Can you spot the Chinglish mistakes?

A lot of my students make the same grammar mistakes again and again - sometimes even though they know the right answer! Why? It's a matter of habit. The passages below are in Chinglish - they're full of exactly the kind of mistakes Chinese learners make repeatedly, out of (bad) habit. 

In the first passage, the vocabulary is easier, while in the second the vocabulary is more difficult. Chinglish mistakes are pretty much the same in both passages.

Pick one that suits you and try: Can you spot the mistakes?

 Part 1 - The Marriage proposal (Easier vocabulary)

“Ken,” said the girl, “I would like to marrying you, with all my heart.”

“I am not believe you have a heart,” reply the boy. 

“Well, but, Ken, try understand me; you’ve got no money.”

“I’ve got many money! I've got twenty thousand pound. I happy to share to you.”

“You want to going to another country and take me with you, as your wife - with a little bit of money and no plan.”

“We could doing something with the money there. We could go somewhere far away, Cassie.”

“No, Ken, if I get marry, I will do it my way. I will live in a big houses with many helper and a garden. I'll go to expensive restaurant and buy expensive clothes and handbag.”

Taken from the book: The Money That Grows on Trees (Level 1)

 Part 1 - The Marriage proposal (More difficult vocabulary)

“Ken,” said the girl, “I would like to marrying you, with all my heart.”

“I am not believe you have one,” reply the boy.

“Well, but, Ken, try understand me; you’ve got no money.”

“I might not having a fortune, but I've got twenty thousand pound, and I happy to share to you.”

“You want to going abroad and take me with you, as your wife - with a little bit of money and no plan at all.”

“We could doing something with the money there. We could go somewhere far away, Cassie.”

“No, Ken, if I ever get marry, I will not go to who-knows-where to chasing a dream. I will live in a big houses with many servant and a garden. I'll go to fine-dining restaurant and buy designer clothes and handbag.”

Taken from the book: The Money That Grows on Trees (Level 2)

 

DSE in Hong Kong, CSAT in South Kore, Gaokao in China... how the education system suffocates Asian students.

Hong Kong vs Michelle Obama and the education problem

What happened

It was confusing, at the very least, to read in the news that Hong Kong teenagers attacked Michelle Obama online because extracts from an essay and a book of hers appeared on their exam paper. Since Mrs Obama does not hold any government post in HK, and certainly none that relates to education, it's hard to see how she is even remotely responsible. At the same time, to dismiss the attacks as “crazy” or the “emotional outbursts” of immature or disrespectful teenagers doesn't do the youth of HK justice. In my experience, most HK teenagers are sensible, mature and respectful. As usual, there are deeper reasons beneath a seemingly sudden storm. And, as usual, the main problem could be the (education) system itself.

The Hong Kong flow

William Deresiewicz writes in his book, Excellent Sheep: “It doesn’t matter if your parents aren’t crazy [...] because the environment is. Other people’s parents are crazy, so the whole school is crazy. And however well-intentioned teachers often are, principals and other supervisors tend to work against them. Teachers are trapped in the system as well.” That pretty much sums up what I experienced during my teaching years in Hong Kong. There seems to be immense pressure and excruciating stress for everyone involved: teachers, parents and students. And, while grown-ups in general and professionals in particular have a clue or two about coping with that kind of stress, students often do not. 

Strained parents, stressed out toddlers

When does the madness start? Well, for parents, as soon as the baby is delivered – no, conceived; they need to start planning for its education as early on as possible: securing a place to a nice kindergarten means better chances of getting a place in a nice elementary school, then a high school and so forth. In sought-after kindergartens, toddlers attend interviews and are asked, in English, to talk about themselves, their hobbies or why they want to study there. Needless to say parents are interviewed too, and far more rigorously. Worse still, they might be asked to leave the room, so the child can be tested for “independence”. A mother told me once her two-year old started crying when she left, and that meant a lower score for the child. Really, if that is where we are today, it is possible to imagine in a decade or two from now prenatal academic laboratories where, through sophisticated ultrasound devices, embryos sit knowledge-based exams and personality tests before they can be promoted to foetuses. 

The paradox

Sounds too far-fetched? Well, already ten years ago there were English classes for pregnant women or mothers with newborn babies in Hong Kong. Competitiveness thirst drives people further and further away from rational attitudes. I've known seven-year olds who were learning four languages at the same time (Cantonese, English, Mandarin, Spanish). I've known teachers who (were asked to) read out loud Shakespeare to two-year olds. I've seen kids who break down and cry – or even vomit – when asked to do more homework. And all that for what? To become better and better, one might argue; to excel and be “well-equipped” for whatever the future has in store. Fair enough. But does it work? Well, strangely enough, despite years and years of relentless homework, there are College students who spell the word “small” as “s-a-m-l-l” and the word “girl” as “g-r-i-l” - I've seen plenty of those, when teaching academic English. And I remember thinking to myself, “How can someone who is made to start learning English at the age of two or three be unable to spell ridiculously simple words when they are 18?” 

The Honk Kong grinder 

It usually goes like this: you start learning English when you're about three years old and, actually, it's quite fun till you're seven or eight. But around that time, homework starts to be much more than before and much harder than you can handle. Cracks start to form, which turn to gaps and then to wide openings impossible to even patch up, let alone close. Year after year, grade after grade, weak students become weaker, victims of a system that does not forgive those who fall behind. Year after year, they wade through course books and work books that make very little sense, they fail test after test, to be finally presented with an excerpt from Michelle Obama's memoir and asked to show some critical thinking when, in reality, many struggled to even vaguely grasp the main idea. And, my guess is, those kids are not the ones that flocked to Mrs Obama's IG account, because they are used by now, sadly, to underperform in English tests. The boiling fury came from those who were used to doing better, who expected better, and who had the means to prepare better; those, whose betterness unfortunately turned to bitterness. They did indeed have a good reason to feel upset: after a decade of back-breaking homework, tutorial centres, extra-curricular activities and a childhood basically offered as sacrifice on the altar of success, they came across a task that went beyond the abilities of even excellent students. No wonder they were angry, however misguided their frustration towards Obama.

South Korea and Asia

Speaking of student's lives reduced to school-tutorial-homework-sleep, Hong Kong is not the only place where an insatiable drive for competitiveness has robbed children of their childhood. I quote from The Korea Herald: “What’s more important is that, instead of just following what others are doing, as parents we should try to better observe and understand our kids. We must grant them the same compassion we give our friends.” Parents in South Korea pay dearly for education, and children are expected to work hard and excel. Good education means a good job, and good jobs are not always easy to come by in South Korea. Those who remember 1997, when South Korea was forced to accept a $58 billion loan from the IMF, will certainly recall as well the painstaking austerity measures that followed, and how the unemployment rate nearly tripled in the two years right after the deal. A lot of the South Koreans who are parents today, saw their own parents lose their jobs back then, and this, along with the hard-work-is-everything Korean mindset, can explain to a great extent parental obsession with academic credentials. But in a society where success in education is imperative, and celebrity teachers (who promise exactly that) are treated as nothing sort of deities, students often are under extreme stress to perform: failing is not an option. Same or similar reasons have created same or similar environments all over Asia: Japan, Taiwan, major cities in China. The economy is in bad shape, and good (or, any) jobs are scarce, so hard work now is the key to a better future tomorrow. Actually even the economy was great, it still makes perfect sense to want your children to have a good education. What makes little or no sense is the sheer intensity that education presently involves. Kids go to school to study, then to a tutorial centre to re-study what they studied at school, and then back home to study what they studied in the tutorial centre, and finally study for school next day. Study ad nauseam and ad infinitum.

IMF in South Korea - Protester Source: WSJ

Education is not data

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for education, and I've always encouraged my students to educate themselves as much as they can. But the relentless torrent of “knowledge” all day long, all year round, is not education. It's merely “the filling of a bucket,” to paraphrase Plutarch, “not the starting of a fire.” Education needs its own space, and takes its own time. Results-oriented, exam-based education is an approach that seeks to quantify what is immeasurable. Learning to accept failure, for instance, or understanding concepts like right and wrong, forming beliefs and values, developing critical thinking and sound judgment – all that cannot be part of a model that quantifies and compares brains. The point of education is to cultivate minds, not to bombard them with data. What infuriated students in Hong Kong might have been rooted in exactly that: the task of understanding Michelle Obama's thoughts was not a mere test of vocabulary, a problem that required the retrieval of methodically memorised data, but something far deeper and harder than the stuff these kids had been taught at school. It was the injustice of having done the best they could, only to be ”betrayed” by the system whose very rules they followed.

 Stutz

This Netflix movie, directed by actor Jonah Hill, talks about how our own thoughts can be healing. The movie is a relaxing chat between Jonah and his therapist, Phil Stutz. In the movie, they both look back at their lives and share useful ways of dealing with negative emotions and feelings of hopelessness. Jonah is clearly grateful for having become a better, happier person under the guidance of Dr Stutz. Both are honest with their emotions and unpretentious.

Apart from the useful tips on personal mental health, this movie can also be useful in learning English. Both men here speak slowly and clearly enough (as opposed to conversations in action-packed movies) and they talk about stuff we can all relate to. 

Let's look at a couple of quotes from this movie, with mistakes in them - and see if you can find what is wrong.

Explanation:

One mistake here is "event". After "all" you need to add -s when you have a countable noun. So, "all events". 

Another mistake is "values." The plural noun "values" means your moral values, your beliefs, what you believe to be right or wrong. But the singular noun "value" means: 

• how much something is worth or 
• how important or useful something is. 

Here, "all events have value" means that we should consider everything that happens to us as an important experience, in order to feel happier. The last mistake is "zone". Here you need the article "a" since the noun "zone" is a countable noun.

Corrections: 

You need to look at all events as having value. If you can do that, then you're in a zone of tremendous opportunity.

The second quote:

Explanation:

Here one mistake, repeated twice, is "thoughts". After "every" you need a singular noun, even though "every" means the same as "all". We say "every person", "every car", "every story" and so on. 

Another mistake is the word "choice." A lot of students, especially in Hong Kong, use "choice" as a verb even though it is a noun. The verb, and the right word here, is "choose."

Corrections:

Every thought you have is gonna affect your mood. Every thought you have is gonna be either positive or negative. So the Grateful Flow wants to choose the positives.

Doing exercises like the above may be helpful, but watching movies like this one can help you even more, in many ways: build up vocabulary (not textbook vocabulary but real life vocabulary), understand grammar and also improve your listening skills. I say, give it a try!

 5 problems of using Chinese to learn English

Have you ever, while watching an English movie, thought to yourself “Wait, this doesn't make sense?” If yes, there is a good chance you had Chinese subtitles on. And there is good reason for that confusion too: Chinese and English are hugely, vastly different languages, developed in hugely, vastly different worlds. I have the same problem when I watch Japanese anime with English subtitles, and for the same reason: Japanese and English are vastly different languages. There is no accurate way to translate John-san, John-kun or John-chan in English; one needs to be familiar with the Japanese culture and the many layers of politeness in Japan in order to fully grasp the differences.

I was watching the other day an anime which at times made very little sense, if you just looked at the subtitles: Two friends and colleagues return to the office after a business trip, and the other colleagues greet them with “okaeri” (something like: Welcome back). The subtitles read: “Welcome home”. Ok, a bit strange but still acceptable. Then the two friends reply “tadaima” 

(something like: Glad to be back) and the subtitles read: “We're home”. So, judging from the subtitles, when you return to work from a business trip your colleagues tell you “welcome home”, to which you reply “we're home”. Well, that makes very little sense. Point is, sometimes, even when there is something of a cultural equivalent, translations out of context fail to deliver. Same is often the case for books - I've seen it again and again. There is really a lot lost in translation. 

Of course, if you watch movies with English subtitles or read books in English there is also a lot lost - all that vocabulary you don't know or even whole sentences that don't make sense. But if you keep watching and keep reading in English, you are getting somewhere, in the end. You are getting better, every day. On the other hand, relying on your language in order to understand English content helps you understand (now), lets you forget (later), and gets you nowhere (any time soon).

Think of learning English as travelling to a destination of your choice. Translating from and into your native language as you learn is like joining a tour: it's convenient, you don't need to think a lot and if you don't understand something you can always ask a question in your own language. Reading, watching, thinking and speaking only in English, is like planning your own trip and going there by yourself: the planning is slow and time-consuming, and when you actually get there you're on your own. And yet, if you want to learn English, the tour is out of the question - you will always be a tourist, and never get any deeper knowledge. 

Academic research suggests as well that a monolingual environment is more conducive to learning a language. Baby common sense suggests the same: that's how babies pick up a language, by immersing themselves in mom and dad's language.

Are there any advantages in using your own language when you learn English? Yes, there are. For one thing, it is probably the way to go for absolute beginners. Also, if you already dislike English and/or find it boring but you have to study it, maybe going all-English is not for you - it might even completely kill any faint urge to study you might have originally had. In such cases, it'd be better to start learning in one's own language and gradually integrate more and more English. Finally, the most obvious advantage is that no matter what your level is, it is always easier and faster to have things explained in your own language. And it is great for understanding English content, but not so good for learning English.

What exactly are the disadvantages of using your own language when learning English? Let's look at some:

1 Reliance on your own language causes over-reliance

Depending on explanations in your own language in order to learn English is a bad habit that can become an addiction: the more you use the help, the more unwilling you are to step out of your “comfort zone” and try English-only learning. If you are used to having explanations, examples, translations, subtitles, or any other aid when learning English, then you are probably used to short bits of English followed by help in your own language. A consequence of that is you will find it difficult to handle longer texts, lengthy videos or lectures that stretch for more than a few minutes. Also, you will find it hard to hold a conversation in English or travel abroad without someone's help. 

Feeling more comfortable using your own language is very natural but, in the long term, it helps to resist this urge. It's a bit like getting out of the train and having to choose between the escalator and the steps: of course you choose the escalator, because it's easier. But if the escalator is not working, what do you do? Take the steps! Similarly, if there is no explanation to help you, then you will have to try your best with English. It's not easy, but much like the steps, if you feel weak you can take only one step at a time. 

2 Unnatural English output

When your input is a mix of two languages, your output will be a mix as well: Engrish (aka Japlish), Chinglish, Konglish, Franglais, Spanglish and so on. Language is not just a way of speaking or writing - it is also a way of thinking. Or at the very least a way of arranging thoughts into sentences. If you think a thought in, say, Japanese, then translate it in your head to English, and then express it, the result will be a mix of English words, but not really English. Here is an illustration of this theory, a sentence taken from a paper I marked many years ago. To this day, I still don’t know what it means, and no one I asked has ever been able to guess:

People like his music just like doctor and ugly.

English-based learning, on the other hand, generates English-based thoughts, which makes it easier to express yourself in either speaking or writing. Of course, the English only approach is very slow at first, but you have to think of it a bit as going to the gym to lose weight: at first you work out a lot, you sweat, but you see no amazing change; you might even think about giving up. The gym is a chore. But, if you keep going, you will eventually see more results with less and less effort. The gym now is fun.

3 Fear of speaking and writing

When you depend more and more on your native language to understand English, your English input is very limited. As a result, writing or speaking becomes not just difficult, but actually very unpleasant. Suppose you rely too much on Chinese when you study English. When you are asked to speak or write something in English, what you will produce will be an attempted translation of Chinese thoughts, as we saw earlier. This slows you down because you need to always translate in your head in order to speak and write. Even worse, if people cannot understand, you are embarrassed and even more afraid to use English. Often my students speak softly, because they think that if they make a mistake I or their classmates will not hear them. And if I really can't hear, and ask them to repeat what they said, they will immediately think they definitely made a mistake. This lack of confidence is indication of a Chinese-assisted learning environment.

4 Problems understanding difficult English

Especially learners from South Asia struggle when it comes to culturally specific, context-dependent or figurative expressions. Let's look at these one by one.

Culturally specific references typically relate to events within a country, of which people outside that country are often unaware. For example, people in Hong Kong know what “yellow umbrella” refers to; people in France know what “yellow vest” refers to; people in the US know what “MAGA” refers to. Translation here doesn't help; deeper knowledge is needed. 

A good example of context-dependent words is “set” - which can have a hundred different meanings depending on the context. You can set the table, set a deadline, set a good example, set your hair, set out on a journey, set your house on fire; you can buy a set of plates, a television set, or go to a movie set. There is no one translation that can possibly explain the meaning of “set”. And the same goes for a lot of the English vocabulary.

Understanding expressions used in a figurative way is another common problem among learners who tend to translate into their language. For example, if someone tells me “travelling is exciting” and I reply “you can say that again”, I am not asking them to repeat what they said. “You can say that again” means “I totally agree”. If I tell someone “I'm so tired!” and they reply “Tell me about it!” they are not asking me for details, they are just saying they are also very tired and they understand how I feel. The root of the problem here is exactly that learners literally translate into their own language such expressions. 

5 Limited learning options

When you depend on your own language you can only have access to translated English books, newspapers, magazines and articles, or subtitled movies, series and videos - if they ever become available. By limiting your access to only translated learnings resources, you limit your own learning potential. Even the stuff that does get translated in your own language will be by default of a poorer quality, as shown above. There are cultural elements, wordplays, technical words, idioms and so that can make certain translations very approximate. Improving then your vocabulary and grammar opens up doors to vast amounts of knowledge, as well as a better understanding of the English content and the language itself - which in turn will help you improve even more.

6 Linking words 

Another major issue that comes from being used to short bits of English followed by explanations in your own language is that, since you never get to read longer texts, you never get to understand words that need to be seen in a greater context, like linking words (in addition, however, although, besides etc.) 

But to be able to understand linking words, it is absolutely necessary to have plenty of context. And that is one reason why so many learners cannot use linking words properly. The best example here is “besides”. In over ten years, I have rarely seen it used correctly by students. Almost every student gets it wrong. The same goes more or less for “likewise” “interestingly” strangely” and so on. Especially College students need to know these words in order to write academic papers - we actually give marks specifically for that part - the use of linking words. They connect paragraphs, maintain coherence and help the reader see the logic (if any) in an essay.

So, exposure to English is important. But how to do it? There is enough material on (and off) the Internet to last you several lifetimes - some ideas are:

Reading graded readers or books you find interesting

Trying BBC English learning resources

Listening to the radio

Listening to a podcast

Watching videos on Youtube

Watching Netflix or other streaming services

Trying apps on your phone

Browsing English learning accounts on Instagram

You can find more details about all that in this blog or here, where you can also listen to the text.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or grammar you want explained, drop me a line!

Reading, listening & watching: suggestions

Picking up from the previous post, there are below more suggestions regarding what to read, watch or listen to.  

This post will be updated regularly, following current news.

English language & Education

The Power and Importance of reading

How School Makes Kids Less Intelligent

Learn English with Netflix Wednesday

Science and ethics

Why smart people are more likely to believe fake news

Scientists establish a link between religious fundamentalism and brain damage

Why do people look better in masks?

The human cost of ChatGPT

ChatGPT and the sweatshops powering the digital age

The 8 traits that can help you identify a narcissist, according to experts

The 8 traits that can help you identify a psychopath, according to experts

Society - Environment

Revealed: Facebook’s global lobbying against data privacy laws

Greta Thunberg, schoolgirl climate change warrior: "Some people can let things go. I can’t"

Life after social media: What I discovered after deleting all of my accounts

Death of the private self: how fifteen years of Facebook changed the human condition

‘It’s an emergency’: Homelessness on the rise in Hong Kong

Turkey hit by most devastating earthquake since 1999

The train derailment in Ohio was a disaster waiting to happen

Stop the boasts

Politics

Why Allen Dulles Killed the Kennedys

The Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong: a second Tiananmen?

Unlawful Killing - Princess Diana

Why Fascists Never Think They’re Fascists - but Victims and Heroes

Thailand’s national moment: Protests in a continuing battle over nationalism

Timeline: How the Arab Spring unfolded

The White Paper Revolution

The unmistakable musk of feudalism

It’s not enough to ‘cancel’ racists like Scott Adams

'It's Not an Accident, It's a Crime': Thousands March for Justice After Greek Train Disaster

Self-learning

There are several ways to improve your English outside the classroom. Here are the 10 best ways to do so, in order of importance.

1. Read a book

Reading a book is the absolute best thing you can do. But, forcing yourself to read just makes reading a chore. You should read because you enjoy it. For this to happen, you need to read something you find interesting. Also, you should be able to understand 60%  to 70% of the vocabulary. There are books tailored to match the needs of all learners. These books are called "graded readers." 

Here some publishers that offer a considerable variety:

Penguin Readers

Macmillan Readers 

Black Cat Readers

Collins readers

Alternatively, you could start with "watching" some graded readers on YouTube. For example:

Meet me in Instanbul

(look also at the many more YouTube suggestions on the right)

If you do find a book you like on the internet, I suggest buying a hard copy as these books come with explanations and exercises that are very helpful. 

2. Read anything you find interesting

Read a newspaper article, a magazine, a blog, wikipedia, opinions in a forum, an online article, a bedtime story, a fortune cookie. Read about stuff you are into: social issues, sports, the economy, real estate trends, fashion, architecture, art, politics, law, medicine, religion, business, photography, comic books, computers, AI, gardening, travelling, ornithology, archaeology, philosophy, psychology. There's a favourite for everyone. Find yours, and switch to reading about it in English.

Especially for news, there are websites like the one below that offer news in different levels of English competence.

News in Levels

3. Try BBC learning English resources

A favourite one is 6 minute English, which has been running successfully for many, many years. It is a great resource for picking up vocabulary while learning about interesting and up-to-date issues.

Another one is Words in the News, where you will also find links to News Report and Lingohack.

4. Listen to the radio

Listening to English-speaking radio is certainly more challenging, as the intended audience is not learners of English but native speakers of English. I do think at one point you should try it though, because it helps. Just listening to English helps your mind in ways beyond your perception. It's the same way little native babies learn: they spend the first couple of years of their lives doing just that: listening. 

Here's CBC Radio Canada:

CBC Live Radio

Here's dozens of online radio stations in the UK:

Radio stations in the UK

And here a few thousand online radio stations in the USA:

Radio stations in the USA

5. Listen to a Podcast

Podcasts are another great way to improve your English, especially your listening skills. Unlike radio, with podcasts you can stop and take a break, or go back and listen to part of the recording again. 

Here a wealth of podcasts:

CBC podcasts

BBC podcasts

Get a podcast

iheart

LeonardoEnglish (podcasts with script)

6. Watch educational videos on YouTube 

If there is a downside here, it's that in the abundance of videos and information Youtube offers, it may often be tedious and time-consuming to find a video that is appealing to you. Here some suggestions that have been tried in class and proven successful:

Study IELTS English by Margot Politis (there are about 100 episodes)

If you are studying for IELTS - or if you are simply learning General English - you might find these videos very helpful.

Extra English (there are 30 episodes) 

Extra English is an English learning course based on a TV show that revolves around the life of four friends in England. It comes with a book, exercises and scripts. Even though you'd have to buy the book, the 30 episodes are on Youtube and are already useful and pleasant to watch. 

Speakout Elementary podcasts (10 videos)

Speakout pre-intermediate podcasts (10 videos)

Speakout Intermediate podcasts (10 videos)

Speakout Upper Intermediate podcasts (10 videos)

One of the books I used to teach is Speakout, all levels. It comes with short videoclips at the end of each unit. Ten units for each level, so forty in total. Again, there are exercises and scripts available if you buy the book, but watching the videos is already a good start. 

Various fun videos about the English language:

Do Hong Kong professionals fail basic English?

Different accents in England

The English Language in 67 Accents

You can try the few suggestions mentioned here, or browse through the hundreds of thousands of educational videos available online. Either way, have fun!

7. Watch other videos

You shouldn't force yourself to specifically watch educational English videos. Similar to reading, it helps watching videos about stuff you're interested in. Suppose you like skin care products. Type than in the search box, and see if any interesting videos come up. Some YouTube videos come with subs; if the subs are decent (and that is not always the case), you can try turning them on. If not, better without subs, because they might cause even more confusion. 

Suggestions to get you started:

One plus One with Jane Hutcheon 

These are one on one interviews, each one lasting 30 minutes. Jane's guests come from all walks of life: professors, rock'n'roll stars, musicians, artists, businessmen, priests, authors, scientists, actors. The host is Australian, and plenty of the guests are too, but not only. I personally find the interviews relaxing and meaningful; they are also easier to understand, as opposed to Hollywood movies, because most guests speak slowly and clearly (by comparison). 

Here a couple of interviews:

Interview with Barry Humphries

Interview with Paul Nolan

Four Corners

Investigative journalism - this program has been running on Australian television for over 60 years. Journalists look into current affairs and often make uncomfortable revelations (for example, doctors sexually harrassing their patients). 

You can find more episodes here. 

Note: For each episode, there is transcript available. 

Videos that explain

Why do we yawn?

What if humans disappeared?

Are you sitting too much?

Can you erase bad memories?

Early birds vs night owls

Videos about food

63 ways to cook potatoes

Japanese girl reacts to WEIRD sushi 

What Did We Do Wrong With Dairy Products

TED videos

The secrets of learning a new language 

How language shapes the way we think

Millennials in the Workplace

Basically, if you can brave the endless bombardment of ads from Youtube, there is really a lot out there to explore. Find out what makes you tick, and start watching!

8. Netflix

You don't need to subscribe to Netflix in order to learn English, but if you already have a subscription then maybe you can try watching your favourite English speaking series with English subtitles. Or  maybe watch again, this time with English subs.

9. Apps

Since we all spend considerable time on our phones, apps can be a convenient way to learn English. Here a few suggestions. I have not myself tried any of the apps, nevertheless you can browse through them and see if one catches your eye.

ELSA

HiNative

Memrise

EnglishClass101

BBC Learning English

10. Instagram

The advantage of IG is that, because of its nature, "lessons" are kept simple: one or a few photos, or a short video, to teach a simple point. The disadvantage is that, well, when people learn something in a very short time they tend to forget it also in a very short time. 

There must be hundreds of IG accounts about learning English. Here the last few I came across:

@ssyingwen

@tetianaokyar

@cheryl_chichiki

And of course my own :)

@food4english

Final thoughts

All the above can help you with input. But what about output? Usually, that's the hardest part for learners: writing and speaking. That's where a teacher or a native speaker might be needed. Nevertheless, when one is not around, here some tips:

- call English Customer Service ;)

- set to English the language on your phone

- take a few minutes every day to keep a diary (in English)

- read out loud (e.g. from a book), ideally in front of a mirror

- record yourself speaking about any given topic, then listen to the recording

Experience tells me you are probably not going to try any of those last five tips but, well, I had to tell you anyway... (I know, it's not easy, but if you do try, you'll be rewarded!)

 I born in Hong Kong.

Several of my HK students wouldn't see anything wrong with that sentence. It took me myself several years to understand why such an obvious mistake was so persistent among so many people. 

To begin with, I knew that Asian learners often drop the verb "be" when using adjectives. So, I thought, if my students consider "born" an adjective that would explain it. The same way they say "I happy" or "He angry" or "Sorry I absent" (all of which are wrong).

But I also came to realise that actually some students believe that "born" is the infinitive or else the verb in the active voice. As in "I born, you born, he borns etc." 

That is wrong. The active verb is "bear" and the form "born" is the passive voice. To bear a child means you are (going to be) a mother. To be born means your mother gave birth to you. 

Another example of how students mistake "born" for an infinitive is how they form questions with it: "Where do you born?" they will often ask. 

The only possible structure is: be + born

I was born in 1987. 

She was born in Canada. 

Where were you born?

 Grammar issues Asian learners often struggle with

Here is a list of issues that seem to persist among Asian students. This list is the result of classroom interaction with students from Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and other cities in China; also, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand. 

If you see in the examples below mistakes you have made or still make, then maybe it's worth reading through. This blog will be looking at those and other grammar issues, offering examples, tips and explanations.

subject – verb agreement

He have to work from 9.00 to 5.00 like everyone else. Wrong

He has to work from 9.00 to 5.00 like everyone else. Right

gerunds/infinitives

I went to watching a movie last night. Wrong
I went to watch a movie last night. Right

singular/plural nouns

There were many shop and restaurant. Wrong
There were many shops and restaurants. Right

tenses

Last week I visit a really nice museum. Wrong
Last week I visited a really nice museum. Right

parts of speech

Technology has made our lives more convenience. Wrong

Technology has made our lives more convenient. Right

modal verbs (can, could, will, would, may, might, shall, should, must, ought to)

When I was young, I would swimming a lot. Wrong

When I was young, I would swim a lot. Right

forming questions 

Do you happy? Wrong

Are you happy? Right

Are you like chocolate? Wrong

Do you like chocolate? Right

be + adjective

I sorry about yesterday. Wrong

I am sorry about yesterday. Right

-ed and -ing adjectives
I felt so embarrassing when I forgot her name. Wrong
I felt so embarrassed when I forgot her name. Right

articles

She has the beautiful summer house in Taiwan. Wrong
She has a beautiful summer house in Taiwan. Right

countable/uncountable nouns

Our teacher gave us 5 homeworks. Wrong
Our teacher gave us 5 pieces of homework. Right

quantity expressions

His wife has many money. Wrong
His wife has a lot of money. Right

comparisons

She feels more better after they moved to the countryside. Wrong

She feels better after they moved to the countryside. Right

thought groups

Last summer. I went to Japan. Wrong

Last summer I went to Japan. Right

I just finished my breakfast and the weather is nice. Wrong

I just finished my breakfast. As the weather is nice, I'll walk to school. Right

language transfer 

Even though my grammar is good, but my speaking is weak. Wrong
Even though my grammar is good, my speaking is weak. Right

linkers

It was raining, so that I stayed home. Wrong
It was raining, so I stayed home. Right
Compare: As it was raining, I took an umbrella so that I wouldn't get wet (= in order not to get wet).

passive voice – active voice

I was returned home late last night.  Wrong
I returned home late last night. Right
I born 20 years ago. Wrong

I was born 20 years ago. Right

prepositions

You shouldn't shout to children. Wrong
You shouldn't shout at children. Right

relative clauses

The boy which you just saw is my friend. Wrong
The boy who/that you just saw is my friend. Right

there is / there are

There has a problem with the report. Wrong

There is a problem with the report. Right

verb patterns

Do you mind to open the window? Wrong
Do you mind opening the window? Right