HOMEWORK â„–1
Post categories: Student blog
| 22:58 UK time, Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Informal language
Nuala said: There were a few instances when you used more formal language than is necessary in a blog. So your first piece of homework is to try to rewrite the italicised words in a more informal way.
Answer: Ok, I'll try!
1. I'd like to express gratitude to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ team
A: I'd like to say thanks a lot to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ team.
2. It possesses the world's second busiest (after Tokyo) metro system
A: It has the world's second busiest (after Tokyo) metro system
3. and comprises 180 stations
A: and contains 180 stations
4. It's important that our society cares about the observance of children's rights.
A: It's important that our society is concerned about the protection of children's rights.
5. So, I intend to tell you about the most exciting moments of these great events.
A: So, I'm going to tell you about the most exciting moments of these great events.
Nuala! Thank you for such an interesting homework! I'm looking forward to your comments!
Friendly greetings,
Jan
Comment number 1.
At 3rd Jun 2010, Inna-L wrote:Hello, Jan!
I’m glad that you are from Russia! I’m from Russia too.
My English is not as fluent as yours is but it's "Russian styled" too.
Don’t you think all your voc mistakes are special?
I mean we usually say in this way in Russian!
Inna-L
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 3rd Jun 2010, Jan wrote:Hi Inna,
Honestly, I was thinking about it, then I did the homework. When I read a text, which was written by Russian, I always recognize our nationality! I think, it is so, because of the absence of the auxiliary verbs in Russian, for example! Also on my opinion, Russian language is wide of figurative meanings of the words. What do you think?
Best wishes,
Jan
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)
Comment number 3.
At 4th Jun 2010, Inna-L wrote:Hi Jan!
Had no chance to reply yesterday – endless struggling over the computer!
I agree with you up to the point! In addition, to your list: English tense system, the word order… They are different from Russian… Moreover, we have a bit unsuccessful teaching system in our country, haven’t we? All those topics and texts to translate… Now there are the same things in my son’s school textbooks.
Look forward for your next posting!
Inna-L
Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)
Comment number 4.
At 4th Jun 2010, Nuala wrote:Hi Jan,
You did really well on this homework task. Numbers 1, 2 and 5 were perfect. But 3 and 4 could still be improved a bit.
1. I'd like to say thanks a lot to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ team. – Great!
2: It has the world's second busiest metro system (after Tokyo). – Lovely!
3. 'Contains' is OK, but what about the simple verb 'have'?
and has 180 stations
4. This one was quite tricky. The original was quite wordy, and although I think your 'protection' is an improvement over 'observance', I still think the sentence is a bit long for what you're trying to say. I'd probably go for:
It's important that our society cares about protecting children's rights.
or:
It's important that we all care about protecting children's rights.
or even more simply:
It's important that we protect children's rights.
5: So, I'm going to tell you about the most exciting moments of these great events. -Excellent!
Well done and looking forward to seeing your next homework task.
All the best,
Nuala
Complain about this comment (Comment number 4)