Posted by: Mark Stoneman on: January 8, 2010
Some of you might see a contradiction between this video and my previous blog post, Tough Love, since that post pushes students to learn how to write standard English well. There is no contradiction, however, because using language is all about communicating effectively with your audience. If you strive to make a good impression in a professional work environment in an English-speaking country, then standard English you must learn. But if you are communicating with friends and family and in other informal occasions, you can treat English much more flexibly. Of course, any deviations you produce will still tend to occur within the language’s flexible, but not arbitrary grammar and syntax, but that’s another story for another day.
[hat tip for video: kalinagoenglish]
Posted by: Mark Stoneman on: December 17, 2009
Here is some tough love from an English professor that is worth passing on to native speakers, whether still in college or out in the workforce:
Everything one needs to know to use the language clearly, correctly, and even stylishly is available in thousands of places, often free and rarely at a price of more than a few dollars. The nation is full of secondhand bookshops where $15 will get a used dictionary, an old copy of The Elements of Style, and a grammar handbook. Learning to write and speak clear, standard English is mostly a question of will. Some subjects require face-to-face instruction from an expert and hands-on practice under expert supervision. But when the subject is one’s own language, ignorance is a choice.
In some ways this idea applies to non-native speakers too. While you might need classes with a teacher, you should also study a lot on your own.
Source of quote: Art Scheck, “Old Books, Old Stories,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 12, 2009.
Posted by: Mark Stoneman on: November 8, 2009
If you begin an independent clause with however, you need to preface it with a semi-colon.
I would like to spend the winter break on the beach; however, I do not have enough time or money for such a vacation.
I would have turned the paper in on time; however, my little brother’s dog ate my computer.
Sometimes, however, people prefer to put this word in the middle of a clause, like I just did. Then it needs to be set off by commas.
I would like to watch a movie. I can’t, however, because I have more papers to grade.
If you use however is at the end of a clause, it also needs a comma.
I would like to eat some candy corn. There is none in this apartment, however.
I would like to eat some candy corn. There is none in this apartment, however, so I will have to live without it.
There is no semi-colon before the however in the last example, because however does not begin an independent clause. Compare it with my first two examples. It is at the end of the first clause, as I hope the second-to-last example makes clear.
Posted by: Mark Stoneman on: September 17, 2009
Posted by: Mark Stoneman on: September 8, 2009
I have started a new twitter account for tweets related to this blog’s theme. Someone had already grabbed my blog’s name over there, so I went with mstoneman_esl.
Posted by: Mark Stoneman on: September 7, 2009
Here are the most common grammar mistakes I saw in student writing in my history courses this summer. Each one is linked to the page I referenced in my comments in each paper that contained such an error. The first four links lead to the amazing OWL at Purdue, and the last one leads to an article on this blog.
Native and non-native speakers alike make these mistakes. Some non-native speakers also had trouble with definite and indefinite articles. I always thought that the lack of articles was a peculiarity of Slavic languages, but I found the issue come up with some Korean students too. Some native speakers of Spanish also ran into trouble with the because they use this article differently in their own language.
