Teacher Discussion Forums

Guys, So let me summarize what the responses were (and pls correct me where I am wrong): SIMILE: a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared. A simile draws attention to itself by using adverbs such as *as* and *like*. ==> As skinny as a stick METAPHOR: a figure of speech,...

Roger,

Wow that is pretty scary what you said about Shenzhen Polytechnic - the death of the teacher I mean! Besides this, what is the school like? And how does it treat it's foreign teachers?

~Jennifer

Guys, Not sure if it is the appropriate place to discuss the SARS issue @ this forum. Hehehhee... anyway here is my opinion. I think SARS is indeed a serious issue. However, SARS is a virus - thus if you think about it - it is really part of life. We, in Oz (Australia) have reports of flu viruses ev...

Sita,

One of the difference is that "however" is more formal compared to "but". Thus when writing a formal document, I would be more inclined to use "however".

~ Jennifer

Ahhhhhhhh.... that was the other word I was trying to scramble for in my head - METAPHOR. Based on the little grammar I learnt in Oz, I remember there being a distinct difference b/w a SIMILIE and a METAPHOR? Can anyone help there?
~ Jennifer

Saram,

According to the English Grammer in Use (Cambridge University Press) they are phrasal verbs.

Hope that helps!

~ Jennifer

Vero, As a native English speaker, both are statements sound correct. But I wonder if grammatically they are correct? This I cannot help you with! :oops: Also do the sentences have slightly differently meanings/connotations? Guys we need more help here! I think I raised more questions than were answ...

Phil, Yes that was what I was getting at initially. As I remember idioms are a collection of words that don't mean what the individual words suggest - and as you indicated the meaning of phrases such as "skinny as a stick" is quite close to what the individual words mean. Thanks - your points make t...

Toyboatt, China is always an experience - that's why I like it so much! Originally I was going to teach in Guang Zhou too, but I have put it on hold - SARS being one of the reason. Do you feel at danger being in the midst of it? Also have you heard of Shen Zhen Technical College? Is this thread goin...

Guys, I think it means the child has ginger (coloured) hair. If I was the writer and wanted to state that the old woman had ginger hair then I would possibly write the sentence as: * I saw an old woman with a child and with ginger hair. OR * I saw an old ginger-haired woman with a child. ~ Jennifer

Strider,

Yes I have also hear the SAR (Special Automonous Region of HK / Severe Acute Respirtory Symptoms) joke from my fellow Hong Kong friends. Whether the Chinese Government finds this embarrasing or not - I am not sure.

Let's just hope this SARS thing is controlled quickly.

~ Jennifer

James, I agree with you totally - about memorizing or getting use to commonly used phrases. While I am not a teacher by trade, I do spend alot of time teaching my fellow friends spoken English. And lately I have been teaching them idioms. Ones like "a piece of cake", "bite the bullet", "fair go", "r...

Joon, Another thought, sometime people will cross their finger when they are about to lie to a promised they just made. It is an old fashioned thing, but sometimes you will see it in on TV. For example when person A has just promised person B something, person A will at the same time cross his/her f...

Joon,

You can simply say "good luck" on its own. I myself don't cross my fingers when I wish my friends luck.

However, when the fingers are crossed - usually it is proceeded with the statement "fingers crossed". Also I think it is used more by young children.

~ Jennifer

Joon, I think both sound acceptable. Whether they are grammatcially correct or not - I am not sure. But the two sentences do have slightly different meaning. The first statement using EARLIER, emphasises that it happened before today. The second statement using EARLY, emphasises that it happened ear...