Notes on English – The Paris Savannah Connection

About Learning a Foreign Language Notes on English Cross Cultural Comments

Social Skills

Speaking a language means dialogue. A good speaker is in fact, a good listener, too. Communication is what language is all about. Whether it’s verbal or gestural, vocal or soundless.

There are unwritten rules of sociability. And character. Your manners count.

There is eye contact. After all, what is vital in communication? Trust.

Respect. Contact.

Do you smile or do you frown? Are you arrogant or open to others?

These are some of the factors that define our language. Social Skills.

“April showers bring May flowers”

Global warming or not …. here’s a … springtime saying:

April showers bring May flowers.

Sarianna’s got something to say …

SG_If_It_Aint_Broke

My iPad, their Toyota, her house… In a typical day we talk a lot about possessions: having things. The word possess is from Latin possidere, from potis (having the power) + sedere (to sit). So when you possess something, say a patch of earth, you have the power to sit upon it, literally speaking.

The English language has many terms about who has what. Enjoy this week’s words that answer “Whose what?” but it’s important to remember that the best things in life are not possessed, they are free. We don’t say my ocean, his stars, or their sun.

You can subscribe to A Word a Day here: https://wordsmith.org/awad/index.html

schedules – timing – postponing

to postpone- moving something planned to a later date. Is there a conflict in schedules? maybe we – or they – or you or I – are not ready, won’t be ready, won’t have met all the conditions for what was planned…

The interview was postponed … the meeting was postponed … the game was called off.

Sorry, I won’t be able to make it then … How about a rain check?

I didn’t hear you.

I didn’t hear you

I hear you.

Just one short verb to express so much. Hear. Pronounced just like its homonym: here.

I hear you. I understand what you’re saying …

and I’m paying attention to WHAT you’re saying. It has not only reached my ears … it’s reached my … reason. I’m taking what you’re saying into consideration.

Famous people have said this at some point in their political careers when they’re forced to listen!

Others might be … a little hard of hearing and say this:

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex18022a1.mp3|titles=I didn’t hear you]

and when it comes to the latest news … or gossip:

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex18022e1.mp3|titles=Have you heard]

and when we finally meet … one of us just might say :

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex18022c1.mp3|titles=I’ve heard so much about you]

Related Images:

Notes on English

Anglo-saxon culture & key words : guilty or not guilty?

In court, the party accused is called the defendant. A member of the jury, after deliberation, reads the verdict, the conclusion, the judgement …

There are two options: Guilty or Not Guilty. This jury has found a third …

click to enlarge

(the rights to this page belong to the artist and the New Yorker Magazine)

coup: in French, in English

From Visual Thesaurus: coup

The silent “p” in this word is the heritage of French ancestry, whence English borrows coup.

In French a coup is an act, but the feature separating a coup from any old act is that a coup is marked by success and cleverness.

English has also borrowed a number of particular coups from French, including coup d’etat, coup de grace, coup de main, and coup d’oeil.

Look it up in the Visual Thesaurus!

saying … telling … speaking … talking …

Four verbs we “do” every day. Probably because we do these things a lot !! Four verbs describing one of our favorite activities. I’ll just leave it to each reader’s imagination for the others.

You might expect me to immediately go into the differences … but I’d like to touch on some common uses of “say” first.

“What can I say?” (Que veux-tu que je te dise ?)

“Do you know what I’m saying?”

Tu me comprends?

“What would you say if . . .?”

Que diriez-vous si… Que dirais-tu si …

“I can’t say for sure.”

Je ne peux rien affirmer. Je ne peux pas te le confirmer (avec certitude).

“Say when.”

“Arretez-moi.”

George Washington

Ms. Kalman’s creation: And the Pursuit of Happiness !

And the Pursuit of Happiness … is of course, derived from the Constitution of the United States of America which guarantees citizens the rights to LIfe, Liberty … And the Pursuit of Happiness !

George … is of course, George Washington. Here’s his story as seen by Ms. Kalman!

Enjoy

And the Pursuit of Happiness !