"Speak like the native!" - Please don't!

I just read a comment in the previous post that included a link to another site that teaches one English. Out of curiosity, I took a look and found the exhortation that a foreign speaker will be guided to speak like a native so as to not feel embarrassed.

As a linguist and a teacher and researcher into the learning of the English Language, this immediately set off alarm bells in me. There is no such thing as a singular `native' speaker. Even within a family, there are differences in the speech patterns among the members. On a global scale, there are differences between the native speakers of English in England, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. There are differences between native speakers in different settings within a country. A farmer speaks differently from a lawyer.

Your environment, educational settings and profession affect the manner in which you speak.

So, the next time you learn a new language, remember there is nothing to be ashamed of if you speak with an accent. Learn the conventions, grammar and pronunciation for those help you to understand and to be understood but if you have an accent, don't worry. Language is about communication and if you can communicate, you are doing well!

Learning English

As we embark on the year 2016, it might be a good idea to go over some of the topics covered in previous posts and their relationship to the learning of the English language. 

Anyone would agree that learning a new language is never easy. A language embodies not just rules that have evolved over centuries to form its grammar but it also includes certain cultural peculiarities that would be foreign to speakers of other languages.

A Vietnamese adult student of mine lamented the difficulty in learning the English language because there are rules that, on first sight, don't make sense to her. Only when the logic is explained does she appreciate these rules. As many languages as there are, there are differing logical applications of the grammars and language conventions.

(I will discuss a problematic rule that the Vietnamese student had in the next post as a further illustration of why differing logical applications are acceptable; there are no black and white here, it all depends on the perspective of the speaker or community.)

Coming back to the English language, we need to understand that even something that seems as minor as Punctuation is important in altering the meaning of a statement. Ignore the comma, and your statement changes in meaning. For instance:

Don't kill the weeds with pesticide.

Don't, kill the weeds with pesticide.

Here, the two statements assume opposing stands. In the first statement, it is clear that the writer is advising against the killing of the weeds using pesticide. However, in the second statement, the killing of the weeds with pesticides is advocated instead and, presumably, alternative modes of getting rid of the weeds are deemed unacceptable.

In addition, one has to learn about the rules pertaining to Syntax so as to create intelligible sentences that get across the intention of the writer with clarity. Of course, one also has to understand logic behind the rules governing the Grammar so as to better internalise the learning of the language.

Finally, a language is boring if there is no Creative Expression, and as in any other language, the English language has produced master weavers who can expertly navigate through their thoughts and express these thoughts in artistic forms.

If you would like to find out more about the English courses that The Pear Tree Centre for Education offers, or would like to discuss possible areas in which we can help you with your English language learning so that we can adapt according to your needs, contact us at admin1@thepeartree.info - we will not only teach you the basics but gradually, guide you to achieve creativity in your use of the language as well!

Sentences: A Refresher Exercise on Complete and Incomplete Sentences

In earlier post, we had gone over the properties of incomplete and complete sentences.  Go over the post again if you are still unsure of what makes a sentence complete or incomplete. After that, attempt the following exercise in which the incomplete sentences are identified in purple font colour for you.

Exercise

"Hmmm... I wonder where she went." James had been at the bus-stop for over an hour now. Earlier in the evening, he had received an urgent call from Jennie asking him to meet her at the bus-stop near the Whammy, a five-star hotel located in the middle of the town. Glancing at the circular face of his watch which was studded with gold nodules to signify each hour. "This is absurd! Asks me to come, and she's not here!" he fumed under his breath. Losing his patience and lifting his briefcase that lay beside him. "Well, enough of this game! I'm going home." He walked briskly toward the parking lot where he had parked his car. Just then, a bright red car with a sun-roof and gold door handles. He heard someone getting out of the car. He sensed heavy footfalls moving in his direction. Soon, the footsteps stopped and he felt a pat on his shoulder. Turning around and looking into a pair of blood-shot eyes. He gaped in disbelief.

Now, ask yourself why these are sentence fragments before taking a look at the following revisions in which additions are made so as to complete the sentences.

"Hmmm... I wonder where she went." James had been at the bus-stop for over an hour now. Earlier in the evening, he had received an urgent call from Jennie asking him to meet her at the bus-stop near the Whammy, a five-star hotel located in the middle of the town. Glancing at the circular face of his watch which was studded with gold nodules to signify each hour, he let out an exasperated sigh. (Addition of the main thought or action since the act of glancing is merely an elaboration since `glancing' indicates that some other act was performed.)  "This is absurd! She asks me to come, (Addition of the subject, or doer, of the act of `asking' to show who is doing the `asking'.) and she's not here!" he fumed under his breath. Losing his patience and lifting his briefcase that lay beside him, he got off the metal seat he had occupied for the past hour. (Again, the main thought or action, which was missing, is added. The `ing' in the `losing' and `lifting' and the absence of a subject are hints that this part of the sentence is merely an elaboration.) "Well, I have had enough of this game! (There is no subject or verb in this sentence and so the subject `I' and the verb, `have had' are added.) I'm going home." He walked briskly toward the parking lot where he had parked his car. 
Just then, a bright red car with a sun-roof and gold door handles whizzed past him. (There is the subject but there is neither a verb nor an object; hence, the verb `whizzed' and object `him' are added to complete the sentence.) He heard someone getting out of the car. He sensed heavy footfalls moving in his direction. Soon, the footsteps stopped and he felt a pat on his shoulder. Turning around and looking into a pair of blood-shot eyes, he gaped in disbelief. (By adding the incomplete thought to the complete sentence, we have a complete sentence!)

Answers to the `Additional Refresher Exercise'

Additional Refresher Exercise Rapidly they came, like a 21-gun salute, Exploding into multiple single crackling pops. The jolly red fire-crackers danced gleefully As each thick roll jerked heavily back and forth And the string of rolls turned into smoky black ashes.

Answers to the `Additional Refresher Exercise' can now be found in the current blog post on The Pear Tree website.

Online `O' Level English And Lit Lessons (for Singaporean students)

Adjectives and Adverbs

Why are adjectives and adverbs important?

They add descriptive details that enable the reader to visualise even more graphically what is written.

To recap:

Adjectives: Descriptive words that tell you more about the noun or pronoun.

Adverbs: Modify the verb, adjective or adverb by giving one more information about any one of those.

Additional Refresher Exercise Rapidly they came, like a 21-gun salute, Exploding into multiple single crackling pops. The jolly red fire-crackers danced gleefully As each thick roll jerked heavily back and forth And the string of rolls turned into smoky black ashes.

Identify the adjectives and adverbs in the boxed exercise. Suggested answers will be given soon as a blog post on The Pear Tree website


So, why are adjectives and adverbs important?

Just take a look at the following:

A man and his daughter came upon a window from which light fell onto the pavement outside. One could see through the window many kinds of watches and seated within the shop, was a man who was working over a device.

The above is an adaptation of an extract from Nathaniel Hawthorne's story, `The Artist of the Beautiful'. Wouldn't you agree that, as a reader, you cannot adequate visualise what Hawthorne is trying to describe? Now, read the original version:

An elderly man, with his pretty daughter on his arm, was passing along the street, and emerged from the gloom of the cloudy evening into the light that fell across the pavement from the window of a small shop. It was a projecting window; and on the inside, were suspended a variety of watches - pinchbeck, silver, and one or two of gold - all with their faces turned from the street, as if churlishly disinclined to inform the wayfarers what o'clock it was. Seated within the shop, sidelong to the window, with his pale face bent earnestly over some delicate piece of mechanism, on which was thrown the concentrated lustre of a shade-lamp appeared a young man.

 You will find the original, by being more descriptive, is graphic enough to give the reader a better picture of what the author wants to get across than the adaptation with very few details. Therefore, make sure to include adjectives and adverbs the next time you write so as to make your writing more graphic.

Adverbs: Answers to the Exercise in the previous post

The exercise is reproduced below:

Exercise

I went very quickly into the the wooden shed.  It was somewhat dilapidated and yet, there was a homely feeling to it.  I walked up to the chest of drawers, and with a piece of old newspaper that I had found lying nearby, I wiped off the dust from the surface.  Yes, it was still there.  I had thought the childishly drawn picture of a wilting flower would have faded with age.  But no, it was still there.  Slowly, I traced the outlines with my index finger and sighed.  It's been a long time, such a long time. 

Suggested Answers and Explanations:

Adverb	What it modifies	Explanation
very	Adverb `quickly'	Gives added details to the `quickly' (adverb) to indicate the degree of the quickness of the narrator's action (verb) in going into the shed.
quickly	Verb `went'	Elaborates on the pace the narrator adopted.
somewhat	Adjective `dilapidated'	Allows the reader to visualise to what extent the shed is dilapidated.
childishly	Adjective `drawn'	`Drawn' is used here as an adjective to indicate the type of picture and `childishly' demonstrates the manner in which it was `drawn'
slowly	Verb `traced'	Reveals the narrator's lack of haste in tracing the outlines.
such	Adjective `long'	Emphasises the prolonged period of time that has passed.