Mind Your Language

Here is the first episode of the British sitcom, Mind Your Language, a show about a class full of non-native speakers learning English. The show is divided into three clips.

This episode is called “The First Lesson.” By today’s standards the show is politically incorrect, insofar as it uses some gender and a lot of national stereotypes to make its points. The students are Greek, German, Japanese, Italian, Pakistani, Indian, Spanish, French, and Chinese. Because this episode first aired on Dec. 30, 1977, I am prepared to cut it some slack and simply enjoy the comedy in it. I invite you to do the same. Nonetheless, it is also interesting to reflect on how far multicultural Western societies have come since the 1970s, when such issues were first making their appearance in mainstream sitcoms. On the other hand, the one bad joke about unemployment benefits is still a nasty stereotype among those who would blame immigrants for all of society’s ills.

The show gets at least one stereotype completely wrong. It has the Chinese student mixing up her Rs with her Ls, which is a common enough mistake among native Japanese and Thai speakers, but not something I have heard any Mandarin speaker do. Most of the language and pronunciation jokes are still funny. In one of the early ones, Ali says to Miss Courtney, “Squeeze me, please.” Of course, he meant, “Excuse me please.” It is also funny to see the native English speakers unwittingly adopting some of these mistakes.

I have taught English to non-native speakers, and I have learned German as a foreign language, so I can sympathize with both sides of the story, and each is funny. Imagine the mixups that Japanese can have when “pray” becomes “play” or when someone from Brazil wants to know where the “beach” is, but says this word with a short I, that is, “bitch.” Of course, I’ve had my fair share of gaffes in German, one time saying “küssen” (to kiss) when I meant “wechseln” (to give change for [money] or to exchange [foreign currency]). And these two verbs don’t even look or sound alike!

So have a look and enjoy. Perhaps afterwards you might share some of your own experiences in a comment below.

Hat tip: I never would have known about this series, were it not for Frank, a British comedy enthusiast on YouTube.

The Vocabulary of Grammar

Looking back, I am surprised at how easy it was for me to get through high school and many college courses without knowing a lot of basic vocabulary related to English grammar. I knew English grammar intuitively, and I could write, but I could not talk about grammar. I am lucky I knew enough intuitively, for this weakness could have become a real handicap for me in my studies.

In fact, it did become a weakness in one subject: Russian. We had to take a foreign language at Dartmouth College, and I fulfilled the requirement with Russian. But I was horrible. I do not believe that I ever rose above a C+. Part of the problem was study habits and discipline, but much of it related to my lack of appreciation of the nature of grammar. The professors used terms like genitive case, dative case, direct object, personal pronoun, possessive pronoun, conjugate, and decline, and it seemed like I had to devote too much energy to understanding that vocabulary and the things it indicated instead of learning Russian. Or I missed points entirely because I did not recognize their significance.

I only appreciated this dilemma later, after I took a break from Dartmouth and came back. During my time away I was in the army and stationed in Germany, where I learned to get by with rudimentary German. Upon returning to Dartmouth I decided I would like to learn German properly. My experience was enhanced considerably by a practical little book by Cecile Zorach entitled English Grammar for Students of German. It explained the way English grammar worked for certain situations and then compared it to German. It was through these comparisons that I began to gain an appreciation of the mechanics of English grammar and a vocabulary with which to talk about it. This knowledge later served me well when I found myself in Munich teaching English to Germans. Of course, the learning process never ended.

In this new series, I intend to share basic vocabulary of grammar so that I can use it when trying to explain various things. For example, today I actually wanted to write about the correct and incorrect usage of who and whom, but I found myself talking about direct and indirect objects, and I realized I had to lay a little groundwork first. This is the beginning.

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By the way, English Grammar for Students of German is part of a series that also includes titles for students of Arabic, French, Italian, Latin, and Russian. To learn more, visit the Language for You Bookstore via the books page here.

Semicolons

If you are unsure about how to use a semicolon, have a look at Gary Olson’s Punctuation Made Simple, which points to two major scenarios: (1) the semi-colon as a connector of two sentences, (2) the semi-colon as a “supercomma.” Purdue University’s Writing Lab addresses the first scenario in a useful comparison of the semicolon and comma in compound sentences. Besides serving as a connector of two independent clauses (otherwise known as sentences), the semicolon helps connect such sentences using a conjunctive adverb such as however or nevertheless. The examples on these two websites are good, so I won’t provide any of my own. Once you think you understand, have a look at the somewhat more detailed semicolon chart offered by the Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin.

Related post: Commas

Sesame Street Alphabet

Do you know a beginner in English or a child just learning the alphabet? Here is a fantastic 1970s jazz version of the alphabet from Sesame Street:

Or perhaps you would prefer a calming version for your child or yourself at night? Here’s another 1970s clip from Sesame Street:

Even more advanced students of English sometimes forget to learn how to say the alphabet. Do they really need it? I think so. Sometimes people on the phone ask me how to spell my name or street address. Without the alphabet I’d be in trouble.