What makes a house a home?
Hi Jin Lu,
What makes a house a home? For me, a roaring fire works every time!
This picture also shows a typical British hobby – doing your house up! We Brits do love our DIY. You can see the plaster isn't dry and the painting isn't finished on the walls - sure signs of DIY activity!
Your story of the moon was really interesting. Thanks for sharing that with us. I'll be sure to look out for the girl and the bunny the next there's a full moon.
Now though, let's look at a couple of things from your text – prepositions and tenses.
First, prepositions. In the first of your examples you need a different preposition, in the second, you didn't use a preposition but you needed one and in the third one, you used a preposition but you didn't need it. Can you see how you should change these to make them correct?
People use two types of calendar in the same time
Mid-Autumn Festival (is) in China the 15th day of the eighth month
The latter originated from thousands of years ago.
Secondly, let's look at some of your tenses. But before we do, a bit of background.
There are quite a few times where you make your language unnecessarily complicated, Jin Lu. I've met a lot of students who think that a long word or a more complex sentence makes their writing or speaking seem more advanced. But it doesn't work that way in English. My understanding of the Chinese education system is that you're actively encouraged to use more sophisticated language to show how widely read you are. Is that right?
Here in Britain, we often use very simple sentence constructions and choose short, simple words over more complicated ones. Why? Well, one reason is where the English language comes from. The Anglo-Saxon language (used in Britain more than 1500 years ago) was filled with short, punchy words. The legacy of that language is still evident in good speech and writing today.
We often think of Sir Winston Churchill as one of the most effective public speakers this country has ever produced.
Have a look at a part of his famous 'We will fight them on the beaches' speech. Can you find even one word here that has more than one syllable?
We shall fight in the fields. We shall fight in the hills. We shall go on to the end.
Sometimes simple really is best.
So… back to your tenses. Can you spot how you could simplify (and correct) your grammar in these examples?
You may have known that in China people use two types of calendar
I believe I had seen it a couple of times
Now I would think of my grandmother more
And just to complicate matters. This one needs to be more complex than just the present simple:
She lives there with her bunny for many centuries now
That's all from me for now. I'm off to Baltimore tomorrow!
Thanks for your suggestion Cheikh Vall but I'm afraid I won't be blogging while I'm on holiday. I hope not to switch on the computer the whole time I'm away! But I promise, I'll have some photos to share with you all when I come back.
Best wishes,
Nuala
Vocabulary
doing your house up – improving and redecorating your house
DIY – short for do it yourself (rather than making someone – a painter, a plumber etc. – to do it for you
how widely read you are – that you have read and understood a lot of books
punchy – expressing something effectively
legacy – what is left after something dies out or someone dies
evident – obvious, you can see it easily
syllable – separate sound of a word (for example, furniture has three syllables, uncomfortable has five)
Comments
Hello Nuala. I鈥檇 like to reveal my opinion what actually encourages students 鈥渢o use more sophisticated language to show how widely read you are鈥. Have you ever been learning either foreign language or play any musical instrument? If you have such an experience, you certainly remember that embracing joy when wings allow flying in any direction. The further, the better. Sometimes it seems there aren鈥檛 bounds at all. You enjoy playing words and become more courageous. Some mistakes occur here and there but it doesn鈥檛 matter any more. What matters from now and then is your genuine freedom from fear of laughing at you.
Hi Nuala, here in Spain there is a saying that tells (more or less). The good if short twice better. I just discovered that my future as translator is too far:-) I agree with you, my experience as english student has showed me that english is more crytier than spanish. (More message in less letters) See you. Toni
Hi Nuala, here in Spain there is a saying that tells (more or less). The good if short twice better. I just discovered that my future as translator is too far:-) I agree with you, my experience as english student has showed me that english is more crytier than spanish. (More message in less letters) See you. Toni
Hi Nuala, It's hard for me to sort out some long sentences from my writing. It's not a matter of trying to look more advanced. I think it's the way and the speed my thoughts are organized and flowing inside my mind. I like DIY and what makes also a house home is music. Nice weekend Adriana
Hi Teacher O麓sullivan For me to write this single words in english is something so amazing that I can麓t believe that you and the others students understand it, Been correct or not. long or short, the main objective is to be understood. and for the answers I can see that my comments are understood. to know how to use the language in a effective way is something amazing and show not only how the speaker of writer know the offical way of use it but how to express its soul.. your tips has helped us to express more efectively our feeling..Hugs..and have a nice trip to Baltimore! Ramilton.
I forget to comment one thing! Are you going to the Allan Poe funeral? I like his works a lot..I did a work based on his work to finish my graduation course. Thanks.
Hi Nuala! Your fireplace looks lovely and I reckon it must be delightful to sit in front of it with a nice cuppa after a hard day of work. Well, I麓m not a big fun of DIY. I don麓t know what the dickens I had in mind but my sister and I used to paint our whole house every year. So, in the end of the day we麓re totally worn out... we didn麓t feel our arms and legs... Anyway, the good thing about painting our house was that me and my sister used to have a great time together. By the way Nuala, are you going on holiday, aren麓t you? I hope you have a great time and please don麓t forget to take pictures to show us when you come back :-). Best wishes, Ana Paula.
This is so amazing but for people in there it is horible
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