The Use of Time Markers Part V: The Use of Past Continuous

Before we get into this topic, I would like to introduce you to this clip of a stunning upset of Georgia Tech against Florida State in American football. Have a look at the clip and come up with some sentences using past tense.

 

While you are writing some sentences our topic for the use of time markers is solely American football. The sport was introduced in 1869 through a football game between two Ivy League colleges: Rutgers and Princeton. The game consisted of a round ball, two goal posts with an end zone each and lots of tackling. But most importantly, the rules introduced by William Leggett but later modernized by another Ivy League student, Walter Camp, would eventually be integrated into the rules used in today’s sport.  The first professional league was created in 1892, yet the National Football League came into being in 1920 and counting the merger with the American Football League in 1969, is one of the oldest leagues in the world, with 32 professional teams and one of the most watched sporting events in the world, the Super Bowl. College football in America is just as popular as the NFL due to its income coming from sponsors, promotions and through college football games, including all the bowl games- most notably: The Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Citrus Bowl, etc. It also features the college marching band, which provides their home team with a round of support.

Source: Thomson200 [CC0]

While we will get to football at a later time, have you had a chance to come up with some sentences to this upset?

Some of you may have taken the easy route and written the following down:

The kicker tried to kick the ball

The defender blocked the ball

Another defender picked up the ball

That defender ran it in for the touchdown

Georgia Tech won the game.

 

Some may have been more artistic in their sentence construction and wrote something similar to the following:

As the kicker was kicking the ball, it was blocked by the defender.

While the ball was rolling along, another defender picked it up.  He was running towards the end zone when the players from Florida State tried to tackle him.

At the end of the game, the crowd was celebrating Georgia Tech’s victory.

This is where the grammar aspect comes in. The more artistic a sentence in English is, the more you can find some spots in grammar that warrant explanation. In this case, we have the words: as, while, when and a certain specified time, plus the verb forms of was + verb with –ing.

Source: SteelCityHobbies, taken in 2006 for flickr and wikiCommons

 

And this is our topic today: Time Markers involving Past Continuous Form.

Past continuous functions in a similar way as with present continuous, using the “to be” form plus the verb with the –ing ending on it. The continuous functions in a way that it describes what the person is/was doing in a time frame.  The difference between present continuous and past continuous is the following:

Present continuous:

Verb construction:	Is/are + verb-ing =>  is watching; are doing
Use:	Activities that happen now/ at this moment Future tense in connection with (short-term) planning

 

Past continuous:

Verb construction:	Was/were + verb-ing =>  was driving; were walking
Use:	Activities that happened during a certain time frame before or after a an event in the past tense that was finished.   Examples: 1. I was watching TV when you called. 2. When you called, I was watching TV   3. While I was waiting for the train, my girlfriend called. 4. At this time last night, I was driving home. 5. As I was backing out, the driver hit me from behind.

The third difference between the present and past continuous forms are the time markers. There, when looking at the list below, one can see that there are more time markers in the former than in the latter, whereas the in the latter, the time markers there are used exclusively, while they are rare to use in the former.

Time markers:

Present continuous	Past continuous
(right) now, currently, at the moment, momentarily, these days, nowadays, at present/ at the present time/ presently, today, while, this (week, month, year), in this era/period…	While, when (as a dependent clause), as, during the time…., This time/period, certain specified time: last week, a couple days ago, on 23rd December, at 9:30 last night, etc.

 

One can also say that some of the elements in past continuous can also be used for past tense, yet one needs to pay attention to the context. That means normally, past tense is the primary verb tense used for sentences, whereas the past continuous is a supplement to the main sentence. Therefore it is normal to see a past continuous being used when the time markers of while, when, as and during are used, as seen in examples in the table above. They normally do not stand out alone unless a certain time period is used and serves as a “substitute” to the past simple verb tense.

Examples:

I was walking to the grocery store last night. – Past Continuous

I walked to the grocery store last night. – Past Simple

 

I was walking to the grocery store last night when I heard a strange noise.- Possible

I walked to the grocery store last night when I heard a strange noise.- Not possible

 

When I saw the person breaking into the store, I called the police.- Possible

While I saw the person breaking into the store, I called the police.- Not possible

 

Source: Keith Allison. Photo taken in 2017 (wikiCommons)

Exercise A:  The Choice-  Look at the sentences below and determine which highlighted part of each sentence is past simple or past continuous. Identify the time markers in each sentence.

1. Last night, our football team lost in the playoffs finals, and the crowd was heartbroken.
2. It happened when the quarterback was trying to throw the ball and it was intercepted.
3. The wide receiver was wide open as the quarterback was throwing the ball to him.
4. The linebacker, who was being blocked by an offensive lineman, suddenly reached up to tip the ball.
5. While the ball was bobbling in the air, another linebacker saw it and reached up to grab it.
6. After he caught the ball, he landed on the ground and started running.
7. As he was running towards the end zone, several offensive players of the opposing team tried to stop him.
8. When he saw an opening, he quickly broke free.
9. While he was running towards the end zone, the noise of the crowd got louder, as the fans were cheering for him.
10. He suddenly reached the end zone and scored, as the finals seconds ticked to zero.
11. After he scored, he collapsed and the other players ran towards him.
12. During that time, he was trying to gasp for air because he ran so hard and so fast despite his weight.
13. My team started crying because we were leading by one point with four seconds left on the clock.
14. The fans of the winning team was racing onto the field as time ran out.
15. I still cannot forget the game today, because we were so close to winning but we were facing frontal winds during the whole game.

 

Exercise B: Unscramble- Unscramble the following words and form a complete sentence using the correct verb tense (past continuous/present continuous/past simple). HINT: Identify the subject, verb and time marker first before proceeding with the sentence construction!

Marshall

game

go

between

tonight

football

Jackson

we

to

and

the

homecoming

win

of

November

last

in

Marshall

last

game

the

year

snow

fans

freeze

whole

players

it

the (2x)

game

during

and (2x)

lead

by 3 points

Jackson

when

take over

Marshall

in the last minute

running back

wide opening

end zone

on the first play

find

ball

into

run

the (2x)

into

the (2x)

problems

have

slippery

Jackson

both

football

Marshall

with

during the game

players

slide

field

go on

the (3x)

as

around

even

game

players

look forward

game

fans

the (3x)

to

and

this year

Saturday

the

take place

warm

afternoon

on

in

game

weather

sunny

 

10. (!): Two sentence construction: Bold printed words are for the first half of the sentence. Please unscramble those in the top row first before unscrambling the bottom half that is for the second half!

sloppy	win	last year	Marshall	the	sloppy	after	game
Jackson	to	this	look	game	forward	win

 

Exercise C: Fill-in

Using the verb in parentheses, complete each sentence using either the past simple or past continuous. !: Please pay attention to the time markers in each sentence. HINT: Identify them first before completing the sentence.

1. Theo _______________ the chip dip for the party when his best friend called. (prepare)
2. Clyde’s first day of football practice _____________yesterday at the high school football field. (begin)
3. While I ____________ busy bringing down the quarterback, a lineman suddenly ________ into me and _________ me down. (to be/run/knock)
4. After I _________ to the ground, I sprained my ankle. (fall)
5. Sam ____________the best football game of his career last season, as he ___________ three touchdowns, and his team won the state championship. (play/score)
6. We _______________ to meet friends at a tailgate party outside the football stadium when we ____________ a flat tire on our pick-up. (go/see)
7. Because we wanted to watch the Super Bowl, we _____________ a new TV three days ago. (buy)
8. While you _____________ with that damn chick over there, we _________do all the work to prepare for the party. (flirt/have to)
9. Jesse ____________ with her marching band at the Rose Bowl parade yesterday. We ___________ it live on TV. (march/watch)
10. A: What ________you _________ just now? (do- question form)

B: I _____________ a pizza. Glad you __________ because I need your help. (make/come)

 

11. A: That _______ a foul call! (to be)

B: Hey! Why are you shouting at the TV?

A: Because that quarterback was hit after he _______ the ball! And the referee                            ____________ it!  (throw/ not see)

 

12. A: Hey coach! Why did you cut me?

B: Because you _____________the job I had asked you to do on this football team. (not              do)

 

13. As the quarterback BJ was ________________the field, quarterback Jimmy ____________ the field to replace him. (walk off/ enter)

 

14. As Corey __________ the ball into the end zone to score, the marching band ran onto the field. (run)
15. The football players _________ the coach off the field while he __________ the trophy in his arms. (carry 2x)

 

Exercise D:  

Look at the following football videos. Can you try and construct sentences in past tense, using either past simple, past continuous or both PLUS the correct time marker.  As a bonus, can you find which game winner came from a college football game? 🙂

Example 1: The Minneapolis Miracle 

 

Example 2: The Immaculate Reception

 

Example 3: The Catch of the Year

 

Example 4: The Clutch and the Clincher

 

Example 5: The Big Interception

 

Example 6: The Lateral

 

Example 7: The Botch

 

Now that you had a chance to work with the time markers dealing with past continuous and its comparison with past simple and present continuous, the next order of business will be a quiz on American football, its history, culture and all the things many Europeans probably don’t know about.  The quiz on American football can be found here.  In that quiz, you can also learn more about another grammatical function in English, namely passive versus active voice.  Enjoy! 🙂

We’re Going to the Zoo! A Look at the words with –OO in English.

 

Our next tongue twister exercise deals with words with –OO in English. We rarely see words in German with –OO in there, but when one comes across them, they are different from the English counterparts. How different?

When we use the words BOOT and ZOO in German, the –OO has a long –O meaning, which is comparable to the likes of the English words: Coke, coal, and with the English equivalent to the word Boot, BOAT.

In English, the use of –OO has two different functions. The first function has to do with the short form. There, using the consonant endings of –D, -K and –T, the short form has the pronunciation of “ugh,” similar to the German words: Schön, Köln, and Kaputt.

Examples of words with the short form of –OO include: BOOK, COOK, FOOT and SHOOK.

The second function of the –OO consists of the long form, where the pronunciation has an “-Ooooh” sound in it. They sound similar to the German words: Universität and Schule but also some of the words in English, like Universal and Unicorn.  Apart from some words with the ending –T, long –OO words can be found when the consonants end in: b, f, l, m, n, p, se, plus endings with a consonant plus –e. This is in addition to words ending with just –OO, such as Zoo. Other examples of such words that exist include: Goose, Loon, Bloom, and poof.

Another hint of the different between the long and short forms can be found in the song “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins, which you can see below:

 

Now that you have seen the examples and understood the functions of the two forms of –OO words, let’s have a look at the Tongue Twister, which was filmed for you to use, watch and practice to your heart’s content. An e-copy of the tongue twister slides is available upon request. Just drop a line and you will receive one with no problems.

 

Have a shot at them and best of luck!

 

With the Personnel, this is personal! A look at personal, personnel and persönlich.

ƒƒ FALSE FRIEND

Our next false friend looks at the word personal and its meaning in both languages. In terms of spelling is the word the same in both languages. However, the difference in meaning is something to pay attention to.

When we use the word personal in German, it means the same as Mitarbeiter and it describes the people working in a company or institution. When translated into English, we have the word personnel. It’s basically the same when using the root word person– a person who works for the company. Yet, the suffix ending is with –nel. The word staff is the synonym for this word.

The English word personal functions as an adjective, both alone as well as in combination with a noun. When we use the word alone, then it has to do with the private aspect- something that does not need to be made public unless it is deemed necessary. That means if person A has something personal with person B, then they have a problem that they need to first resolve between themselves before having another person intervene. And while private means the same as the German privat, the German equivalent for personal alone in this case is persönlich. And even when we have the word personal problem, when translated into German, it would be the same: persönliches Problem.

The tricky part is when we combine personal with another noun, for some of the word combinations are exactly the same in both languages. The reason: some of the words from English can be used in the German language as well. But the number is fewer than what can be found in German, using either the words persönlich, privat, or something similar.  You can find the examples in the first task below:

 

Activity 1. Determine if this word combination is possible (P) or impossible (I) in German. If I, translate the term into German.

1. Personal Computer _________________________________
2. Personal belongings _________________________________
3. Personal assistant __________________________________
4. Personal identification number ___________________________
5. Personal data __________________________________
6. Personal letter __________________________________
7. Personal injury ___________________________________
8. Personal debt ___________________________________

 

Activity 2. Translate the following German words into English. Hint: Most of these German words do not follow the persönlich or privat rule but when translated into English, they all start with personal.

1. Tagebuch ______________________
2. Distanzzone ______________________
3. Kontaktanzeige ___________________
4. Privatvermögen ___________________
5. Terminplaner ____________________

 

Activity 3. Do the same thing but from English into German.

1. Personal growth ___________________________
2. Personal allowance ___________________________
3. Personal quality ___________________________
4. Personal comment ___________________________
5. Personal appearance __________________________

 

Activity 4. Determine whether these translations are true friends or false friends. If false, correct them.

1. Personal chemistry <-> persönliche Chemie
2. Something personal <-> etw. Persönliches
3. Personal opinion <-> persönliche Meinung
4. Personal expereince <-> persönliche Erfahrung
5. Personal hygiene <-> persönliche Hygiene

 

Raise Your Glasses in the Evening on Saturday- A look at the Prepositions of At/In/On for Time

Taken on September 22, 2005 [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Prost! Cheers! Mazeltov! Salut! Zum Wohl!  Raise you glasses as you made it through the week. On a Friday night at 9:00pm, you and your friends are celebrating over wine before riding in the night going home.

Wait a minute! In the night? Why not at night?

Very simple: When you ride home in the night, you are riding home in darkness at night, whereas at night itself focuses on the time during the 24-hour day where between 8:00pm and 12:00am, the moon shines its very best. An even better way to describe the difference is a song produced for the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, describing the runner at night training in darkness in order to win the gold medal:

It is one of many deep secrets about the prepositions of time, using at, in and on. In each language, there is a different meaning of the three if we focus on the aspects of calendar, clock and the clicks of the timer. The best way to look at this is by looking at the picture below:

André Karwath aka Aka [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)%5D, from Wikimedia Commons

Without reading further, where would you place the three prepositions in the wine glass?

The reason for the wine glass concept is very simple. With a few exceptions, wine glasses have an half-oval shape as a way of measuring the amount of wine poured into the glass.  That means as the wine glass is filled up, the amount of wine increases as the width of the glass widens. The narrower the glass, the less wine you have.

The wine glass represents the time frame where as the wine glass is filled to the top, the longer the given time period is allotted. That means at the bottom of the wine glass, where next to no drops are poured, that is where the preposition AT belongs to. AT here focuses on the exact time and moment of an event. Examples of how at is used is the following:

The train to Paris leaves at 7:45am from platform 5.

At Easter time, we have the egg hunt.

I’m not here at the moment

The Treaty of Armistice was signed at the 11th hour on November 11th.

It’s 11:00 at night. Do you know where your children are at?

 

When the wine glass is a third to a half full, then the width of the wine glass plus the amount of the wine is restricted. That is the same for the number of hours in a day, which is 24. Here, ON best fits the wine glass model for it is used to focus on a certain day or date, be it an exact date, holiday or even a day in the week, as seen in the examples below:

On Easter Sunday, we go to church.

I have an appointment on Monday.

She was born on 27 April, 1980.

 

When the wine glass is completely full, then so is the (sometimes) unlimited amount of wine, and in this case, time a person has. This is the meaning of IN in a sense of time. IN focuses on long periods of time. With the exception of certain periods in the day, like in the morning, afternoon and evening, IN has to do with long periods of time that is allowed to complete something. This can include months, weeks and years, but also seasons and other time periods where time keeps running whereever it wants to.  Some examples of how the preposition IN can be used include:

In the spring, we plant our crops.

We have tea time in the afternoon.

Who is making noise in the middle of the night?

Our conference will take place in October.

World War II ended in 1945. 

 

In the end, after reading the explanations, your wine glass in connection with time should look like this:

After looking at the review, do you have any questions? If not, let’s proceed to the exercises, shall we? 🙂

Activity 1.  Complete the sentences using the correct preposition of time (at/in/on)

1. The concert takes place _____ 5:00pm ______ Sunday at the Church
2. ______ May, we will fly to Thailand for three weeks.
3. It’s 11:30 ______ night. Do you know where your children are?
4. _______ Tuesday we have our important town hall meeting. It starts ______ 10:00am and will last two hours.
5. Sherry was born _______ 23rd of May, 1977 ______ 3:00am at the hospital in Dublin.
6. World War I ended ________ 11th of November ________ the year 1918________ 11:11 am.
7. The building will be finished ________ the spring.
8. _______ Easter, we have a family gathering at my grandmother’s place.
9. _______ New Year’s Day we will be at some friends‘ to celebrate.
10. The Christmas market starts _______ 5:00pm _______ the evening, and ends _______10:00 ______ night.

Activity 2. Why do we say these things? Explain.

1. Why do we say 9:00 at night instead of in the night?
2. Why do we say in the morning instead of at the morning?
3. Why do we say in March instead of on March?
4. Why do we say on Monday instead of at Monday?
5. Why do we say both on the weekend and at the weekend?

 

Activity 3. The following sentences are incorrect. Change them to make sure they are right.

1. The Open Night of Science will start at 8:00pm in the night.
2. Stacy was born in January 23^rd, 1967.
3. The TV-series made its debut on 1988 and was cancelled at 1991.
4. The bus comes every morning at 7:30 to pick up the children.
5. In the weekend, there is a choir concert at the city convention center.
6. In the moment, I’m preparing the exams.
7. The meeting will take place on 6:45am at Thursday the 14^th of September.
8. At the winter time, we go skiing in the Alps.
9. In Christmas, we sing carols.
10. In my birthday, we will celebrate it at my place.

 

Activity 4. Complete each phrase with at, in, or on.

1. ______ Saturday
2. ______the afternoon
3. ______ noon
4. ______ Thanksgiving
5. ______ 4:00pm
6. ______ 1300 hours (military time)
7. ______ the fifth day of Christmas (song)
8. ______ this time
9. _______ the weekend
10. ______ night
11. ______ midnight
12. ______ the wee hours of the morning
13. ______ 2:30 ______ the morning
14. _______ breakfast
15. _______ the time of Lent
16. _______ Friday night
17. ______ Friday
18. ______ this second
19. ______ the class period
20. ______ this day.

 

 

 

 

 

Help! My Woman is Becoming a Baby! A Look at Become and Bekommen.

ƒƒ FALSE FRIEND

Glauchau (Saxony), Germany– Police in Saxony are getting a great laugh over a traffic incident on the Motorway A4 in the direction of Frankfurt (Main). Shortly before pulling off the route at Glauchau-Ost, police pulled over an Austrian couple, whose wife was in the process of giving birth. The officer, originating from Russia but having lived in the state of Saxony for 13 years, cracked up when she saw that the woman in the car on the passenger side was in the process of giving birth, but her husband responded to her claim of him speeding:

“HELP! My woman is becoming a baby!”

Before going further, look at the sentence and ask yourself why this is wrong. Did you find the difference?

If not then here’s a hint: The officer can speak Russian and English both like a native speaker. Now can you make the difference?

 

DEFINITION:

If still not, then let’s have a look at the word become.  Become has a similarity to the German bekommen just because of the spelling with a couple minor exceptions: in German, it’s replacing the C with K and adding another M.  Sadly though, the meaning of the two are clearly NOT different.  Here’s the simplest explanation to clear this up:

BEKOMMEN means a person is receiving something, whether it is a gift, message, etc. The English equivalents to the German word include: get, have, receive, secure, earn (money), gain, collect, take (from someone), introduce and welcome (someone new to the group or team), as well as accept (something from someone).

BECOME on the other hand means in German SEIN WERDEN, or something similar, as can be seen in the link. In other words, it has something to do with the person being something in terms of appearance, action and behavior. It can also have something to do with an object being something or forming something to make it different. In short, BECOME has to do with the LOOK.

 

FAZIT:

Keeping this in mind, let’s go back to the story: It did have a happy ending for the officer gave the driver a warning for going 25 kilometers per hour too fast and gave him a free ride to the hospital, which was on the opposite end of the city and required going through the city center. A happy ending for everyone and the family.  However, the Russian officer, who has two children of her own, gave him a lecture on English. You can imagine how it went:

Next time, it’s not woman but your wife. And it’s scientifically impossible for a grown adult to become a baby, let alone a woman. She’s getting a baby, or you can say She’s giving birth, She’s in labor or she’s having a baby. Got it?

He understood although from my own personal experiences, a person could technically become a baby if he/she throws a temper tantrum, especially over a bad grade on a test. But that’s a different story for a different time.

 

ACTIVITIES:

A. Determine whether these sentences are true or false. If false, please correct them.

1. André will get a police officer after he’s done with the training next year.
2. Jason will become his teeth pulled out next week.
3. The basketball team got the win over Munich last night.
4. I’ve become irritated over his constant absence from class.
5. Jackie became an engagement ring from her long-time boyfriend Kalvin last week.
6. They became married at a small church ceremony last Saturday.
7. They’ve become a newlywed couple.
8. Lindsay will become an award for her years’ experience at a ceremony next week.
9. We’ve gotten more experienced in this game.
10. How often per month do you get your weekly newspaper?

 

B. Complete each sentence using get or become. Please pay attention to the verb tenses

1. Chris _______ in late to class today.
2. The teacher __________ annoyed of his tardiness.
3. Romy _________ 23 out of 45 on her test in math.
4. Her parents __________ a notice of her failing grade from the school this morning.
5. Ingo and Timmy ___________ detention (Nachsitzung in German) this afternoon because they were fighting.
6. Principal Ingrid Younker____________ a superintendent of the school last week. She ___________ the post when Mike Kuntz retires at the end of the school year.
7. The school _________ no coverage by the media. Nevertheless, it ____________ popular place for students to go to.
8. The teacher ____________ tired and decided to go home.

 

C. Now translate the sentences in B. into German. Notice the difference between English and German in terms of the use of become and bekommen?

 

D. Translate the following sentences from German into English. Please note that there are some variants possible. Pay attention to the verb tenses as well.

1. Der Angeklagte bekommt eine Freiheitsstrafe von drei Jahren und eine Bußgeld von 20,000 für seinen Tat.
2. Patrick wurde als Chefkoch im Restaurant vor einem Jahr ernannt .
3. Die Eltern haben die gute Nachricht von ihrer Tochter über ihre Geburt gestern.
4. Mein Computer wird langsamer. Ich weiß nicht was mit ihm los ist!
5. Hilfe! Meine Frau bekommt ein Kind und wir sind verfahren! Kann jemand uns helfen?

 

Author’s disclaimer: The story of the Russian police officer in Saxony is entirely fictitious; however the phrase “My woman is becoming a baby!” was actually said during an English oral test at a school in Germany.  The names of the students, the teachers involved, as well as the place and name of the school were omitted to protect their identities. Inquiries on these are not desired.

 

 

In School in Germany/ Genre of the Week: Pelmanism- From the Novel: Don’t Try This at Home by Paul Reizin

This Genre of the Week looks at a novel that may look ordinary to some readers who go through the whole book (or even half of it before putting it down for another one) and judge it as textbook style- where the protagonist gets caught in a situation where he has to find his way out.

The novel “Don’t Try This At Home,” by Paul Reizin looks at the protagonist from a first person point-of-view, who ends up being entangled in a mafia, getting in trouble with the law, and in bed with several girls in the process. All of these are by accident; all of these despite his attempts of getting himself out of the situation, only to end up digging himself even deeper in a hole until his wit, quick thinking and a little romance got himself out in the end.  How it all happened and what his personal life was like is worth reading and interpreting yourself. 🙂

Yet Reizin’s novel also features a few unconventional games that are worth trying, if you knew how they were played and done it wisely. Pelmanism is one of those games mentioned and described in the novel.

And while in the book Pelmanism had experiments with different types of alcohol while guessing what they were without looking, the game itself can be a useful one that provides the players of all ages with valuable learning experiences in all subjects of study.

Especially, when learning foreign languages!!!! 😀

I’ve been using this game for all my English classes since 2004- most of the time when we have our last course meeting as a group before the semester ends and we part ways for other commitments in life- and the game features words that are sometimes forgotten by some and unknown by others. It also presents some of the typical things and characteristics of some students. All it takes is some guessing what the objects are and who they belong to.

 

The object of the game is simple. You need:

A sheet of paper and a writing utensil

A timer

And a bag with ten personal items- the items should be small enough to fit in a cloth bag (not a see-through plastic one)

 

How the game is played goes like this:

One student grabs a bag and places the contents on the table in the middle, while other students close their eyes and/or look away as the contents are being taken out. Once all the items are on the table, that student signals the rest of the group to open their eyes and look at the table and the objects.  At this point, students have one minute to identify the ten items on the table in their working language, namely the foreign language they are learning. At the same time, they should guess who these objects belong to.

Once the teacher, who runs the timer, says “Stop!”, the students are called on upon random to name the objects and who they belong to. The student, who gets all the objects right as well as the correct person, will be the next one that chooses another bag, and repeats the same procedure.

This whole process continues until all the bags are used up or the teacher ends the game for time reasons.  There is no clear winner, but the objective of the game is to get the students to “reactivate” their brains to remember the words they learned in the past. At the same time, they also have an opportunity to learn new vocabulary- much of which may need to be listed on a sheet of paper with the native language equivalent, should the foreign language level range from beginner to intermediate (A to B level, according to the Common European Framework). In some cases, small devices that are new to the students will need to be explained by the person who brought it with the other objects.

 

I’ve had some weird but interesting examples that warranted explaining, for instance:

A can of deoderant that is actually a capsule for fitting a small object for hiding in geocaching, a pen that functions as a light, laser pointer and hole puncher, small books full of quotes, USB-sticks with company logos, stuffed animals (also as key chains), pieces of raw material (wood, rock, metal), postcards, pictures and poems. If you can think it, you can present it and be genuine at the same time. 😉

As mentioned earlier, Pelmanism can be played by all ages, regardless of language knowledge, and if you can have at least four participants (the more, the better), you can treat yourself to an evening of fun for either the whole family or friends. If you are a teacher in an English class, you will find this useful and fun for the students; especially if you participate in the game yourself.

Pelmanism is one of those games found in a book, where if modified for use in the classroom and mastered properly, it can be a fun experience for those learning new words, especially in a foreign language. It reactivates your brain and gets you reacquainted with words learned in the past (but seldomly used in the present), while at the same time, encourages active learning and acquisition of new words into an ever-expanding vocabulary. It is a fun game for everyone, and if you are as lucky as the protagonist in the story, you might come out with more than what words you learned in the game. 😉 ❤

Thanks, Paul!

 

The Day When the Temperature Went Under Zero

Prepositions. They can serve as a compliment to an adjective or verb, yet with over three dozen of them in the English language (more in German and other languages), they can be a nuisance as the meaning and usage of them are sometimes confusing, especially when a person learning English as a foreign language wants to know the equivalent in the native tongue. Sometimes there are pairs of prepositions, which mean the same in general but are used for different purposes, such as over and above, through and via, ….

or this one: under and below.

While both prepositions mean anything below average, below the line or even below zero, one deals with moving down towards and beyond the threshold- which is under- while the other stays under the threshold- below.

For example, one can say “I went under water” or “I crawled under the bed”, for movement and “The sunken ship is 300 meters below sea level”, or “The neighbors living below us are noisy”, to describe something stationary and still. Yet, can we make the difference with the thermometer?

As a general rule, a temperature can be below zero or a certain degree because it implies that the mercury is constantly at this mark and cannot move at a fast pace. This is independent of the real air temperature which can be warmer or colder, pending on the humidity and the dew point.  That means the temperature may be -1° Celsius (34° Fahrenheit), but can be warmer because of the high humidity and the sun, or colder because of the dry air, low humidity and the wind. Since the 1990s, the Real Feel Temperature Index has been using several factors to compare the temperature on the thermometer and how it feels on the person in reality, based on light, wind and moisture.

But can a temperature go under zero?

As a general rule, you cannot use under when you describe the temperature because the mercury is so slow that it would take many hours for it to fall. The same applies to over and above when describing the increase in temperature, which is why we use above only. However, as history presents itself, there are some exceptions to the rule.

If a student asks you (as a teacher) why we use below zero, instead of under zero, you can share him/her a pair of stories of how certain regions actually went under zero- in a very short time, during two very tragic events in the United States. Here they are in summary:

1. November 11, 1911:   According to weather historian Jim Lee, a very strong cold front carrying first strong thunderstorms with rain and tornadoes, and afterwards sleet, snow and blizzard conditions struck the Central Plains region, causing temperatures to plummet by double digits within an hour. This included Springfield, Missouri, where temperatures dropped by as much as 40° F in 15 minutes. From 80°F (27° C) before this drammatic drop at 3:45pm, to 40° F (4° C) fifteen minutes later, to its bottoming-out low of 13° F (-11° C) by midnight, the city was one of over two dozen, whose record high and low temperatures were recorded on the same day, which included Oklahoma City and Kansas City. Over a dozen tornadoes followed by blizzards in this Great Blue Norther, caused over $3 million in damages- the heaviest hit areas were in the Ohio River valley, as well as in Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. 13 people lost their lives with over 50 people injured.

1. November 11, 1940:  Known as the panhandle hook, this tragic  event reshaped the way forecasts are given. On this day, hundreds of people took the day off from work to go hunting for ducks and pheasants with temperatures in the mid to upper 60s Fahrenheit (18-20° C), many of them were underdressed for the occasion. During the afternoon, the temperatures dropped dramatically to a point where by midnight, they were at or below 0°F (-20° C)!!! Many hunters were taken by surprised and tried to seek shelter from the cold, icy wind, combined with heavy snow and white-out conditions. Fifty degree drops were recorded in a region of over 1000 kilometers long, including states like Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin, where 1-2 foot snowfall combined with 20 f00t (6 meter) drifts were recorded. Collegeville, Minnesota set a record for the most amount of snow in a storm with 27 inches (69 cm). 145 people perished in the snowfall, many of whom froze to death. 49 of the deaths were recorded in Minnesota, of which half of them froze to death. Rescue efforts by pilots Max Conrad and John Bean by locating stranded hunters and providing aid saved many lives. The storm resulted in changes in weather forecasting as 24-hour mandatory coverage and improved technology was later introduced, which is still in use today but with advanced technology.

These two events show that temperatures can go under zero if the mercury moves quicker than it should, even though in a grammatical sense, one should use below as it shows consistency on a longer termed basis. If your students ask why below is best used for temperatures below the mark instead of under, it is best to say that under is used for movement purposes but in quicker form and also on a temporary basis. It is unknown how (long) a mole can live and dig under the ground, but treasure and cellars can be found below the ground (level) because they are permanent. Yet when it comes to temperatures, especially after reading the examples of the storms that occurred on Veterans Day in the States, some exceptions do apply, although they very rarely happen. So use below zero instead of under zero unless you want to be that brave duck hunter wishing to hunt while in the snow. 😉

In School in Germany: The Characteristics of Being a Great Teacher of English (as a Foreign Language)

A few months back, I was approached by a colleague of mine, who runs a pair of online columns devoted to English writing, wanting to know from me some of the things that are important for teaching English as a foreign language.  After some thoughtful consideration and looking back at what I’ve experienced in the 15+ years I’ve been teaching here in Germany, dealing with everything in the sun, I decided to compile a list of ideas that are especially useful for those entering the field or are struggling in their first year on the job. The characteristics I mention here do not necessarily mean that if you don’t have them, you will never be a great teacher. It just simply means that if something goes wrong, you may want to think about them and ask yourself if it is useful to try them, at least. After all, each teacher has his/her way of teaching English language and culture.

1. Image is Everything- This was the slogan that tennis great André Agassi used for his Nikon camera commercials in the late 1980s and 90s. As a teacher, you have to market yourself to the students in a way that they will respect you from the first day on. This goes beyond your outer appearance. It even outguns the knowledge of your native language. It has to do with being on the level with your students and finding ways to get them to follow you. Sometimes you and your students find the right chemistry right away and you have a productive and successful class. Other times there is a wall that you cannot overcome, even if you try. Then it is like the love affair between man and woman, or in my case, the beamer and the laptop as stated in an earlier article.
2. Your Students are your Audience; your Friends. Treat them with Care- I was once told that teaching is a business and the students are your customers. If you have students who “hate” you and your teaching and decide to annoy you at their convenience, then that is where the German formal “Sie” and the business-like relationship comes in. However, not all of them are like that. Many of them stay with you as long as you are working at their institution and even become your friends for life. To give you a hint: In my last semester teaching in Bayreuth in 2009, I had a class where all but three of the 20 people had been in my previous classes. All of them are still in contact. If you have this experience, then it is because you did something right, by listening to what they want, customizing your classes to make them interesting and you are integrated into their “culture” and they into yours. Almost all of them are eager to learn from you, and not just for the sake of languages.
3. You need Structure; You need Discipline- A Frank Fitts from American Beauty quote that definitely applies to teaching, especially English. As Germans, especially in the eastern half, are obsessed with a structured form of teaching, you should structure the teaching to cater to their needs. It’s like a presentation: you have the introduction, the key points, the summary and time for questions and clarity. Then you make sure that they are kept in line with what they learned. Entertainment only serves as a frosting to the cake. This was a lesson I learned from a colleague at a private institution recently.
4. Less is More- Too much of everything in an English classroom, even worksheets, are never a good thing. If you find yourself having a complaint where there were too much print materials to work with, you may want to reduce it and alternate your teaching methods. Sometimes some help from another source will help a great deal.
5. Back-up your stuff in the classroom: Stewart Tunnicliff, who runs a couple Leipzig-based websites and a translation/proofreading business once said this when he presented the WordPress presentation at the Intercultural Blogger Conference in March. I have to say it also applies to teaching as well. Despite the careful planning that Germans are famous for, a back-up plan must always be in store, should your original plan fail in the classroom due to the students’ lack of interest, some technical glitches, missing elements because you were in a hurry, etc. While some teachers believe that Plan B is non-existent, they haven’t seen some situations, including those I experienced, where it was warranted. So have a Back-up plan ready, and ……
6. Plan for technical doomsday- Your computer will crash, its relationship with the beamer will fail, the files will not open, the speakers will not operate, anything will happen. It has happened with the best teachers and they have dealt with them. Almost all of those who experienced a technical “Panne” have learned to do this one important item next time they work a technical equipment: check to make sure everything is in order before entering the stage with eager students awaiting to watch something “educational.” 😉
7. Creativity and spontaneity are bread and butter- If there is a characteristic a teacher must have, there are two of them: being creative and spontaneous. A creative person comes up with activities on paper, through brainstorming and best of all, in the classroom in a spontaneous manner. A spontaneous person foregoes a planned session because of cock-ups along the way, presents a new strategy out of the blue, and gives it to the group for them to do. 99 times out of 100, that works every time. Teachers must have the brains to do both if they wish to continue with their career in the long term.
8. Be a great storyteller- Storytelling not only provides students with a sense of entertainment, but also lessons for them to learn from, both in a moral and philosophical manner as well as when learning a foreign language. The stories told don’t have to be very personal ones, but they should be ones that are related to reality, and students can relate to. Even the tiniest story, including a person and a chain-smoker, who disregards the no smoking sign, getting into a debate on smoking, brings value to the students as some of them are smokers wanting to quit but don’t know how. Think about it. 🙂
9. Slow and easy always wins friends- Especially for Americans teaching foreign languages, teachers love to speak at their tempo, which is for the non-native speakers of English, too fast. Sometimes a problem with dialect can hinder the success in the classroom. Slow down. Speak high English (with a Chicago dialect), have someone listen to you if you feel it is necessary. No student will mob you if you speak extra slowly and clearly, or did one student do that?
10. Make sure your exits are covered- If a student complains about a bad grade, explain to him/her why and what can be done to improve it. If students become a smart-ass, surprise them with a quiz to test their knowledge. If a person wikiing his assignment says his grandma helped him with English, invite her to class unannounced. If lectures are needed, give it to them. Students will respect you if you keep pace with their learning but will love you if you are ahead of the game. A lesson I learned after dealing with the unbelieveable. 🙂
11. Finally, be decent. Teaching students goes beyond the subject or the basic skills needed for the job. The main goal of a teacher is to show students how to be decent. Decency is a commodity that is well underrated but one we need so that we can love our neighbors and friends and respect their rights and wishes. It also means that teachers learn by example, by being professional and kind to others. A video with a lecture of how decency and justice goes together, shows us how important our job is, which is to teach our future generation how to be decent.

There are many more, but these eleven are the most important elements of a teacher, in my opinion. Each teacher has his/her style of teaching which works in some cases and fails in others. Even more so, teachers have different personalities that can work out or cause conflicts. In either case, what is important is making sure the students get a proper education so that they can go out, see the world and experience it themselves. How it is done is solely up to the teacher, yet if something fails, they should take a different approach. In either case, in the end, if students walk out of the halls of school or university with a great sense of satisfaction, then it is a sure-fire sign that they will leave footprints in your hearts forever,

let alone pairs of sneakers on the line outside your home. 🙂

Question Tag

Dialog- a concept where two or more persons converse over topics that are of interest. It does not necessarily have to do with trying to find solutions to conflicts that are bothersome to both parties. It does not have to do with cheering or booing teams. It has more to do with having a discussion to find and expand interests, views and other personal traits that the parties have in common with a goal of establishing friendships (or in some cases, relationships) and exchanging ideas for the good.  Hans Küng stressed using a dialog as a tool for finding common values among religions when he initiated the Global Ethics project in the 1990s, much to the dismay of priests of his own Catholic Faith. Samuel P. Huntington in his last book Who We Are, argues for compromise through dialog in order for the United States to come to terms with the influx of immigrants, especially from the south. Francis Fukuyama claimed in his thesis The End of History that the new era offers a chance for mankind to develop a universal form of civilization which includes the quest of similar values and compromise via dialog.

But dialogs do not necessarily have to concentrate on politics, religion and personal views alone. It has more to do with breaking down barriers that confines us and keeps us from reaching out. This can include language barriers, cultural and religious differences, and even personal differences, all of which are avoidable if we have the will to find a medium ground to start off with. 🙂

And this is where this activity comes to mind. It’s called Question Tag. Useful in not only foreign language classes, but also in general classes in school as well as in other education institutions, Question Tag (short, QT) offers students and/or parties an opportunity to break the ice right away and start a conversation by asking the other person a question of interest before eventually spreading it around. The main goal of this game is threefold, speaking from experience:

1. For foreign language education, QT offers the students an opportunity to show their language skills, including vocabulary and skills involving asking questions, while at the same time, acquire additional vocabulary and other skills by listening and involving themselves in the conversation.
2. For other topics, QT can enable a thought-provoking discussion to find out the views of others, while generating other questions and thoughts that may be useful and fruitful for the discussion. This includes specific topics, like the refugee crisis, or the US Presidential Elections, but also general topics, such as involvement in clubs and associations, interest in technology and even sports.
3. Students can benefit from QT by getting to know the other one and his/her interests. This is especially useful if one or two members in the group are exceptionally shy and not forthcoming in the conversation. And as dumb as it may be, it is useful for group projects that involve people of different backgrounds and personalities, regardless of whether the project is related to work or the university.

The object of the game is simple: Each participant receives five index cards (Karteikarten in German), regardless of size, and a pen. The participant must then write down five questions that he/she has, then turn them over so that no one else can see. It’s like a poker game but more discreet. 😉

Please note that the questions must not be too personal and not too biased. So questions involving sex life and dating, as well as views on xenophobia (as examples) should be refrained altogether. But questions involving hobbies, childhood memories, first crush on a person, favorite pet are ok, if formulated appropriately.

Once the questions are written down, place them in the center of the table face down and mix them up. Then, one person chooses a card and the target person, and asks the question. After the target person answers the question, others can join to share their answers and views based on the question.

Nothing to it. 🙂

The game is open as a one-to-one but you can include as many people as you see fit. The beauty of this game is that anyone can play and it can be played in various languages. That means even people seeking refuge in Europe can play this to learn a new language, as well as those hosting them, who are interested in learning their language, like Persian and Arabic. 🙂

Question Tag serves as a starter to breaking down barriers that keep two people or parties apart. The worst a person can do is either strengthen the barrier or try breaking through to impose ideas and rules onto the other. This is where conflicts have prevailed regardless of which level. It is even more painful, if the conflict deals with language differences or even differences in culture and the way of life. Conflicts can be avoided if a middle path is found and the parties can have a peaceful co-existence. That is why dialogs are important and with that, asking about one’s interest and the way of handling people. Sometimes a question is free and can get a person somewhere- to establishing a good working relationship or even friendship. Blocking someone out is not the answer, a dialog is. And this game is one that can get a dialog going. And eventually, with a dialog, barriers can fall and a middle ground can be found and the misunderstandings can be eliminated. If you have a problem with a person or group, perhaps you can try this someday. After all, all conflicts have a solution that involves a dialog instead of a blockade, right?

That’s what I thought. 😉

From the Classroom: A Tribute to the Unforgettable, Natalie Cole

Life is laden with the unforgettable. Unforgettable people who shaped our lives, through thick and thin and through passion and love as well as pain and sorrow. Unforgettable events where no matter what the outcome, we grow from them and learn about the lessons of life.  In the case of this exercise, looking at the song “Unforgettable,” one should take the time and listen to the song, pay attention to the lyrics and ask themselves the following questions:

1. What was the most unforgettable moment in your life that you dealt with? What happened, when did it happen, and what was the result? And lastly, what lesson did you learn from it? It can stem from a love affair, to saving someone’s life, to averting a disaster- whatever comes to mind that helped shape your life?
2. Who was (or maybe is) your unforgettable person(s) in your life? Who was/were the person(s) and why was that person special? What did you learn from the person?
3. What was the singer’s theme in the song Unforgettable and why did she choose it?
4. Was it an unforgettable person or event? Why?

Have a look at the video or listen to the clip before answering the questions:

The song was originally produced by Nat King Cole in 1951, and reproduced by her daughter Natalie Cole in 1991 as a tribute to her father, who died suddenly in 1965 when she was 15. His music and his passing inspired her to launch a career of her own as a singer. And while she had some Top 10 hits in the 1970s and 80s, including Pink Cadillac and Starting Over Again, the duet with her father as a tribute to the blues great was perhaps the crown of all songs she had produced in her career.  Unfortunately, Natalie Cole died on New Year’s Eve 2015 at the age of 65 due to health problems. To honor her career, the Files is dedicating this song and this English exercise for people wishing to learn more about blues music and the father-daughter team that surely left a mark in the music world. Many thanks for your many wonderful years of work. You will be missed but you will remain unforgettable in the eyes of many.