I am sat here thinking that I have gotten us in to a right mess Ollie. So, a few years ago, I helped a rather nice Saudi gentleman to improve his English to come to America to attend College. He is in Southern Oregon attending College now. Recently another Man contacted me about the same and we have been working on him for a while.
Somehow, someone in the local university heard about me and have asked me to begin tutoring there. All this has sat me on my posterior, but still in full modesty, and I am wondering just what happened. Perhaps after a while they will get wise to my ploy and eject me?
Two items completely confuse me. First, no one has rumbled me, and I can only think that it is because they can't see me, except for my face. My voice is mercifully quite authentic.
The other worry is that I can not tell the difference between a past participle and a noun. Last night one of the other authors suggested to me "First Aid for English" and that is coming in on high priority shipping.
EEEEK ! Perhaps I should simply have bought a plane ticket for Somewhere Else Entirely?
Comments
you aren't alone.
not many of us know the difference, specially if we have been out of school for more than a few years.
we all forget knowledge that we never need to use. [ using the English language correctly is something only an English Major in University can do, the rest of us just don't "get it" ") ]
Stupidity is a capital offense. A summary not indictable.
Past Participle & Nouns
There's a difference? Throughout my life I've encountered this issue, but since I can't understand it, I just say 'Eff it".
If English is not their first language, chances are, they won't even notice this issue. There may be some anomalies, mainly while reading storybooks, but with enough reading, they will be able to make the difference without being able to explain the difference. English is hard, especially for us Asians. I imagine it's hard for Arabs too, since we do speak a measure of Arabic in my country. Probably why some of us Asians prefer to learn German instead.
I say go for it. It's ESL, not literary doctorate. You'll do fine.
If you want a more assurance, let me inform you that I was a teacher. I taught English to primary school pupils. You've read my stories. You know my problems with grammar. Yet I was considered one of the best teacher of English in that school. So I assure you, you'll do fine.
In comparison, when my big brother went to the states to continue his studies, his English was even worse than me at that age. Of course, you should give it your all, but your students will benefit from your knowledge for sure.
The knowledge that you taught that your students continue to use over the years will be your ticket to heaven, is what my old preacher once said. I think he was a racist asshole, but I can't argue against the benefit of teaching others, whether it be for your own self-satisfaction or as a ticket to heaven.
My life would be haunted
As an American who worked very hard and was blessed, I am relatively comfortable. Travel to Thailand, Kenya, Israel, Honduras, and other places has made it abundantly clear to me how easy my life is in comparison to those of the rest of the world. I tried to make a difference by going overseas but found that the differences in the cultures and the graft made it impossible for me to do so.
So, this amazing opportunity to tutor foreign students here, may help in some small way.
Gwen
>> prefer to learn German?
Really? It’s considerably easier to sound illiterate in German than it is in English, which last has largely dispensed with the most arcane relics of the Indo-European proto-language. I’d go for Dutch, personally, if you hate English, assuming that many of your compatriots already know German, since it’s about half-way in between German complexity and relative English simplicity and fluent speakers of Dutch can usually make themselves understood on either side of the English Channel.
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
German
I said some of it, I personally have never learned German :P
But if one were to compare the study of English and the other language in my country, the amount of people who go for extensive learning in English, German, Japanese and Mandarin is about the same. You can understand why people go for English, as it's an international language and lingua franca in trade and global communication. For Japan, most people learn it because Japanese culture is quite strong here and Japan is considered top travel and business locations among the people here. For Mandarin, it's because Singapore and China, our most important trading partners speak the language, so although it's not necessary, it's useful, since those Singaporeans love to scam us because they think we're stupid and those China businessmen love to give us unfavourable terms while laughing behind our backs because they think we can't understand their why it looks good on paper.
As for German, why would anyone want to learn it? After all, we don't speak German in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand or Indonesia and we don't teach it in schools. My friend who studied German told me because it was significantly easier than English. He told me he learned it within just 3 months, with minor hiccups compared to English, which he had been learning for his entire life and still couldn't get it right. After that, he applied for admission in a German university and when he came back just a couple months ago, his accent is like he's been there for 10 years. Annoying!