English language

By the Book

Niall O'Donnell 3 Comments

What do you need to teach a language lesson? Some students of course, and preferably a whiteboard, or a flipchart at a pinch. And, probably, a textbook, or an extract from one. A textbook is something that both students and teachers often take for granted. Many students like to have a trusted source of exercises to improve their English, and provide them with lots of new vocabulary and grammar rules. New teachers often cling to a textbook as a crutch. It’s comforting to know that you’ve got some interesting activities to keep the students busy, and save you having to find different exercises and figure out how they work together. And it helps to get rid of that awful fear newer teachers have that they’ll run of material long before the end of the lesson. Even if you finish your planned exercises before the end of the lesson, a few more pages in the book can feel like a welcome safety net. But how much do you really need a textbook? Continue reading →

The

Niall O'Donnell 3 Comments

The is such a simple word that you probably never think about it. You use it many times everyday, but what exactly is it? Continue reading →

Sokath, His Eyes Uncovered!

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

One of my favourite fictional examples of communication issues between two people speaking different languages is in the 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Darmok.” A quick synopsis: the Federation wants to open dialogue with a secretive race known as the Tamarians, but when they arrive at their planet they run into the slight problem of neither understanding the other’s language. Captain Picard is beamed down to the planet, and together with his Tamarian counterpart, they must find some way to communicate to survive in a harsh environment. Continue reading →

And That’s the Tooth!

Niall O'Donnell 4 Comments

I had some dental work recently, and that got me thinking about the apparently strange names we give to our teeth in English. Continue reading →

The Beatles: Here Comes the Pun

Niall O'Donnell 13 Comments

The Beatles are responsible for a lot, of course. Producing some incredible and innovative music, and inspiring other musicians. They’re also responsible for causing people to misspell the word beetle (as in the insect). As a spelling nerd from a young age, I was long aware that the band’s name was spelled differently from the animal. I never really thought about why though. I suppose I assumed that The Beatles could do whatever they wanted, and that if they wanted to spell their name differently, that was fine. Or maybe that’s how they thought the word beetle was spelled, and who was I to correct them? Continue reading →

The Blog-aholic Award

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

I’m very honoured to announce that I’ve been nominated for the Blog-aholic Award by Amanda at Sashimi for Breakfast and the Fauxhasset Paroder, your only source for the best fake news.

This award was created by The Recipe Hunter, where you can find more information about it. As per the rules, I’ll link to my three best posts, and share three interesting facts about myself. Continue reading →

“Boy, those Germans have a word for everything!” Part II

Niall O'Donnell 16 Comments

Sometimes you really appreciate the Germanness of English. I was thinking about this, naturally enough, after the resignation of the short-lived U.S National-Security Advisor Mike Flynn (yes it’s often written as National Security Advisor, but it’s logical to hyphenate it). While watching reports on Belgian TV, I noticed that the French for National-Security Advisor is conseiller à la sécurité nationale. Oof! 5 words instead of 2 (or 3, but National-Security can be considered as one, as it’s hyphenated), 13 syllables instead of 10. This doesn’t really give a true impression of the difference though, as French syllables are generally longer than English ones, as in English we have weak forms; short vowel sounds for unemphasized syllables. Think of how brief the io sound in national is, for example, and how many people almost skip it when speaking. Continue reading →