English Writing "Huh?"-ism #002

Another post in my series of writing faux pas

As many of my friends and associates know, in between sales & marketing full-time gigs over the past few years, I've been doing a good amount of substitute teaching within the Howard County Public School System.

I tend to concentrate my teaching within high school Spanish and Social Studies courses, and I've been enjoying it a great deal. It's been a way to give something back, earn some  extra money, stay young, and get a ground level layman's view of the state of today's education. The latter has certainly been eye-opening (both good and bad), but that's for another post. 

Howard County is known to have the best overall student performance stats within Maryland, and the state of Maryland ranks near the top within the nation.

But alas, there is certainly room for improvement. I saw the following on an social studies instructional chart that gets handed out to students within a required high school course.


Example 1:

"Some people in China (known as Boxers) are tired of being argued about and want to be free of all foreigners."

Huh? Awkward choice of words and phrasing. Yuk!


Example 2:

"The US wants to trade with China. Other countries (Britain, Russia, Japan) only want China to trade with them."

Huh? I think they are trying to say, ". . . want China to trade only with them."

We can do better.


If you run across something you think would be good to post in this series, please email me at dcryan7@gmail.com (I'll be sure to credit you!)

English Writing "Huh?"-ism #001

This was in the Washington Post today (10/15/17), p. H13:

Fragonard's Fantasy Figures

An exhibition that presents scientific research into the mysterious series of thumbnail-sized sketches of brightly colored portraits of lavishly costumed individuals relating to more than a dozen of Fragonard's known paintings. At National Gallery of Art.

Huh?

In the Post's defense, this may be just a copy & paste from the press release they received from the National Gallery of Art, but still . . .

Fyi, this is the first of what I expect will turn out to be many fun (or sad) posts. I am not trying to be a smarty-pants snob with this. Rather, I am aware firsthand (I used to be a very poor writer myself) just how critical good writing is for success in almost any endeavor in life. This is just my small way of furthering that message. Stay tuned! 😉

P.S. If you run across something you think would be good to post in this series, please email me at dcryan7@gmail.com (I'll be sure to credit you!)

Free and fun ways to improve your Spanish

I've been making a big push over the past 6-months toward reaching my lifetime goal of becoming totally fluent in Spanish. Not quite there yet, but getting close.

Some folks have been asking me what I use to study. Below are some FREE and FUN tactics that have proven to be successful for me. (Preface: any apps I recommend below are usually avail for both computer and smartphones.) 1) First, download the SpanishD!ct app.

It's not just a great online English-Spanish / Spanish-English dictionary. There are also easy-to-access verb conjugation lists, flashcards, and a cool "word of the day" function that posts a new vocab word daily on your smartphone or whatever.

2) Get the DuoLingo app.

It has a quick-paced interactive interface. Here are some screen shots:

3) The DuoLingo folks also have a cool digital flashcard app called, TinyCards  It can be a productive way to pass time on the smartphone.

4) Some public libraries, like ours here in Howard County, MD, allow for free remote online access to Rosetta Stone.

Rosetta Stone incorporates photos of situations. The emphasis is on travel, but vocabulary and grammar concepts can be learned just the same.

Now, I personally prefer DuoLingo because I seem to be able to go faster through it. Whatever. You certainly can't go wrong with Rosetta Stone.

5) Listen to a Spanish-speaking news/radio talk station using the free app, TuneIn. You can search for Spanish-speaking stations from around the world. I personally like Radio Mitre out of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

BTW, I find that the Argentines are some of the best Spanish-speakers for Spanish students to understand. Colombians also have that same reputation. They tend to enunciate very well, and their accent is "plain." It's analogous to those learning English finding native Mid-westerners here in the States easier to understand. I always suggest that one listen to such a station in the background, like when doing yard work or chores around the house. And remember to relax, take the pressure off yourself in trying to understand everything. Start out treating this akin to drinking water from a firehose. At first, try to pickup just one or two words from your vocabulary studies. Then make it phrases. Before you know it, you will soon actually know what they are talking about. I have to credit Ms. Robinson, my first Spanish teacher in 7th grade (that's back in the Dark Ages), in first suggesting this tactic. Back then though, there were no apps of course, so I used a old shortwave radio of my dad's. I would go to sleep with the radio playing stations from Mexico, etc. 6) A variation of the above is to also listen to local Spanish-speaking radio stations while driving in your car. Even if it's mainly a Spanish music-formatted station, you can pickup a lot from the commercials. Here is a link to, El Zol, one such station in our DC/Balt area. (Zol is a play on the word Sol, which means sun).

7) Watch Spanish-speaking television news (e.g. Univision, Telemundo). You've probably already read or heard the day's news in English, so the cross-referencing to the Spanish-version of the same news, along with the graphics and video, will enhance comprehension.

8) And yeah, while on those tv channels, you have my permission to go ahead and watch those "racy" telenovelas with all the those sexy Latino stars and starlets. Below is a still from Telmundo's Tierra de Reyes (Land of Kings).

Sure, you will pick up new vocabulary -- and you can always tell your significant other that you are just working on improving your Spanish. 😉
Note: When listening to Spanish radio or television, you can also develop the technique of "breathing in" the language. Sound crazy? What I mean by that is instead of attempting to translate word-for-word, you will eventually want to transition to the point where you let the phrases just flow into your brain. It analogous to the technique of speed-reading, where one reads phrases rather than individual words. Turning that "word-by-word" switch in your head into "phrase-by-phrase" mode will greatly enhance your Spanish skills.
My advertisement: I do a lot of substitute teaching of Spanish, including long-term stints, with Howard County Public Schools in Maryland. I also offer tutoring. Sure, there are advantages to having a native-speaker for a tutor, but just like great NBA players don't always make for the best coaches, there is also an advantage to having a tutor who knows first-hand the "struggle-points." If you wish to discuss my working with you or your student, please reach out to me at dcryan7@gmail.com