Wednesday, October 15, 2008

"Any questions?"

"So...it's time to finish. Any questions?"
This moment could be the most terrified moment, for a new teacher, like me.

Today, I noticed that Syoko, an modern artist in my class, asks me interesting questions all the time.
From her archives:
"What's the difference between I have to and I need to?"
"Is there any difference between really and very?"
"Are they the same that "I want to be" and "I want to become?""
"Where should the adverbs be? Sometimes they are just before the subjects. How can we know where we should put these?"

I answers all the time (of course! That is my job!), but sometimes I am not sure my answer is precisely correct.
Because grammar has been changing day by day. Sometimes there are no detailed rules. Depends on the speaker's emotion, the language changes.

English beginners who are eager to learn, like Shoko, want to have clear explanation.
I have been trying to do what they want, but at the same time, I say to them.
"Don't hurry! Use English every day. Read a lot, listen a lot, write a lot, and speak a lot of English. Someday, you will find yourself getting "English sense.""

My students believe I have the perfect English sense. Do I? No! I am also the one who is trying to get the "sense"!!

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