Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

YHJ · Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 24

When A said 'Let's join that club.'
Which answer below is wrong?
1.That sounds great.
2.That's good idea.
3.All right.
4.You're right.
5.That's wonderful.

They said no 4 is wrong. But no 3 and 5 are really okay to use in this situation?

This was a question on English exam in a middle school in Korea.
I do think no 4 is the most unlikely but still not happy with the other two.
Please help me out.
Thank you in advance.

Lorikeet · Joined: 08 Oct 2005 Posts: 1877 Location: San Francisco

YHJ · Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 24

One fo the responses for "Let's join that club." really can be "That's wonderful!"

The Korean teacher who made that problem said, "Yes" as "That's wonderful." means the same as "That's a wonderful idea.", omitting idea.
This teacher asked the Korean-American teacher, get the same answer.
But still I am not totally convinced.

In some contexts, they might mean the same, but as a response for "Let's join that club."
I guess the krean teacher might not have given the context to the Amercian native speaker when he/she asked the question.

Please help me out.
It's not a matter of getting 4 more points from the test.
Let me help get the exact expression.

Do you really say "That's wonderful." to "Let's join that club?
I believe I haven't heard before,
but he/she insists he did a lot.

Your help would be grateful.

Lorikeet · Joined: 08 Oct 2005 Posts: 1877 Location: San Francisco

I'm sorry, but it isn't so easy to make "right" or "wrong" decisions in language questions sometimes, especially when usage can vary from place to place.

I personally cannot accept "That's wonderful" as the answer to "Let's join that club." There is nothing wonderful about that statement. If you said, "I joined the club." I could say, "That's wonderful." meaning it is wonderful that you joined the club. However, "Let's join that club" is a suggestion. For me, I have to say, "What a wonderful idea!" or "That's a wonderful idea!" for it to make sense. That doesn't mean that someone else won't have a different idea.

CP · Joined: 12 Jun 2006 Posts: 2875 Location: California

I agree with Lorikeet. I would not say, "That's wonderful" in answer to a suggestion to do something, but I might say, "That's a wonderful idea" if I really liked the suggestion.

The Korean teacher's belief that "That's wonderful" is the same as "That's a wonderful idea" is mistaken. They are different. Examples:

A: I just won the lottery!
B: That's wonderful! [Not: That's a wonderful idea!]

C: Let's buy a lottery ticket.
D: That's a wonderful idea. [Not: That's wonderful.]

E: I found my keys.
F: That's wonderful. [Not: That's a wonderful idea!]
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

YHJ · Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 24

Thank you.
That's what I thought.
This school is so proud of their so- called difficult problems on tests.

I thought exactly what CP said.
In that case, I believe the kid who learned speaking English in Korea, who chose the response "That's wonderful." isn't wrong.-although the other one,"You are right."is definitely not appropriate response.

Nowdays, kids learn English from their age 4~5 privately, and they will do at school from 8 probably.Some might be better than their teacher at least in speaking, as we didn't focus on speaking when their teacher grew up and studied in their university to become an English teacher.

If the teacher asked and gave the right explanation about the situation,
I believe the American teacher said the same thing. He/she might be too pround of his/her English speaking ability as he/she said from what I heard.

I don't want to make any trouble for the teacher, for anyone
but it's shame he/she didn't get what I try to mean at the first place,
and didn't think about it nor look for it more carefully.

I do know how difficult to say "yes" or "no" clearly for a question on the
spot as languages keep changing and can be very different for situations.

What happened if so proud shcool, well-known with its so difficult questions have a mistake on its exam paper in America or other Enlish speaking countries? And that problem confues a student.

I really love to ask the American teacher myself as I am not sure what the korean teacher said to him/her, but more problem can influence to the kid who raised the question at the first time in no good way, so what can I say,
I just tell him,
"Your idea about 'that's wonderful'is right but you have the most unlikely response'you are right.'and the problem didn't ask choose two responses. So you chose the wrong one. But try to say 'that's a wonder idea' instead 'that's wonderful' at the situation we were talking about.

Lorikeet and Cp, I can't tell you how much I thank you.
I wish I didn't bother you too much.

We have a bit hot weather for early May here in Korea,
how's yours?
Have a good day!

Lorikeet · Joined: 08 Oct 2005 Posts: 1877 Location: San Francisco

It's not a bother at all, and the weather here has been unseasonably hot! I think it will cool off a bit tomorrow, which is good, because we are not used to hot weather in San Francisco.