₦airaland Forum

Seriously, what the heck is this? We must really think higly of Saidi Balogun to consider his manners towards women important. Just how much civilised culture does the fellow have? Plus, who's he? Just wondering.

@ Mr~Cork
Sometimes U sound smart, sometimes U don't. U don't have to be Ibo, Yoruba or Hausa to abuse women. Like all bad habits, it knows no tribe.

The English equivalent in the context you have used it is either 'itch' or 'prick'. In isolation, however, equivalents can include 'stab'. This is just one of those rather interesting non-English expressions we use. Another is 'paining, as in: My hand is paining me. There's no such verb in English.

In saner climes, the lady in question'd resign honourably in deference to the millions of people whose investments she wasted (poster inclusive) and submit herself for investigation especially if she's convinced of her innocence. At the least, she'd tender a public apology to those whose money went up in smoke as a result of her ineptitude. We must face the consequence of our (in)actions.

people must understand that the crash of the NSE had little to do with the global economic meltdown. The crash here was due largely to roundtripping, artificial inflation of share prices and other inane myriad sharp practices perpetrated by cheap crooks here. Nigerians must understand that you cannot abuse a system for ever: it crumbles at some point. This is the same sense in which we point to the international market in our bid to increase the pump price of fuel. But when the global price drops, our price remains constant and NEVER drops. Methinks our local economy defies the standard economics logic of demand and supply.

I think we're missing the point. True: the President has the right to facebook. True: he has the right to change his mind. But: to change your mind, you need to have a mind in the first place. Why did he ban the team in the first instance? Was it for opinions on facebook? If yes, he's right to rescind the same decision for opinions on facebook. But if no, have the reasons that influenced his initial reaction changed? If not, why the U-turn? Fear of FIFA? What the heck is FIFA?

Believe me people, you don't want a President without a mind of his own.

Your point?

To be honest, I never stopped wondering what exactly it was that banks manufactured and sold to pay the kind of jumbo salaries and allowances that they paid. I think it's just common sense that sustainable business is one that is clearly seen to create tangible value for society. Besides, bankers should add to their list of ethical considerations the question: "Is it right?" and not just "Is it profitable?". The only thing that works is truth and the only thing that is sustainable is real value. All falsehood have an expiry date. Truth has come home for our banks and beneficiaries of a hitherto irrational system wear a mournful look. My heart goes out to all men of good will adversely affected by the turn of the tide.

Still here and will place a fresh post soon.

Hi all,
I'm still here.

@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:

@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.

@ 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?

@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.

@ agoro2u
Thanks. I have it in a new thread titled, English Language Issues. It is under 'Education'. Do check it out.

@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.

@ 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.

@ 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
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.

@ 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?

@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?).

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.

My email is chido_ahumibe@yahoo.com. Better still, you could post your question right here on this forum.

Cheers!

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.

Please how much will it cost to land a Golf 3, mannual tranny, full options and good mileage?

Pliz how much gets a Golf 4 (full options) to Lagos? Thnx.

more pics and info pliz.

This is becoming a bit of a hard sell don't you think? Perhaps your price isn't particularly right. Why don't you have a rethink and come up with a reviewed price for us. Frankly speaking, I don't see how anyone'll pay what you're asking for this car. I want a Golf 4 but it really needn't cost so much. Let's know what your new price is before we abandon this thread.

Cheers.

Plz how much will it cost me to get a clean Golf 4, low mileage, silver colour and full option?

What do you say to 750? I think this offer is fair enough. I'm really interested.