Lavengro

eGEM: answer

English is famous for its silent letters.

This screenshot is from the ebook of Peter Harvey's Great English Mistakes made by Spanish speakers. It is viewed in Adobe Digital Editions, a free reader that is required to read the ebook. When ADE is installed and registered the book can be read on any registered device. On the left is a list of contents with clickable links, and the hyperlinks in the text act as cross references.

For an explanation of the phonetic symbols used in Lavengro Books ebooks, and of the reason for using them, click here.

A collection of screen shots can be seen here.

To buy books click here.

Lavengro Books: www.lavengrobooks.com

Reviews of Great English Mistakes

An easy-to-read and user-friendly book … grammar receives careful attention … may benefit both intermediate and advanced students of English … Teachers of English may also find it useful. Fernando Chueca, TESOL Spain Newsletter 33/1, July 2009*

While [this book] is clearly aimed at the Spanish-speaking learner of English it is also valuable for the teacher of English working in a Spanish-speaking environment … [it highlights] many of the false friends which exist … Translations show the learner what words do, and, equally importantly, do not mean … with a wealth of real-life examples which are sometimes humorous, the book is very readable … There is certainly a gap in the market for such a book … of all the many English language books I have on my bookshelf, this is the only one that has a long waiting list of Spanish-speaking friends wanting to borrow it. Modern English Teacher 18/3, July 2009*

Dear Mr Harvey, Let me congratulate you on your latest book, it's what every single student of English in Spain needs. http://howadultslearn.wikispaces.com

*Full reviews on www.lavengrobooks.com

 

Monday eGELU: Christmas and New Year

Happy Christmas, or whatever else you may be celebrating!

This screenshot is from the ebook of Peter Harvey's A Guide to English Language Usage. It is viewed in Adobe Digital Editions, a free reader that is required to read the ebook. When ADE is installed and registered the book can be read on any registered device. On the left is a list of contents with clickable links, and the hyperlinks in the text act as cross references.

For an explanation of the phonetic symbols used in Lavengro Books ebooks, and of the reason for using them, click here.

A collection of screen shots can be seen here.

To buy books click here.

Lavengro Books: www.lavengrobooks.com

Reviews of A Guide to English Language Usage

An entertaining and illuminating read … shows a high awareness of learners' needs – it is clearly written by someone with solid classroom experience … The grammar sections are a strong area of the book … The information provided [on pronunciation] is accurate and relevant … the cultural information as a whole is well-presented, colourful and accurate … [it offers] clear and useful directions for learners … Modern English Teacher 18/3, July 2009*

Every English fact at your fingertips … a more than handy reference tool for all involved in imparting linguistic knowledge on a regular basis. In the author's alphabetically arranged detailed content one can only admire the spirit of Dr Johnson … it will help out when dealing with potentially awkward customers, or those keen to try out a new teacher. Wayne Trotman, ELGazette, January 2009*

When you start reading it, you are reminded of Modern English Usage by Fowler; however, in this case Peter Harvey is dealing with the reality of the foreign learner and what that learner wants to know … A Guide to English Language Usage is a good reference book for all of us who are teaching and for advanced students as well. It is worth having in our libraries. It is very practical, having been written by a teacher who knows his trade, and is highly recommendable. Liliana Russo, TESOL Spain Newsletter 34/1, July 2010 *

Not just a reference book explaining the intricacies of English grammar, but also a source of entertainment for the language-lover, covering numerous areas of the culture of the English-speaking world. Dr Brian Mott, Department of English and German Philology, Barcelona University

*Full reviews on www.lavengrobooks.com

Thursday GEM: another

Should you say other or another?

This screenshot is from Peter Harvey's Great English Mistakes made by Spanish speakers.

A collection of screen shots can be seen here.

To buy books click here.

Lavengro Books: www.lavengrobooks.com

Reviews of Great English Mistakes

An easy-to-read and user-friendly book … grammar receives careful attention … may benefit both intermediate and advanced students of English … Teachers of English may also find it useful. Fernando Chueca, TESOL Spain Newsletter 33/1, July 2009*

While [this book] is clearly aimed at the Spanish-speaking learner of English it is also valuable for the teacher of English working in a Spanish-speaking environment … [it highlights] many of the false friends which exist … Translations show the learner what words do, and, equally importantly, do not mean … with a wealth of real-life examples which are sometimes humorous, the book is very readable … There is certainly a gap in the market for such a book … of all the many English language books I have on my bookshelf, this is the only one that has a long waiting list of Spanish-speaking friends wanting to borrow it. Modern English Teacher 18/3, July 2009*

Dear Mr Harvey, Let me congratulate you on your latest book, it's what every single student of English in Spain needs. http://howadultslearn.wikispaces.com

*Full review on www.lavengrobooks.com.

 

Monday GELU: cricket

Cricket is a sport that is followed passionately in most countries of the Commonwealth, and a few others, but is hardly known in the rest of the world.

This screenshot is from Peter Harvey's A Guide to English Language Usage.

A collection of screen shots can be seen here.

To buy books click here.

Lavengro Books: www.lavengrobooks.com

Reviews of A Guide to English Language Usage

An entertaining and illuminating read … shows a high awareness of learners' needs – it is clearly written by someone with solid classroom experience … The grammar sections are a strong area of the book … The information provided [on pronunciation] is accurate and relevant … the cultural information as a whole is well-presented, colourful and accurate … [it offers] clear and useful directions for learners … Modern English Teacher 18/3, July 2009*

Every English fact at your fingertips … a more than handy reference tool for all involved in imparting linguistic knowledge on a regular basis. In the author's alphabetically arranged detailed content one can only admire the spirit of Dr Johnson … it will help out when dealing with potentially awkward customers, or those keen to try out a new teacher. Wayne Trotman, ELGazette, January 2009*

When you start reading it, you are reminded of Modern English Usage by Fowler; however, in this case Peter Harvey is dealing with the reality of the foreign learner and what that learner wants to know … A Guide to English Language Usage is a good reference book for all of us who are teaching and for advanced students as well. It is worth having in our libraries. It is very practical, having been written by a teacher who knows his trade, and is highly recommendable. Liliana Russo, TESOL Spain Newsletter 34/1, July 2010*

Not just a reference book explaining the intricacies of English grammar, but also a source of entertainment for the language-lover, covering numerous areas of the culture of the English-speaking world. Dr Brian Mott, Department of English and German Philology, Barcelona University

*Full review on www.lavengrobooks.com

Send me

Dehesa de Los Llanos, a Manchego DO Gran Reserva cheese from Albacete, has won the 2012 World Cheese Awards in Birmingham and is thus the best cheese in the world. Sadly, the quality of their excellent cheese is not reflected in their English website. It is pedestrian, though not exactly bad, until the final line.

I would translate

Si desea que se le envíe en una caja para regalo, indíquenoslo al final del proceso de compra en el cuadro de "Comentarios sobre el pedido".

as

If you would like to have it sent in a gift box, let us know in the box "Comments on your order" when you finalise your purchase.

They have

If you want to be sent in a gift box, let us know at the end of the buying process in the box "Comments on the order."

Oh dear!

They with singular reference

The BBC reports (my emphasis):

A new law which will end discrimination against women in the line of succession to the British throne has been published. The Succession to the Crown Bill means the first child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will become monarch, whether they are a boy or girl.

I don't like it. I understand the reasoning behind it but it still jars. I am perfectly happy with they forms referring to pronouns such as anyone or someone, which are grammatically singular but imply a plural concept in meaning, but I feel that this is a bit too far. It has been common to use the pronoun it for babies and unborn children. I can't see that its use is any more illogical than they.

Wikipedia says:

In English, words such as it and its genitive form its have been used to refer to human babies and animals, although with the passage of time this usage has come to be considered too impersonal in the case of babies, as it may be thought to demean a conscious being to the status of a mere object. This use of "it" is also criticized when used it as a rhetorical device to dehumanize their enemies, implying that they were little more than other animals. The word remains in common use however, and its use increases with the degree to which the speaker views an object of speech as impersonal. For example, someone else's dog is often referred to as "it", especially if the dog isn't known by the speaker, or if the dog's gender is unknown. A person would rarely say "it" when referring to his/her own cat or dog. Examples:

• The baby had its first apple.
• They are taking their dog to the vet, as they said it looked ill.

"It" is still used for idiomatic phrases such as Is it a boy or a girl? Once the gender of the child has been established, the speaker or writer then switches to gender-specific pronouns.

That seems fair in reference to a particular living baby that is know but often the sex of a stranger baby is difficult to determine and in the case of an unborn one may well be unknown.

Tweeting and how to count to 140

Lavengro Books has started tweeting sections of randomly-selected text from A Guide to English Language Usage. I know that Twitter has a limit of 140 characters so I set up a Word macro to run down about two pages, select 110 characters and copy them to the clipboard, giving me space for a URL and introduction when I post the text into a file of tweets awaiting publication. I used Bitly’s j.mp alternative to pare my URL down to the bone. Here is a tweet:

RandomGELU…a great effort to do something correctly. The adjective is painstaking: After more than fifteen years of painstaking…j.mp/UBm7Zd

A check in Word shows 138 characters, the fi ligature in fifteen counting as one.

Fine! I paste this text into Twitter and find a balance of -7.

WTF is not an internet abbreviation that I use but on this occasion the idea did pass through my mind. A Google search found this page (my emphasis):

Because Twitter now applies its t.co url shortener to EVERY string of text that looks like a domain, every domain is counted as 20 characters. 19 for the t.co shortened URL, and 1 for the space. So, if you shorten your URL to 12 characters using bit.ly, for instance, AND leave out the “http://”, your URL is still counted as twenty characters.

Super, absolutely marvellous. Thank you Twitter.

That page quotes these two texts:

I am a tweet. I have exactly 140 characters. If you want to make sure that I only have 140 characters you can check for yourself. 0123456789

I am a tweet. I have exactly 140 characters. If you want to make sure that I only have 140 characters you can check for http://www.pay4tweet.com/buy.php?this_is_a_really_long_url

Word counts them as 140 and 178 characters respectively but according to Twitter they each have 140 characters, leaving a balance of 0.

Thursday eGEM: America

America can mean something different in English and Spanish.

This screenshot is from the ebook of Peter Harvey’s Great English Mistakes made by Spanish speakers. It is viewed in Adobe Digital Editions, a free reader that is required to read the ebook. When ADE is installed and registered the book can be read on any registered device. On the left is a list of contents with clickable links, and the hyperlinks in the text act as cross references.

For an explanation of the phonetic symbols used in Lavengro Books ebooks, and of the reason for using them, click here.

A collection of screen shots can be seen here.

To buy books click here.

Lavengro Books: www.lavengrobooks.com

Reviews of Great English Mistakes

An easy-to-read and user-friendly book … grammar receives careful attention … may benefit both intermediate and advanced students of English … Teachers of English may also find it useful. Fernando Chueca, TESOL Spain Newsletter 33/1, July 2009*

While [this book] is clearly aimed at the Spanish-speaking learner of English it is also valuable for the teacher of English working in a Spanish-speaking environment … [it highlights] many of the false friends which exist … Translations show the learner what words do, and, equally importantly, do not mean … with a wealth of real-life examples which are sometimes humorous, the book is very readable … There is certainly a gap in the market for such a book … of all the many English language books I have on my bookshelf, this is the only one that has a long waiting list of Spanish-speaking friends wanting to borrow it. Modern English Teacher 18/3, July 2009*

Dear Mr Harvey, Let me congratulate you on your latest book, it's what every single student of English in Spain needs. http://howadultslearn.wikispaces.com

*Full reviews on www.lavengrobooks.com

Test messages

A few days ago the feed from this blog to the Lavengro Books Facebook page stopped working. Yesterday I set about re-establishing it. In order to check it I posted several test messages. Apologies to those who may have been confused by them. They have now been deleted.

Monday eGELU: moustache, sideboards and whiskers

This screenshot is from the ebook of Peter Harvey's A Guide to English Language Usage. It is viewed in Adobe Digital Editions, a free reader that is required to read the ebook. When ADE is installed and registered the book can be read on any registered device. On the left is a list of contents with clickable links, and the hyperlinks in the text act as cross references.

For an explanation of the phonetic symbols used in Lavengro Books ebooks, and of the reason for using them, click here.

A collection of screen shots can be seen here.

To buy books click here.

Lavengro Books: www.lavengrobooks.com

Reviews of A Guide to English Language Usage

An entertaining and illuminating read … shows a high awareness of learners' needs – it is clearly written by someone with solid classroom experience … The grammar sections are a strong area of the book … The information provided [on pronunciation] is accurate and relevant … the cultural information as a whole is well-presented, colourful and accurate … [it offers] clear and useful directions for learners … Modern English Teacher 18/3, July 2009*

Every English fact at your fingertips … a more than handy reference tool for all involved in imparting linguistic knowledge on a regular basis. In the author's alphabetically arranged detailed content one can only admire the spirit of Dr Johnson … it will help out when dealing with potentially awkward customers, or those keen to try out a new teacher. Wayne Trotman, ELGazette, January 2009*

When you start reading it, you are reminded of Modern English Usage by Fowler; however, in this case Peter Harvey is dealing with the reality of the foreign learner and what that learner wants to know … A Guide to English Language Usage is a good reference book for all of us who are teaching and for advanced students as well. It is worth having in our libraries. It is very practical, having been written by a teacher who knows his trade, and is highly recommendable. Liliana Russo, TESOL Spain Newsletter 34/1, July 2010 *

Not just a reference book explaining the intricacies of English grammar, but also a source of entertainment for the language-lover, covering numerous areas of the culture of the English-speaking world. Dr Brian Mott, Department of English and German Philology, Barcelona University

*Full reviews on www.lavengrobooks.com