Author Archive for Iffaf

Swimming in English

Published
by
Iffaf
on June 29, 2009
in Uncategorized
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It’s summer here in London.  When the sun shines it shines brightly.  Oxford street is heaving with tourists, which means it’s rising up, as if pushed.  There are tourists from almost everywhere in the world here.  London is particularly popular with Japanese and Korean tourists.  A lot of single, young students come to London to shop, to have fun and to study English.  They come to the UK for the summer because they believe in a concept called ‘language immersion.’

In language immersion, you don’t follow a traditional language course to learn.  You do every-day activities in the target language.  You live, breathe and eat in that language.  In other words, you go to where it is spoken.  This is why students come to the UK.

What do you do if you can’t afford to take time off work or your studies, or if your Daddy can’t send you to Oxford Street?  The answer is that you download Second Life software for free, and you visit English cities in Seccond Life.  It’s so much cheaper.  And you can speak to real people in English.  Go to Languagelab and ask for Grammar Girl.  I’m there at least three days’ a week at 4am PDT.

Grammar Girl - Impresses with some long, long words !

Published
by
Iffaf
on March 9, 2009
in Uncategorized and grammar
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A vocabulary challenge – impress with your long, long words

We’ve all been in the situation, where someone wants to impress someone with the breadth of their knowledge.

I’m going to give you 10 horribly long words.  Can you match the word to its synonym?  The first one has been done for you. It is 1. e)

1.    munificent
2.    parsimonious
3.    lachrymose
4.    litigious
5.    pusillanimous

a)    poor-spirited
b)    penurious
c)    contentious
d)    tearful
e)    lavish

munificent - Very liberal in giving; generous.
Synonyms: lavish, overgenerous, prodigal, too-generous, unsparing, unstinted, unstinting
Usage: Munificent as life was to me, I added to that munificence.

parsimonious - Excessively unwilling to spend.
Synonyms: penurious
Usage: He was, I had discovered, parsimonious about small expenditures– a trait absolutely inconsistent with his general character.
L
achrymose - Weeping or inclined to weep; causing or tending to cause tears.
Synonyms: dolorous, weeping, tearful, sorrowful
Usage: He was by turns devout and obscene, merry and lachrymose.

litigious - Related to or tending to engage in lawsuits or disputes.
Synonyms: contentious, disputatious, argumentative
Usage: The aide had been so litigious that she was eventually fired for insubordination.

pusillanimous - Lacking courage; cowardly.
Synonyms: poor-spirited, unmanly
Usage: This counsel was indignantly derided by Grammar Girl as pusillanimous.

I have been guilty of using big words to impress my colleagues but  I also believe that it’s also all about knowledge. You must make yourself easy to understand.  Before you decide which path to choose, have a look at this great site.

Grammar Girl bids you adieu !

Grammar Girl on Grammar and Writing

Published
by
Iffaf
on March 2, 2009
in Uncategorized and grammar
. 0 Comments

Yes, I am back with more and more on grammar and how you can improve your English, as a whole, through pronunciation, spelling, reading, writing and speaking.

Most of the learners of English that I meet are adults.  They already know how to communicate in English very well.  Generally, I find their questions harder to answer because they are so specific.  One question that I am often asked is about choices of grammar in writing.

Yes, you can choose which type of grammar you want to use, depending on what or how you want to say something!!

The most common question I am asked is whether they should write their formal essays in the ACTIVE form or the PASSIVE form.  For example, should the sentence be:

Grammar Girl wrote an essay. (ACTIVE)

OR

The essay was written by Grammar Girl (PASSIVE)?

This is a difficult question to answer and all I can say is that it depends on what you want to say, the type of writing, how clear you want to be OR on how much information you have.

Except in scientific journals or police reports (and I am neither a scientist nor a police woman), I prefer the ACTIVE voice.  I would say that you should use active voice whenever possible. The active voice means the subject is performing the verb.  The ACTIVE voice is a bit more modern, clearer, more concise, more concrete.

In most non-scientific writing situations, the active voice is preferable to passive for the majority of your sentences. Even in scientific writing, the overuse of passive voice or use of passive voice in long and complicated sentences can cause readers to lose interest or to become confused. Sentences in active voice are generally–though not always– clearer and more direct than those in passive voice.  The passive voice is BORING (I think :-))

But let’s not neglect the passive voice completely.

In scientific writing the passive voice is more readily accepted since using it allows one to write without using personal pronouns or the names of particular researchers as the subjects of sentences. This practice helps to create the appearance of an objective, fact-based discourse because writers can present research and conclusions without attributing them to particular agents. Instead, the writing appears to convey information that is not limited or biased by individual perspectives or personal interests.

I won’t recommend any particular website to help you with the active or the passive this week because I believe the choice is yours.  Free your grammar.

Grammar Girl

Grammar Girl is back with ‘who’ versus ‘whom’

Published
by
Iffaf
on February 23, 2009
in Uncategorized and grammar
. 1 Comment

A wise woman once said that both ‘who’ and ‘whom’ mean the same thing.  When you choose one over the other, all you are doing is changing the word order and the formality or informality of the sentence.

Personally, I find ‘whom’ very nineteenth century and would like to throw it in the bin BUT if you are writing for an international examination (like IELTS), writing a thesis or an academic article, you might want to vary your sentence structures with a little bit of ‘whom.’

Here is the answer and an example of each one.

Use the he/him method to decide which word is correct.

he = who
him = whom

Examples:     Who/Whom wrote the letter?

He wrote the letter. Therefore, who is correct.

For who/whom should I vote?
Should I vote for him? Therefore, whom is correct.

We all know who/whom pulled that prank.
This sentence contains two clauses: We all know and who/whom pulled that prank. We are interested in the second clause because it contains the who/whom. He pulled that prank. Therefore, who is correct. (Are you starting to sound like a hooting owl yet?)

We want to know on who/whom the prank was pulled.
This sentence contains two clauses: We want to know and the prank was pulled on who/whom. Again, we are interested in the second clause because it contains the who/whom. The prank was pulled on him. Therefore, whom is correct.

And there you have it.  There is more to ‘who’ or ‘whom’ than that of course, but this little method should send you in the right direction.

Bye for now,

Grammar Girl

Grammar Girl on English Language Spelling and Grammar

Published
by
Iffaf
on February 16, 2009
in Uncategorized and grammar
. 0 Comments

Last month I wrote about the spelling of words with long and short vowels.

I think that the best way to improve your spelling is to read, observe the spelling of new or difficult words, copy them down and learn them.  Keep doing a ’spell-check,’ which my recommendation for the week should help you with.
Check out this site - Fun brain

Rules can be very difficult to follow unless you have got the concept itself in your head.  So today, I’m going to keep it short and sweet.

I want you to think about how reading and observing the spelling of a word can help you with grammar.

I’m going to give you 8 words.  Look at the letters at the END of each word to tell me whether it is a noun, a verb, an adjective or an adverb.

The first one has been done for you:
1.    advertise - VERB
2.    musical
3.    dangerous
4.    nursery
5.    already
6.    recommendation
7.    recommend
8.    audible

Do look them up in a dictionary to find out what they are and/or what they mean.  The answers are below.

Now, when you see words ending in ‘ise,’ ‘al,’ ‘ous, ‘ery,’ ‘y,’ ‘ion,’ ‘end’ or ‘ible’ you’ll know what they are.

Answers:
1.verb 2.adjective 3.adjective 4.noun 5.adverb 6.noun 7.verb 8.adjective

Grammar Girl - What is an Apostrophe?

Published
by
Iffaf
on February 9, 2009
in Uncategorized and grammar
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In my last blog I mentioned commas and apostrophes.  Of course, we’ve all used commas and apostrophes.  Try the game on this site to see how comfortable you are with them.

How did it go?
Today, we could have a wee bit of a closer examination of apostrophes, which you will have found at the end of the game.  There are 13 apostrophe rules but since 7 is a luckier number than 13, I’ve only written the 7 most important ones.

Rule 1.
Use the apostrophe with contractions. The apostrophe is always placed at the spot where the letter(s) has been removed.
Examples:     don’t, isn’t
You’re right.

Rule 2.
Use the apostrophe to show possession. Place the apostrophe before the s to show singular possession.
Examples:     one boy’s hat
one woman’s hat

Rule 3.
Use the apostrophe where the noun that should follow is implied, in other words we know what the noun should be.
Example:     This was his father’s, not his, jacket.

Rule 4.
To show plural possession, make the noun plural first. Then immediately use the apostrophe.
Examples:
two boys’ hats
two women’s hats

Rule 5.
Do not use an apostrophe for the plural of a name.
Examples: We visited the Sanchezes in Los Angeles.
The Changs have two cats and a dog.

Rule 6.
With a singular compound noun, show possession with ’s at the end of the word.
Example:     my mother-in-law’s hat

Rule 7.
If the compound noun is plural, form the plural first and then
use the apostrophe.
Example:     my two brothers-in-law’s hats

Don’t worry about the other 6 rules.  Pay particular attention to these 7 tips and you’ll be apostrophe-perfect.

Good luck,

Grammar Girl

Grammar Girl on how to become a good academic writer

Published
by
Iffaf
on February 2, 2009
in Uncategorized and grammar
. 2 Comments

Teachers and Learners: This is for you

How to become a good academic writer

This post might be clearer if you are studying in university or are an advanced learner of English.  But even if you aren’t preparing for your IELTS, TOEFL or TOIC exam or studying in university, you might find these suggestions useful.  Teachers of English could also use these tips if they are preparing a writing course.

Below, you’ll see some examples of poor writing with answers that hint at how you might want to improve them.

1. Don’t abbrev.
Answer: I do not is better than I don’t.

2. Check to see if you any words out.
Answer: Check to see if you have left any words out.

3. Be carefully to use adjectives and adverbs correct.
Answer: Be careful to use adjectives and adverbs carefully.

4. About sentence fragments.
Answer: Do not use sentence fragments. Visit this site to learn more about sentence fragments.

5. Don’t use no double negatives.
Answer: Do not use double negatives.

6. Don’t use commas, that aren’t necessary.
Answer: Do not use commas that are not necessary.

7. Its important to use apostrophe’s right.
Answer: It is important to use apostrophes correctly.

8. Only Proper Nouns should be capitalised. also a sentence should begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop .
Answer: Only proper nouns should be capitalised.  Also, a sentence should begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop.

Use hyphens in compound-words, not just in any two-word phrase.
Answer: Use hyphens in compound words, not just in any two-word phrase.

There are, of course, more golden rules.  Try these grammar and punctuation suggestions and let me know how it goes.

Good luck,

Grammar Girl

Grammar Girl gives you some hints…

Published
by
Iffaf
on January 26, 2009
in grammar
. 0 Comments

Hints: May, May be or Maybe?

Is it the month after April or is it a grammar word?  Do they mean the same thing?  Do they have words that mean the same thing (synonyms).  Can we use them when speaking and/or writing?

When you are not sure whether to use it as one word (may), two words (may be), or two words combined into one word (maybe), you might need to brush up on the grammar of modal verbs.

Visit this site to revise them.

Maybe, two words combined into one (called compound words), is an adverb meaning “perhaps” or “possibly.”

May be is a verb phrase meaning “might be” or “could be.”

Examples:

Maybe I will go out tonight. - INFORMAL – I DON’T REALLY KNOW.  WE’LL SEE.

I may be going out tonight.  - A LITTLE MORE FORMAL. I HAVE A PLAN BUT IT’S NOT BEEN CONFIRMED YET.

OR

I may go out tonight – QUITE A BIT MORE FORMAL. - IS THERE A PLAN FOR TONIGHT?  I’LL DECIDE TONIGHT.

So, let’s go over that one more time.

“Maybe” is an adverb meaning “perhaps,” so if you are uncertain whether to use this word or the phrase “may be,” try substituting “perhaps”: “Maybe she forgot I said I’d meet her at six o’clock” becomes “Perhaps she forgot. . . .” When the substitution makes sense, go with one word: “maybe.”

When you are wondering whether you may be waiting in the wrong cafe, you’re dealing with a verb and its auxiliary: “may be.” Two words.

See you soon,

Grammmar Girl

Grammar Girl on Spelling

Published
by
Iffaf
on January 19, 2009
in Uncategorized and grammar
. 0 Comments

English Language Spelling Rule 1 and 2 – Pronunciation and Spelling

If you speak and write in Arabic, Farsi or any other language that doesn’t use English letters, please don’t worry if you find spelling in English difficult.  I would too!  Even if your first language is Spanish, you might also stumble over your letters.  English is a puzzle.  We speak one way.  We write in another way.  The sounds don’t match the spellings.  What are you supposed to do?  Grammar Girl is going to whip up some simple spelling rules for you.

Rule 1
Short Vowel Spelling

What is a short vowel?  It’s a simple, short sound.  For examples of words with short vowels my favourite website is Learn Any Time.

This fantastic website will also give you some more rules and tips.

And here is the spelling rule for these particular vowels:

To spell a short vowel sound, only one letter is needed:

at           red            it            hot           up

Rule 2
Long Vowel Spelling

Try listening and repeating the long vowel sounds at ESL-Galaxy.

To spell a long sound add a second vowel. The second may be next to the first, (boat, maid, cue, etc.) or it may be separated from the first one by a consonant  (made, ride, tide, etc.). If the second vowel is separated from the first by two spaces, it does not affect the first one.  So, doubling a consonant can be called “protecting” a short vowel because it prevents an incoming vowel from getting close enough to the first one to change its sound from short to long:

maid,  made,  but  madder;            dine,  diner,  but dinner.

Try out the two rules.  I’ll give you two more spelling rules next month.

See you soon,

Grammar Girl

7 things you didn’t know about Grammar Girl

Published
by
Iffaf
on January 12, 2009
in Uncategorized and grammar
. 9 Comments

1. Grammar Girl was a journalist for several years before studying for her teaching qualification. When she got her first job in a small newspaper called ‘The News International,’ they put her on the entertainment beat. This meant she had to go to the theatre and film premiers and then run back to the office and write the article up so that it was ready to go to press the same day or in a few hours’ time. She wouldn’t get home until the article had gone into print, which meant living the life of a vampire: asleep during the day and working from dusk till dawn.

2. Grammar Girl once worked at Macdonald’s. She was studying for her teaching qualification in Frances King School in London in 2000 and was running short of money. For the whole length of the course,Girl had a long commute from Croydon to London which, in itself, cost a tidy sum of money. So she spent a month on the breakfast shift at Macdonalds, and didn’t enjoy a single minute of it.

3. She didn’t study up on grammar until she studied teaching. This is because we rarely think about grammar in our own language. We are born with it. We don’t know the names of structures or why they occur. Our mind and our environment does it for us. It is only until we start learning another language that we realise what it all means. So Grammar Girl picked up a students’ course book called ‘Headway’ and read the grammar rules at the back. We all have to start somewhere.

4. Grammar Girl is a bit of a nerd! Some people like reading books, other people like going to the cinema or even the gym. But she loves teaching grammar and thinking about grammar. She finds the idea of choice very important and rules less important. She believes that the learner of English should first decide or know what they want to say. Then they have the ability to decide how they should say it and through what structure.

5. When she was a child, she wanted to become a soldier. There was a garrison just down the road from her house and she walked past it every day. She was fascinated with the uniforms and the discipline. She also wanted to be like Indiana Jones so, I’m assuming, she saw herself as a fun-loving archaeologist in a uniform.

6. She salsas. No, not the spicy condiment from Mexico that you eat, but the music. She remembers listening to a Cuban band called Buena Vista Social Club, as a young girl. She learned how to salsa properly when she lived in Bangkok about 5 years ago. Here, in London, she tries to salsa almost every Friday. Most of the people she meets in London speak Spanish so she’s trying to learn Spanish. She understands how difficult it is to learn another language but, also, how easy it is when you really want to learn.

7. She’s passed her open water diving course and yet isn’t a strong swimmer. I think she cheated somewhere along the line.