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post #16 of 119
9/7/04 at 5:38pm
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(ernest @ 06 Sep. 2004, 6:31) My first cours =  THE PRESENT PERFECT today Rather complicated to use properly. What is the difference between US and UK?
Us means we.  "Uk" is an expression that one uses to display displeasure and revulsion, similar to "uggh"  Usually accompanied with a grimace or another facial expression. Example of US... Jim...wont you come with US to the zoo? Example of UK...Jim...do you like this?  Jim "UK" Man...Dont listen to us.  we will only confuse you.   JJF
Thanks for your very precious help. I was in a group of level 2.5 (3.5 is the maximum). People speaks worse tha I do. Somme guy even do not manage to make a correct sentence and some have a so hard frenc accent that I do not understand what they talk about..... So I went and see the director and talked him about the problem. It was not normal for me to be in the same group as these guys. 2 possibilities, either I was undervalued or they are overvalued. A guy decided to go to group level 2 because he was not catching anything of the cours. At this moment I thought other were overvalued. Director proposed me to make a test to judge my level. I have a result enought good to enter in the level 3 group. I tried level 3 to see if I was complately lost. I was not. So I decided to stay in level 3, where we are talking, chating. In the level 2.5 group, we had nose in an exercice book, we had to make 4 pages and the professor was the guy who was talking the much. What do you thing about it? It is better to talk about professional subject like advertising for exemple or do grammatic exercices to learn english?
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post #17 of 119
9/7/04 at 6:00pm
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Thanks for your very precious help. I was in a group of level 2.5 (3.5 is the maximum). People speaks worse tha I do. Somme guy even do not manage to make a correct sentence and some have a so hard frenc accent that I do not understand what they talk about..... So I went and see the director and talked him about the problem. It was not normal for me to be in the same group as these guys. 2 possibilities, either I was undervalued or they are overvalued. A guy decided to go to group level 2 because he was not catching anything of the cours. At this moment I thought other were overvalued. Director proposed me to make a test to judge my level. I have a result enought good to enter in the level 3 group. I tried level 3 to see if I was complately lost. I was not. So I decided to stay in level 3, where we are talking, chating. In the level 2.5 group, we had nose in an exercice book, we had to make 4 pages and the professor was the guy who was talking the much. What do you thing about it? It is better to talk about professional subject like advertising for exemple or do grammatic exercices to learn english?
To get by with the language which you already can (much better than my French) you need to be in a surrounding with other English Speaking individuals or more in your context, talk the language in a simulated setting of Advertising etc. To Learn the language properly (which you are now trying to do) you have to go through all the background grammatical junk. Painful but I think the only way to go. JJF
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post #18 of 119
9/7/04 at 6:01pm
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What do you thing about it? It is better to talk about professional subject like advertising for exemple or do grammatic exercices to learn english?
As someone whose first language is English, grew up speaking Cantonese in the house, learned French in French immersion school throughout elementary and high school, and learned (and I use the term loosely) Spanish as an adult, as well as having spoken extensively to several eminent linguists about language acquisition, I would say that it takes a combination of both to learn any language, especially as an adult. As a child, common grammatical structures are learned, by and large, without formal instruction (thus the number of native speakers who speak and write fluently, but don't have even a rudimentary formal understanding of the language). Adults, however, often require formal training in order to acquire the same skills. BTW, I have to commend your English, ernest. I learned French and spoke it daily from the age of 10 to the age of 18, and it is definitely inferior to your present English. It also takes some serious gonads to talk about your language difficulties on this forum, where you have been the subject (often rightly, imo) of ridicule on more than one occasion.
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post #19 of 119
9/7/04 at 6:31pm
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(ernest @ 07 Sep. 2004, 4:38) Thanks for your very precious help. I was in a group of level 2.5 (3.5 is the maximum). People speaks worse tha I do. Somme guy even do not manage to make a correct sentence and some have a so hard frenc accent that I do not understand what they talk about..... So I went and see the director and talked him about the problem. It was not normal for me to be in the same group as these guys. 2 possibilities, either I was undervalued or they are overvalued. A guy decided to go to group level 2 because he was not catching anything of the cours. At this moment I thought other were overvalued. Director proposed me to make a test to judge my level. I have a result enought good to enter in the level 3 group. I tried level 3 to see if I was complately lost. I was not. So I decided to stay in level 3, where we are talking, chating. In the level 2.5 group, we had nose in an exercice book, we had to make 4 pages and the professor was the guy who was talking the much. What do you thing about it? It is better to talk about professional subject like advertising for exemple or do grammatic exercices to learn english?
To get by with the language which you already can (much better than my French) you need to be in a surrounding with other English Speaking individuals or more in your context, talk the language in a simulated setting of Advertising etc. To Learn the language properly (which you are now trying to do) you have to go through all the background grammatical junk. Painful but I think the only way to go. JJF
So better talk with people better than me (or I am ?) than making exercices half of the time and listening the teacher the other half ?.... I will study grammar by myself. One does not need a teacher to improve that I guess. The professor is not better in some ways as she does not know about Jermyn street and Savile Row. The school is called Language, Culture and Civilisation...Very funny joke. I talked about you guys.... GET BY = what does it mean?
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post #20 of 119
9/7/04 at 7:29pm
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So better talk with people better than me (or I am ?) than making exercices half of the time and listening the teacher the other half ?.... I will study grammar by myself. One does not need a teacher to improve that I guess. The professor is not better in some ways as she does not know about Jermyn street and Savile Row. The school is called Language, Culture and Civilisation...Very funny joke. I talked about you guys.... GET BY = what does it mean?
I think that the best way to learn how the language is spoken and to really pick it up you need both the speaking with others (living the language) in real life or simulated experiences, as well as mastering the grammer. If you think that you will really read the grammer books then you can do better by speaking in class for that will give you the hands on experience needed. I have picked up more Italian while in the country than in through any other medium. "Getting By" means managing with something although usually it is used to indicate just barely managing. JJF
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post #21 of 119
9/7/04 at 11:08pm
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(ernest @ 07 Sep. 2004, 5:31) So better talk with people better than me (or I am ?) than making exercices half of the time and listening the teacher the other half ?.... I will study grammar by myself. One does not need a teacher to improve that I guess. The professor is not better in some ways as she does not know about Jermyn street and Savile Row. The school is called Language, Culture and Civilisation...Very funny joke. I talked about you guys.... GET BY = what does it mean?
I think that the best way to learn how the language is spoken and to really pick it up you need both the speaking with others (living the language) in real life or simulated experiences, as well as mastering the grammer.  If you think that you will really read the grammer books then you can do better by speaking in class for that will give you the hands on experience needed. I have picked up more Italian while in the country than in through any other medium. "Getting By" means managing  with something although usually it is used to indicate just barely managing. JJF
managing? like beeing a manager?
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post #22 of 119
9/8/04 at 12:09am
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"Getting By" means managing  with something although usually it is used to indicate just barely managing. JJF
managing? like beeing a manager?
To manage means to be able to be in control or in charge of something, so a manager of a store is in control or in charge. He runs it and not the other way around. When one is managing with his life it means he is in control of his life and in charge of it. Things are going the way he wants them to. The use of managing to explain "getting by" means that Yes, you are controlling it and on top of the situation but just barely" Got it? JJF
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post #23 of 119
9/8/04 at 7:57pm
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(ernest @ 07 Sep. 2004, 10:08) Quote "Getting By" means managing  with something although usually it is used to indicate just barely managing. JJF
managing? like beeing a manager?
To manage means to be able to be in control or in charge of something, so a manager of a store is in control or in charge.  He runs it and not the other way around. When one is managing with his life it means he is in control of his life and in charge of it.  Things are going the way he wants them to. The use of managing to explain "getting by" means that Yes, you are controlling it and on top of the situation but just barely" Got it? JJF[/quote] Thanks I just bought a good dictionnary and he say to manage . I have also bought a book of Idiom's...I will use these new words here. I get my last shirt for a song[b]
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post #24 of 119
9/8/04 at 8:24pm
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I get my last shirt for a song
Close, but no cigar.
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post #25 of 119
9/8/04 at 10:15pm
Moved to social life. i.e. ernest's...
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post #26 of 119
9/9/04 at 8:39am
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kinda like an electronic 'noogie' see how that word translates :-)
"Electronic Noogie" would make a great name for a band or a piece of modern art.
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post #27 of 119
9/9/04 at 8:43am
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(ernest @ 07 Sep. 2004, 5:31) I will study grammar by myself. One does not need a teacher to improve that I guess.
I think that the best way to learn how the language is spoken and to really pick it up you need both the speaking with others (living the language) in real life or simulated experiences, as well as mastering the grammer.  If you think that you will really read the grammer books then you can do better by speaking in class for that will give you the hands on experience needed. I have picked up more Italian while in the country than in through any other medium. "Getting By" means managing  with something although usually it is used to indicate just barely managing. JJF
JJF, Ernest doesn't even speak the language fluently but he knows that 'grammer' is properly spelled grammar. Are you using the Brooklyn spelling?
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post #28 of 119
9/9/04 at 11:02am
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Because Ernest is like a young French nephew who we enjoy giving a hard time to. kinda like an electronic 'noogie' see how that word translates :-) Once you finish the course we can give you lessons on the various dialects - Nu Yawk, Texas, Boston etcetera.
After the lessons, Ernest will be saying Caa (car) and Havad (Harvard) in no time. Oh, I kid our Boston members. Jon.
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post #29 of 119
9/9/04 at 4:49pm
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Ernest doesn't even speak the language fluently but he knows that 'grammer' is properly spelled grammar. Are you using the Brooklyn spelling?
IS there another?   Besides it was probably "beginners luck"... JJF
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post #30 of 119
9/10/04 at 6:40am
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(vero_group @ 09 Sep. 2004, 07:43) Ernest doesn't even speak the language fluently but he knows that 'grammer' is properly spelled grammar. Are you using the Brooklyn spelling?
IS there another?   Besides it was probably "beginners luck"... JJF
What is the luck?
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