I don't think English speakers realize just how much of our language is made up of idioms, idiomatic expressions, phrases and proverbs.
The reason I mention this is because, if you spend some time listening to native English speakers talking together, you will notice how very little of their conversation is discernible to the second language learner. And oh boy, if you try to translate some of the stuff being tossed around, you will be more than just a little confused.
Here are some examples that are super common in English but sound absurd in Spanish if translated literally:
1. My all-time favorite - "It's raining cats and dogs"(to rain heavily)
If translated literally, this expression would be: llover peros y gatos. To actually rain cats and dogs is absolutely impossible. it's kind of like when us English speakers say, "When pigs fly," which doesn't literally mean when you see a pig flying, it simply mean that you would never do what it is that the other person mentioned.
The real translation for raining heavily is: llover a cántaros (raining in jugs or buckets)
2. "A friend in need is a friend indeed" (someone who helps you in your time of need is your true friend)
The literal translation: Un amigo que necesita algo es un amigo por cierto
This translation makes absolutely no sense and does not have the same meaning as it's English counterpart... at all! I mean the English saying says that a true friend is someone who helps you when you are in need, while the Spanish translation means that if you need something then you are a good friend. Um, no! That wouldn't make you a good friend in my books, that just makes you needy!
The real translation: En el peligro se conoce el amigo (which would translate to: In danger a friend is met)
3. The final saying for today is: "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." (you help me out, I'll help you out)
I guess if you translated this literally, it could kind of mean the same thing, but it would really be a stretch/long shot, or in laymen's terms, it just wouldn't work. "Tu rascas a mi espalda y yo te la rascas a tí."
This literal Spanish translation involves a physical back scratching and not the figurative "back scratching" that is connoted in English. So if you said, "tu rascas a mi espalda y yo te la rascas a tí" to someone in Spanish, they might literally start scratching your back... this of course, would be strange.
The real translation: Hoy por mí, mañana por tí. (today for me, tomorrow for you - kind of like that song from the Broadway musical Rent!)
The lesson to be learnt here: English isn't a face-value kind of language, it's tricky and ambiguous and although it wasn't created to trip people up, it definitely leaves people splat on the floor more often than not... What can you do to ensure proper use of English sayings? Instead of learning English relying on the translation method, try the communicative approach.
To learn more about the communicative approach, check out our website: www.palsofcanada.com
To learn more idiomatic expression, come study with us at PALS!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Road Signs Gone Wrong
I've been thinking about mistakes that are made in English and how they are tiresome to hear after having been corrected so many times. I was also thinking about signs that go up without being so much as glanced over for mistakes. Who puts up a sign without proofreading it first? Especially if this sign has just one word and will be read by many, many, many people!
These are mistakes that could've easily been avoided, I mean really!
Monday, April 15, 2013
Fun Valentine's Day Pictures
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| Some of the ladies at PALS |
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| Little Valentine's Day elves hard at work |
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| English Teachers |
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| Feels like a party at PALS! |
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| Valentine's Day smile :) |
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Acronym Mania!
So I know that acronyms took over the world many moons ago, but holy moly, it isn't just acronyms anymore. I don't think I have heard a full word be used by a person 25 years old or younger in a really long time.
When I have conversations with young adults, I always feel as though my brain isn't working fast enough. Back in my day, we used words like psych, sketch, say what?, jinx, coolio, and other words of the like, but now it's just every word has a different meaning than it's literal meaning and no word is longer than one to two syllables.
Here is what I mean:
Girl 1: Hey G!
Girl 2: Sup girl?
Girl 1: Did you eat breaky yet?
Girl 2: Neh, I'm getting a mani/pedi. Where you going?
Girl 1: On Sherbs and Mez to a delish resto. You sure you don't want in?
Girl 2: Yeah, totes, I have a quick sesh after my mani with a tutes, I don't think I'll have time. But have fun!
Girl 1: Tks. LU!
Girl 2: Ditto! *
Ok, so I don't think this conversation is the hardest to decipher, but it if English isn't your first language, then this dialogue could actually look and sound like anything but English! So hard to follow, one might just stop listening - quite honestly, sometimes I'm not sure if these people are in such a rush that they don't have time to finish their words, or if they just couldn't be bothered.
Either way, so goes the evolution (or devolution) of the English language.
What follows is the conversation between Girl 1 and Girl 2 in plain English:
Girl 1: Hey Gigi!
Girl 2: What's up girl?
Girl 1: Did you eat breakfast yet?
Girl 2: No, I'm getting a manicure and pedicure. Where are you going?
Girl 1: On Sherbrooke and de Maisonneuve to a delicious restaurant. Are you sure you don't want to come?
Girl 2: Yeah, totally, I have a quick session after my manicure with a tutor, I don't think I'll have time. But have fun!
Girl 1: Thank you. Love you!
Girl 2: I love you too! *
When I have conversations with young adults, I always feel as though my brain isn't working fast enough. Back in my day, we used words like psych, sketch, say what?, jinx, coolio, and other words of the like, but now it's just every word has a different meaning than it's literal meaning and no word is longer than one to two syllables.
Here is what I mean:
Girl 1: Hey G!
Girl 2: Sup girl?
Girl 1: Did you eat breaky yet?
Girl 2: Neh, I'm getting a mani/pedi. Where you going?
Girl 1: On Sherbs and Mez to a delish resto. You sure you don't want in?
Girl 2: Yeah, totes, I have a quick sesh after my mani with a tutes, I don't think I'll have time. But have fun!
Girl 1: Tks. LU!
Girl 2: Ditto! *
Ok, so I don't think this conversation is the hardest to decipher, but it if English isn't your first language, then this dialogue could actually look and sound like anything but English! So hard to follow, one might just stop listening - quite honestly, sometimes I'm not sure if these people are in such a rush that they don't have time to finish their words, or if they just couldn't be bothered.
Either way, so goes the evolution (or devolution) of the English language.
What follows is the conversation between Girl 1 and Girl 2 in plain English:
Girl 1: Hey Gigi!
Girl 2: What's up girl?
Girl 1: Did you eat breakfast yet?
Girl 2: No, I'm getting a manicure and pedicure. Where are you going?
Girl 1: On Sherbrooke and de Maisonneuve to a delicious restaurant. Are you sure you don't want to come?
Girl 2: Yeah, totally, I have a quick session after my manicure with a tutor, I don't think I'll have time. But have fun!
Girl 1: Thank you. Love you!
Girl 2: I love you too! *
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
So many Mistakes, So Little Time
I have mentioned before in this blog that English is one of the easiest languages to learn, yet the hardest to master. Well, that is true in so many ways.
The mistakes made by ESL students are plenty, yet they are basic mistakes of sentence structure, pronunciation and tense-verb accordance. These errors are expected and easily corrected. However, listening to my friends and family speaking English, I have observed many common mistakes made by native English speakers; mistakes not as easily corrected because they are ingrained in their way of speaking and therefore harder to change.
Here are some common mistakes that native English speakers commit on the daily. As a grammar teacher and language lover, these mistakes make me cringe. Most of the time, I stop my friend mid-sentence to correct them and offer them the proper alternative (an interruption not-so-welcome).
Common offenses:
1. BOUGHTEN is not a word. It is BOUGHT. Bought is the past and past participle of TO BUY.
The incorrect boughten is usually used in the past perfect: I had boughten that for a friend. I think the reason people make this mistake is because it is common to add the -en ending to the past participle, and since bought is correct in the past, it only makes sense... well, it's wrong either way!
2. BRANG is not a word. I understand that a lot of kindergarten and elementary school kids use this word, but come on adults! The correct word is BROUGHT! Brought is the past and past participle of TO BRING.
Here it is also easy to see why English speakers would think that brang is the natural past or past participle of brought. First and foremost, they were never corrected as kids. Second and most importantly, there are many verbs in the English language that make the change from -in (root) to -an (past) to -un (past participle). For example, TO DRINK: drink, drank, drunk (not drunken, by the way). So, TO BRING is confused with a verb like drink, but that's no excuse for this mistake.
3. The use of the conditional in English goes unnoticed by many native English speakers. We know what we mean to say and that it is hypothetical or that one thing depends on the other thing happening (hence, conditional), but we aren't aware of the tense change. And so, the common mistake of saying: "If I was you, I wouldn't do that," is made all too often.
The Second Conditional is used to talk about impossible or unlikely situations, or to give advice (note that the choice to use the first or second conditional depends on the speakers attitude toward whether or not the situation is likely to happen). I could never be you, but for the sake of the argument, I can say
If I were you, then (here we use might, would, could) go to the park.
The use of the past was is never used in the second conditional with I / HE / SHE / IT, however, there are few native speakers who know this. Interestingly enough, almost all ESL students learn and master this simple rule.
4. This next mistake is huge and is taking over the world! It's killing me slowly and I am trying my hardest to put a stop to it, but i am only one person at the end of the day. What am I talking about? Adverbs! Why doesn't anyone know how to properly use an adverb any more.
Here are a few examples of what I mean:
You cooked amazing tonight!
Oh I love that car, I want it real bad!
That test was real hard.
These are a few amongst many mistakes made daily when using an adverb. So, what is an adverb? An adverb in its simplest form is can be identified as the word in the sentence that modifies verbs, clauses and other adverbs. It is used to give us more information. Chiefly, adverbs can be identified by their -ly ending. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't see any -ly endings in the examples above!
So how would we correct the sentences used in our examples. Well, first decide if you want to use an adjective or an adverb to elaborate on your feelings.
Your cooking was amazing tonight. (adjective). You cooked amazingly tonight (adverb).
Oh I love that car, I want it so (very) badly (adverb). Oh I love that car, it is a really bad car (this sentence doesn't make sense, but at least it is grammatically correct).
That test was really hard (adverb modifying the adjective).
Oh and last but not least, GOOD is not an adverb. So, when someone asks you how you are doing, you cannot reply that you are doing good. You are either well or fine, even great, but never are you ever good.
There are way more mistakes that I stop and correct on the daily. Like stop to and stopping to. Oh man, that one really confuses me when used improperly. But, for the sake of this blog, let's leave things as they are and yes, you guessed it, I'll be back with more corrections.
Sincerely,
Your PALS in Canada.
The mistakes made by ESL students are plenty, yet they are basic mistakes of sentence structure, pronunciation and tense-verb accordance. These errors are expected and easily corrected. However, listening to my friends and family speaking English, I have observed many common mistakes made by native English speakers; mistakes not as easily corrected because they are ingrained in their way of speaking and therefore harder to change.
Here are some common mistakes that native English speakers commit on the daily. As a grammar teacher and language lover, these mistakes make me cringe. Most of the time, I stop my friend mid-sentence to correct them and offer them the proper alternative (an interruption not-so-welcome).
Common offenses:
1. BOUGHTEN is not a word. It is BOUGHT. Bought is the past and past participle of TO BUY.
The incorrect boughten is usually used in the past perfect: I had boughten that for a friend. I think the reason people make this mistake is because it is common to add the -en ending to the past participle, and since bought is correct in the past, it only makes sense... well, it's wrong either way!
2. BRANG is not a word. I understand that a lot of kindergarten and elementary school kids use this word, but come on adults! The correct word is BROUGHT! Brought is the past and past participle of TO BRING.
Here it is also easy to see why English speakers would think that brang is the natural past or past participle of brought. First and foremost, they were never corrected as kids. Second and most importantly, there are many verbs in the English language that make the change from -in (root) to -an (past) to -un (past participle). For example, TO DRINK: drink, drank, drunk (not drunken, by the way). So, TO BRING is confused with a verb like drink, but that's no excuse for this mistake.
3. The use of the conditional in English goes unnoticed by many native English speakers. We know what we mean to say and that it is hypothetical or that one thing depends on the other thing happening (hence, conditional), but we aren't aware of the tense change. And so, the common mistake of saying: "If I was you, I wouldn't do that," is made all too often.
The Second Conditional is used to talk about impossible or unlikely situations, or to give advice (note that the choice to use the first or second conditional depends on the speakers attitude toward whether or not the situation is likely to happen). I could never be you, but for the sake of the argument, I can say
If I were you, then (here we use might, would, could) go to the park.
The use of the past was is never used in the second conditional with I / HE / SHE / IT, however, there are few native speakers who know this. Interestingly enough, almost all ESL students learn and master this simple rule.
4. This next mistake is huge and is taking over the world! It's killing me slowly and I am trying my hardest to put a stop to it, but i am only one person at the end of the day. What am I talking about? Adverbs! Why doesn't anyone know how to properly use an adverb any more.
Here are a few examples of what I mean:
You cooked amazing tonight!
Oh I love that car, I want it real bad!
That test was real hard.
These are a few amongst many mistakes made daily when using an adverb. So, what is an adverb? An adverb in its simplest form is can be identified as the word in the sentence that modifies verbs, clauses and other adverbs. It is used to give us more information. Chiefly, adverbs can be identified by their -ly ending. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't see any -ly endings in the examples above!
So how would we correct the sentences used in our examples. Well, first decide if you want to use an adjective or an adverb to elaborate on your feelings.
Your cooking was amazing tonight. (adjective). You cooked amazingly tonight (adverb).
Oh I love that car, I want it so (very) badly (adverb). Oh I love that car, it is a really bad car (this sentence doesn't make sense, but at least it is grammatically correct).
That test was really hard (adverb modifying the adjective).
Oh and last but not least, GOOD is not an adverb. So, when someone asks you how you are doing, you cannot reply that you are doing good. You are either well or fine, even great, but never are you ever good.
There are way more mistakes that I stop and correct on the daily. Like stop to and stopping to. Oh man, that one really confuses me when used improperly. But, for the sake of this blog, let's leave things as they are and yes, you guessed it, I'll be back with more corrections.
Sincerely,
Your PALS in Canada.
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