Why are people against someone asking for help!!!!

 

Is it the ego of some people getting in the way of learning and improving their craft?

 

I have offered many times to help people with their English and yet..do they?

 

Of course you should use the forum if you have a problem, grammar or otherwise. How else can you improve? Good on you Ohlala esl !

 

I downloaded a worksheet the other day with so many errors it was not funny. After correcting it for my personal use I offered, by PM, to send it to the contributor and got a very polite "no, thank you".

 

What are people afraid of....that we will think bad of you.... get over it.

I, for one, am only trying to help!

 

None of us like giving students worksheets with grammar mistakes in them. I used a great one the other day which encouraged them to always put "to" after "ought" even in the negative. Wrong, the "To" gets dropped in the negative. I looked stupid!

 

Now I appreciate this was my fault for not checking the worksheet carefully beforehand but I worry about how many of us are teaching students our own errors and acting as though these concepts of ours are gospel.

 

I �ve said before and I want to say it again.

Forget the rules and find out what real people actually say. ...use the native speakers......

English is constantly changing..by the time the rules are confirmed, they could be out-of-date.

 

Think of the slogan MacDonalds use  "I �m loving it". It �s totally against the rules...no continuous form for the verb "love" but try saying that to the millions of people worldwide who are now using this expression.

 

Cheers, Joy

PS If my students find my mistakes I give them a sweet. Can you find any?

Sorry, but what �s wrong with �he ought not to do it �?

Worth a rolo at least...

Hope it helps!

 

I �m not sure but I think you might be responding to my post.

 

If that is the case then if you check the link that I provided as a reference point you will see that they (the website)  were referring to the consonant letter and not the consonant sound.  Australian school children are often taught spelling using the vowel and consonant letters as a guide.  I �m not sure what is taught with EFL in other countries.

 

Yes there is a rule for sounds but in this case I chose to use this particular website as a reference because it is clearly laid out for those members who are unsure.  If you have a website that members can refer to as a guide to spelling using the actual sounds then I �m sure it will be greatly appreciated.  I know I like to have a reference of some sort whether it be a book or a reputable website.

 

Cheers

 

Jayho

I haven �t got a clue of what you are referring to. I suppose it �s very different when you have to teach native speakers, since they have already acquired the language use and I suppose you concentrate on spelling. However, that �s not my case.

If you take a look at other spelling rules, though, you �ll see that  what counts is the sound of the word: that �s the case for 3rd person endings, and also for �ed � endings in the past simple regular. �Decide � ends in �e � in its spelling, but the infinitive is pronounced with a �d � ending, and therefore the past ending �id �.

�New � is pronounced /nju:/, and therefore the word ends in a vowel.

(You can consult a basic reference text such as Jones �s �Everyman �s English Pronouncing Dictionary �).

I suppose that when it comes to practice, perhaps it is more useful to learn the comparatives one by one rather than going into hundreds of rules and exceptions. However, it �s very practical for the teacher to have a general view of the way the rules work.

Best regards!

 

There is no doubt a difference between EFL/ESL students and native speakers learning English.  What I provided was a general spelling rule for that example based on consonant letters, not consonant sounds.  I like to sometimes differentiate between letters and sounds when teaching ESL.  You indicate that �New � is pronounced /nju:/, and therefore the word ends in a vowel.  To be precise, it ends in a vowel sound but a consonant letter.  Yes it�s true that many spelling rules are based on sounds but some rules are more easily learnt through letters - the teacher can choose what is more appropriate for their students.  Like we often say, there�s more than one way to skin a cat.

 

 

Hi Moravc

 

Yes, many people do use that form and it is acceptable in native speech.  We often hear it on TV. Personally I (think) I use the grammatically correct form.

 

Cheers

 

Jayho