Does grammar matter? - Andreea S. Calude Spoken language has been neglected and marginalized for much of our history on account of its perceived inferiority in comparison to written language. Written language was historically regarded as the language of the ‘learned,’ given that few people could read or write. It also had permanence (written records can be preserved for hundreds of years, and it is only recently that speech recordings became an achievable technology for most of us), and it was thought to be of a higher standard and quality (often summed up as having “better” or more “correct” grammar). You can read more about this biased view of written language over spoken language in the online book “The Written Language Bias” by Peter Linell. We all know that languages differ with respect to their grammar – we have all tried to learn another language only to be baffled not just by new vocabulary but also by the order and other quirks of how that language organizes its vocabulary – but what can and what does actually vary?
The power of simple words - Terin Izil Many people may be guilty of incomprehensible or overly-elaborate language on occasion—but who are the repeat offenders? In small groups, see if you can identify one or two public figures or groups who fit the bill and draw up the charges. Make a “Wanted” poster that includes two or three examples, for each, of especially obscure communication. Also, offer your own explanation(s) for why this individual or group is so hooked on the $10 words. For inspiration, see how lawyers, medical professionals and federal workers are policing their own professions’ use of language: www.clarity-international.net (the lawyers) www.plainlanguage.gov (the feds) www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/pdf/Simply_Put.pdf (the meds) To become an American citizen, the U.S. government requires people to pass a test that includes several questions about the U.S.
How did English evolve? - Kate Gardoqui This is a great story. But really, I made it sound way more simple than it really is. You probably have some questions already, if you’re a critical sort of person. Like: If the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Friesians all conquered areas of Celtic Britain, why is it that England is called England (which comes from Angle-land, the Land of the Angles) and not Saxonland or Juteland? If Old English has not been spoken since before the twelfth century, how do we know what it sounded like? When and how did Old English become the modern language that we speak today? Clearly, there is way more to it. The British Library has many great resources connected with the evolution of the English language and with the earliest complete work of literature in old English, the epic poem Beowulf. This link will bring you to an interactive timeline of the English language starting in the year 1000:
18 Fun and Simple Creative Writing Activities Some of you teachers may be a John Keating in the making. Still more may need a little help. Here are some creative writing activities and prompts that will honor your students’ imaginations. I had great creative writing teachers when I was in high school. Creative Writing Activities to Explore This terrific list of activities come from Marcus Roskilly in the UK: Free Writing—5 minutes to write on a “spark word” determined by the teacher. Other Engaging Approaches Here are some select writing activities from Caroline Swicegood: Life is Not Like a Box of Chocolates: Use the prompt: “Life is like a box of…” You fill in the blank and go from there.No-Send Letters: If you know you’ll never send a letter to someone of your choice, what would you write on it? Creative Writing Prompts Some prompts from Buzzfeed’s 23 Of The Most Creative College Essay Prompts From 2014–2015 “You’ve just reached your one millionth hit on your YouTube video.
Magic Words - page 11 Introduction A Tip of the Hat It may be a magic spell in the dictionary, but in the mind of man all the world over it signifies the respect and consideration paid to great powers and noble qualities. -- Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1898) A moment of epiphany inspired this book -- a moment as dazzling, in its way, as a conjuror's most triumphant revelations. One Sunday evening, I had the privilege of witnessing a marvelous performance of the famous "die box" effect, at Hollywood's Magic Castle. Although the presentation of this classic trick was nothing short of expert, the performance seemed somehow to be lacking something. In the art of magic, nothing is more crucial than the level of involvement of the audience. And on this memorable occasion, it was the level of involvement of one particular audience member which triggered my insight into precisely what was missing from an otherwise flawless display.
Three anti-social skills to improve your writing - Nadia Kalman E.B. White wrote, “The best writing is rewriting.” With that idea in mind, look at a few of the examples of ineffective dialogue in the blog post, “Bad Dialogue – Bad, Bad Dialogue,” by Beth Hill, at Now, select one example to rewrite and improve. If it’s repetitive, eliminate the repetition. If it’s too formal or stilted, mutter to yourself until you come up with a more natural-sounding version. The author Mark Twain is considered a master of dialogue, but his use of dialect – and particularly his phonetic rendering of African-American speech in the novel Huckleberry Finn – is the subject of controversy. - An overview of various attitudes towards the novel in the PBS teachers’ guide to Huck Finn: - Leslie Gregory’s article, “Finding Jim Behind the Mask,” in Ampersand, available at
Sentence Length Today's topic is sentence length. This episode was written by Bonnie Trenga, author of The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier. I was glad to hear from those of you who enjoyed Bonnie's writing last week. I'll be back as the writer next week, but Bonnie and other writers may continue to fill in for me on occasion as I start working on my next book and head out this summer for my book tour. Long Sentences My dad has a memorable poster in his bathroom: a diagram of a ridiculously long sentence by Marcel Proust. Sentence Fragments I have to applaud Proust for being able to keep everything straight in that sentence—because he sure used a lot of semicolons, commas, clauses, and other tricks to lengthen it. All of this Proust talk is making me hungry for a madeleine, a small shell-shaped cake that had a starring role in In Search of Lost Time. Finding the Proper Length Proust’s enormous sentence is an anomaly, but long sentences certainly haven’t disappeared. Finding and Fixing Long Sentences
Grimoires Sacred-texts home Wicca/Neo-PaganismEsoteric & OccultBuy CD-ROM Buy Books: Grimoires The name "Grimoire" is derived from the word "Grammar". A grammar is a description of a set of symbols and how to combine them to create well-formed sentences. A Grimoire is, appropriately enough, a description of a set of magickal symbols and how to combine them properly. Most of the texts linked below are descriptions of traditional European ritual magick, which is based on Judeo-Christianity. Note: These historical texts are presented for research and entertainment purposes only; we can't answer any questions about the material contained in them. The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage Translated by S.L. The Magus By Francis Barrett [1801].One of the rarest and most reputable treatments of ceremonial magic. The Book of Ceremonial Magic By Arthur Edward Waite [1913].Comprehensive descriptions of rituals from classic grimoires, including extensive illustrations of magical seals.
Making sense of spelling - Gina Cooke Usually when we spell a word, we only acknowledge the surface structure by naming out the letters: " these tools for understanding spelling in this free video gallery: working with your regular vocabulary or spelling words, study how you can use word sums and/or matrices to connect how words are spelled with what they mean and how they make sense.The English language is rich in homophones, words that sound the same, but have different meanings and thus different spellings. Words like heel and heal or pain and pane are homophones. The spelling short graphic on The Homophone Principle, and investigate the following pairs of homophones:feat ~ feet; meet ~ meat; row ~ roe; mist ~ missed; profit ~ prophet; wine ~ whine; none ~ nun; peace ~ piece; knot ~ not ~ naught; rain ~ rein ~ reign; sense ~ cense ~ cents ~ scents a. What do each of these words mean?
Complex Sentences & Compound Sentences: How to Tell the Difference How can you tell the difference between complex sentences and compound sentences? That's a question that I recently received in my inbox. I struggled with this concept when I was learning grammar myself, so I wanted to share the answer with you. Here's the question: Dear Elizabeth, How can I help children correctly divide complex and compound sentences into independent and subordinate clauses? I washed my hands before I ate breakfast. Some students divide this sentence into two parts ("I washed my hands" and "I ate breakfast") and ask me why these two clauses can't be treated as clauses of equal rank. Is there a simple way to teach this? - Udaya, English Teacher Compound Sentences Compound sentences are made from two or more independent clauses. Compound Sentence --> She cooked and he cleaned. Independent Clause --> She cooked. Coordinating Conjunctions The independent clauses are connected by a coordinating conjunction. Complex Sentences Complex Sentence --> My mom smiled when I made dinner.
The Magus, Book I: The First Principles of Natural Magic: Book the First: Chapter I: Natural Magic Defined... Sacred Texts Grimoires Index Previous Next p. 13 of NATURAL MAGIC is, as we have said, a comprehensive knowledge of all Nature, by which we search out her secret and occult operations throughout her vast and spacious elaboratory; whereby we come to a knowledge of the component parts, qualities, virtues, and secrets of metals, stones, plants, and animals; but seeing, in the regular order of the creation, man was the work of the sixth day, every thing being prepared for his vicegerency here on earth, and that it pleased the omnipotent God, after he had formed the great world, or macrocosm, and pronounced it good, so he created man the express image of himself; and in man, likewise, an exact model of the great world. p. 14 p. 15 against him was in vain, he was much tormented thereby, and began to think how he might entangle him into disobedience of the command of his Creator, whereby he might, as it were, laugh him to scorn, in derision of his new creature, man. p. 16 p. 17 p. 18 Alas! p. 19 p. 20
A brief history of plural word...s - John McWhorter Does texting mean the death of good writing skills? John McWhorter posits that there’s much more to texting -- linguistically, culturally -- than it seems, and it’s all good news. See his TED Talk. John Hamilton McWhorter V (born 1965) is an American linguist and political commentator.
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