Apostrophes' dont matter! Or do they?

http://metro.co.uk/2009/01/29/birmingham-bans-apostrophes-from-road-signs-406036/

Can you see the very small difference between the two signs above?

The top sign has an apostrophe (')  between Paul and s.  The bottom sign doesn't have the apostrophe.

Changes like these to signs are being made in cities in the UK.  "Moving with the times" defenders would say.

"Dropping standards" and "dumbing down" the English language are claims being made by critics of the scheme.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/images/newsgraphics/2013/0808-tests/0808-tests.png

An expert from Cambridge English Language Assessment – provider of over 4 million English language exams each year around the world – comments:

“Dumbing down the standard of English is not the road we want to go down, but you have to put this decision into context,” says Roger Johnson, Acting Chief Executive of Cambridge English Language Assessment.

“Lots of people do struggle with using apostrophes, and it’s important that learners are taught how to use them correctly but removing apostrophes from street names in Cambridge is unlikely to have an effect on English learning standards worldwide. Interestingly, we tend to find that students learning English as a foreign language master the apostrophe remarkably well. This is also true of some other complicated grammar rules, which is really encouraging. I’d be much more concerned if there was a proposal to stop teaching grammar in classrooms around the world.”

The apostrophe is a powerful punctuation mark that can have a huge impact on the meaning of a sentence. It was first introduced into English from French in the 16^th Century and is used to indicate either possession or the omission of letters.

Where do we need apostrophes in this sentence?

Charlies dogs eating its bone because its very hungry and hasnt eaten anything today.

(The spellchecker as I'm writing this only picks up on two missing apostrophes - but there are 4 needed in their sentence!)

What do you think?  I wonder how many times we actually think about the fact that a person lies behind the name of the street?  I mean, if we see the signs below on a door, we know that Daniel, Nicholas and  Suzie sleep in the room behind this door and we would no doubt think we have an idea as to how old they are, things they (don't) like, etc.

http://www.etsy.com/market/super_hero_boys

http://decalpitstop.com/ca/daniel_room2.jpg

http://www.etsy.com/es/listing/107862295/dormitorio-puerta-signo-bebe-guarderia

But most of the time, if we see

or

http://vipticketsandcorporatehospitality.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Lords.jpg

we do not think about the person (Thomas Lord) (or newspaper in the first case) behind the name.  

And I wonder what changes will appear if the guidelines on street signs are carried out to the end:

The naming policy also bans street names which would be "difficult to pronounce or awkward to spell"

Will this mean that Leicester Square, Marylebone Station, Greenwich Park and Tottenham Road will disappear????

Tips for learning languages for visual learners

As I mentioned last Friday, I will be speaking at the IH World Young Learners Conference in Rome on March 1st.  My session is called 'What's in an image?'
(I guess you know by now that I like using pictures and photos in class!)

http://www.zazzle.com/planetmug/gifts?cg=196977425062661686

Another of my interests is Multiple Intelligences.  I'm always looking for ways to make things memorable for students and am aware that music stimulates people and helps many of them learn and remember things.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?

Others will associate particular items with situations or when they learnt it or where.

I myself am brilliant at faces, hopeless with names.  I can probably tell you where I know a person from, when we last met, but don't ask me to introduce you!!

So, I clicked on a link to a Youtube video about Visual/Spatial learners.

It's a short clip about tips for learning a language with people who learn better when they associate language with images.
It contains some good ideas for recording and remembering language.

And I liked the final sentence:
'Remember - no matter what you decide to do, learning a language should be fun!  So be creative and enjoy learning about a new language and a new culture!'
Great advice!

Back to basics grammar

http://www1.ccs.k12.in.us/teachers/esalona1/grammar

There has been a lot of talk in the news about the UK Government's proposal to test 11 year old's grasp of grammar, spelling and vocabulary.
You can read about this in this article in the Telegraph newspaper.

Over the years, I have spoken to many teachers about the fact that when we started teaching English, we knew very little about our own language.  What I knew about English, I had transferred from my learning of French and German.
Over the years, I gleaned many insights from coursebooks and often found myself telling Advanced and Proficiency students that I'd get back to them in the following class with an answer to an awkward grammar question.

http://library.nd.edu.au/home

So what would the test for 11 year olds ask?  The Telegraph gives these example questions (notice the mistake in question 3 of Level 3-5):

LEVEL 3-5

1 Circle all the adverbs in the sentence below:

Open the drawers carefully and quietly when using the filing cabinet. (1 mark)

2 Tick one word to complete the sentence below.

Michael and Kate read their books ______________ they ate their sandwiches.

 while

 which

 between

 during

(1 mark )

3 Draw lines to match each sentence with the most likely final punctuation.

Look out ?

How are you doing !

January is the first month of year .

(1 mark)

4 Circle the word that describes how William played on the field.

William played badly on the field.

(1 mark)

5 Look at this sentence

The shopping list said he should buy bread, butter, jam and tea.

a) What is the name of the punctuation mark that is used after the words ‘bread’ and ‘butter’?

________________________

b) Why is this punctuation mark needed in the sentence above? Tick one.

 to mark the start of a new clause

 to show that a word is missing

 to separate the items in a list

 to take the place of brackets

(1 mark )

6 The sentences below each have an error. The errors are underlined. Write the correction in the dotted space allocated, making sure the verb matches the tense. One has been done for you.

had

Yesterday, I have the chance to play for my local team.

......

Our local café makes great cakes. We like to sit and ate them on a Saturday.

..................

The children are going to a shopping centre tomorrow and they had bought some new toys.

.................

I am putting on my shoes and I will have been for a walk in the park right now!

(1 mark)

7 Write a short question beginning with the words below.

How many____________________________________

(1 mark)

8 Underline the subordinate clause in each of the following sentences. One has been done for you.

Although his Mum thought they were very smart, Peter disliked his new trousers.

Before he could go swimming, Ali packed his towel.

The twins asked Dad to turn up the heating as it was cold.

After drinking his water, Mark washed up his glass.

(2 marks)

9 Put the baker’s words into direct speech.

The baker said that he hoped to sell all of the loaves by lunchtime.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

(2 marks)

10 Complete the sentences below using either I or me.

____ pulled out the keys from my pocket.

She asked ____ to help her put up the pictures.

My team and ____ are playing next week.

Why isn’t anyone able to understand what ____ am trying to do?

I had to help with the washing up before Dad would turn on the television for ____.

(1 mark)

11 Which sentence uses inverted commas correctly? Tick one.

 “Fortunately, Peter, you’re going after all, said Mrs. Smith.” It’s a good job, too!

 ”Fortunately, Peter, you’re going after all, “said Mrs Smith”. It’s a good job, too!

 “Fortunately, Peter, you’re going after all,” said Mrs Smith. It’s a good job, too!

 “Fortunately, Peter, you’re going after all,” said Mrs Smith. “It’s a good job, too!”

(1 mark)

12 Write whether each sentence is a statement, a command or a question.

Wait at the door.

________________________

What time are we going.

________________________

Think about it a bit more.

________________________

(1 mark)

13 Complete the sentence below with a contraction that makes sense.

If you give me the recipe _________ buy the ingredients on the way home.

(1 mark)

14 Add a suffix to this word to make an adjective. dread ____________

(1 mark)

LEVEL 6

1 Rewrite the sentences, changing them from the active to the passive voice. One has been done for you.

Active voice: Sam ate a biscuit.

Passive voice: A biscuit was eaten by Sam.

Active voice: Victoria drank her tea.

Passive voice ____________________________________________

Active voice: The team won the trophy.

Passive voice ____________________________________________

Active voice: Rishi poured the milk.

Passive voice ____________________________________________

(1 mark)

2 This sentence is made up of two clauses, a main clause (MC) and a subordinate clause (SC).

Paul’s Auntie May, who loves to bake cakes, always has flour in the cupboard.

Add a subordinate clause to the sentence below.

We walked, __________________________________________, to the local park.

(1 mark)

3 Rewrite the sentence below, changing it from a personal form to an impersonal form.

It takes me a lot of time to decide what shoes to wear.

_____________________________________________________________________________

(1 mark)

4 Insert a comma and a semi-colon in the sentence below to clarify the meaning of the sentence:

David eats cake whenever he has the chance I prefer apples oranges and bananas.

(2 marks)

5 Label each of the nouns below as either abstract AB, collective CL, common CM or proper PR noun.

Last Sunday, the team was filled with excitement that they might win the trophy!!

(1 mark)

You can see the answers here.