Teacher Discussion Forums

Once upon a time, whenever I saw learned, the first word to spring to mind was the adjective learn-ed (as in a learned professor), but age has mellowed me and I now use context to decide which it is.

I would say that when a journalist says "common sense dictates" it's because they want to peddle a line without bothering to explore proper arguments. This happens in the British press al the time.

When I was at uni doing Spanish, it was common practise to have a (small) drink before an oral exam.

Given the training they provide (which you have to pay for IIRC) isn't valid outside their franchise, and completing their course is no guarantee of work in one of their schools, I can't see how anyone in their right mind would touch them with a barge-pole.

They forget the word curry!

woodcutter wrote:So no saying "infinitive" in class either, do you hear?

I avoid using the term "infinitive" in class as I think the students mix up the various form enough already without my encouragement.

I once asked a middle-aged American expat about this, and he sad that he considered the "did" form to be uneducated, though I suspect it may have become more widespread since he moved abroad.

Smirt exists as well: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=smirt My memory is a bit hazy on this, but isn't there more than one reason why one "word" can acquire more than one meaning? In some cases, a word can have similar meanings which diverge over time, or a word's pronunciation can e...

Serious boyfriend didn't cause me to raise an eyebrow and I'm in my mid thirties.

Maybe she has a serious boyfriend and a silly one. That would be the best of both worlds

I once worked in a language school on the South Coast of England where all male staff had to wear ties, except on the hottest days. A local department store was having a sale, so a went there and bought the most lurid, garish, outrageously vile clashing-coloured tie I could lay my hands on. Happy da...

For every teacher who "struts to work in a shirt and tie", there's one who tries too hard to look cool and turns up like they would for a rock concert. And they're both acting like prats. I remember having a long discussion about this on my Dip course, and the general consensus was that people do ju...

1 and 4 irritate me too. Also free gifts and local residents

Incidentally, given the events of the last few months, has financial expert become an oxymoron?

If the Present Perfect ever did die, this sort of thing would be impossible:

I've heard of the Past Simple displacing the Present Perfect in American English, but I can't say I've heard of the phenomenon you describe in Ireland. I don't know Irish, but wonder if it could be some influence from the indigenous language.

Hi Larry! Nice to hear from you again. I agree it's badly worded, and needed to re-read it a few times with stresses on different words to get any sense out of it. I figured that had is short for had welcomed and so he must be Massingham, simply because otherwise it would mean He hadn't expected it,...

The trouble is that it would be nearly impossible to construct a study that could take all the other variables apart from age into account, so I doubt a definitive answer will be forthcoming any time soon.