21 January, 2009

A little more grammar..

Hi guys!

I got a couple of questions about whether I was studying British or American grammar. They're quite firm around here on that there's ONE language. We're studying English. Period. There are a few, but not many, differences between the American and the British version and when we get to them they'll show both and we're free to choose. We should, of course, try to be consistent. I'll probably stick with American grammar when I have to choose as my oral English is pretty Canadian and I'm likely to choose American when we get to the oral part. Better try to get my act together and stick with one variety...

I had a year or two of British English before moving to Canada as a kid, then 6 months or so there and then back here. I've always been very easily affected by language and dialects and have a hard time not "copying" whoever I'm speaking to (not completely, of course, but to some degree). Seems like I got a lot of pronounciation from when in Québec, and when in Canada and talking to Canadians they tend to ask why I moved to Norway. (Guess who gets really proud.. LOL!). I usually say my English is a bit "morphy" - I tend to adapt a little to the person I'm talking to (at least if they're fluent) and that's one big reason to try to get a bit more concistent...

Oh.. And thanks for compliments on my grammar.. This is a whole lot more difficult than just writing, though.. Phonemes and morphemes and sentences concisting of words I have no idea what means.. And this book is written by Norwegians for learners of English.. LOL! I actually gave up yesterday. Hopefully todays lecture will clarify a bit for me. But mostly I'm probably have to start cramming rather than waiting to "understand". It's just rules, really, isn't it. Not so much understanding in the ususal sense of the word..

Now there's one boring post for you... Oh well.. Off to my lecture! Here's at least a picture of cute pug feet to ease your suffering!

11 comments:

chelsea + apple said...

aww I'z love the feetz!!!

<3 Apple

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

Ah yes, Mom says she furgot about khandadian english too, eh?

Nice pikh!

Mom says she understands your khommnet about pikhking things up - she finds that if she spends any amount of time talking with someone khandadian, she starts affekhting their intonation in her speach!

Happy Wednesday!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

Forever Foster said...

Mum is affected by other's way of speaking and writing, too. It's easy to do! We use British English in Australia, but after mum has been doing a bit of blogging, she finds herself slipping into American English.

Pug pawsies- how cute!

Archie and Melissa said...

ooooh! very cute pug feet!
i love your photography ane!
xo
melissa

The Devil Dog said...

What a great photo. We love the feetsies! As for grammer, mom actually hated it in high school. Particpating principle and all that jazz. Grammar is actually much different than writing. But you do need one for the other. Which is weird, because mom did poorly on her grammar tests.

Roxy

Life With Dogs said...

Pug feet always make for a great post :)

Clover said...

Hi!
This post reminds me of learning English in school. I live in Canada, but I went to a French school, so I honestly did not learn a lot of English in school. But all the teachers were also very clear that there is only ONE English, and it comes from Britain. So while we in Canada sound different than people in Britain, our grammar is the same as theirs. :)
Jess, Clover's mom

Lorenza said...

My mom does not understand Spanish grammar so you can imagine how bad she is with English grammar!
Bajas feet are so cute!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Molly the Airedale said...

You have the cutest, cleanest tooties ever, Bajas!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Dexter said...

I like what you said about adopting the speech patterns of where you are. I work with a lot of people from India and China and I find that I easily slip into their versions of English when I am talking to them.

After only two weeks working in Scotland I was even shedding my American accent!

Your class sounds very interesting. Please keep us posted.

Mango Momma

Anonymous said...

great picture!