however, but, it's hardly surprising, without a doubt...etc. Repeated information is not helpful unless you are trying to stress a point.
As an example, let's say we wanted to write a paragraph suggesting that car accidents in Dubai are linked to overworked individuals and stress. Here is our first attempt (I can't indent in this text box, so don't forget that this is necessary, too):
There are many car accidents in Dubai because Dubai is an extremely fast-paced city and everyone works extremely hard thus they are tired and their concentration behind the wheel is lowered and this causes them to make rash decisions and these decisions are will continue to cause accidents unless stopped.
This paragraph has a number of problems. Firstly, it is only one sentence that contains multiple ideas. Secondly, it repeats information. Thirdly, it does not successfully use any cohesive phrases, therefore it's difficult to follow the writer's point of view.
Our first step in correcting this piece is to break up this sentence into smaller sentences and group the repeated information:
There are many car accidents in Dubai. Dubai is an extremely fast-paced city and everyone works extremely hard. Drivers are tired and their concentration behind the wheel is lowered. Rash decisions will continue to to be the main cause of car accidents in Dubai if driver fatigue is not reduced.
Now that we've simplified the sentences and organized them properly, we can link them together using cohesive phrases. This causes these sentences to work as a team and makes the entire paragraph much stronger:
There are many car accidents in Dubai. This is because Dubai is an extremely fast-paced city and everyone works extremely hard. As a result of this, drivers are tired and their concentration behind the wheel is lowered. Thus, rash decisions will continue to to be the main cause of car accidents in Dubai if driver fatigue is not reduced.
We have added these cohesive phrases - This is because, As a result of this and thus. Now the paragraph is much easier to follow and argues it's point with greater success.
That's my take on maria's question. Any other teachers out there are welcome to add to or refute it as they see fit.
Maria, your homework is to rewrite your question to me :D Here it is:
Hi,Ryan,iam chinese majored in english,but my written english is poor,Could you give me some advice ?
Good luck!
Ryan
Hi maria liu,
When writing in English, organize your thoughts into short, concise sentences linked with cohesive phrases and grouped into coherent paragraphs.
What does that mean?
Well, it means that each sentence should have one idea and should link to the sentences before it using cohesive phrases such as - in addition, therefore, whereas, however, but, it's hardly surprising, without a doubt...etc. Repeated information is not helpful unless you are trying to stress a point.
As an example, let's say we wanted to write a paragraph suggesting that car accidents in Dubai are linked to overworked individuals and stress. Here is our first attempt (I can't indent in this text box, so don't forget that this is necessary, too):
There are many car accidents in Dubai because Dubai is an extremely fast-paced city and everyone works extremely hard thus they are tired and their concentration behind the wheel is lowered and this causes them to make rash decisions and these decisions are will continue to cause accidents unless stopped.
This paragraph has a number of problems. Firstly, it is only one sentence that contains multiple ideas. Secondly, it repeats information. Thirdly, it does not successfully use any cohesive phrases, therefore it's difficult to follow the writer's point of view.
Our first step in correcting this piece is to break up this sentence into smaller sentences and group the repeated information:
There are many car accidents in Dubai. Dubai is an extremely fast-paced city and everyone works extremely hard. Drivers are tired and their concentration behind the wheel is lowered. Rash decisions will continue to to be the main cause of car accidents in Dubai if driver fatigue is not reduced.
Now that we've simplified the sentences and organized them properly, we can link them together using cohesive phrases. This causes these sentences to work as a team and makes the entire paragraph much stronger:
There are many car accidents in Dubai. This is because Dubai is an extremely fast-paced city and everyone works extremely hard. As a result of this, drivers are tired and their concentration behind the wheel is lowered. Thus, rash decisions will continue to to be the main cause of car accidents in Dubai if driver fatigue is not reduced.
We have added these cohesive phrases - This is because, As a result of this and thus. Now the paragraph is much easier to follow and argues it's point with greater success.
That's my take on maria's question. Any other teachers out there are welcome to add to or refute it as they see fit.
Maria, your homework is to rewrite your question to me :D Here it is:
Hi,Ryan,iam chinese majored in english,but my written english is poor,Could you give me some advice ?
Good luck!
Ryan
22 Nov 2007 12:30
Post 30 of 87
Replying to [germex]:
Yes, I believe the best response would be "I had three fruits", but I will consult my Azars tomorrow. :)
To be honest, I am not quite sure what a TM is (I am guessing it is like a personal message). Please feel free to email me at: ryanthiggins@hotmail.com
Goodnight!
Ryan
Isn't the same applied to "fruit" and "fruits"? If I use "fruit" as a synonym for "produce", it's uncountable - otherwise it's countable... I believe!
For example, if somebody asks me what I had for lunch, I might answer, "I had fruit". That's just a general statement, without saying what kind or how much. But if I had a banana, an apple and a peach, then I would have had three fruits (with an "s" in the end). Correct?
By the way, tried to contact you via TM, but it didn't work. Could you try to contact me, please?
Yes, I believe the best response would be "I had three fruits", but I will consult my Azars tomorrow. :)
To be honest, I am not quite sure what a TM is (I am guessing it is like a personal message). Please feel free to email me at: ryanthiggins@hotmail.com
Goodnight!
Ryan
Isn't the same applied to "fruit" and "fruits"? If I use "fruit" as a synonym for "produce", it's uncountable - otherwise it's countable... I believe!
For example, if somebody asks me what I had for lunch, I might answer, "I had fruit". That's just a general statement, without saying what kind or how much. But if I had a banana, an apple and a peach, then I would have had three fruits (with an "s" in the end). Correct?
By the way, tried to contact you via TM, but it didn't work. Could you try to contact me, please?
22 Nov 2007 12:48
Post 31 of 87
Replying to [EnglishRyan]:Hi,Ryan,first, Thank you for your help.
This is my homework,Pls check: I am chinese and I majord in English at school,but my written English is poor, so could you give me some advice about written English?
Your method is special, my teacher never taught us like this at school. Have you been taught chinese student ever? Can you talk about chinese students learn English in advantage and disadvantage? and how to learn English for chinese?
By the way, I am interesed in Dubai on construction,Can you tell me about this?
Rgs!
Maria![[em3]](http://img.alibaba.com/images/eng/style/icon/emoticons_grin.gif)
![[em37]](http://img.alibaba.com/images/eng/style/icon/emoticons_cheers.gif)
This is my homework,Pls check: I am chinese and I majord in English at school,but my written English is poor, so could you give me some advice about written English?
Your method is special, my teacher never taught us like this at school. Have you been taught chinese student ever? Can you talk about chinese students learn English in advantage and disadvantage? and how to learn English for chinese?
By the way, I am interesed in Dubai on construction,Can you tell me about this?
Rgs!
Maria
25 Nov 2007 22:11