Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Top Ten for ’20 Posted by Gary Locke on Dec 23, 2020
We are just about at the end of 2020 and, yes, I can hear many of you saying, “Thank goodness!” We will none of us soon forget this year. There’s never been anything like it. The hardships that have affected all of us in one way or another will carry an impact for probably the…
American Jobs Posted by Gary Locke on Aug 6, 2020
You will often hear on television a reference to the American labor force, but do you know what that actually means? The American labor force is the grand total of people who are either employed or actually seeking work. To be counted as part of the American labor force you must be at least 16…
The difference between job and work Posted by carol on Jul 31, 2020
Greetings to all! How have you been lately? Working hard or hardly working? There are many reasons to learn a new language: for leisure, traveling, studies, making new friends. But there is no denying that having a good command of the English language gives you a competitive advantage in the job market. I often ask…
Arlington National Cemetery Posted by Gary Locke on May 21, 2020
Memorial Day is going to be very different this year. Parades are canceled. Those large community and family cookouts with horseshoe competitions and sack races are not going to happen. Baseball games and soccer matches are forbidden. Even the definition of national sacrifice has been forever altered. But the reason that we set aside the…
Missing the Daily Routine Posted by Gary Locke on Apr 16, 2020
There’s a great English idiom, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” It conveys a feeling that life goes on even as we all have to adjust to the inevitable surprises that come our way. But this time is very different, isn’t it? We all find ourselves facing a very new routine…
“The Chaos” of the English Tongue Posted by Gary Locke on Mar 5, 2020
If you’ve ever scratched your head at the bizarre pronunciation practices of English speakers, then this poem is for you! It’s called “The Chaos”, and was originally written by Dutch traveler, linguist, and teacher Dr. Gerard Nolst Trenité (also known by the pseudonym Charivarius), and published in a 1920 textbook Drop Your Foreign Accent: engelsche…
Learning English is Hard Work Posted by Gary Locke on Jan 9, 2020
Lots of people begin every new year with a resolve to work out, or lose weight, or even learn a language. We’re looking to improve ourselves. If you are trying to improve your English then I promise you that I will help you. But, you need to know that English is a very difficult language…