Let’s talk about eloquence on a rainy Tuesday afternoon in October. Sentence structure and sharing our ideas clearly is so important in any language, but we know how tricky it can be to get those words into the right order when studying a new language. There really is no exception to the rule when speaking about word order in English, so the good news is that once you learn the rule, you will not make mistakes!
In Jason Kottke’s article, inspired by Mark Forsyth’s book The Elements of Eloquence Jason states, “…adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest you’ll sound like a maniac. It’s an odd thing that every English speaker uses that list, but almost none of us could write it out.”
While the Cambridge dictionary gives us a slightly different order: Opinion, Size, Quality, Shape, Age, Colour, Origin, Material, Type and Purpose, Noun.
In other words, for a native speaker, this order is intuitive and learned. We know exactly how to construct the sentence, but we wouldn’t know how to tell you what order those words should be in. It’s the typical comment, “that’s just the way it is…” but in all truth, there is an actual order to it.
So, why don’t we try? Put the following words into the correct order:
1. table, a, square, wooden, big:
2. the,cup, tiny, plastic, blue, expensive
3. black, small, box, Turkish, old, a
Want more practice? Check out these links:
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/adjectives/order-adjectives
http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.adwo.p.htm
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/esl_adjectiveorder4.html
And an exercise on word order in general: https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/word-order/exercises?02
Finally, a lovely poem on word order by Alexandra Teague:
That summer, she had a student who was obsessed with the order of adjectives. A soldier in the South Vietnamese army, he had been taken prisoner when Saigon fell. He wanted to know why the order could not be altered. The sweltering city streets shook with rockets and helicopters. The city sweltering streets. On the dusty brown field of the chalkboard, she wrote: The mother took warm homemade bread from the oven. City is essential to streets as homemade is essential to bread . He copied this down, but he wanted to know if his brothers were lost before older, if he worked security at a twenty-story modern downtown bank or downtown twenty-story modern. When he first arrived, he did not know enough English to order a sandwich. He asked her to explain each part of Lovely big rectangular old red English Catholic leather Bible. Evaluation before size. Age before color. Nationality before religion. Time before length. Adding and, one could determine if two adjectives were equal. After Saigon fell, he had survived nine long years of torture. Nine and long. He knew no other way to say this.
From Mortal Geography by Alexandra Teague. Copyright © 2010 by Alexandra Teague. Used by permission of Persea Books.
Post Insipired by: http://cupofjo.com/2016/09/grammar-rule/
Round Table Session #2 | Leading Through Motivation | October 27, 19h-20.30h
Events, Loud and Clear, Speak
She will be leading a fascinating discussion on motivation:
If you or anyone you know is interested in this subject or you think this would be helpful in your own professional or personal life, contact us and reserve your space! All of us can always use a little motivating and positive coaching!
We hope to see you there!
Happy Monday and October to all of you…Today’s post comes from Los Angeles, California! Michelle Goodrich shares some very interesting perspectives on the importance of body language. How aware are you of your body language? Have you ever given it any thoughts?
Round Table Session #1 | Maslow’s 5 Human Basic Needs | September 29, 2016
Business English, Events, Loud and Clear, Speak
Last term, the sessions became a real success and we want to continue inviting you to join us for our varied topics and to remind you that all levels are welcome and you can bring anyone you think might be interested. So what are you waiting for?
“Knowledge is a treasure. But practice is the key to it.” –Lao Tzu
Please see our calendar below and sign up to all our sessions or the ones that interest you the most! (*Please note that topics might be liable to change, depending on the interest of the participants*)
Thursday, September 29, 2016 | Maslow’s 5 basic human needs | How do they apply to you? hosted by Heidi Schmidt
Thursday, October 27, 2016 | Leading people and finding the motivation necessary in everything we do hosted by Marina
Thursday, November 10, 2016 | Building a Business and Career that Lasts host to be confirmed
Thursday, November 24, 2016 | Traditions, how do they affect us? Host to be confirmed
When: Thursday, September 29 from 19.00-20.30h
How Much: 10€ per session (includes material, Gin & Tonics! and great company)
We hope to see you there!
Today is the first day in a long time that the weather is cooler and we all seem to be walking just a little quicker. Did you know that summer is officially over next week? Get your light jackets out, September 22 is the first day of Autumn!
In ode to the summer and to all your brilliant summer tales this week, I thought I would share a very extraordinary story with you about a man, Gunther Holtorf, who decided to go on a 26 year holiday (177 countries and 884,000km (549,000 miles))! Talk about a very long summer.
Here’s a lovely photo-documentary by the photographer, David Lemke:
This article by the BBC gives you detailed information: http://www.bbc.com/news/special/2014/newsspec_8703/index.html
And before we check out for the weekend, how about an informative video on the differences between British and American English Pronunciation?British vs American | English Pronunciation Lesson
Can you tell the difference? Do you use one form of pronunciation more than the other? Or maybe you have a preference??
Photo Source: Philip Barlow
Last term, the sessions became a real success and we want to continue inviting you to join us for our varied topics and to remind you that all levels are welcome and you can bring anyone you think might be interested. So what are you waiting for?
“Knowledge is a treasure. But practice is the key to it.” –Lao Tzu
Please see our calendar below and sign up to all our sessions or the ones that interest you the most! (*Please note that topics might be liable to change, depending on the interest of the participants*)
Thursday, September 29, 2016 | Maslow’s 5 basic human needs | How do they apply to you? hosted by Heidi Schmidt
Thursday, October 27, 2016 | Leading people and finding the motivation necessary in everything we do hosted by Marina
Thursday, November 10, 2016 | Building a Business and Career that Lasts host to be confirmed
Thursday, November 24, 2016 | Traditions, how do they affect us? host to be confirmed
When: Last Thursday of the month from 19.00-20.30h
How Much: 10€ per session (includes material, cocktails and great company)
We hope to see you there!
Welcome Back Everyone! As we slowly start up our motors and turn on our computers for a new season of work, I want to remind you on the benefits of learning English. Take a look at some fun facts above.
So sign up to class, join us for our Fall events and start practicing! This can only be good for you…
This summer has been a very heated season so far (up to now) and the news is unfortunately filled with a lot of stressful events and tension. I thought that perhaps the video below is a great way to remind us where we come from and that maybe, we should all be just a little kinder to each other. Or at least a little more respectful.
I have had lots of very interesting conversations this last week with many of my students and I hope this post helps spark (light) some insightful thoughts and interesting conversation on your summer table too.
And here are some ideas for Binge Watching this summer:
http://www.npr.org/2016/06/15/
Feel like taking a leap (a jump, in reference to a challenge)? Here are the 12 New Books The New York Times journalists are reading this summer: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/books/12-new-books-were-reading-this-summer-and-6-not-so-new.html?_r=0
And for those who feel like cooking up a storm (a lot) here are some ideas:
http://mimithorisson.com/my-recipes/
And please be kind to each other…
Yesterday was the first official day of the summer or Summer Solstice. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE summer. Long days, travel plans, beach, sun, ice cream, cool beers and lots of time outdoors with family and friends. What do you do for the summer? Do you like the summer or do you prefer another season?
In honor of summer, I thought I would share a little poem I recently came across (found) and I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do. Perhaps this is a good exercise to bring out the dictionary and add some new vocabulary to your word bank?
The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
Next Monday is the first official day of summer and before you pack your bags, throw on your swimsuit and slather on your sunscreen, we want to remind you that we have one last round table session to say goodbye to Spring and hello to Summer.
The last 4 sessions were a real success and it was wonderful to hear all of you share your opinions and point of views on various topics. This last session promises to be a great session as well and we will be talking about Today’s Technology and Social Media, How does it affect us? Francina, one of our loyal participants will be leading the session and I will be making a surprise cocktail to kick off the summer right.
So if you are free on Thursday, June 30th from 19.00-20.30h and have something to say on the subject of technology (who doesn’t?), join us! All levels and everyone is welcome.
When: Thursday, June 30th from 19.00-20.30h
Where: Espai 290, Aragó 290, Principal
How much: 10€ per person
Why: To exchange ideas, share opinions and improve your spoken English in a comfortable setting
Contact us if you haven’t signed up yet: hello@heidi-schmidt.com and we hope to see you there!
Photo Source & The inspiring Making of Video
