This post is about teaching english, ESL style.
You learn things about language teaching it. Speaking your native tongue is like fucking voodoo, I swear to god. You can use these things called words perfectly everytime, only you have no conscious idea how they actually work. Much like ESL, this can only be explained with examples. You are a teacher. Your student has a question.
"What's the difference between bring and take?"
What do you say? You look up and to the left. You open your mouth slightly, but no words come. Six seconds is an eternity, but still not long enough for you to find the answer. You're supposed to be a professional english teacher.
The impatient student asks, "So do I say "Take it to the party" or "Bring it to the party"?"
"Both are ok," you say. "They're the same."
And you'd be wrong. A really fucking good teacher will say:
"Take is like go. Bring is like come."
There's evidence. You can come to me. You can bring me that book. You can't go to me, you can't take the book to me.
Have you ever thought about that before? I swear teaching english is like being asked how to walk. You just do, you don't know how. Only english isn't like walking, it's like moonwalking - it often doesn't make logical sense, and there is no why, no reason other than pure lunacy.
For example, at 60km/h, why can you be riding on a train but not riding on a taxi?
Why can you make a new friend but not make a new girlfriend?
I swear, I'm switching to Esperanto.
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2 comments:
Esperanto? If you really want a clear and unambiguous language then you should try lojban.
Of course I couldn't think of a more sterile language. How are you supposed to insinuate a double entendre in an unambiguous language?
It should be: "You learn things about language WHILST teaching it."
I think you can ride ON a train because the word for our modern trains (which one rides IN) has remained the same as when the word "train" first came into use, when people only ever rode ON things (horses, buggies, etc). Enclosing the descriptive human withIN travelling technology was unheard of when the train was first invented. Also, the word 'train' wasn't invented specifically for the technology it was used to name, and so the grammar surrounding its mechanical train-related use wasn't able to be changed simply to accommodate the riding position of the describing party.
In short: I don't know. Next question please.
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