In answer to your questions …
Hello again Naheed, and everyone reading!
Firstly, thanks so much for all your kind wishes for my goddaughter, Sophie. It’s very sweet of you all and I have passed your wishes on to Sophie and her parents. I have been reading all the different ways you celebrate the arrival of a baby in your countries, and I have to say it’s fascinating. I had never heard of cutting hair from a baby’s head or making a calligraphy brush out of a newborn’s hair, so you see, I’m learning lots too!
Thanks also to Naheed for telling us more about her life in Pakistan. Naheed, if you want to talk about giving food to animals, you can say ‘I feed the pigeons (with grain) every morning’.
I do a kind of exercise that is very similar to the yoga that Naheed does. Once a week, I take a pilates (pronounced pee-lah-tees) class. It’s all about strengthening the muscles that surround the spine, and stretching. I spend most of my day sitting on my bum, so it’s important I do something active!
It sounds as though you’re doing really well in your studies, Naheed. I’m sure you’ll be very successful! You got all of the adjectives correct in the last homework I set you, and I noticed you used the verb ‘taste’ to talk about flavours too, so well done!
However, there are a couple of the Shakespeare-coined phrases that maybe I didn’t explain very well, as you haven’t got the usage quite perfect. I’ll see if I can explain them a bit better here:
· strange bedfellows – these are things about which you would think ‘they’ll never work well together’, but in fact, they do work well together. For example:
‘The oil industry and saving the environment probably seem like strange bedfellows, but some major oil companies are now investing in green energy sources.’
The meaning here is that you might think about an oil company and the environment, and think ‘these two things can never fit together’. But in fact, they do fit together.
· full circle – I can see you’ve got the right idea about the meaning of this phrase, which means ‘to return to the beginning’ or ‘to return to the original state’. However, your example doesn’t quite work. Why? Because you say 'her efforts to learn to drive' came full circle. It is not her efforts that have gone full circle -- she is still trying hard to progress, to move on. It is the fact that she still does not have a driving licence that has come full circle. She had no driving licence before the test, and she still doesn't have one now. Does that make sense? Here is another example:
‘John was once a homeless man, living on the streets. Then he found a winning lottery ticket. He bought a huge mansion, flashy cars and expensive jewellery. He travelled the world. After just five years, all his money was spent. Now his life has come full circle and he is back on the streets, begging for money.’
The meaning here is that John started out homeless, and ended up the same way – homeless.
So perhaps you could say something like this:
Despite hours of driving lessons, Venus had come full circle. Six weeks ago she didn't have a licence, and today, after her failing her test, she still doesn't have a licence.
One other point I wanted to mention, Naheed, was that you sometimes drop articles like ‘a’ and ‘the’. For example, in the following sentence, there are two missing articles. Can you tell me what they are and where they should go?
‘Father or any member of a family says call of prayer in a baby’s ear.’
This is not a huge problem, as we can still all understand perfectly what you mean, so don’t feel bad – it’s just something to be aware of.
I hope you don’t mind if I use the rest of this blog to reply to your comments and questions. I’m not ignoring you, honestly! Sometimes there is a bit of a time delay between your comments going online and my blog being posted. I read them all and they are very interesting and encouraging. It’s such fun to have a virtual online class with students from all around the world! If I can get on top of answering all your questions here, I’ll be free to blog about something else next time.
First, I have to apologize profusely to Phu of the Netherlands, who for some reason I thought was a woman (he’s not – he’s a man!). Phu, I’m so sorry! After telling you all about how people confuse my name, I did the same to you! I am hanging my head in shame. Violante from Italy challenged me to guess his/her sex. I *think* you might be male – something about Italian words that end in ‘e/o’ being masculine, and words that end in ‘a’ being feminine? Let me know if I’m right.
I know that all of you read very carefully – Adek from Poland (a man!) admits looking at the teacher’s blog to try to find mistakes. I like your style, Adek! And some of you have already found some of my errors. Kirsti from France and Jill from Beijing, you’re right: I missed some words out. I should have written ‘No, I am not getting married’ and ‘I’d also like to say a special ‘Hello’ to Naheed, our new student blogger’. Well done for spotting these! I’d like to say they were deliberate mistakes, but really they were just mistakes. Maybe I was just too excited about becoming a godmother?
Kirsti wanted to know whether ‘have the exact same meaning’ and ‘have exactly the same meaning’ mean the same thing. Yes, they do. There is no difference in meaning. Kirsti also wanted to know why I hyphenated ‘current-day’. This is an example of a compound adjective – that’s jargon again. Here, I have joined an adjective (current) with a noun (day) to form one idea (current-day), which is an adjective. In this case, to make the meaning clear, it’s best to use a hyphen to link the two words.
Ali from Iran wants to know whether it’s a good idea to try to read some Shakespeare. Why don’t you start with something short, like one of his sonnets? Whilst we’re on the subject of Shakespeare, a special ‘well done!’ is due to Katy, Ana Paula and Hyoshil, who did really well getting the meanings of those coined phrases. Oh, and Ana Paula, you can say both learn from you and learn with you!
Wisarut, my favourite Thai food is phad thai – a noodle dish. Do you have the recipe? Yes, the photo was taken in the church, and you got all your homework right!
Paulraj, Sophie is about six months old. I didn’t buy her a gift as I’ve opened a savings account for her instead, which she can have when she’s 18. Ana Paula, the christening cake does not contain any special ingredients – it’s simply the centrepiece of the celebrations. Tomo, I was never christened, so I don’t have a godmother myself!
A lot of you, like Koorosh from Iran and Kailarai from Nepal, want to know how you can improve your written English. Firstly, I want to give you all some encouragement. I can understand the meaning of all your comments, even if they’re not grammatically perfect. Making yourself understood is the most important thing when using a foreign language, so don’t beat yourself up too much about making a few mistakes here and there. Secondly, practise makes perfect. Just keep reading and listening to as much English as you can, and you’ll make steady progress. Be patient! And thirdly, just to make you feel better, remember that lots and lots of native English speakers make mistakes all the time. No one is perfect. For example, here is a comment about my blog, posted by my dear brother, Neil:
“Hi jo - its your brother. Sophie says thankyou for being her godmother yesterday at church. she is too young to write - so I will give it a go. How is my grammar and spelling? X”
Neil may be 38 years old and I may be 34, but I still like to tease him. So, for your next homework, I’d like you all to find at least one grammatical error in the comment written by my brother, who is a native speaker and has been speaking English for 38 years. If you like, you can even rewrite it to make his English better. Good luck!
Next time, I’m going to write about one of my pets. But what kind of animal am I going to write about? Here’s a little riddle. See if you can work it out:
I wag my tail,
But only when I’m angry.
I like to sleep,
Usually during the day.
I’m soppy and cute,
But only when I want to be.
I’m a contrary creature.
What am I?
Until next time, Cheerio!
Jo
Vocabulary
If you describe someone as sweet, it means they are kind and thoughtful.
calligraphy is a kind of artistic handwriting.
newborn – you can use the word newborn as an adjective and a noun, to refer to a baby.
bum – a slang word for your bottom, the buttocks. It’s pretty mild slang though, so you won’t upset anyone if you use this word.
If something is green, it is good for the environment.
A mansion is a huge, expensive house. I’m a poor writer, so I don’t live in one of these!
You can describe people and things as flashy. It’s a slightly negative adjective. It means you’re showing off about how wealthy you are.
drop – in this context, ‘drop’ means ‘to miss out’ or ‘to omit’.
get on top of – in this context, this means ‘to catch up’ or ‘to get up to date’.
If you hang your head in shame, you are very embarrassed or sorry about something.
sonnets are poems, and they are usually 14 lines long.
a centrepiece is the main object or thing.
If you beat yourself up about something, you make yourself feel bad. This is quite an informal phrase.
tease means ‘to make fun of’.
a riddle is a puzzle.
soppy means sentimental
if someone is contrary, they like to have disagreements.
Comments
I will have a go: Hi Jo, it´s your brother. Sophie says thank you for being her godmother yesterday at the church. She is too young to write – so I will give it a go. How is my grammar and spelling? xxooo
I guess the puzzle's answer is cat
Hi,Jo.Nice blog.Is it a cat or kitty? I have two kitties who unfortunately lost their mother two months ago.There are many shops that in the service of babies about your niece's age,so that the workers there not merely use their newborn hair to make calligraphy brush, but also make some sort of souvenir out of the umbilical cord(isn't weird),and other services like bathing, swimming.Question:what is the meaning of your title"in answer to your questions"?Thank you.
Ji,JO It's dull and chilly here.Thanks a lot for your comments on my homework.It gives me to have the strength to do your homework deligently and it gives me a great plesure to learn English with you, too.This is my homework for you. Right,here we go,It's your brother.Sophie says to thank you for being her godmother at church yesterday.She is too young to write.- so I would give it a go.How are my grammar and spelling? I hope to get good marks.I haven't got a clue what it would be but just merely guess.It might be a cat or a dog. have a good day!hyoshil
Thank you teacher, Teacher, I have some confusions that I want to share with you. May I ask to you? If I can, questions as below. 1. How many auxiliary verbs are in English grammer? (I think twenty four). I mean, some of the auxiliary verbs are making to me confuse, like (should,would,ought to, bear to, need to, could and so on. Are they all auxiliary or not?) Thank you very much teacher jo.
Hello Jo. My answer to the riddle ia a dog. I don't know what is "jargon". Would you explain it, please? This sentence sounds somehow strange to me:"Secondly, practise makes perfect." Does it mean that practise will make somebody's English sound(or sounds) better or that you might have dropped a word after the verb make? I suppose I don't know how to make a sentence with the verb "make". Would you please help me? Waiting hopefully for your answer. Thank you.
Dear Jo; Hi! Thanks a million for your words of encouragement and support on my homework.It is so thoughtful of you ;a characteristic of a teacher that definitely sustains every student and prompts them into more amd more effort. The photo of you and your beautiful Sophie was great. Happy days to both of you! As for your new homework , I would say; ["its"] is a possessive pronoun, where as ["it's"] stands for ["it is"], which is actually what your brother meant to say. Then your beautiful goddaughter's comments should have been written either like ; [Sophie says:"Thank you for being my godmother..."] or in this way;[Sophie says to thank you for being her godmother...]. I will be waiting to read your next entry. All the best to you , your brother and Sophie. Katy/ Iran
Hello Jo. I'd rather think "practiCe makes perfect" sounds better grammatically. XD
why not it may be a elephant?.
Why not it could be an elephant?.
Hello there. How about your day ? Hmmm..It seem like to be wonderful day. At a result of your response in this entry ,I am not tedious immediately when teacher Jo Kent replies some of comments to me and my virtual friends very soon.And I would like to edit brother's sentences. He says Hi jo - its your brother. Sophie says thank you for being her godmother yesterday at church. she is too young to write - so I will give it a go. How/What about my grammar and spelling? Interestingly apart from my correcting sentence , I would like to show you in requesting Pad Thai 's recipt. Obviously history concerning Pad Thai 's recipt appear to firstly say in all details. For ages thai dish,Pad Thai,was well-known by Luang Phibunsongkhram who was a Prime Minister during World War II.People who came to travel in Thailand mostly tested Pad Thai. The original compound of Pad Thai are rice noodles ,eggs, fish sauce,tamarind juice,red chili papper,bean sprouts,shrimp,chicken or tufu,peanuts and coriander . We normally serve with a piece of banana flower and adept test by lemon juice if you want to test sour. Please remember that before you eat you should test your dish and then adept test whatever you want to do!!! Moreover there are variety of Thai dishes that I would like to recommend you ,including Tom Yum Kung <Prawn Soup>,Som Tam < papaya salad>,Massaman Kai < chicken coconut milk soup> and so fort- I have not got a clue how to describe sorted of Thai foods rightly. Do you fall in love with Thai food ? I presume that you may satisfy and mout-watering with these thai recipts.Yummy!!! PS.What are kind of fruits or plants you grow ?
Hi Jo, I am so flattered to know that you read my message last time. I think you get a cat, I guess it not only from your given sentences, but also your picture from the previous blog. You hug your goddaughter Sophie like catching a cat indeed. In fact, cats really scared me, you can see their sparkling eyes even at night. So horrible! Is it your favorite animals? Virginia
Hello Jo! Thanks for answering my questions.I didn´t know that someone who wasn´t christened could be a godmother. Here in Brazil, the child parents have to choose a christened couple to be the child godmother and godfather. Hmmm... Does the cute Sophie have also a godfather? Well, I tried to rewrite your brother comments. I don´t know if it´s right, but I guess that tomorrow you will put me out of my misery. :-) "Hi Jo-It´s your brother. Sophie said thank you for you have been her godmother at church. She´s too young to write-so I will give it a go. How are my grammar and spelling?X" Ah! By the way, I think you will talk about your cat tomorrow. Am I right? Best wishes, Ana Paula.
Thank you, Jo. I know a bit more about christening now. It is important that we understand different cultures, especially when we go abroad. Anyway, I'd like to try to find your brother's grammatical errors and rewrite them. < Hi, Jo. It's your brother. Sophie is too young to write, so I'll give it a go. She said, "Thank you for being my godmother at church yesterday." How are my grammar and spelling?> I'm not sure how to use "give it a go" .It could be "I gave it a go" after "She is too~" in his comment. How do you tease him? Actually, I have a brother who is one year older than me. We would quarrel about TV programs when we were children. He said, "No! I wanna watch this program!" "No! I don't wanna watch that!" I said. This is one of my good old memories! Well, I guessed the riddle. You are a cat! Correct?
Dear Jo,I thought, it could be correct. “Hi jo - it's your brother. Sophie said thank you for being her godmother yesterday at church. she is too young to write - so I will give it a go. How is my grammar and spelling? X” I think strenger pet may be dog. I am confused to use "need to" and "have to". Could you please help me?
Hi Jo, To put the comment of your bother who is a native English speaker into public corrections, that is a very smart idea, I am very impressed. And it’s wonderful to know that you have a good relationship with your brother. Best Regards,
right, I'm sure the answer is a "cat" . The riddle describes my two cats, anyway. kisses :*
Hi Jo, Firstly, I'd like to submit something to you. The homework that you set us is to rephrase the comment from Sophie's father. I will have a go: Hi Jo, it´s your brother. Sophie said thank you for being her godmother yesterday at the church. She is too young to write – so I will give it a go. How is my grammar and spelling? xxooo. I can merely find an error is that "says" should be "said" instead. According to the clues you wrote, it might suggest a cat to me. I know that cat certainly has tail, however, I am not sure it's because of anger. All the best. David
Hello Jo :-) You mentioned the mistakes you'd done. In Poland we say that those who do nothing make no mistakes. I think that we have to do mistakes to learn. If we didn't do mistakes, we wouldn't learn, and if we didn't learn there would be no progress at all. I'm not sure aboout the progress if it is absolutely necessary for people to live, but if there was no progres, we students wouldn't be able to read your blogs and improve our English. PS. 'You're a woman, I'm a man..." (don't read the quote, please, sing it: it's a song) but I must admit I like your blogs.
Hi Jo, I just got to know about the blogs. I think it is terrific idea to improve the english. I read your blog and liked it for vocab... I want to improve my writing skills and this blog system is just what doctor ordered. I like this Godmother, you will be surprised i did not know this, as we don't have it in India. Such sweet tradition. So you will be special for Sophie right as a Godmother? I have one doubt about effective writing that small sentences are effective or multiple small sentences with connecting words (like using clause)are effective. Reader digest use very small and simple sentences and that's why it is very effective, i feel. Please let me know about what you think. I will read all the blogs now onwards and hope to see you talking about 'cat' tommorrow. Cheers Manas
Hi Jo. It is amazing to read your bog every day.i have learnt lot of Knowlege from your essay not only English but also cultures of your country. I love every programms from BBC. Unfortunately, my most favorite program "People and Place" have not been updated for long time. Jo ,can you help me to ask the editors in BBC who is responsible for the program why they didn't renew the programm. I am so eager to see the listen the new one! I hope they wonn't cancelled it for good. BBC Learning English says: Thanks for the comment about people and places, we're glad that you like it. This programme is updated each week on a Thursday!
BBC has made it easy for us to learn english at home without indulging us for rest of useless stuff. standard communication and lot of knowledge about world are the basic outstanding futures of this BBC service. i really appericiate whole team of BBC team for their struggles and devotions for providing us with their 1st class services
I HAVE A QUESTION THAT HOW MANY AUXILIARY VERBS ARE THERE IN ENGLISH GRAMMER
Thanks for all your contributions. This blog has now closed and can no longer accept new comments.
