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There are an estimated 6, 000 languages spoken throughout the world. With so many languages, it may surprise many to learn that learning the English language can be one of the more difficult tasks. There are a number of reasons why students encounter obstacles when they are learning English.
Pronunciation:
The English language has no exact pronunciation. Some words contain ’silent’ letters which means they are not spoken. Some letters may be pronounced differently such as ‘ah’ for ‘A’. Other languages such as the German language vocalize every letter and have only one pronunciation. How the stress is placed on certain German consonants or vowels can make English such a difficult language to learn. There are hard and soft consonants like ‘c’ taking on a ‘k’ sound which depends on the context of which they are spoken. There are silent letters in some words and there are some consonants that when put together will project an entirely different sound. (i.e….’th’) The odd combinations and changing rules in the pronunciation of words makes English much more difficult to learn.
Grammar:
The succession of nouns, adjectives, and adverbs has their own particular order for the many different languages in the world. With the English language, the order can vary. For instance, Chinese learners tend to write indirect sentences. For example: “The boy was bitten by the neighbour’s dog.” instead of “The neighbour’s dog bit the boy.” To write proper sentences and passages, English learners have to learn a new and different way of using grammar. Assimilating English into a conversation can be difficult because learners have to use different sentence structures than their native language.
Verb Tense:
Some languages have very narrow connotations of verb tense. Often the use of present and past verb tense can make learning English quite complicated. For instance, in certain situations, it may be appropriate to use any of the following tenses: present; past; and future. The verb ’sing’ can be used in the following forms depending on tense: ’sing,’ ’sang,’ or ’sung.’
Learning Tools:
Many students are only taught to learn from books so they do not have the chance to practice the speaking language. They tend to lack the confidence when they try to speak the English language in public. Reading aloud can help them improve their English speaking abilities
Slang:
The use of slang is common in the English language. Words, terms, and phrases do not have the same meaning that they would normally have in a dictionary definition. Learning the language requires learning the use of slang which means understanding that different slang terms make English an almost entirely different language that has to be learned. Sometimes terms that are used are not even found in the English dictionary. This can make difficult for someone not familiar with the language. This is where television, movies, magazines, and the radio become helpful tools when learning the language.
Gender and Culture:
A person’s cultural practices can affect their ability to learn English. For instance, in some cultures a woman tends to be the one to stay home and raise the children. They are less likely to be interacting with English speakers unlike a man who would be out in the workforce interacting with English speakers.
The English language is one of the most widely spoken languages. The inability to speak or understand the native English language can seem frustrating. Although the complexities of learning the language may seem overwhelming, the benefits are well worth the effort. Reading, speaking, and listening to others speak English are an important part of learning the language.
By Amy Nutt
The English language was cobbled together from many and varied source languages, by virtue of the settlers and conquerors of the British Isles at around the formation time of the English language. Consequently there are many grammar rules which do not apply to all parts of the language because of the different origins of certain words. There are therefore regular and irregular forms.
A ‘regular verb’ forms its past and past oarticiple by adding –ed or –d to the base form. E.g. BASE FORM laugh, talk, like. PAST FORM laughed, talked, liked. PAST PARTICIPLE laughed, talked, liked.
Some regular verbs undergo spelling changes when a suffix that begins with as vowel is added. E.g. fry + ed = fried, stop + ed = stopped.
An ‘irregular verb’ forms its past and past participle in some way other than by adding –ed or –d to the base form.
E.g. BASE FORM (be, am, are, is), bear. beat, become. PAST FORM (was, were), bore, beat, became. PAST PARTICIPLE been, borne, beaten or beat, become.
There is no rule for remembering the irregular forms and it will mostly be a matter of learning and memorizing the spelling of each form. For instance, ‘seek’ becomes ‘sought’ but ‘leak’ becomes ‘leaked’ not ‘lought’. Lists of irregular verb forms can be easily found in book stores and online.
Some verbs in English can have two different past forms. The word ‘dream’ can be rendered as an irregular form ‘dreamt’ in the past tense, or the regular form ‘dreamed’. ‘Dreamt’ is mostly used in British English while ‘Dreamed’ is usually the American usage.
By Silven
Run–On sentences are easily written, especially when writing creatively. You get ideas and you just want to add them on and before you know it you have an incorrect sentence. A ‘run-on sentence’ is two or more complete sentences written as though they were one sentence.
There are two types of run-on sentences. The first occurs when two main clauses are joined by a comma only. This is called a ‘comma splice’. e.g. Meteorology is fascinating to me, I watch the Weather Channel every day.
The second type of run-on sentence occurs when two main clauses have no punctuation separating them. This can occur with or without a conjunction. e.g. Meteorology is fascinating to me I watch the Weather Channel every day. e.g. Meteorology is fascinating to me and I watch the Weather Channel every day.
You can c orrect a run-on sentence in several ways. The method you choose in correcting your writing will depend on the relationship you want top convey between the two clauses.
One method is to add end punctuation between the clauses and make two sentences. [Meteorology is fascinating to me, I watch the Weather Channel every day.] Another way is to separate the clauses with both a comma and a coordinating conjunction. [Meteorology is fascinating to me, and I watch the Weather Channel every day.]
Alternatively you can add a semicolon and a conjunctive adverb between the clauses. [Meteorology is fascinating to me; I watch the Weather Channel every day.] You can change one of the main clauses to a subordinate clause. Separate the two clauses with a comma if appropriate. [Because meteorology is fascinating to me, I watch the Weather Channel every day.]
By Silven
Often when writing quickly it is fairly easy to overlook protocol in grammar and write a sentence as one speaks. This may cause one to write a sentence fragment. A ‘sentence fragment’ is an error that occurs when an incomplete sentence is punctuated as though it were complete. One should look for three main aspects when reviewing work for sentence fragments.
First, look for a group of words without a subject. In English a sentence is usually written in the order of Subject Verb Object. If the subject noun is missing then you will know you have a fragment.
Then look for a group of words without a predicate, especially a group that contains a verbal or a verbal phrase. Another word for a predicate is a verb phrase and for a group of words to be a sentence it must have a verb. If it doesn’t then it is a fragment.
Finally be sure you haven’t punctuated a subordinate clause as if it were a complete sentence. Some proeple think that by punctuating a sentence it makes it correct, without conforming to the conventions or syntax of the language.
Many times, you can correct a sentence fragment by attaching it to a clause. Other times, you may need to add words to make the sentence complete. EG. (Fragment) Danielle is on the basketball team. Played for fun as a child. (Complete Sentence) Danielle is on the basketball team. She played for fun as a child.
By Silven
All verbs have four ‘principal parts’: a ‘base form’, a ‘present participle’, a ‘simple past form’, and a ‘past participle’. All the verb tenses are formed from these principal parts.
Present perfect tense: Use the present perfect tense to express an action or a condition that occurred at some indefinite time in the past. You form the present perfect tense by using has or have with the past participle of a verb: ‘has permitted, have cut’
Present tense: The present tense expresses a constant, repeated, or habitual action or condition. It can also express a general truth or a condition that exists only now. It is sometimes used in historical writing to express past events and, more often, in poetry, fiction, and journalism (especially in sports writing to convey to the reader a sense of being there.
Here is an illustration of the principal parts of verbs: BASE FORM open, fall, cry, speak, be. PRESENT PARTICIPLE opening, falling, crying, speaking, being.
PAST FORM opened, fell, cried, spoke, was, were, PAST PARTICIPLE opened, fallen, cried, spoken, been
You can use the base form (except the base form of be) and the past form by themselves as main verbs. To function as the simple predicate in a sentence, the present participle and the past participle must always be preceded by one or more auxiliary verbs.
EG Doors ‘open’. [base or present form] Doors ‘opened’. [past form] Doors ‘are opening’. [present partoiciple with the auxiliary verb are] Doors ‘have opened’. [past participle with the auxiliary verb have]
Spelling is a skill that many people fail to realize the importance. They also fail to realize that when you spell things incorrectly, you can lose your credibility. Sure it’s hard to learn how to spell, but there are many things to help you on your way to becoming a “Spelling Bee” champion. For those of you who do not know what a “Spelling Bee” is; A spelling bee is a competition where contestants, usually children, are asked to spell English words. The concept is thought to have originated in the United States, and is usually perceived to be a solely English language practice.
The “Spelling Bee” idea is a great way to improve your spelling. It can be very fun and it is something that you can do with other friends who are trying to improve their spelling as well. It is something that you can practice by yourself, you just need one other person to read you the words when you are ready to “compete”. Let me explain how you can practice your spelling using the “Spelling Bee” method. First I’ll explain how the “Spelling Bee’ is conducted.
A “Spelling Bee”, in the usual manner, is conducted with at least two people. One person reads the word to the speller. The person spelling the word must spell it correctly without making a mistake. The speller can ask as many questions about the word if they need to. Usual questions are asking to use the word in a sentence (this can be very helpful if you come across a synonym) and the definition of the word. If you are spelling with your friends, the first person to make a mistake must sit down. The winner is the last person that has not made a mistake.
The “Spelling Bee” is a fun way to improve your spelling because it makes it more of a challenge for you to learn the proper ways to spell. The way I used to practice was always exciting for me. I would get a word list which should have a lot of words on it. This will make the “Spelling Bee” that you do with your friends more exciting. If you only have a list of ten words, it doesn’t make the word you receive a surprise. So you want to have a big list. There are a lot of sites that have vocabulary lists that you can use.
The way I would practice is this. I would sit down with my list and just read through it. I would read each word specifically, looking at it and saying it in my mind. I would continue on in this way for a little bit until I felt confident with it. Then I would go through each word, look at it, then close my eyes and actually spell it in my mind. Once I had done this, I was usually ready to try to actually spell the words. I was young then so I would ask my mom or dad to read the words to me, but you can have anyone read your words to you.
This fun way of spelling is a great way to improve your spelling with your friends. You can get together with as many friends as you can and have a competition. Maybe you can arrange a little prize for the winner.
Spelling is an important aspect in your professional, as well as personal, life. This method helped me to learn how to spell better. Now I can hear a word and be confident I will know how to spell it. I urge you to keep up with your spelling all throughout your life. It will help you improve your English.
Word emphasis and syllable stress is more important than many people think. There are a lot of languages that use this emphasis in their everyday words. However, when you are trying to improve your English, this is an issue that can not be overlooked.
Word emphasis or syllable stress is a way of pronouncing an English word when spoken by a native speaker. The emphasis in a word, if pronounced incorrectly, can actually be mis-interpreted as another word. Quite possibly, someone might not be able to understand you at all. We’re going to take a look at Read the rest of “Word Emphasis and Syllable Stress”»
Hi everyone. I want you to know that listening to English is so vitally important in helping you improve your English. I know that you have been expecting a lot more from this site. Improving your English is almost impossible if you can’t listen to English. So I want to tell you how you can do that.
Visiting here as often as possible is how you are going to start to improve your English. It may not seem like it yet, but I have been doing a lot of recording so that every page you visit on our site will have audio. That means that every article you read, or every lesson you look over will have audio in English to accompany it.
There is a lot to record so I ask that you be patient when visiting. I am also trying to find the right applications for you to be able to listen to everything in English. You can also expect to see videos of the articles as well.
So stay tuned and keep scouring the site for more and more information on what you are looking for. Trust me, it’s there. If you don’t see something you were looking for, give us some feedback on the Contact Form, or you can follow us on twitter @WorldEnglishClb
Tips to Improve Your Spoken English
By Cashmere Lashkari
A lot of my students ask me what is it that they should do to improve their Spoken English. So here is a post to tell them what I feel can improve their English skills.
I stated thinking about it and realized that I was lucky to be born in a family where, despite being Indians, English was the language of choice. Since my father rarely spoke Marathi and my mother only ever used Gujrati to discipline me in public, I only ever heard them speak to each other and me in English. Hence fluency in the language just came naturally to me. I only picked up Hindi once I started schooling.
A lot of people don’t have such a family environment. The first language they learn is their mother tongue. The next will be Hindi, if they are based in North India. Then when they reach school they finally learn English as the third language. In South India the second language is English, which is the reason why despite accent trouble they are much more comfortable speaking in English.
As a result, here are a few tips that I have collected to help improve Spoken English.
Tip No # 1
Get comfortable with the language. Read for 20 minutes in English. It can be a newspaper, a short story, a poem, or even a novel.
Tip No # 2
Develop your written language. If you don’t have the requisite vocabulary you won’t be able to communicate.
Tip No # 3
Start Speaking. Try out your spoken English on anyone who will be able to respond to you. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes.
Tip No # 4
Keep your ears open for the accent. Watch the English news on Television. Watch BBC for the British Accent, CNN for the American Accent and NDTV 24/7 for the urban Indian Accent.
Tip No # 5
Record yourself. Listen to your voice and catch your pronunciation mistakes. Make a deliberate effort to avoid them.
Tip No # 6
Grammar is important. The parts of speech, tenses, form of verb, articles and modals all contribute to fluency. Make an effort to learn them.
Tip No # 7
Make the Dictionary your best friend. To date I head for it when confronted with a new word. Familiarize yourself with its meaning and use it in a sentence that very day.
Tip No # 8
Have someone proficient read aloud to you. A storybook or a newspaper article will do. Watch how they move their lips while pronouncing certain words.
Tip No # 9
Learn one new word a day. To increase your active vocabulary start memorizing the meaning of a word you had heard but were not sure of. Use it regularly to absorb it into your vocabulary.
Tip No # 10
Start writing a Diary. It will allow you to practice the language in a totally non threatening environment. Write one entry of at least 100 words everyday.
Consequently your Spoken English will improve, but not if you are lacking in commitment. It’s all very well to be pumped up today about learning the language and forgetting all about it tomorrow.
Always remember the skills involved in any language are Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Any single one can’t be developed in isolation
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You will not necessarily learn how to improve English speaking purely from observation. You can watch a lot of newscasters and sitcoms, but there is much to be gained from a professionally created accent reduction program.
There are English speaking programs set up that are run in a group setting with an instructor that you can work with directly, and this type of program can be effective in reducing your accent. Tutors are also available to work with on a one-on-one basis. This is a very efficient way to improve English-speaking, however, these classes and tutoring programs tend to be pretty expensive.
If you have an urgent need, and the funds necessary, the above options are best. For most people, however, a professionally made home study version will show them how to improve English speaking much more affordable and conveniently. It is possible to find a professionally made accent reduction program that is available on MP3 audio format. This will allow you to work on improving your English speaking skills while driving to work or to the gym, or while riding a bike, etc. This type of MP3 program will also be much less costly.
Improving your English-speaking skills will pay off in many areas of life. Being bilingual in these modern times can be a huge advantage, but only if your English-speaking skills are of a fairly high level. If you are constantly having to repeat yourself, or are having trouble with English idioms and grammar, your confidence will suffer and you will not be able to succeed in business at the rate you are capable of based on your abilities and intelligence. Many doors will open as your English speaking skills improve. With the available of a professional MP3 audio accent reduction program, you will be able to affordably improve your English while you drive and your confidence will soar!
Find out how to improve English speaking rapidly and affordable with a program in MP3 audio format that you can use while you drive to work, ride a bike, etc. Within a couple of weeks, you will notice changes in the way you speak American English. Get the job, promotion, social confidence you are looking for. Visit the website of Steven Flores to Reduce your Accent
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