COMMON ERRORS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (2)

COMMON ERRORS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE  FREE SEMINAR FOR YOUR SCHOOL. Click the Register tab now COMMON ERRORS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ASCARED/SCARED

The misspelling "ascared" is probably influenced by the spelling of the

synonym "afraid, " but the standard English word is "scared."

ASCRIBE/SUBSCRIBE

If you agree with a theory or belief, you subscribe to it, just as you

subscribe to a magazine.

Ascribe is a very different word. If you ascribe a belief to someone,

you are attributing the belief to that person, perhaps wrongly.

ASOCIAL/ANTISOCIAL

Someone who doesn©t enjoy socializing at parties might be described as

either "asocial" or "antisocial"; but "asocial" is too mild a term to

describe someone who commits an antisocial act like planting a bomb.

"Asocial" suggests indifference to or separation from society, whereas

"anti­social" more often suggests active hostility toward society.

ASPECT/RESPECT

When used to refer to different elements of or perspectives on a thing

or idea, these words are closely related, but not interchangeable. It©s

"in all respects," not "in all aspects." Similarly, one can say "in some

respects" but not "in some aspects." One says "in this respect," not "in

this aspect. " One looks at all "aspects" of an issue, not at all

"respects."

ASSURE/ENSURE/INSURE

To "assure" a person of something is to make him or her confident of it.

According to Associated Press style, to "ensure" that something happens

is to make certain that it does, and to "insure" is to issue an

insurance policy. Other authorities, however, consider "ensure" and

"insure" interchangeable. To please conservatives, make the distinction.

However, it is worth noting that in older usage these spellings were not

clearly distinguished.

European "life assurance" companies take the position that all

policy­holders are mortal and someone will definitely collect, thus

assuring heirs of some income. American companies tend to go with

"insurance" for coverage of life as well as of fire, theft, etc.

ASTERICK/ASTERISK

Some people not only spell this word without the second S, they say it

that way too. It comes from Greek asteriskos: "little star." Tisk, tisk,

remember the "­isk"; "asterick" is icky.

In countries where the Asterix comics are popular, that spelling gets

wrongly used for "asterisk" as well.

ASTROLOGY/ASTRONOMY

Modern astronomers consider astrology an outdated superstition. You©ll

embarrass yourself if you use the term "astrology" to label the

scientific study of the cosmos. In writing about history, however, you

may have occasion to note that ancient astrologers, whose main goal was

to peer into the future, incidentally did some sound astronomy as they

studied the positions and movements of celestial objects.

ASWELL/AS WELL

No matter how you use it, the expression "as well" is always two words,

despite the fact that many people seem to think it should be spelled

"aswell." Examples: "I don©t like plastic trees as well as real ones for

Christmas." "Now that we©ve opened our stockings, let©s open our other

presents as well."

AT ALL

Some of us are irritated when a grocery checker asks "Do you want any

help out with that at all?" "At all" is traditionally used in negative

contexts: "Can©t you give me any help at all?" The current pattern of

using the phrase in positive offers of help unintentionally suggests aid

reluctantly given or minimal in extent. As a way of making yourself

sound less polite than you intend, it ranks right up there with "no

problem" instead of "you©re welcome."

ATM machine/ATM

"ATM" means "Automated Teller Machine," so if you say "ATM machine" you

are really saying "Automated Teller Machine machine."

ATHIEST/ATHEIST

An atheist is the opposite of a theist. "Theos" is Greek for "god." Make

sure the "TH" is followed immediately by an "E."

ATHLETE

Tired of people stereotyping you as a dummy just because you©re a jock?

One way to impress them is to pronounce "athlete" properly, with just

two syllables, as "ATH­leet" instead of using the common

mispronunciation "ATH­uh­leet."

ATTAIN/OBTAIN

"Attain" means "reach" and "obtain" means "get." You attain a

mountaintop, but obtain a rare baseball card. "Attain" usually implies a

required amount of labor or difficulty; nothing is necessarily implied

about the difficulty of obtaining that card. Maybe you just found it in

your brother©s dresser drawer.

Some things you obtain can also be attained. If you want to emphasize

how hard you worked in college, you might say you attained your degree;

but if you want emphasize that you have a valid degree that qualifies

you for a certain job, you might say you obtained it. If you just bought

it from a diploma mill for fifty bucks, you definitely only obtained it

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COMMON ERRORS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

COMMON ERRORS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

What is an error in English?

The concept of language errors is a fuzzy one. I’ll leave to linguists the technical definitions.

Here we’re concerned only with deviations from the standard use of English as judged by sophisticated users such as professional writers, editors, teachers, and literate executives and personnel officers. The aim of this site is to help you avoid low grades, lost employment opportunities, lost business, and titters of amusement at the way you write or speak.

But isn’t one person’s mistake another’s standard usage?

Often enough, but if your standard usage causes other people to consider you stupid or ignorant, you may want to consider changing it. You have the right to express yourself in any manner you please, but if you wish to communicate effectively, you should use nonstandard English only when you intend to, rather than fall into it because you don’t know any better.

I’m learning English as a second language. Will this site help me improve my English?

Very likely, though it’s really aimed at the most common errors of native speakers. The errors others make in English differ according to the characteristics of their first languages. Speakers of other languages tend to make some specific errors that are uncommon among native speakers, so you may also want to consult sites dealing specifically with English as a second language (see http://www.cln.org/subjects/esl_cur.html and http://esl.about.

com/education/adulted/esl/).

Aren’t some of these points awfully picky?

This is a relative matter. One person’s gaffe is another’s peccadillo. Some common complaints about usage strike me as too persnickety, but I’m just discussing mistakes in English that happen to bother me. Feel free to create your own page listing your own pet peeves, but I welcome suggestions for additions to these post. What gives you the right to say what an error in English is?

I could take the easy way out and say I’m a teacher of English and do this sort of thing for a living, and  I admire good writing and try to encourage it in my students.

I found a word you criticized in the dictionary!

You will find certain words or phrases criticized here listed in dictionaries. Note carefully labels like dial. (dialectical), nonstandard, and obsolete before assuming that the dictionary is endorsing them. The primary job of a dictionary is to track how people actually use language. Dictionaries differ among themselves on how much guidance to usage they provide; but the goal of a usage guide like this is substantially different: to protect you against patterns which are regarded by substantial numbers of well-educated people as nonstandard.

Why do you discuss mainly American usage?

Because I’m an American, my students are mostly American, most English-speaking Web users are Americans, and American English is quickly becoming an international standard. I am slowly reworking the site to take note of American deviations from standard British practice. However, the job is complicated by the fact that Canadians, Australians, and many others often follow patterns somewhere between the two. If the standard usage where you are differs from what is described here, tell me about it; and if I think it’s important to do so, I’ll note that fact. Meanwhile, just assume that this site is primarily about American English. If you feel tempted to argue with me, write your comment in the comment box.

Does it oppress immigrants and subjugated minorities to insist on the use of standard English?

Language standards can certainly be used for oppressive purposes, but most speakers and writers of all races and classes want to use language in a way that will impress others. It is interesting that in the debate over Oakland, California’s proposed “ebonics” policy, African-American parents were especially outspoken in arguing that to allow students to regard street slang as legitimate in an educational setting was to limit them and worsen their oppressed status. The fact is that the world is full of teachers, employers, and other authorities who may penalize you for your nonstandard use of the English language.

Not a few employers automatically discard any job application that they notice contains a usage or spelling error. Feel free to denounce these people if you wish; but if you need their good opinion to get ahead, you’d be wise to learn Standard English. Note that I often suggest differing usages as appropriate depending on the setting: spoken vs. written, informal vs. formal; slang is often highly appropriate. In fact, most of the errors discussed on this site are common in the writing of privileged middle-class Americans, and some are characteristic of people with advanced degrees and considerable intellectual attainments. However you come down on this issue, note that the great advantage of an open Web-based educational site like this is that it’s voluntary: take what you want and leave the rest.

But you made a mistake yourself!

We all do, from time to time.

360 DEGREES/180 DEGREES

When you turn 360 degrees you've completed a circle and are back where you started. So if you want to describe a position that's diametrically opposed to another, the expression you want is not "360 degrees away" but "180 degrees away."

A/AN

If the word following begins with a vowel sound, the word you want is "an": "Have an apple, Adam." If the word following begins with a consonant, but begins with a vowel sound, you still need "an": "An Xray will show whether there's a worm in it." It is nonstandard and often considered sloppy speech to utter an "uh" sound in such cases. When the following word definitely begins with a consonant sound, you need "a": "A snake told me apples enhance mental abilities."

ABSORBTION/ABSORPTION

Although it's "absorbed" and "absorbing" the correct spelling of the noun is "absorption." But note that scientists distinguish between "absorption" as the process of swallowing up or sucking in something and "adsorption" as the process by which something adheres to the surface of something else without being assimilated into it. Even technical writers often confuse these two.

ABSTRUSE/OBTUSE

Most people first encounter "obtuse" in geometry class, where it labels an angle of more than 90 degrees. Imagine what sort of blunt arrowhead that kind of angle would make and you will understand why it also has a figurative meaning of "dull, stupid." But people often mix the word up with "abstruse," which means "difficult to understand." When you mean to criticize something for being needlessly complex or

baffling, the word you need is not "obtuse," but "abstruse."

ACADEMIA

Although some academics are undoubtedly nuts, the usual English language pronunciation of "academia" does not rhyme with "macadamia." The third syllable is pronounced "deem." Just say "academe" and add "eeyuh." However, there's an interesting possibility if you go with "ackuhDAMEeeyuh: although some people will sneer at your lack of sophistication, others will assume you're using the Latin pronunciation and being learned.

ACCEDE/EXCEED

If you drive too fast, you exceed the speed limit. "Accede" is a much rarer word meaning "give in," "agree."

ACCENT MARKS

In what follows, "accent mark" will be used in a loose sense to include all diacritical marks that guide pronunciation. Operating systems and programs differ in how they produce accent marks, but it's worth

learning how yours works. Writing them in by hand afterwards looks amateurish. Words adopted from foreign languages sometimes carry their accent marks with them, as in "fiance" "protege," and "cliche." As words become more at home in English, they tend to shed the marks: "Cafe" is often spelled "cafe." Unfortunately, "resume" seems to be losing its marks one at a time (see under "vita/vitae").

Many computer users have not learned their systems well enough to understand how to produce the desired accent and often insert an apostrophe (curled) or foot mark (straight) after the accented letter instead: "cafe'." This is both ugly and incorrect. The same error is commonly seen on storefront signs. So far we've used examples containing acute (rightleaning) accent marks. French and Italian (but not Spanish) words often contain grave(leftleaning) accents; in Italian it's a caffe. It is important not to

substitute one kind of accent for the other.

The diaeresis over a letter signifies that it is to be pronounced as a separate syllable: "noel" and "naive" are sometimes spelled with a diaeresis, for instance. The umlaut, which looks identical, modifies the sound of a vowel, as in German Fraulein (girl), where the accent mark changes the "frow" sound of Frau (woman) to "froy." Rock groups like "Blue Oyster Cult" scattered umlauts about nonsensically to create an exotic look.

Spanish words not completely assimilated into English like pinata and nino retain the tilde, which tells you that an "N" is to be pronounced with a "Y" sound after it. In English language publications accent marks

are often discarded, but the acute and grave accents are the ones most often retained.

[Note: the accent marks in this entry may not display properly on all operating systems. Consult the page on accent marks to see them properly.]

ACCESS/GET ACCESS TO

"Access" is one of many nouns that's been turned into a verb in recent years. Conservatives object to phrases like "you can access your account online." Substitute "use," "reach," or "get access to" if you want to please them.

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MORAL VALUES YOU MUST TEACH YOUR CHILD

Raising a family in a society that is fast-paced and ever changing can make it confusing to know just

which values to teach your children. As a general rule, it’s up to you to teach your children what to believe, and how they should live their lives. But when it comes to teaching and instilling moral values, I’d love to pass on a few values to teach your children from a young age. These are simple and common everyday values that are quickly fading from our younger generation. Read on to discover what they are!

1. RESPECT

One of the most important values to teach your children is respect. Having worked in several daycare facilities, I’ve seen children who have no respect for authority at all. It’s exasperating to the teacher, and to the parent when they arrive to pick up their kids. By teaching your kids respect, you are doing the world, yourself, and your child a favor! Life will go much easier for them with a little respect under their hat.

2. OBEDIENCE

Obedience is something that doesn't come naturally, for any of us! It seems more “fun” to want to break the rules, doesn't it? Kids see it this way too, so you must be firm and consistent. You can reward good behavior to give your children incentive to be obedient. And be patient, sometimes this one takes a while to catch on!

3.POLITENESS

Remembering to say “please” and “thank you” isn’t a difficult task, but if kids are never taught or

reminded, they will never do it. As adults, we all know that sugar attracts more flies than vinegar! So start teaching these morals from the start and they will come naturally.

4.RESPONSIBILITY

Believe it or not, children can be taught responsibility from a young age! You don’t need to be overbearing about it, but giving your kids easy chores to do, like picking up their toys, putting away their clean laundry, or helping clear the table helps instill discipline and responsibility, two traits that will be helpful later on in life. Another way to teach responsibility is to make sure your kids brush their teeth or do their homework without being reminded

5. HUMILITY

I know this one may sound a little strange, but humility is an important aspect of life that we often overlook. Having humility has to do with not being prideful over accomplishments and achievements, but for children, it’s more about knowing to say they are sorry for acting up or doing something they shouldn’t. A good parent will always teach their child to apologize when they are wrong!

6. GOOD MANNERS

Good manners may not necessarily be a moral value per se, but you will find that for the most part, good manners are sorely lacking in the young people of today’s generation. It’s not always because the parent doesn’t teach the child, sometimes it can be due to other kids at school or daycare who have an influence on your child. Make sure to set a good example for manners at home and try to push through any influences that may be overshadowing your small one’s life.

7. FRIENDLINESS

You will find that friendliness comes naturally to most kids; it’s just their trusting nature! This is a good thing, but remember to keep a close eye on your little one and teach them the dangers of talking to strangers. Encourage friendliness and socializing when possible, this will help them down the road as they get older.

8. HONESTY

We’ve all heard it said, “Honesty is the best policy.” It’s as true today as it ever was! If you teach your children honesty from a small age, you won’t need to worry about it as they get older. One struggle that parents face is wondering how to deal with a child that will not tell the truth. If you start teaching honesty as a moral value right away, you will have no need to worry about it!

With my own sweet baby on the way, these are all moral values that I plan to teach my own child. We all have different styles of parenting, and each one is great in its own way. These morals will be helpful to your child as they become an adolescent, and on into adulthood. What moral values do you think are imperative to teach a small child?

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Why Critical Thinking IN LEARNERS CENTERED LEARNING?

Simply put, Critical Thinking is thinking while thinking to make thinking better. Critical thinking is that mode of thinking — about any subject, content, or problem — in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully, analyzing,                                                                                                            assessing, and reconstructing it. Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem-solving abilities, as well as a commitment to overcome our native egocentrism and sociocentrism.

Critical thinking is an eminently practical goal and value. It is focused on an ancient Greek ideal of "living an examined life". It is based on the skills, the insights, and the values essential to that end. It is a way of going about living and learning that empowers us and our students in quite practical ways. When taken seriously, it can transform every dimension of school life: how we formulate and promulgate rules; how we relate to our students; how we encourage them to relate to each other; how we cultivate their reading, writing, speaking, and listening; what we model for them in and outside the classroom, and how we do each of these things.

Of course, we are likely to make critical thinking a basic value in school only insofar as we make it a basic value in our own lives. Therefore, to become adept at teaching so as to foster critical thinking, we must become committed to thinking critically and reflectively about our own lives and the lives of those around us. We must become active, daily, practitioners of critical thought. We must regularly model for our students what it is to reflectively examine, critically assess, and effectively improve the way we live.

Critical thinking is that mode of thinking — about any subject, content, or problem — in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully analyzing, assessing, and reconstructing it. 

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DEVELOPING MORALS AND VALUES IN CHILDREN

Moral development shapes your child's decision-making process. His experiences from birth

help mold the morals he eventually develops. As his parent, you play a significant role in instilling the morals that you feel are valuable. From honesty and respect to generosity and kindness, your parenting techniques can help shape your little one into a moral adult.

Display Morals

Your own behavior is a powerful teacher for your child. As his parent, your actions teach your child the morals you value. It's easy to say you value morals such as honesty, respect, loyalty, kindness and forgiveness, but if you don't put those values into practice in your daily life you can't expect your child to learn them. That doesn't mean you have to be perfect. You're allowed a few slip-ups, but you should work toward truly living the morals you want your child to display. The other role models in his life, such as caregivers and friends, should also embody the traits you feel are essential.

Create a Moral Environment

The way your home and family operates affects the type of morals your child develops. If you want your child to value people instead of possessions, steer the emphasis away from material things. Spend time playing with your kids or serving the community as a family. Limit screen time for the whole family. When you do turn on the TV, choose shows that back up the morals you want to teach. Showing respect to family members and expecting it in return supports a moral environment.

Parent With Morals

The way you treat your child, from everyday tasks to discipline, affects his moral development. A child who is treated with insensitivity lacks a connection with others and may lack a solid moral foundation that helps him make decisions, according to Ask Dr. Sears. Showing empathy toward your child when he is upset teaches him to empathize with others. Disciplining in a respectful, loving way teaches him right from wrong without compromising the morals you want him to learn. For example, instead of screaming and cursing at your child, use a calm but stern voice to discipline him. Giving your child responsibilities around the house also contributes to his moral development, according to the Ohio State University Extension.

Use Real-life Situations

No matter how hard you work to model morals, your child is likely to see some poor examples. A young child's behaviors often fail to meet certain morals. He might hide the truth about how a toy broke. He may have trouble sharing. When you see these behaviors -- from your child or from others -- use the situation as a learning opportunity. Use the conversation to help your child understand the consequences of immoral behavior. For example, if he disrespects his friend by taking his favorite toy without permission and accidentally breaking it, his friend will feel sad or angry.

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