I'm like back.

Hey,

long time, no see. What a busy week! Easter is gone, this means lots of revisions with my students and so little free time for me. Nevertheless, I hope they appreciate the effort I put into lesson with them :D

The last couple of days I was completely focused on finishing my MA paper. The topic is quite interesting, though there is not so much information/sources about it so I simply have to rely on my intuition. The paper concerns the neologisms in AAVE and their coinage. I am analysing word formation processes in such words as bizo, chickenhead, bawla, playa, Crooklyn. By the end of May I shall finish this paper so if I come up with any inventory results, I'll post it here.

Except for the paper and lessons, I made my little 'field research' as far as the word 'like' is concerned. The thing about 'like' is that it is used more often than commas, practically means nothing and functions more as a filler if you are missing or looking for some words while speaking. For example: "Like I didn't know what to do so I talked to him and I'm like 'c'mon, are you with me or not?'".When I hear 'like' it makes me feel a little bit irritated, probably because I tend to use it as well. What is even more aggreviating is that an equivalent of 'like' entered the Polish language: when you listen to young people talking with their friends they constantly use the phrase 'tak jakby' and I would say it is a kind of loanword. It is as equally used as 'like': it doesn't carry any particular meaning and simply is just a filler. If there is anyone who is able to provide any examples from their own language of the words resembling 'like', feel free to post it in the comment box :)

Enjoy your day and take care :)

Spelling Bee

Hi

Today I have a short post for you as I want you to check two fantastic websites. For those who want to practice vocabulary and do some listening comprehension exercises, check out the spelling bee. Another website may be known to some of you, I have just found it and this is how I spend the majority of my time (instead of writing my paper...:D) Apostrophe Catastrophes is a place where you'll see how one apostrophe (or the lack of it) can make your day :)

Enjoy the Easter :)

I don't like 'you'

The title of this post doesn't apply to the readers of this blog, no worries. It's a citation from a very good blog where the author expresses his/her annoyance with the word 'you' in English. I agree with the author - it's one of the unique examples how one word, which is not a vulgar one, makes you feel awkward. I guess the majority of European languages includes pronouns which are used accordingly to the relation with the other speaker. In German if you talk to a friend you use 'du', but when your speaker is someone older or simply a stranger you'd rather go for using "Sie". The same happens in Polish: talking to a friend you may say 'ty', but a stranger or your boss will be addressed as "Pan" (male) or "Pani" (female). 

However, in English everybody is addressed as 'you' with the exception for "Sir" or "Madam", but you won't hear it too often in spoken English. One may say this makes the communication and studying the language easier, but from my experience this simple short word "you" causes way too much confusion. It's not only about some kind of unity or the ressistance in using pronouns underlining someone's importance. The confusion appears for example in spelling. As it was mentioned above, in German and in Polish the official pronouns 'you', that is 'Sie', 'Pan' and 'Pani', are spelt with a capital letter. In English hardly ever can you find texts with 'you' spelt in this way. The point isn't about protesting against the usage of 'you' but maybe we should think why in English there aren't too many official forms of pronouns expressing your respect to the other speaker. Once we completely stop using a particular word, it disappears from language and I believe that this is what may happen to "Sir" or "Madam". The question about the reasons why 'you' is sooo unified leads to an American sense of equality. Maybe the users of English don't use (or create?) official forms of 'you' as they simply don't want to highlight somebody's importance? It's just a guess so if anybody feels hurt, I'm sorry.

Feel free to leave a comment. Have a good day :)

Top 10 Grammar Books

So today I would like to share my opinions on the best grammar books available. These are mostly the publications which I used when I was learning English and which I use when teaching English. So, here we go:

1. "A Practical English Grammar" by A.J. Thomson and A.V. Martinet

This is like Bible for everyone who wants to understand English grammar. The book is loaded with all the information which you will not find in a typical grammar book. It's difficult to say something bad about this book as it is a pure classic of grammar references. I believe many people had the opportunity to encounter this publication, but those who haven't done that yet really ought to do this :)

2. "Advanced Learner's Grammar" by M. Foley and D. Hall

A good reference for the advanced students of English. The theory is explained in a very detailed way, there are lots of examples so that you may really understand terribly difficult topics, but the users may not find the exercises useful. Each unit is devoted to one topic, whereas the exercises sometimes refer to the topics not studied yet. Although, this part of the book may be criticised, it is worth buying this book just for grammar tips.

3. "English Grammar in Use" by Martin Hewings

Another grammar reference for the advanced students which it is written in a very simple way making the publication extremely useful. There are many exercises which focus on the details commonly forgotten by the learners. I must admit that both my intermediate and advanced students use this book and I have never heard a bad word about it.

4. "Oxford Grammar Practice" by J. Eastwood

I am uploading the photo of the intermediate level of OGP because this is the book which I use most often in teaching. Nevertheless, each level of OGP is worth recommending to the students and teachers. What makes this book interesting is the additional CD-ROM program full of supplementary exercises. Also the paper quality is very good - some may complain it's not eco, but in my opinion one of the best ways to learn grammar is to fill the exercises using your pencil. You may always erase it and come back if you need to revise a particular topic. And this books lets you do it without the threat that you'll destroy the book using your rubber.

5. "Intermediate Language Practice" by M. Vince

Michael Vince should be well-known to all the students of English grammar. The book includes two sections: one devoted to grammar and the other one to vocabulary. Theory is not explained in the best way, as a teacher you always have to add something because you get the feeling that some information is missing. However, a good thing in this publication are the exercises. Quite difficult, but not impossible to do. A great source of revision before an important test.

6. "Pre-Intermediate Grammar" by J. Seidl

Another useful book for teachers who have a smart student (well, usually they're all smart but I mean those who learn very quickly) and want to revise some bigger part of material. The content of the book is not loaded with too many pictures (which for younger students may be a minus) but still many graphic elements appear on the pages helping them to remember important rules. 

7. "English Together" 

Coming back to the roots. My very first English course book. Recently I have found it in my room and I saw how at the age of 7 I was trying to write the 'transcription' of the words. It made me really funny. It's pretty hard for me to review this book as for me it will always be the best one simply for sentimental reasons. However, what people tend to say about this book is that it includes way more texts than other books for children. Thus, if someone is looking for a support book in reading exercises, go ahead with "English Together".

8. "Winners" 

My number one choice in teaching primary school students. Grammar rules are presented in a precise way, the graphic design is a little bit more for girls, but boys like it as well. There is one song per unit and what is important the song focuses on grammar not on vocabulary, which is a bit unique. 

9. "English Adventure" 

Written for Polish primary students, but it doesn't mean it cannot be used by the teachers in other countries. The biggest quality of this book is the connection with Disney. When I first saw it I thought that this may distract children, but I was completely wrong. They remembered everything faster as they associated particular topics with Disney characters. Fantastic songs, lots of useful materials for teachers, just buy it and you'll see.

10. "Incredible English"

The last course book (I guess there are 6 levels of "IE") I want to show is also adorable. I know that describing the grammar book as an 'adorable' may not be the best thing to do, but what I mean here is that it is the whole package for young learners of English. You'll find there good listening exercises, grammar rules, vocabulary glossaries and tasks enhancing your creativity. Good choice for teachers and parents who want to start homeschooling. 

Arguments' Language

Hi

Today is Sunday. A terrible Sunday. It's a Sunday full of arguments with a mobile company which has been driving me crazy since the very beginning. I am trying to be nice while talking to them, pointing out their mistakes very calmly, but the guy on the other side of the phone seems to speak another language. The brainwashed language I guess as he keeps repeating some slogans and he is not able to help me anyhow. Nevertheless, I thought it may be a good reason to write something about language etiquette.

My first concern was about "are there any linguistic techniques or tricks you MAY use while argueing in order to convince somebody that you are right?". One of the most frequent answers is (as it usually works in linguistics) IT DEPENDS. It depends on tenor, a term which refers to the participants of a conversation. Tenor was widely analysed by Michael Halliday, one of my favourite linguists, who was responsible for establishing the rules of systemic functional linguistic model of language. It may sound weird, complicated, but in fact it's an interesting topic to read as far language studies are concerned.

From my experience, I can see that there are the trickery phrases and their usage is strongly connected with our intention. What I sometimes hear in the shops and what really seems to work in a kind of formal type of an argument is the customer asking very loud for a full name of a shop assistant. Another trickery phrases are connected with the common behaviour of the customers who use the phrase 'higher level' meaning the manager of the company. As far conflicts with your boss are concerned, people tend to use a lot of passive voice. It's a natural reaction as the matters in such conflicts are usually of a delicate nature. Nobody wants to be blamed officially for doing/not doing something, thus they linguistically help themselves and use constructions deprived of the personal character. The last type of argument, I guess the most nerve-racking, is argueing with somebody who is close to you. In such situations we have a tendency to use way too many pronouns, e.g. You always.... or I never.... .

To sum up, it's a surprising observation about human language. Using simple linguistic devices or phrases such as "What is your name?" or "Give me your name, please" can function as a trick to make things work. If you know any other instances of the so-called trickery phrases, feel free to write about it in your comment :)

Enjoy your Sunday. In Poland on the 1st April it started snowing. Very funny. Especially for my spring shoes.

Take care,

Agnes

Entry no. 1

Hi

Entry no. 1 will give you a hint of what this blog is going to be about. I started writing this blog with the idea of showing the significance of language in our life. I want to write about language (English, Polish, German, Russian, etc.), teaching and learning foreign languages and what's the most important how it influences the life of each person in the world. 

During my education history I have always preferred learning languages and reading books. In the secondary school Maths, Physics, Chemistry and other mysteries of science seemed to be the most difficult (and the most boring) things to understand. What's more, my teachers would always repeat that language studies belong to the field of humanities, which automatically classified me as the student who can write and talk about literature and grammar but has no chances to find a job other than teaching. I ended up as the student of English Linguistics at the John Paul II Catholic University in Poland with all the happiness that the nightmares of maths and physics are finally gone. I was extremely amused with the fact that the next five years will be ONLY about humanities.

The reality however showed something completely different. My first year of the Bachelor degree was focused on analysing physicist formulas for the right pitch of voice in pronunciation. I had to write the reviews of scientific articles about engineering and translate the manuscripts concerning theories of famous scientists. My first reaction was asking myself "why me?". Then, I talked to my mother who told me something that became a kind of motto in my life. 

When I told her how terrible my courses are, she calmly said that this may be the advantage of my studies. She suggested that I should look at this whole situation as an impuls to learn something new. I don't have to understand all the theories used in translation, but it is good to know that there was a particular person who came up with this or that idea. At that moment I totally couldn't understand why she comforted me in SUCH way (not sticking to my side, mum? come on!) when suddenly I remembered something that my high school teacher told us: "You always have to get to know the world. ALWAYS. And you should watch TV news every evening, read daily newspapers with all the sections - economy, politics, sport, culture. Even the tabloids. Because you may not know what other people are interested in, you should always be ready to talk to them about anything. You may not be an expert, but you must always be ready to talk to the others about anything that interests them."

After recollecting all the smart words I decided to change my attitude. I said 'sorry' to all the scientific subjects and started looking at language from a completely different perspective. My studies showed me that except for reading novels and analysing poems, language IS REALLY ABOUT SCIENCE. 

Why am I saying this here? It's because of the more and more opinion among my friends who claim that learning languages may be useful but in your career path it leads you only to the job of a teacher. When I hear them saying it I always disagree. Language is equally important as most of the scientific subjects - this is the basis of communication. Without language no on would be able to explain the theories, nor would they be able to express them. 

The moral of this entry for today is: no language = no science.