Hi All, I am an English Language enthusiast and I have dealt extensively with English language matters. I feel I can help anyone who has issues with the language clear up those issues PROFESSIONALLY. I therefore offer to tackle any issues you may have with English as a social service to help improve the use of the language. Do give me a try, I promise to do my best for you. Please note: this service is absolutely without strings attached. Thank you.

Sir, I salute u. Please give me a guide on how to tackle STRESS in English Language. Thanks.

Sir, I salute u. Please give me a guide on how to tackle STRESS in English Language. Thanks.

Sir, I salute u. Please give me a guide on how to tackle STRESS in English Language. Thanks.

U do well o (sorry pidgin english) i think thats nice of you to begin such an initiative, my question is are there marked differences btw american and canadian english variants?

@davmor
The trick to handling stress effectively lies in (i) understanding the syllable structure of words in English (ii) understanding that one syllable in any polysyllabic word is pronounced LONGER, LOUDER and with GREATER emphasis than any other syllable. Also, I need to mention that stress is done with the ear and not the eye. In other words, you need to listen to someone correctly stress a word to learn how to correctly stress that word. For example, we usually say SUCcess when in fact the right stress is sucCESS.

It also helps if you can read phonetic transcription that you find in dictionaries - especially the Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary. I hope this helped. I wish I could give you practical lessons. In any case, let me know how else I can help. Thank you for writing (or perhaps I should say, POSTING?).

@ SLIGHT
There certainly are differences between American and Canadian English but I don't think such differences are as marked as you would find between American and British English. Spoken American English has a distinctive R slurr to it that you don't find in Canadian English. Having said this, however, I should also mention that variety in English exists at various levels: spelling, pronunciation, accent, grammar, etc. I can't claim to have the full inventory of variance for Canadian English. But basically, an American and a Canadian won't have any communication issues when they speak or write to each other. Does this help?

@cdz, very impressed over your explaination. Can you please guide me on how to tackle: best explaining of an idiom or sentence. Thanks.

@davmor
When you say "best explaining of an idiom or sentence" do you mean explanation of the meaning of the idion or sentence, or explanation of what an idiom or sentence is? Please clarify. Thank you.

Am so sorry for the complications. I mean in cases like (the teacher managed to present a speech despite the/his critical situation), they will ask you in an exam to select among the options, which best narrate the above statement. I just need to know the secreet of answering that kind of question. Thanks.

Thanks cdz that was helpful, i am leaving for canada soon so i thought it would be best to ask.

@ CDZ,

I often use been and being wrongly when writing. Please explain to me how to use them correctly.

Thanks in advance for your time.

@ No Wee
Think about 'being' and 'been' in terms of the verb, 'eat'. The progressive form of eat (and of any verb for that matter) is eating; as in 'I am eating now' and the prfective form of the verb is 'eaten; as in 'I have already eaten'. So, whenever you use the verb, 'be' and you are talking about something that is currently happening, use '-ing' with it (being) and when you are talking of something that has already happened, use '-en' with it (been). For example, 'He is being arrested as we speak' and 'He has already been arrested'. Please note, also, that when you say something like, 'I have been trying to call you.' the form to use here is 'been'. An easy way to remember this is that only 'been' works with 'have' or 'has'; 'being', on the other hand, works with 'am, is, are, was, were, etc.' Note also that you can only say 'Being honest pays' and not 'Been honest pays.'

I hope this helps. Do let me know if you still find this pair confusing I'll try harder. Thank you for posting.

@ davmor
I really don't think it's a good idea to approach English language issues from an exam perspective. I'd rather you devoted your time and attention to understanding the various nuances of the language. An exam will only serve to confirm your level of learning in the language. However, the type of question you are talking about deals with expression issues. For example, one such question reads: 'I would help you if I could.' The right answer to the correct interpretation of this statement would be: 'I can't help you and so I won't.' Examiners usually throw in other confusing options like: 'I want to and so I will help you.' The best approach is to focus on the expression itself, ensure that you understand it, form an answer in your mind and, then explore the options provided. It might also help to make a habit of treating past question exercises on similar questions as this will grow your familiarity with such expressions in addition to making you see how competent you have become in solving expression problems in English.

Many thanks for your post.

Am so happy for directions, I shall not view my learning in exam conner again. Thank u. I also thank you over 'being & been' u ve just explained for my researcher.

thumbs up for the work u are doing and also for this thread. i'm actually a good english stud but my weakness lies in the oral aspect of english i.e test of orals. i will like u to explain the basic principles of this aspect

@Ikechukwu09
Ikechukwu, the core of the test of orals aspect of English is clear knowledge of the sounds of English. Basically, this aspect of the language may be divided into two broad categories: Segmentals and Supra-segmentals. At the segmental level you have consonant sounds and vowel sounds while the supra-segmental level deals with syllable structure, stress, intonation and rhythm. However, as a student, the starting point for you should be a good knowledge of the consonant and vowel sounds of the language. Essentially, this entails knowing the phonetic symbols and the sound that each symbol represents. It doesn't help to do oral English from a spelling perspective because it is the sounds of the language (as represented by phonetic symbols) that we invent letters of the alphabet for and not the other way round. In other words, it is what we say that we try to spell. Spelling comes from speech sounds and not speech sounds from spelling. For this reason, a single letter of the alphabet can represent different sounds of the language. But, on the other hand, each phonetic symbol represents one and only one speech sound. For example, in primary school they teach you that 'A' is for 'apple' but latter in life you realise that the same 'A' is for 'ape', 'altar' and 'are'! You need a good teacher who is a specialist in phonetics and phonology to help you see how easy and exciting this aspect of English is. This is also an aspect of the language that cannot be taught with chalk and talk. You need multimedia resources for effective teaching of speech sounds. In a nutshell, Ikechukwu, get an Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary and study the phonetic symbols at the back of the dictionary. This is a good starting point. Above all, seek to understand the correct pronunciation of English words and make a habit of pronouncing English right. Best of luck.

i am aboard

CDZ pls i want you to clear me on this "few" and "a few" and "little" and "a little" were and when to apply them.

@CDZ,Kindly clarify this.

This is a popular line on the radio
"See the newspaper or visit our website for more details"
Should 'nt it read,see the newpaper or visit our website for details?
What is detail if "more" must be used in this context?

guy clear me

@Cdz, great job!
I'll really appreciate it if you can explain in detail what LOGIC is. And at the same time, the 2 basic types of arguments which are deductive and inductive arguments. Syllogism is another thing to be examined. Thanks in anticipation!

@Sizzlers
I'll try to cut straight to the chase on this one and see if it helps. 'I need little help to succeed' and 'I need a little help to succeed' are two senences that are similar only in structure but very different in terms of meaning. The first, (I need little help to succeed) means that I can actually succeed on my own (with or) without any assistance. The second, (I need a little help to succeed) means I cannot succeed unless I get some assistance. On the other hand, 'few' means 'not many' and 'a few' means 'a small number of'. For example, 'Few people believe that hardwork pays' means that there are not many people who believe in working hard. 'A few people believe that hardwork pays' means that only a small number of people believe in hardwork. Furthermore, 'I need little money to carryout my plans' implies that money is not really a problem. 'I need a little money to carryout my plans' means that money is a factor in executing my plans. However, the money required is minimal. Does this help? Sorry it took this long to respond.

Reminder.

@CDZ,Kindly clarify this.

This is a popular line on the radio
"See the newspaper or visit our website for more details"
Should 'nt it read,see the newpaper or visit our website for details?
What is detail if "more" must be used in this context?
Better still,instead of more details cant it read additional information?

@ Kx
That's a rather keen observation that you've made there. However, please don't be in much of a hurry to tag any expression wrong. While it is true that some expressions are clearly wrong, some others that may seem wrong may actually be right based on their CONTEXT of use. For instance, the noun 'detail' has a count and a non-count variety. If you use 'detail' in its non-count variety (note: non-count = cannot be made plural directly), then of course your observation is correct as 'more details' will certails be an infringement on the element of number. In the non-count sense, 'detail' means the minute characteristic(s) of anything. However, if 'detail' is employed in its countable form (in which case it means information concerning anything), then of course 'more details' would be correct. What do you think?

Thanks for the response.I guess am open to collective/superior reasoning.

@Tunnex190
That's a bit of a handful of questions you posted there. Perhaps if you told me what your area of interest was, I could better understand the perspective from which you approach the term, LOGIC. If you're a Mathematician, for instance, the term would certainly have a different colouring for you as opposed to, say, if you were a language student, a computer scientist or a student of Philosophy. Personally, I'd restrict myself to logic as it concerns language: spoken and written. In this sense, I'd be more in the field of Semantics.

@tunnex, our Englist Master has vibrated. U should make de LOGIC, specific.

@ CDX Thanks so much for the elaboration i appreciate

Thanks for your response. I am talking about LOGIC in the field of Semantic. Tell me what logics, premises, ground, conclusion, syllogism are in logic with good examples and the type of arguments- inductive and deductive arguments.

@Tunnex190
Again, your post is a bit loaded and strikes me as something that'll require a textbook to solve. I have done some digging, however, and come up with stuff that I think you might want to read? It does help me a great deal to keep questions single and to one point at a time, but, since yours is kind of multi-dimensional, see if this helps:

Thanks a lot, i'll read it n' get back to you soon