Alternative Swear Words in American English Posted by Gabriele on Apr 3, 2012
Over the last few posts I have been addressing the use of swear words in American English. While writing these post a phrase my mother used to say when I was younger kept popping into my head. When I was in elementary school, an age when one really starts being exposed to swear words as…
Swear Words in American English Posted by Gabriele on Apr 2, 2012
Yesterday I introduced you to some of the vocabulary, history, and the cultural context of swearing in the United States (culturally speaking how swearing and freedom of speech are sometimes linked for Americans). Today I will address some actual swear words that exist in English and how they can be used. First though, here are…
Swearing in English Posted by Gabriele on Apr 1, 2012
Swearing, we all know how to do it in our native languages and we all want to know how to do it in the new languages we learn. I can vividly remember when I first traveled abroad as an exchange student in my teens how excited I was to exchanged English swear words for…
Language Learning: You Can Always Learn Something New Posted by heather on Mar 31, 2012
Just when you think you have gotten a language straight in your mind, it goes and throws you a curve ball. This is exactly what happened to me a few weeks ago. Despite being a native English speaker and even having studied and taught the language, I am still learning things on a regular basis…
Everglades National Park Posted by Gabriele on Mar 30, 2012
Everglades National Park is located in the state of Florida. This park was established in 1934 to protect the quickly vanishing Everglades region. This national park protects much of what is left of the subtropical wetlands, the Everglades, that are left in Florida. Everglades National Park is the third-largest national park in the contiguous 48…
Foreign Words in English (Part II) Posted by Gabriele on Mar 29, 2012
Earlier this month I started a series of posts that will look at a number of different foreign words that are commonly used in English. Here is a funny quote that speaks to how the English language is often borrowing or taking words and grammar from other languages. “English doesn’t borrow from other languages. English…
Child’s Play: Mud Pies and Rock Sandwiches Posted by heather on Mar 28, 2012
One of my favourite childhood memories is sitting outside our house on the steps with a pile of rocks, a bottle of bubbles and a handful of leaves. I don’t remember quite how old I was but I do remember that I was on a mission and a very important one at that. I was…