《I Did Not Learn English In School - Simple Secrets to Learning English Fast》Hard Habits to Break
Advertisement
. One of the things students have a hard time with is word order. Well, I used to have the same mistake simply because I had gotten used to speaking where the verb comes first, and the subject comes second.
Luckily, schools teach us the core patterns that make up English sentences. As a BEGINNER, I decided to stick first to only three:
- Birds fly. I agree.
- He studies English. I love you.
- English is interesting. She looks German.
I carefully monitored myself not to talk or think unless every word was in the right order. I had refused to lay eyes on the rest of the sentence patterns until I was ready enough to manipulate these three simple ones.
What gives me a bad headache sometimes is that some students tend to make difficult sentences and yet do not observe even the most basic of these patterns!
I built my first sentence using the SV pattern. I had focused on the simple. Without thinking much about verb tenses, I kept chanting:
The last one is a joke. I never got a mobile phone until four years later. It was a second-hand Nokia 3310 running on a dying battery.
Kidding aside, the message is clear. If you're used to talking where a verb starts a sentence, shifting from your language to English is no easy task.
That's why I had drugged myself with the pattern. I was determined to put an end, once and for all, to VS (Verb Subject) dominion over my English speech and thought patterns.
In our language, these gender pronouns he, she, his, her, and him have no counterparts. Each time a situation calls for using them, it's like a close encounter of the third kind.
Switching code had been a pain in the neck. One of the most common mistakes I did was to default to the masculine gender even when referring to women.
Advertisement
Teacher: "Do you know Jane?"
Kenjie: "Who is he? No, I don't know him."
Bummer! I could remember I was also crazy about one cartoon film: He-Man. Whether it influenced me, who cares? All that mattered was to address women with the right gender pronoun.
Fortunately, my mother helped me out with the job. With my signature self-talk, I would say the following sentence repeatedly emphasizing she and her.
"She is my mother. I love her. Her son is Kenjie."
Singular verbs didn't exist in my own world until I had studied English. In the present tense we add S to the end of the verb in the 3rd person. Most of my students make the same mistake I did.
Student: "He like candy. "(wrong)
Kenjie: "He likes candy."(correct)"
One tiny "s" makes a big wrong. To solve this dilemma, I created a simple equation for myself which I call the Suarez Method. It looks like this.
It stands for 3rd person Singular Subjects take S. Armed with triple S, I thought to myself, "Let's see if I still forget." We know repetition is the mother of learning. So, here's what I had done.
I do. You do. He does. She does.
I study. You study. He studies. She studies.
I don't want to sound exactly like a corrupted CD, but saying it again, again, and again reinforces learning.
"Kenjie, how many times do I have to do this?"
Do it as many times as you like and as many verbs as you like.
"When is the best time to do it?"
Advertisement
Once Human
Kidnapped, infused with an unknown substance and given an orientation on survival statistics and adaptive evolution from a disembodied voice isn't the best way to wake up after a night of drinking. Finding out your dangling in a metal box above, what appears to be, an alien planet that is to be your new home only makes things worse. With no answers, a plethora of mental health issues, that might just give him an edge if they don't get him killed first, and a strong aversion to being told what to do, a hapless human is deposited onto the Planet Evo with a single mission. Survive. Fiction will contain strong language, gore, sexual content and scenes/concepts that may be traumatising. Read at your own risk.
8 82The True King of Death
Momonga, last of the 41 Supreme beings was supposed to disappear forever with the end of Yggdrasil but instead awakens in the bleak dunes of Hueco Mundo. How will the King of Death fare in a world where Shinigami and Hollows run rampant? What will he do? (Bleach&Overlord crossover)
8 94My Life As A Fire Hero!
Hayato is an ordinary schoolboy.....Until he and his friends got summoned to another world! They now act as the guardians of that world and they must take down the 10 leaders of evil!
8 118That One Girl // Sam Pottorff
Ally is just a teenage girl who has to live by herself and she doesn't have any friends. She gets bullied everyday and it sucks. But what happens when she meets the famous Sam Pottorff?
8 162Chains
Eric Bane is one tough thug, but even he's not immortal. After a deadly ambush, he falls unconscious only to awaken in a castle preparing to meet a king. He was apparently summoned to a parallel world of fantasy to act as a hero who wields one of six Divine Weapons. However, being unfamiliar with video games, he doesn't see the new world the same way the other five do. After being framed for rape, Eric ends up hobbling out of the city with no money, no party, and draining motivation. However, if there's one thing that Samson is good at, it's spite. If the world is going to kick him to the curb, then he's going to beat the shit out of the next person he sees to get back on track. As Eric grows stronger through a natural progression, he slowly discovers the hidden history of the world and the dark secrets of the Church of the Trinity. And while some might wait for the right moment to strike, Samson isn't one for patience. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> This is a story that I've already gotten pretty far with, but I want to release it slowly over a few days to see what the critics say. I haven't finished it, but I've got a general idea where I want to go with it. Maturity for violence, sexual themes, and slavery. No outright sex or nudity, and there is no cruelty exhibited towards slaves. Tell me how you like it.
8 417The Night Sky
All his life Kurt Wagner has been judged, shunned, and discriminated against because of the way he looks. "Demon" "Monster" "Freak" But when he meets a girl with eyes that can see much further than his outward appearance, will he finally find someone who can accept him for all that he truly is?
8 161