Archive for June, 2021
Other Ways to See Posted by carol on Jun 30, 2021
Hi, there, dear readers! How’s it going? The other day I was with a student in his company’s conference room. When the lesson was over, I noticed he was too busy to walk me to the door. So I decided to say, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll see myself out”. His puzzled look made me…
The Many Problems with Tomatoes Posted by Gary Locke on Jun 24, 2021
There are several problems with tomatoes. I don’t mean that growing them is a problem (although they are susceptible to blights, worms, and pests of all kinds.) Rather, pronouncing, spelling, and even defining tomatoes in English are among the most irksome and debatable issues in our language. Songs have been written about this. The Supreme…
Juneteenth Posted by Gary Locke on Jun 17, 2021
The United States has two independence days. You are undoubtedly familiar with July 4th, commemorating the Continental Congress’ formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence. You would be forgiven for being less familiar with Juneteenth, marking the final, formal emancipation of slaves in this country. This is not a new holiday, nor is it a…
Silent Letters in English Posted by Gary Locke on Jun 10, 2021
Ask anyone what makes learning English so difficult, and many will tell you it’s because the words are very hard to spell. Many English words don’t sound anything at all like the way they are pronounced, mainly because English has so many silent letters. There are also many words with combined double consonants, such as…
Silent Letters in English: A History Posted by Gary Locke on Jun 3, 2021
It’s time to take a look at one of the most difficult problems for anyone learning English – silent letters. There are so many of them throughout the language that it’s hard to imagine having a conversation without encountering at least one. In fact, there were two in that last sentence, the G in throughout…