Let’s talk about eloquence on a rainy Tuesday afternoon in October. Sentence structure and sharing our ideas clearly is so important in any language, but we know how tricky it can be to get those words into the right order when studying a new language. There really is no exception to the rule when speaking about word order in English, so the good news is that once you learn the rule, you will not make mistakes!
In Jason Kottke’s article, inspired by Mark Forsyth’s book The Elements of Eloquence Jason states, “…adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest you’ll sound like a maniac. It’s an odd thing that every English speaker uses that list, but almost none of us could write it out.”
While the Cambridge dictionary gives us a slightly different order: Opinion, Size, Quality, Shape, Age, Colour, Origin, Material, Type and Purpose, Noun.
In other words, for a native speaker, this order is intuitive and learned. We know exactly how to construct the sentence, but we wouldn’t know how to tell you what order those words should be in. It’s the typical comment, “that’s just the way it is…” but in all truth, there is an actual order to it.
So, why don’t we try? Put the following words into the correct order:
1. table, a, square, wooden, big:
2. the,cup, tiny, plastic, blue, expensive
3. black, small, box, Turkish, old, a
Want more practice? Check out these links:
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/adjectives/order-adjectives
http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.adwo.p.htm
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/esl_adjectiveorder4.html
And an exercise on word order in general: https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/word-order/exercises?02
Finally, a lovely poem on word order by Alexandra Teague:
That summer, she had a student who was obsessed with the order of adjectives. A soldier in the South Vietnamese army, he had been taken prisoner when Saigon fell. He wanted to know why the order could not be altered. The sweltering city streets shook with rockets and helicopters. The city sweltering streets. On the dusty brown field of the chalkboard, she wrote: The mother took warm homemade bread from the oven. City is essential to streets as homemade is essential to bread . He copied this down, but he wanted to know if his brothers were lost before older, if he worked security at a twenty-story modern downtown bank or downtown twenty-story modern. When he first arrived, he did not know enough English to order a sandwich. He asked her to explain each part of Lovely big rectangular old red English Catholic leather Bible. Evaluation before size. Age before color. Nationality before religion. Time before length. Adding and, one could determine if two adjectives were equal. After Saigon fell, he had survived nine long years of torture. Nine and long. He knew no other way to say this.
From Mortal Geography by Alexandra Teague. Copyright © 2010 by Alexandra Teague. Used by permission of Persea Books.
Post Insipired by: http://cupofjo.com/2016/09/grammar-rule/
Welcome Back Everyone! As we slowly start up our motors and turn on our computers for a new season of work, I want to remind you on the benefits of learning English. Take a look at some fun facts above.
So sign up to class, join us for our Fall events and start practicing! This can only be good for you…
This summer has been a very heated season so far (up to now) and the news is unfortunately filled with a lot of stressful events and tension. I thought that perhaps the video below is a great way to remind us where we come from and that maybe, we should all be just a little kinder to each other. Or at least a little more respectful.
I have had lots of very interesting conversations this last week with many of my students and I hope this post helps spark (light) some insightful thoughts and interesting conversation on your summer table too.
And here are some ideas for Binge Watching this summer:
http://www.npr.org/2016/06/15/
Feel like taking a leap (a jump, in reference to a challenge)? Here are the 12 New Books The New York Times journalists are reading this summer: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/books/12-new-books-were-reading-this-summer-and-6-not-so-new.html?_r=0
And for those who feel like cooking up a storm (a lot) here are some ideas:
http://mimithorisson.com/my-recipes/
And please be kind to each other…
Yesterday was the first official day of the summer or Summer Solstice. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE summer. Long days, travel plans, beach, sun, ice cream, cool beers and lots of time outdoors with family and friends. What do you do for the summer? Do you like the summer or do you prefer another season?
In honor of summer, I thought I would share a little poem I recently came across (found) and I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do. Perhaps this is a good exercise to bring out the dictionary and add some new vocabulary to your word bank?
The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
This Friday, April 22nd is Earth day, a global day on which it aims to inspire awareness of and appreciation for Earth’s environment. As we all know, this planet we live on needs our love and attention, so I thought that we could dedicate this week’s post to all things Earth. Maybe this will inspire you to work on your garden, plant a tree or clean up a littered (dirty) beach. Do you recycle? Maybe now is a good time to start!
Here are some fun links from around the web to get you motivated and at the same time help you learn some new vocabulary;
Earth Day quiz from The Guardian
Some great videos and a quiz on what animal are you? from Google
Why Trees? A great explanation on why we need to plant more trees and a global map with events near you.
Animals that might not survive 2016
One man’s goal to preserve nature’s sounds for future generations
And finally, if you loved these links, here is a whole page dedicated to videos and articles on Earth Day
Have a great week and stop to smell the flowers!
Photo Source: Bernard Chevalier
It is that time of year again, when the flowers start blooming (to blossom/open/flower), days get longer as we Spring our clocks forward and Summer is right around the corner.
This week’s post is on the beauty of Spring and reasons to get outdoors or stay inside and practice your English.
Here’s a short video on the history of the Easter bunny
But have you ever wondered what others around the world do to celebrate Spring? Take a look at these amazing photos on Spring around the world.
If you are feeling inspired to do more listening in English, take a look at these professional podcasts to help you start listening!
Or, if you plan on spending some time with the family, maybe you can propose some educative online video games to help all of you learn?
Are you more of the romantic type? Here are some Spring Poems to get you inspired…or some great stories you can listen to on Spring?
Planning on taking a walk in the mountains? Learn the name of some flowers first and impress your friends and family!
And if you are one of those lucky travelers planning on going away for the week, take a look at this video on how to greet others in English
Have a wonderful start to Spring and Happy Easter!
And don’t forget our Round Table #2 next Thursday, March 31, 2016
How are you intelligent vs How Intelligent are you?
Business English, Listen, Loud and Clear, Read, Watch
“If we don’t make mistakes daily we are not pushing the boundaries and challenging the system enough.” Antonio J. Lucio
Happy Monday everyone! Before we begin with a very interesting topic on intelligence, we want to remind you that this week is our first edition of the Round Table Series so remember to sign up and join us on Thursday from 20.00h-21.00h. You can find more information here. We really do hope to see you there!
So, this week’s blog is on how intelligent you think you are and why creativity is so important in both work and learning. More than once I have heard students tell me that it is impossible for them to learn a new language or that they were never really good at learning, or intelligent enough. To be honest, I disagree. Maybe we just need to find a different approach at learning.
I have always believed that we are all creative, every single one of us and luckily Sir Ken Robinson believes the same. Take a look below at this week’s links and see how you can become a more intelligent and creative learner.
Here are Five common mistakes when learning a foreign language. Just imagine, with a little more curiosity and less fear, you could easily go a long way
A very creative video on Ken Robinson speaking about How are you intelligent?
An easy video on Why do we need creativity?
A more advanced video by the author Elizabeth Gilbert on Your elusive (difficult) genius
And you can test your English (maybe you know more than you think you do?)
Finally, here’s a Quiz on commonly confused words in English.
In ode to Valentine’s day and Spring right around the corner, we thought we would dedicate this week’s post to not just the heart, but the brain as well. We all know that keeping both our hearts and brain healthy can help us live a long and happy life, so here we go.
Are you right brained or left brained? Take this test
The podcast everyone is talking about: Modern Love
Fascinating interview with Helen Fisher on her latest book The Anatomy of Love
Your heart is what you eat: 18 Superfoods for your heart
And super foods for your brain. The Mediterranean diet is doing all of you well!
A video on The History of Love
iconAnd Valentine’s Day Poems for Married People
Have a lovely week!
Photo Source: ‘The Balance” …. by Christian Schloe
According to the news today, January 18, 2016 has been named as #bluemonday or the most depressing day of the year. We had no clue this even existed! But apparently they even have a mathematical equation to determine when Blue Monday is.
![\frac{[W + (D-d)] \times T^Q}{M \times N_a}](https://upload.wikimedia.org/math/1/d/a/1da90efee88e1a738833621cba3b84ff.png)
But, we won’t pay attention to mass media today, will we? Instead, we have come up with some fun articles on how to beat (win) blue Monday and have a bright start to the week!
Bibliotherapy: Reading can make you happy
Spelling tests to keep busy and challenged (Tim’s recommendation)
And in case you are still doubtful, the advantages of learning a second language
Have an excellent Monday!
We are four days into 2016 and about to put our shoes out for those 3 wise men and their gifts. In the meantime, we have had enough time (and days off) to give some thought to what we want 2016 to look like…right? Or maybe some of you are more of the September resolution kind of person?
If January is your month to shake off the previous year and start fresh with new goals, this post is just for you! Have you ever wondered where the idea of New Year’s resolutions come from anyway? Find out from this short video:
And this short article explains The History of New Year’s Resolutions
We have gathered some interesting links on New Year’s resolutions and what to expect for 2016 in regards to reading material and food:
50 New Year’s resolutions and how to achieve them
Top 10 healthiest New Year’s Resolutions
Vegetables likely to take over your plate in 2016!
What makes a good life, happy? VIDEO
What to expect in 2016 (according to The Wall Street Journal)
Books to Read this year (according to Brooklyn Magazine)
Top 10 Movies to watch out for in 2016
May it be a fun year for you all and full of health, happiness and accomplished resolutions!
