Practical Grammar...

Jason Renshaw Thu Apr 03 2008, 14:12

Meet Tony Talkalot.

Tony has a bit of a problem: it takes him forever to say something. Let's see if you can help him out...

Look at what Tony says below:

I've got this awful cold...

You see, I caught it last night.
I left the window open when I went to bed.
Of course, I caught a cold as a result.
Now I am feeling really awful.
I regret that I left the window open.
I also regret that I now have a cold.

For the part in blue above, see if you can work with some classmates and come up with a way to convey all of this information in just one sentence. You may use one comma [ , ] in this sentence, but you may not use the word "and" at any stage.

Good luck with it!

~ Jason

***

kim young-ah Thu Apr 03 2008, 21:17

Today, I realized that the difference between the practical and the ideal.
So far I have studied English for many years but I have tried to understand some sentences too hard even if they were too easy sentences.
And I was surprised that the sentences that you suggested were made into the simple sentence, the conditional sentence. After seeing the sentence, I got to know it. I think I run short of lingustic sense.
I have to study hard and much more. Is it possible for me to get the linguistic sense?

worries about me,

young

Oksun Fri Apr 04 2008, 06:45

As you suggested this method to us , I made up my mind to apply it to my class . I thought,"Since I have been teaching "If conditional clause"and "the subjunctive mood" nowadays, it would be a helpful idea for me to teach." To my shame, I couldn't make a proper sentence going with the given condition. I gave it a try to ask my students to make a sentence this morning. You know what? Some students got the answers. Don't you think uncreative teacher is teaching so creative students? Rolling Eyes

I'm facing the limit of my creativity and I know I have no reason to despair as well. Anyway , your useful tip is designed to motivate us to think outside of the box, I quess. Thanks ^^

bakbann Mon Apr 07 2008, 07:56

As you said in the class, although I know what subjunctive is, and how it works, I think I've never spoken this past perfect subjunctive sentence. Maybe, I thought I knew subjunctive mood, but I didn't thoroughly.
Many students know about this in grammatical terms and understand it when they read it. However, they rarely use it in the real world. When I become a teacher, I should teach in this manner so that students actually can speak or write various kinds of sentences freely. Thank you, Jason.

Kang Eunmi Wed Apr 09 2008, 22:38

As always English grammar is difficult for me, because I've never studied English grammar with famous Korean English grammar books.
From time to time, when my students ask me difficult one, it's very tough to expain logically to them.
Should I study English grammar? I really don't know. I need practical grammar!!!

Bae Sung-han Sat Apr 12 2008, 04:29

Using short sentences whenever speaking or writing, I must say I need more practice. Whatever I try to say something in much clearer way, I need more sentences to give to ohters surrounding me. That's, I can say, a sort of ability or skill in language learning. It's triky to me.
However, I will find it easy way to talk anyone.
Thanks anyway, it's so challenging.^^

Boyun Park Sun Apr 13 2008, 13:04

Trying out grammar question in the class was a great practice and chance for me to think and test myself again Smile

Tend to think grammar is boring or something strict and hard to do, I sometimes ignored it.
Doing some activity called 'Practical Grammar', helped me remember all different kinds of grammar we learned back in school. I reread some of writings I've posted and realized I usually use similar sentences or expressions. To be able to speak more appropriate English, I'd better work on using practical grammar and diverse ways of saying things.

Han Kyoung Jae Mon Apr 14 2008, 22:40

I always think that teaching grammar is very boring and difficult. Moreover teaching grammar in English is very difficult and time-consuming work for non-native teachers because of the terms. But this method is very good. We don't have to use the difficult terms and students may feel interested in learnig grammar without boring class. If we think over what is needed to teach English more effectively, we can teach English in various and interesting ways. Let's think over more and be more enthusiastic and passionate teachers.

sunnypine Tue Apr 15 2008, 21:47

Writing is the most difficult part in English skills for me. Even using correct grammars is difficult and complicated such as 'a', 'the'. However, the most difficult thing is using aproper words and expressing my point clearly. Especially expressing nuance which exactly fit into the situations is really hard for me. To improve these skills there's only one way. READ A LOT! Shocked

I know.. but it's really difficult. haha but i'm trying thesedays. I'm reading '1984' by George Orwell. Wow, it's so much more difficult than normal writings like essay or news. I need practice. but the important thing is.. I AM trying!!

Nam-suk Wed Apr 16 2008, 07:13

That was great...The way to learn grammar..
I've been dragging my feet esp.in terms of studying grammar..To me, it was just things that can be sorted out as itself..I was so wrong..This tip that you gave us showed me the effective way to learn grammar..It was never boring..and even I wanted to try that to my own class...so I did it..It was amazing..I really appreciate it..

choi Eun sil Thu Apr 17 2008, 10:29

We need practical grammar.
however I don't know how to teach grammar practically , not theoretically.
I have always studied the theroy of the English grammar.
It is very difficult to find out the way I can teach practical grammar.
Maybe I need more study. Embarassed

choi Eun sil Thu Apr 17 2008, 10:32

Jason Renshaw wrote:Meet Tony Talkalot.

Tony has a bit of a problem: it takes him forever to say something. Let's see if you can help him out...

Look at what Tony says below:

I've got this awful cold...

You see, I caught it last night.
I left the window open when I went to bed.
Of course, I caught a cold as a result.
Now I am feeling really awful.
I regret that I left the window open.
I also regret that I now have a cold.

For the part in blue above, see if you can work with some classmates and come up with a way to convey all of this information in just one sentence. You may use one comma [ , ] in this sentence, but you may not use the word "and" at any stage.

Good luck with it!

~ Jason

***

I want to know the answer.
It is difficult to make many sentences just one sentence.
At first, on seeing the writings, I misunderstand you caught a cold. Embarassed

Fortunately, the writing is not real. Razz

bakbann Mon Apr 28 2008, 06:45

choi Eun sil wrote:
Jason Renshaw wrote:Meet Tony Talkalot.

Tony has a bit of a problem: it takes him forever to say something. Let's see if you can help him out...

Look at what Tony says below:

I've got this awful cold...

You see, I caught it last night.
I left the window open when I went to bed.
Of course, I caught a cold as a result.
Now I am feeling really awful.
I regret that I left the window open.
I also regret that I now have a cold.

For the part in blue above, see if you can work with some classmates and come up with a way to convey all of this information in just one sentence. You may use one comma [ , ] in this sentence, but you may not use the word "and" at any stage.

Good luck with it!

~ Jason

***

I want to know the answer.
It is difficult to make many sentences just one sentence.
At first, on seeing the writings, I misunderstand you caught a cold.
Fortunately, the writing is not real.

I cannot remember the answer. However, it seems like this;
If I hadn't opened the window while I was sleeping yesterday, I wouldn't have caught a cold.
Is there anyone who has another sentence for this?

bakbann Mon Apr 28 2008, 06:55

Hello, Jason, thanks for such a great method. I have one simple question, though. When you introduced this to us, we already had some grammatical knowledge about subjunctive mood. So, I was wondering whether it would be better to use this method to students who have learned certain grammatical facts. Could you explain how I can apply this method to class in detail? Thanks.

Sponsored content

Practical Grammar...

Practical Grammar...

Mood!!!

I gave it a try !

Thank you, Jason.

As always...

trying to make a short sentence!

It was a great practice!

Gooood method to teach grammar

It's difficult work..

Re: Practical Grammar...

Practical grammar

Re: Practical Grammar...

Re: Practical Grammar...

one simple question

Re: Practical Grammar...