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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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 Verfasst am: 10. Mai 2011 15:51 Titel: |
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Where do you get this videos? |
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ruri14
Anmeldungsdatum: 28.11.2010
Beiträge: 63
Wohnort: Tirol
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| Verfasst am: 10. Mai 2011 16:17 Titel: |
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Where do you get this videos?
->
Where did you get those videos? 
We buyed them at a second hand store or at the "Flohmarkt"
But you also can buy some german DVDs about this topic and most of them are also in english.
So you can look it first in German and than in English. That's really good!
LG ruri |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 10. Mai 2011 18:45 Titel: |
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I will take a look in the bibliary. There are also many DVDs and maybe I will have luck. |
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ruri14
Anmeldungsdatum: 28.11.2010
Beiträge: 63
Wohnort: Tirol
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| Verfasst am: 10. Mai 2011 21:36 Titel: |
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Yes, thats a good idea, too.
Have a good night!
yours ruri |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 10. Mai 2011 23:40 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | Cool, I have had English in school for a few years (needs past perfect, because it was before the time you have forgotten those things) but I have forgotten lots in the last years because I have worked. SVO sentence structure is required.
Now I have been learning English for a few months and I like it but the grammar is a lot. Every day I am learning vocabluary and doing grammar exercises.
I think the easiest way for someone who wants to learn English is that he goes to the UK or America. "y" at the end of a verb is changed to "i", a rule that applies (<-- here too  ) always in a situation, when some letters are added to a verb with a "y" at the end
My Problem at time is that I use always the same sentence structure. "ever"="jemals" - doesn't fit in German, either, does it? Every sentence of mine contains a relative sentence with the word "that". It cannot be just a relative clause as relative clauses are only subclauses. Therefore, you should rather say that your sentences structure usually contains only a main clause and a relative sub clauseFor me is this the easiest way to speak English. I hope that I can change this anytime in the future.
Do you notice a positive change in my English?
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| cat hat Folgendes geschrieben: | | I have read, watched an heard Harry Potter in English and German. It´s really good to improve your English. present perfect |
| ruri hat Folgendes geschrieben: | We bought them at a second hand store or at the "Flohmarkt" beware irregular verbs But you can also buy some german DVDs about this topic and most of them are also in English.
So you can watch it first in German and than in English. That's really good! You'd rather take "watch", as it means "looking and paying attention"
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | | I will take a look in the library. |
@Pablo:
It is very difficult to assess your improvement in English after such a short time. I have only ever read short texts written by you, where it is difficult to really see the style of the author, hence my problems. In reference to your sentence structure, I cann assure you that it is the best way to learn correct English if one sticks to a simple sentence structure at first. You can then add more and more elements such as more adjectives and prepositional phrases ore some subordinate clauses. The reason, why I believe this method to be the best way, is the strict rules that exist for English sentence structures. It is true, the rules don't seem very strict in well written English, but in fact there really is an underlying structure unfamiliar to a German speaker. This sentence structure is neccessary because of the missing declination and conjugation in English grammar.
| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | | I hate Harry Potter. Harry Potter is for kids, I am an adult. |
I believe you just don't like it, because the story doesn't appeal to you, which is fine to me. As I said, I only took it as an example.
If however you really don't like it, because you consider it beneath you to read a book for children, then this is truly sad - in several ways.
Greetings
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 11. Mai 2011 12:01 Titel: |
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Hey MI,
* Oh I see that I have done so many mistakes...
**But I think that I have understood the tenses to 90%. Now I know when I must use the present oder the past or the future. I mean this is very important.
I usually don't use the Future 2 oder Future 2 progressive but that is normal for a beginner, isn't it?. Can this be a problem for me, if I am in England? ***I mean in German we use seldom the future 2. It is in Englisch also the same?
When will you go to England again?
Here are some sentences from my answer in the passiv voice.
* So many mistakes have been done by me.
** The tenses have been understood by me to 90%.
*** The future 2 is used seldom by the German.
Regards, Your friend
Pablo |
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cat
Anmeldungsdatum: 29.04.2011
Beiträge: 10
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| Verfasst am: 11. Mai 2011 15:58 Titel: |
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I think th Harry Potter thing depens on your Birthday. As I was a 12 hp was something like twilight now. But now I don´t read it any more.
Zuletzt bearbeitet von cat am 27. Feb 2015 18:22, insgesamt 2-mal bearbeitet |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 12. Mai 2011 16:25 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | | I usually don't use the Future 2 oder Future 2 progressive but that is normal for a beginner, isn't it?. Can this be a problem for me, if I am in England? ***I mean in German we use seldom the future 2. It is in Englisch also the same? |
Exactly the same. Some tenses are used much more then others. From personal experience I'd say future II and present perfect progressive are hardly ever used and I can't even recall a single situation in which I heard the future II progressive being used, although there will most certainly have been such situations. Don't worry there (by the way: your sentences are correct in my humble opinion).
| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | | When will you go to England again? |
I don't know, that depends on several factors, but I don't see myself going to England in the near future, because I won't have holidays for some time and as far as planned, I won't go there for my studies this year, either.
Greetings
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 12. Mai 2011 21:43 Titel: |
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Oh okay.
Annoys you that?
What should I take for present for my guestparents? What took you with you in your last journies? |
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cat
Anmeldungsdatum: 29.04.2011
Beiträge: 10
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| Verfasst am: 13. Mai 2011 15:33 Titel: |
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Why do you want to have a present?
Maybe a goodbye present would be nice.
It will be a flirt!
Zuletzt bearbeitet von cat am 27. Feb 2015 18:21, insgesamt 2-mal bearbeitet |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 13. Mai 2011 19:45 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: |
Annoys you that? Does it annoy you?
What should I take for present for my guestparents? What did you take with you on your last journies? same as above |
I'd advise you to have a closer look at the structure of questions in English. You need to use a construction with "do" most of the times.
@topic: I don't remember what I took with me as a present, I believe my parents more or less chose it for me (the only times I have been with guest families were my longer stays, which happened during my school time). I'd guess it was some German wine and some other typical German stuff - perhaps something to eat?
@cat: Well, I believe it would be nice to just bring a small present to show your guest family that you appreciate what they do for you (sometimes they do it for economic reasons only, but a lot are also interested to just meet people from abroad) - of course you can, if you like, give it as a "thank you"-gift at the end of your stay, but I believe it to be more common to give it in advance.
Greetings
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 13. Mai 2011 19:55 Titel: |
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Ahhh, sorry I know that. Maybe I think sometimes too German...
Okay, I will take a look in the stores
Am I allowed to ask you what and where you studying? |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 14. Mai 2011 10:15 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | | Am I allowed to ask you what and where you studying? |
You are, since I have already written it somewhere here and there (for example in my profile at MatheBoard, I think). Furthermore, if one was really interested in what I studied, it would not be a very big problem to deduce it from what I do on the various fora here.
I am studying Physics and Mathematics (not to become a teacher) at the place where I live (see profile), which should tell you where I study those subjects.
Of course I won't tell much more than that, but it answers your question .
Greetings
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 14. Mai 2011 11:09 Titel: |
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Wow MI! You must be a numberfreak 
You study both? Physics and Mathematics? It must be very hard and difficult, isn't it? |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 15. Mai 2011 11:44 Titel: |
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No, I'm not really a numberfreak - and it's been more than a month since I last calculated with numbers, getting a "number" as a result...
Of course, it's not easy to study both, but since the knowledge of one subject greatly assists learning the other, it's manageable.
Greetings
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 15. Mai 2011 15:11 Titel: |
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Okay, what will you be in the future? A ''scienceman'' or a professor?
I like physics and maths, specially Albert Einstein have impressded me much but I think that I can't study these both because my math is not very good.
Because of this reason I am looking for something else that I can study in the future.
Regards |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 15. Mai 2011 23:02 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | | Okay, what will you be in the future? A ''scienceman'' or a professor? |
Since I am a theoretical/mathematical physicist or intend to become one, staying in my field would mean I would have to be a scientist at a university, perhaps a professor.
I don't know, yet, whether I will do these sort of things, because you cannot plan such a career, if you are not extremely gifted. You cannot say "I want to be a professor", when asked what you want to become, because there are so many variables involved in the process. For me, it's still some years till I can even start a doctorate degree, etc.
| Zitat: | | I like physics and maths, especially Albert Einstein has impressed me much, but I think that I can't study these both because my math is not very good. |
If you have problems grasping the concepts of mathematics and the logic behind it, then this is probably a wise decision, if however only calculating stuff is difficult, then this is no problem, because you'll have computers for that.
Greetings
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 16. Mai 2011 14:43 Titel: |
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Okay, I think that my problem is the abstract kind of think that the maths and physics demand.
I am very curious in these both and I think that studying these both must be very interesting. Maybe you will find a new formula with that you can rescue the world or something else
What do you mean how long anybody like me, with my actually englisch skills need to can speak as good English as you? Naturally with every day learning an hour or one and a half.
Regards |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 17. Mai 2011 21:39 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | Okay, I think that my problem is the abstract kind of thing that maths and physics demand.
I am very curious about these both and I think that studying these both must be very interesting. Maybe you will find a new formula, wich you can rescue the world with or something else |
I don't think so, but who knows .
| Zitat: | | What do you mean how long anybody like me, with my current Englisch skills, need to learn until he can speak as well as you? "actually" heißt "tatsächlich", ich gehe davon aus, dass du "aktuell" meinst. |
I'm sorry, I really can't answer this question, because I simply don't know enough about you. There are just so many parameters involved. For example, it is far easier to learn another language, when you already know similar languages (in this case languages like French or Latin might help). Just to give you an idea: I have never learned Spanish except for two months, where I learned a bit on my own, yet I have little problem with reading simple Spanish texts, just because I speak fluent French and I have learned Latin. It's just so very similar.
Another aspect is your age. The younger you are, the easier learning a new language is. If you even have several mother tongues, learning new languages will become easier on average, too.
I'd say: Give it a year of hard work and we'll see how far you have gone. That provides both of us a basis on which to evaluate your progress.
Greetings
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 18. Mai 2011 14:22 Titel: |
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Yes, I hope so!
I already speak 2 languages perfect and English is my third languages. In the next year I must choose a fourd language at school. I can choose france, latin or spain. I think that I will choose spain because I don't like france and latin is dead. What shoul I do with a dead laguage?
Regards |
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Jack
Ehrenmoderator
Anmeldungsdatum: 09.04.2006
Beiträge: 549
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| Verfasst am: 18. Mai 2011 23:42 Titel: |
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Well, Latin itself may be dead, but it certainly helps you learn other Romance languages like Spanish or French more easily. In fact, it can even be useful in understanding where some English and German words or grammatical rules come from. If you want to learn a language you can actually use in another country, however, French and Spanish are certainly better choices. |
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cat
Anmeldungsdatum: 29.04.2011
Beiträge: 10
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| Verfasst am: 19. Mai 2011 15:04 Titel: |
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How you doin´? Are their some Singles? |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 21. Mai 2011 13:12 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | Yes, I hope so!
I already speak two languages perfect and English is my third languages. In the next year I must choose a fourth language at school. I can choose French, Latin or Spanish. I think that I will choose Spanish because I don't like French and Latin is dead. What should I do with a dead laguage? |
Jack has already pointed out that Latin can be helpful. It also depends on what you want to do later on. If, for example, you wish to study something like history or philosophy, Latin will be more helpful than Spanish. If you want to just use your language skills, Spanish is of course better.
@cat:
I'm doing alright, how're you?
Please don't link flirtpages, that just doesn't belong here, thus I removed the link.
Greetings
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 21. Mai 2011 22:38 Titel: |
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Hey MI,
Do you acutually learn English or are you on a point where you say '' I can English and I needn't more'' ?
Regards |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 22. Mai 2011 22:47 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | | Do you acutually learn English or are you on a point where you say '' I can speak English and I needn't more''? |
I don't have English lessons anymore (for four years now) and I don't have any grammar books I'm working through. I'm learning it mainly, when I'm here correcting stuff other people have written.
The thing with English is that in the beginning, it is really not too difficult. After a while, you think that you have the hang of it and the moment you have reached this point, you realise that English is really infinitely complex, mainly because of all the vocabulary and idioms out there.
Greetings
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 23. Mai 2011 13:40 Titel: |
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Okay, I am planning my holiday for the next year and I would like to go to the USA for a language-travel again.
The USA are so big and I would like to see all sightseeings and cities but unfortunately that will not go.
Can you recommend a place or city or have you ever been to the USA?
Regards |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 24. Mai 2011 20:44 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | The USA are so big and I would like to see all sights and cities but unfortunately that will not go.
Can you recommend a place or city or have you ever been to the USA? |
Yes I have, but only to the region around Philadelphia (including New York City and Washington D.C.), this makes it hard for me to really recommend anything, but of course, Washington and New York both are very interesting cities.
As I see it, if you want to have a lot of opportunities, on your first visit to the USA you should probably visit either the area of New York City, thereby also having the opportunity to visit Washington, Boston, or Philadelphia or you should go to California, Los Angeles and/or San Francisco. These two areas are very populated, very well known of course and they have the advantage that other well known cities are nearby. Of course, other cities and areas may be interesting also (for example Florida with Cape Canavaral, the Everglades and Miami; or the area around Chicago; etc.), but perhaps these areas offer even more?
Greetings
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 26. Mai 2011 15:40 Titel: |
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Okay, I will think about it. Am I allowed to ask you what you do except maths and physics?
Regards |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 30. Mai 2011 23:18 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | | Okay, I will think about it. Am I allowed to ask you what you do except maths and physics? |
Of course you are allowed to ask, but I choose rather not to answer this question, I believe you can understand that.
I mean, some of my hobbies are very obvious - like reading, history and languages.
Greetings and have a nice evening,
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 01. Jun 2011 23:40 Titel: |
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Okay. What do think is the easyer language to learn? Spain, Latin or France?
Regards |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 02. Jun 2011 20:49 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | | Okay. What do think is the easier language to learn? |
"Spain" and "France" are names of the countries - the languages are called "Spanish" and "French".
Well, it's not very easy to say, which language is easier. I learned them in the order Latin - French - (Spanish). I speak only very little Spanish, thus I cannot say anything about its hidden difficulties, but in principle, most of its grammar seems to be very similar to Latin or French and much of its vocabulary is also.
But which one is easiest? That depends on many factors. First, I'd say Spanish is easier than French for one reason:
- the grammar seems to me pretty much similar, especially because the difficult topics, such as subjunctive forms, exist in both languages.
- French' orthography is harder than Spanish' - a very large amount of French words has many unpronounced letters, which makes it difficult to write by hearing. In consequence, I consider writing flawless French to be much more difficult than writing flawless English (and I'd say also Spanish). Even when my knowledge of French was biggest (>C1 in the European reference system of assessing language skills), I made a lot more mistakes in French than somebody with the same skill level in English would be expected to make.
Now, what about Latin? Well, that mostly depends on your preferences. You see, at school, you don't learn to speak Latin. You learn to translate Latin and at a later stage of your education, you might begin translating simple German texts into Latin. This makes learning Latin a lot different to learning any spoken language. Learning Latin is much less intuition and much more learning of rules and vocabulary. The grammar of Latin is very complex and you learn much more complex grammatic structures when learning Latin than you learn when learning French or Spanish, not because those two languages don't have complex structures, but because you don't really need to know every grammatic detail there. In Latin, this is different. However, there is a very good thing about Latin, if you get easily irritated by rules and exceptions. Since Latin is no evolving language, the rules and exceptions are all very well studied. Very often you might find a rule together with a table of all existing exceptions - something which is very hard to find for English, Spanish or French.
That's why many people say that learning Latin is easy for people who are good at mathematics at school: both, mathematics at school and Latin can be done very schematic.
Greetings
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 02. Jun 2011 21:28 Titel: |
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Hi,
your answer is partial so difficult to read for me but I think that I have understood it.
You know, in the next year I must choose a second language and that is the reason why I asked you.
Last week my teacher said to me that the most pupils have problems with this second language and it is better to learn in time. Because of that I will start to learn in time and I hope, in the next year it won't be difficult for me.
So, I think that French will be to difficult. Then I have to choose between Latin and Spain. Hmm, that is a hard decision. I will think about it.
You know, that I go to a school for the second education way for older people and we have to learn in 2 Years the same subject-stuff for this second language as like as a normal Gymnasium-pupil. That could be very difficult.
Or what do you think?
Regards, your pupil |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 09. Jun 2011 23:58 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: | Hi,
your answer is partially very difficult to read for me but I think that I have understood it. |
Well, if there is anything you are not sure about, just point out the passage and I'll rephrase it with different words. Perhaps you'll pick up some useful vocabulary on the way.
| Zitat: |
You know, in the next year I must choose a second language and that is the reason why I asked you.
Last week my teacher said to me that the most pupils have problems with this second language and it is better to learn in time. Because of that I will start to learn in time and I hope, next year it won't be difficult for me.
So, I think that French will be to difficult. Then I have to choose between Latin and Spain. Hmm, that is a hard decision. I will think about it.
You know, that I go to a school for second chance education for older people and we have to learn in 2 years the same subject-stuff for this second language as normal grammar school pupils. (I had to look that up, but the term above is a better translation for "zweiter Bildungsweg"). That could be very difficult. |
Well, it all comes down to how well you learn new languages. French was my third language and that means I learned in two years, what others had to learn in four. The usual time that is required for your second language is, I believe, five. However, be assured that you don't have to learn five years in two. I mean, the people who invented these instruments for second chance education actually want you to succeed. That means, it will be feasible. Your second language at school might not be a soft subject, you might have to work a lot, but then there will be a good chance for you to pass. Since I can see that you are prepared to put in lots of work, you'll probably be fine.
Regards
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 11. Jun 2011 16:23 Titel: |
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Hi,
yes, I always pick up words from your answers and learn them.
Well, the problem is that I have this second language only two years I don't have to write my abitur in it. That is the reason why I am searching for an easy one. Which is the easiest to learn?
Regards |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 13. Jun 2011 23:11 Titel: |
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As I said, the question is difficult. I'd say Spanish is easier than French, but it depends on your type, whether you find Spanish easier or Latin. Most would find Spanish easier, but then again, you seem to learn a little different than most people.
Greetings
MI |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 15. Jun 2011 16:02 Titel: |
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Hello,
I think I will choose Spanish. Thanks for your advice.
Regards |
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Pablo
Anmeldungsdatum: 23.11.2010
Beiträge: 192
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| Verfasst am: 18. Jul 2011 23:18 Titel: |
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Hey MI my friend
Are you still alive? I am here in England and the weather is so terrible. The whole day it rains or it is grey... What a pity!
I stay here by my guestfamilie and every day I talk about English grammar and these things and when I asked something about the past perfect and past perfect progressive or the passiv they looked me on and they started laughing because they did not know it. They say in English it is not normal to say: I had been having... They use the simple past or past progressive and it is no problem and in Germany they taught us that we should do this in this tense and that in that tense. They looked at me very amazed when I started talking about the present perfect progressive passive.
But they say that is the right way with all these tenses but nobody talk in this way. They all talk normal English, and not English like old books.
Moreover I love the English accent and I am customizing it on my own.
But the English food is weird because they eat everything which you can grill or toast in any way. Here is one restaurant besides an other one. This is crazy.
How are your experiences with the English food and the difference between English in Germany and real English in England?
Yours, Pablo |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 19. Jul 2011 15:38 Titel: |
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| Pablo hat Folgendes geschrieben: |
I stay here at my guestfamilie and every day I talk about English grammar and these things and when I asked something about the past perfect and past perfect progressive or the passiv they looked at me and they started laughing because they did not know it. They say in English it is not normal to say: I had been having... They use the simple past or past progressive and it is no problem and in Germany they taught us that we should do this in this tense and that in that tense. They looked at me very amazed when I started talking about the present perfect progressive passive. |
I very much believe that. That's what I have been trying to say once in a while: If you know about present progressive, simple present, will-future/going to future, present perfect, simple past and past perfect, you'll be absolutely fine (the only other type occasionally used is past progressive). You even don't have to know about the subtleties of the differences of present perfect and simple past or going-to and will-future.
Same with passive: More than two/three words for one verb of a sentence sounds unnatural - so don't use passive there.
Perhaps this will interest you: I recently came across "The Elements of Style" by Strunk & White - a book which is apparantly held in high esteem in American academia. It's a book giving advice on how to write correctly and well. Now, I found an interesting article critizising the book: http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/25497
The author of the article is one of THE British capacities in English linguistics, one of the main authors of the pretty much comprehensive (and expensive) "The Camebridge Grammar of the English Language". He pans the book of Strung & White, saying that their style advice is mostly harmless and their grammar is mostly wrong. He gives several examples, for example: Strunk & White say that you shouldn't use the passive voice and also give examples, only one of which actually contains a passive construction (see for yourself, I believe you can see that there is no passive in these sentences). That means: The authors don't actually know what the passive is - so if you have slight difficulties, don't despair, even acknowledged native speakers sometimes have even bigger problems .
| Zitat: | | But they say that is the right way with all these tenses but nobody talks in this way. They all talk normal English, and not English like old books. |
Yes, it is correct, but as you say yourself, it doesn't sound natural to use stuff like "It has been being done" and spoken language, after all, is a natural thing (what, again, I've been trying to say all along ).
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But the English food is weird because they eat everything which you can barbecue (more common) or toast in any way. Here is one restaurant besides an other one. This is crazy.
How are your experiences with the English food and the difference between English in Germany and real English in England? |
Where I was, food was pretty normal, not exceptionally good, but not bad either and since I rarely went to really British restaurants, I don't know about them barbecuing everything (which might also be an American invention that came across the ocean).
As for the language, I made pretty much the same experiences you did - the only difference was that I didn't much care for grammar in the first place, so I wasn't as surprised as you are, when I found out that some rules are pretty much ignored in spoken language. What I found really interesting is how some words were pronounced entirely differently than what I had been taught (e.g.: either was pronounced something like "ithe" and not "aithe", etc.), only later did I realise that this depended heavily on the local dialect.
Regards
MI |
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Jack
Ehrenmoderator
Anmeldungsdatum: 09.04.2006
Beiträge: 549
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| Verfasst am: 19. Jul 2011 16:51 Titel: |
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| MI hat Folgendes geschrieben: | Perhaps this will interest you: I recently came across "The Elements of Style" by Strunk & White - a book which is apparantly held in high esteem in American academia. It's a book giving advice on how to write correctly and well. Now, I found an interesting article critizising the book: http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/25497
The author of the article is one of THE British capacities in English linguistics, one of the main authors of the pretty much comprehensive (and expensive) "The Camebridge Grammar of the English Language". He pans the book of Strung & White, saying that their style advice is mostly harmless and their grammar is mostly wrong. He gives several examples, for example: Strunk & White say that you shouldn't use the passive voice and also give examples, only one of which actually contains a passive construction (see for yourself, I believe you can see that there is no passive in these sentences). That means: The authors don't actually know what the passive is - so if you have slight difficulties, don't despair, even acknowledged native speakers sometimes have even bigger problems . |
It would be interesting to read where exactly in American academia Strung & White's grammar is supposed to be widely popular, for I haven't noticed anything like that while I studied and taught English in the U.S. In fact, traditional grammar books like that are viewed as obsolete in most English departments at American universities nowadays. Therefore, modern English teachers would not necessarily circle a passive construction as long as it's rhetorically effective (if you want to read more about this so-called rhetorical grammar, I recommend "Rhetorical Grammar" by Martha Kolln, which is a great book about English grammar and effective writing). |
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MI
Administrator
Anmeldungsdatum: 22.01.2005
Beiträge: 1140
Wohnort: München
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| Verfasst am: 19. Jul 2011 20:36 Titel: |
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I also asked myself how very popular the book actually is - it's interesting that you have never really come across it. Perhaps it is really not that popular in academia as the article says (or did I misread this?).
However there is a certain amount of evidence supporting the idea that it is "somewhat" popular (perhaps not more in academia than elsewhere), e.g.: Wikipedia-entry with rather long discussion-page, xkcd-comic with people claiming to know the book in the discussion fora (which is how I came across the title), over 300 customer reviews on amazon.com, etc.
The question remains, why that British linguist took his time to write such an article panning the book. 
Thanks for your advice on modern books about the topic. I will perhaps one day have the time to have a look at it.
Regards
MI |
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