knowing your subject & teaching it
Aug 8th 2009, 9:45 am
#46
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Re: knowing your subject & teaching it
I suppose our siesta is earlier - not everybody does it - but the timetable does seem to be earlier.
Everything shuts down again at 19.30pm.
Aug 8th 2009, 6:39 pm
#47
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Aug 10th 2009, 7:47 pm
#48
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Re: knowing your subject & teaching it
English is a foully irregular language, and I'm just glad I learnt it as my milk tongue.
I'd say I was reasonably fluent in English, but I think it is true to say that if you really understand a language, you realise that you can never be 100% fluent, as there is always more that you don't understand.
There is one double negative in English that you can use gramatically = I don't dislike it" which gives a nice distinction between like and dislike.
As for teaching, well, no matter how much you know, if you are a crap teacher, it is unlikely that your students will do well.
I'd say I was reasonably fluent in English, but I think it is true to say that if you really understand a language, you realise that you can never be 100% fluent, as there is always more that you don't understand.
There is one double negative in English that you can use gramatically = I don't dislike it" which gives a nice distinction between like and dislike.
As for teaching, well, no matter how much you know, if you are a crap teacher, it is unlikely that your students will do well.
Aug 11th 2009, 9:52 am
#49
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Posts: 1,101
Re: knowing your subject & teaching it
English is a foully irregular language, and I'm just glad I learnt it as my milk tongue.
I'd say I was reasonably fluent in English, but I think it is true to say that if you really understand a language, you realise that you can never be 100% fluent, as there is always more that you don't understand.
There is one double negative in English that you can use gramatically = I don't dislike it" which gives a nice distinction between like and dislike.
As for teaching, well, no matter how much you know, if you are a crap teacher, it is unlikely that your students will do well.
I'd say I was reasonably fluent in English, but I think it is true to say that if you really understand a language, you realise that you can never be 100% fluent, as there is always more that you don't understand.
There is one double negative in English that you can use gramatically = I don't dislike it" which gives a nice distinction between like and dislike.
As for teaching, well, no matter how much you know, if you are a crap teacher, it is unlikely that your students will do well.
As complex as Spanish grammar is, I really enjoyed studying it. It's a far more "logical" language in my opinion.
Aug 11th 2009, 7:22 pm
#50
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Location: my paradise - Jávea
Posts: 13,330
Re: knowing your subject & teaching it
Yes, I think I would have hated learning English as a second language. All those phrasal verbs...aarghh! Must be hell trying to memorise them all. It's so much easier when you just have a "feel" for them and can even deduce the meaning of one that you've never heard before.
As complex as Spanish grammar is, I really enjoyed studying it. It's a far more "logical" language in my opinion.
As complex as Spanish grammar is, I really enjoyed studying it. It's a far more "logical" language in my opinion.
in Spanish a rule is a rule rarely broken - even when it is, it's by another rule
In English - why bother having rules at all!!???
so many times I just have to tell students to just accept it - there is no useful explanation for why we don't always pronounce things or spell things the same way
Aug 12th 2009, 12:31 am
#51
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Re: knowing your subject & teaching it
Grammar is interesting full stop.
There is actually a genetic componant to it, and I believe there is a family in the UK that have members that simply cannot learn, use or understand grammar. This crops up in their family tree like haemophilia.
Chimps can understand and use grammar.
When I was learning German, it was as tho there was a huge cliff of grammar to learn, but once learnt, it was downhill all the way, and all that was needed was to expand vocabularly. English is a gentle slope by comparison, very easy to get started, but it never levels off, and just keeps going upwards.
It also has a huge vocabulary. I have heard it quoted that English has 4 times as many words as German, and ten times as many as are in Norwegian.
Wasn't English a trade language developed between the Anglo saxons and the Danes?
There is actually a genetic componant to it, and I believe there is a family in the UK that have members that simply cannot learn, use or understand grammar. This crops up in their family tree like haemophilia.
Chimps can understand and use grammar.
When I was learning German, it was as tho there was a huge cliff of grammar to learn, but once learnt, it was downhill all the way, and all that was needed was to expand vocabularly. English is a gentle slope by comparison, very easy to get started, but it never levels off, and just keeps going upwards.
It also has a huge vocabulary. I have heard it quoted that English has 4 times as many words as German, and ten times as many as are in Norwegian.
Wasn't English a trade language developed between the Anglo saxons and the Danes?
