Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mindmetoo]

You hear even a lot of native English speakers say "dude, borrow me your pen". And even I had to look up the rule on the net, although I never err in my use of lend/borrow.

Anyway, you can teach a kid "use lend when the person doing the giving is the subject of the sentence and use borrow when the subject of the sentence is the person getting something". But like that will probably mean ***** all to a kid 2 minutes after you say it.

I think for most native English speakers, we don't follow a rule, we just know it from use. Will you please lend me $5 til Tuesday. Can I borrow your car?

Anyway, I broke my piggy bank, so to speak, and hauled a bunch of 100 won and 500 won coins to class. I pair the kids up. The first beggers I gave them each 500 won coins. The follow on pair I gave them each 200 won in coins. 200/500 won is a good figure because the beverage machines at school charge 200 won for a milk/hot coco and 500 won for a Pepsi (bleck).

You then tell the kids they have to use lend/borrow to get the coins from the other child. The other child of course gets to use lend/borrow to get the coins back.

"Nathan, use 'lend' to ask Nick to give you 500 won."

"Nick, please lend me 500 won."

"Nick, use 'borrow' to get Nathan to give you the 500 won coin."

"Nathan, may I borrow 500 won."

etc.

If one of the kids blows it, the other kid gets to keep both coins.

You can also ask them to use "I" or "You". "Use 'I' and either 'borrow' or 'lend', which ever is correct, to get Nick to give you 500 won."

The reason I give the first pair 500 won coins and the rest 200 won each is a) to save a bit of money b) the first out of the chute have the hardest job. If the little batards were paying attention, their challenge is a bit easier.

[Arthur Fonzerelli]

[eamo]

Why not just "lend" the kids the coins? Do they need to keep them to learn the lesson?

[mindmetoo]

[mithridates]

That's a good idea...it reminds me of something I do from time to time to teach them how to answer a yes or no question.

Me: Do you have any brothers?
Student: No.
Me: So you have no brothers?
S: Yes.
Me: Oh, so you have brothers!
S: No.
Me. Ah. You have, no brothers!
S: Yes.
Me: What? You have brothers?

and so on...what happens is that one kid will jump in and help, whispering to him "Yes��� �ϸ� ������ �ִٴ� ����, No��� �ؾ���...". Usually after about five times they get it, and then I practice on each and every one of them. The reason why I do it on every one after they have learned it is that it involves the removing of an instinct they have built deep down. There's always a bit of resistance; I can tell they want to say yes, I have no brothers (or whatever else the question might be) but they have to resist the temptation.

[kangnamdragon]

[jajdude]

Nope I never heard it before (from a native speaker) either.

You lend to me.

I borrow from you.

Is it like "give" or "send" ........... and "receive" or "accept"?

[Ya-ta Boy]

I think the OP's idea is great. I'll happily steal it the next time lend/borrow comes up in class.

I taught high school. Lots of kids confuse lend/borrow in spite of being native speakers. Lots.

[mindmetoo]

[VanIslander]

I have a cup full of sharp pencils and a pile of erasers.

The students just have to say "May I borrow a...?" to get whatever, after which I often ask another student "What did I do?" to get "You lent him a pencil." (varied question: 'What am I going to do?")

It works like a charm, everyone is happy and I get the pencils back afterwards (after all, they only borrowed it - no confused messages).

BTW, I give out coins only as prizes when we play "The Money Game": I present a few coins in my hand and ask "How much is it?" and the student has to say a perfect sentence in terms of grammar and pronunciation in order to win the booty.