ترجمه و آموزش زبان انگلیسی

Have you ever felt you were asking all the questions about students’ opinions? Do you find you are doing more talking in a discussion than your class? Here are some tips to:

• Shift the task focus from you talking to them (they have to talk to each other)
• Give them control of their own discussion
• Give them practice in formulating their opinions within a controlled framework.

• Topic: Are boys and girls the same? 
  
  • Girls naturally want to play with dolls
  • Boys are usually better at Science subjects than girls.

• Photocopy each list of statements on different topics and put them in 3-4 envelopes.
• Divide the class into small groups. Tell them the title of each topic.
• Each group selects an envelope. They work through the topic in their group, taking turns to read aloud the statements found in the envelope and inviting comment and opinions.
• You can ask each group to record their reactions to the issues for feedback at the end of the session.
• Re-use the envelopes in another lesson. Each group chooses a new topic and envelope.

• Put students in small groups of 3 all facing each other.
• Act as conductor by reading aloud a statement on a list, one at a time.
• After each statement students have one minute to react in their group to what they have heard, disagree, agree, comment etc.
• Stop them talking after a minute (with gong, whistle, clap) and read the next statement on your list.
• Students hear you but must look at each other and tell each other what they think!

• Give a list of statements on a set topic to each group in the class

• Students must work through the statements and modify them to reflect their views as a group. This involves discussion on how they will re word the sentence or add a further clause to justify their position. 
  
  For example:
  • Topic: The school year 
    
    • Statement: School holidays are too long
    • Students’ modified sentence: We think school holidays are not long enough

• Use the feedback session at the end of the lesson to hear some of the “new” statements that each group has created.

How to be a Good Teacher:

·         Some qualities of good teachers:

a.       An ability to give interesting classes

b.      Using the full range of their personality

c.       The desire to empathize with students

d.      Treating students all equally

e.       Knowing names of all students

·         The kind of language teachers use with students should at all times comprehensible, especially when giving instructions it should be clear and well staged.

·         Teachers talking time (TTT) can have uses – helping students to acquire language – but it should not predominate at the expense of students talking time (STT).

·         Teachers must be able to respond flexibly to what happens in class.

Translator Prerequisites and the A-Z of becoming a Translator

 By John Neilan,
Translator

--------------------

If you are serious about becoming a translator, you must be able to fulfil the following criteria, at the very least.

Translator Prerequisites

  Your standard of education must be very high; with very few exceptions, a degree is essential, though not necessarily in languages - it is a positive advantage to have qualifications or experience in another subject. Postgraduate training in translation is useful. You must be able to write your own mother tongue impeccably in a style and register appropriate to the subject and have a flair for research on technical subjects.

  It goes without saying, that you should have a thorough grasp of the languages in your language combination, you must also be familiar with the culture and customs of the country. The only way to do this is by surrounding yourself with the language, i.e: by living/studying in the country where the language is spoken. German is spoken in 5 countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. There is no substitute for first-hand experience of living in a foreign culture, and as an Irishman living in Berlin, Germany, I can only recommend this course of action.

  It is best to have a specific field that you specialise in, be it literature, technical, medical, legal.

Here below are some useful links to Sample Business Letters:

Sample Business Letters are listed in Alphabetical Order

1. 10-Day Notice Before Collections on Delinquent Account
2. 30-Day Notice to Quit
3. Acceptance of Counter Proposal
4. Acceptance of Order With Delivery in Lots
5. Acceptance of Purchase Security Agreement
6. Acceptance of Resignation
7. Acknowledged Receipt of Goods
8. Acknowledged Resignation
9. Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Order
10. Acknowledgement from Publisher, Comments Referred to Author

Lovers of the English language might enjoy this. It is yet another example of why people learning English have trouble with the language.  Learning the nuances of English makes it a difficult language. (But then, that's probably true of many languages..)   

There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.'  It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.
At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

 
And this up is confusing:
A drain must be opened UP because it is stuffed  UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.   We seem to be pretty mixed UPabout UP !

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP , look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now.  My time is UP.

Oh...one more thing:
What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night?

U  P ee

آيا انگليسي آمريکايي (American English) و انگليسي بريتانيايي (British English) دو زبان مجزا هستند يا دو حالت مختلف از زبان انگليسي؟ بعضي‌ها مي‌گويند آنها دو زبان مختلف هستند ولي خيلي‌ها آنها را تنها حالتهاي مختلفي از يک زبان مي‌دانند.

البته هيچ پاسخ دقيقي براي اين پرسش وجود ندارد. ما فقط مي‌توانيم بگوييم که تفاوتهايي ميان آنها وجود دارد. البته بايد بدانيد که اين تفاوتها جزئي بوده و در اثر يکپارچه شدن دنياي امروز اين تفاوتها روز به روز کمتر مي‌شوند.

در ادامه با برخي از تفاوتهاي ميان اين دو نسخه از زبان انگليسي آشنا مي‌شويد.

روشهای فراگیری لغات

به خاطر سپردن لغتهای یک زبان خارجی می تواند یکی از بخشهای خسته کننده در فراگیری زبان باشد. خوشبختانه روشهای مختلفی برای سرعت بخشیدن و نیز لذت بخش کردن آن وجود دارد که در ادامه به آن می پردازیم:

Distinguish between essential and nonessential rules of grammar, punctuation, and usage

 How much attention should technical communicators pay to formal rules of grammar, punctuation, and usage?

Does incorrect grammar, punctuation, or usage detract from the value and usability of your group’s publications? Does your audience care, or even notice, if formal rules are broken?

Why have rules?

Grammar is the arrangement, relationships, and functions of words and the ways they are put together to form phrases, clauses or sentences.

Punctuation marks are signals that help readers to understand the ideas in a passage and read more quickly and efficiently.

Rules of grammar, punctuation, and usage can be essential or nonessential—or even fake! Writers and editors need to pay attention to the essential issues, but can spend less time on nonessential issues—particularly in the face of tight deadlines—and they can safely ignore the fake issues.

 Essential rules are those that are necessary for clear, unambiguous communication.

 Nonessential rules are those that are not required for clarity and unambiguity.

 Fake rules may actually be matters of word choice, style, or conventional usage, not rules of grammar; they may be things many of us were taught were wrong, but which are in fact acceptable variations.

Here are some tips which may help you to master the English Language!

 Speak without Fear

The biggest problem most people face in learning a new language is their own fear.  They worry that they won’t say things correctly or that they will look stupid so they don’t talk at all.  Don’t do this.  The fastest way to learn anything is to do it – again and again until you get it right.  Like anything, learning English requires practice.  Don’t let a little fear stop you from getting what you want. 

 Use all of your Resources

Even if you study English at a language school it doesn’t mean you can’t learn outside of class.  Using as many different sources, methods and tools as possible, will allow you to learn faster.  There are many different ways you can improve your English, so don’t limit yourself to only one or two.  The internet is a fantastic resource for virtually anything, but for the language learner it's perfect.

 Surround Yourself with English

The absolute best way to learn English is to surround yourself with it.  Take notes in English, put English books around your room, listen to English language radio broadcasts, watch English news, movies and television.  Speak English with your friends whenever you can. The more English material that you have around you, the faster you will learn and the more likely it is that you will begin “thinking in English.” .

 Listen to Native Speakers as Much as Possible

There are some good English teachers that have had to learn English as a second language before they could teach it.  However, there are several  reasons why many of the best schools prefer to hire native English speakers. One of the reasons is that native speakers have a natural flow to their speech that students of English should try to imitate.  The closer ESL / EFL students can get to this rhythm or flow, the more convincing and comfortable they will become. 

 Watch English Films and Television

This is not only a fun way to learn but it is also very effective.  By watching English films (especially those with English subtitles) you can expand your vocabulary and hear the flow of speech from the actors.  If you listen to the news you can also hear different accents.

 Listen to English Music

Music can be a very effective method of learning English.  In fact, it is often used as a way of improving comprehension.  The best way to learn though, is to get the lyrics (words) to the songs you are listening to and try to read them as the artist sings.  There are several good internet sites where one can find the words for most songs. This way you can practice your listening and reading at the same time.  And if you like to sing, fine.

 Study As Often As Possible!

Only by studying things like grammar and vocabulary and doing exercises, can you really improve your knowledge of any language. 

 Do Exercises and Take Tests

Many people think that exercises and tests aren't much fun.  However, by completing exercises and taking tests you can really improve your English. One of the best reasons for doing lots of exercises and tests is that they give you a benchmark to compare your future results with.  Often, it is by comparing your score on a test you took yesterday with one you took a month or six months ago that you realize just how much you have learned.  If you never test yourself, you will never know how much you are progressing. Start now by doing some of the many exercises and tests on this site, and return in a few days to see what you've learned. Keep doing this and you really will make some progress with English.

 Record Yourself

Nobody likes to hear their own voice on tape but like tests, it is good to compare your tapes from time to time.  You may be so impressed with the progress you are making that you may not mind the sound of your voice as much.

 Listen to English

By this, we mean, speak on the phone or listen to radio broadcasts, audiobooks or CDs in English. This is different than watching the television or films because you can’t see the person that is speaking to you.  Many learners of English say that speaking on the phone is one of the most difficult things that they do and the only way to improve is to practice.

 Finally

Have fun!

 

1.     Remember that learning a language is a gradual process - it does not happen overnight.

2.     Define your learning objectives early: What do you want to learn and why?

3.     Make learning a habit. Try to learn something every day. It is much better to study (or read, or listen to English news, etc.) 10 minutes each day than to study for 2 hours once a week.

4.     Remember to make learning a habit! If you study each day for 10 minutes English will be constantly in your head. If you study once a week, English will not be as present in your mind.

5.     Choose your materials well. You will need reading, grammar, writing, speaking and listening materials

6.     Vary your learning routine. It is best to do different things each day to help keep the various relationships between each area active. In other words, don't just study grammar.

7.     Find friends to study and speak with. Learning English together can be very encouraging.

8.     Choose listening and reading materials that relate to what you are interested in. Being interested in the subject will make learning more enjoyable - thus more effective.

9.     Relate grammar to practical usage. Grammar by itself does not help you USE the language. You should practice what you are learning by employing it actively.

10.  Move your mouth! Understanding something doesn't mean the muscles of your mouth can produce the sounds. Practice speaking what you are learning aloud. It may seem strange, but it is very effective.

11.  Be patient with yourself. Remember learning is a process - speaking a language well takes time. It is not a computer that is either on or off!

12.  Communicate! There is nothing like communicating in English and being successful. Grammar exercises are good - having your friend on the other side of the world understand your email is fantastic!

13.      Use the Internet. The Internet is the most exciting, unlimited English resource that anyone could imagine and it is right at your finger tips.

 

So we don’t repeat ourselves!

 Definition: The word ‘pronoun’ comes from the Latin pronomen meaning ‘for a noun’. As the word implies, pronouns are the words that we use in place of nouns. It will become clear later when we discuss the difference between possessive and demonstrative pronouns and possessive and demonstrative adjectives. We use pronouns to make clear whom or what we are talking about, while avoiding confusing or clumsy repetition. It is wise to teach just personal pronouns initially and bring in the other kinds later.

Personal pronouns

 Share this story with your students. This (true) story could sound something like the following.

‘Marjorie lost her false teeth. The dog had found Marjorie’s false teeth and buried Marjorie’s false teeth. Marjorie could not find Marjorie’s false teeth anywhere, but Marjorie dug up Marjorie’s false teeth two years later, while Marjorie was digging in the garden.’

 With the use of pronouns this would read much more smoothly, in spite of the repetition of the pronouns. Although equally important to the sense, they are less prominent.

‘Marjorie lost her false teeth. The dog had found them and buried them. Marjorie could not find them anywhere, but she dug them up two years later, while she was digging in the garden.’

Without the words ‘I’ and ‘you’ (personal pronouns) we could become very confused. Instead of:

I saw her give you the letter for me.

We would have to say something like this:

John saw Maureen give Michael the letter for John. [John, referring to himself!]

And:

I hurt myself.

Would become:

John hurt John. [himself or another person called John?]

It becomes altogether very confusing!

Most languages have pronouns, though in some languages the pronoun is incorporated in the verb. Pronouns change in form according to the work that they do in the sentence. For example they have number:

Singular – I went to town with him.

Plural – We went to town with them.

 Personal pronouns Singular Plural

1st person

(The person/s speaking)

I / we

2nd person

(The person/s spoken to)

you / you

3rd person

(The person/s or things being spoken about)

he/she/it /they

 And when the action is done to the person, for example:

 Singular / Plural

Me/us

you /you

he/she/it /them

The falling brick hit me.

 a. Following a preposition: These will be explained in the section on prepositions and the section on object.

The brick fell on me.

b. A preposition that is understood, i.e. not mentioned.

It gave (to) me concussion.

 The following words are common pronouns for one person or thing:

I you he she it me her him

And for more than one person or thing:

we you they us them

 Demonstrative pronouns

As the name suggests, demonstrative pronouns demonstrate or point out ‘which one’ of a number. There are just four obvious ones:

 Singular/Plural

(here) this these

(there) that those

 Remember, as the pronoun takes the place of a noun, the noun is not mentioned.

A pronoun – This is scrumptious.

Not a pronoun – This éclair is scrumptious.

In the second sentence this is an adjective qualifying (telling more about) the noun ‘éclair’.

Note: the words one and such can also be used as pronouns taking the place of nouns.

For example:

One can search for gemstones.

Such is life.

I found one.

He told me such.

Nouns mean every thing to us!

Definition: The word ‘noun’ comes from Latin nomen meaning ‘name’. A noun is the name of a thing. Everything that exists has a name, whether you can see it or not. A blind person cannot see something, but that does not mean that it isn’t there! It may only exist in our minds, like hope, beauty or calories.

 There are four kinds of nouns.

Common nouns

These are names of everyday things that we can see, hear or touch.

For example: table, banana, volcano, song

We can put the word ‘the’ in front of them and make sense, as in: the rope, the poison

If it does not make sense, the word cannot be a noun.

Proper nouns

Definition: The word ‘proper’ comes from the French word proper meaning one’s own, i.e. belonging to a particular person or thing. Proper nouns are the special names that we give to people, places and particular things like the days of the week, months of the year, or even the titles of books or TV shows.

For example: Jason, Town Hall, China, French, The Wishing Chair

Because they are special and individual names, they start with a capital letter and, apart from people, most of these things have only one proper name.

Collective nouns

Definition: These are names for groups of things, animals or people, which go together, or have something in common.

For example:

A number of people in a group singing is a choir.

A number of cows in a group is a herd.

Note here that if the group word is singular then the verb following must also be singular.

For example:

Correct – The choir was rehearsing in the chapel.

Incorrect – The choir were rehearsing in the chapel.

There may, of course, be more than one group. In which case the verb will be plural.

The choirs were competing in the final.

Abstract nouns

Definition: Abstract nouns form what can be the most difficult group to understand, as they represent ideas, and have no physical substance that you can see or touch.

The idea may be of quality, for example: beauty, greed, intelligence or the idea may be a state that is felt or suffered, for example: joy, misery, neglect.

It may be the act of something, for example: duty, aggression.

It may even be an event or happening, for example: conversation, pause.

There are a number of ways for translators to invoice their clients. We can either invoice by the number of source or target words, the number of source or target characters, or by the amount of hours that we spend on a certain task. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, but each method also has room for improvement. Look for tips for counting words and characters in the "Upgrade Your Tools" section, and read on right here for a couple of hints on how to make it easier to clock the amount of time you spend.

The most common way to log the time that we spend on an individual task is probably in an Excel spreadsheet. A few things that have made it easier for me to keep track of my time are two keyboard shortcuts:

- CTRL+; to enter the current date and
- CTRL+SHIFT+: to enter the current time.

A preconfigured spreadsheet with rows of fields for client, date, start time, end time, and rate requires the entry of relatively little information. If you then add fields such as total time (formula: =SUM(-) – the have to be replaced with the cell designator in the spreadsheet, such as A1, B2, etc. – and amount (formula: =((*1440)/60)*), your other data is automatically generated.

While it is possible to record your time in this manner, there are little programs out there that make this a lot easier. Time Stamp (see http://www.syntap.com) is a free program (supported by optional donations) which allows you to track the start and end time for projects you are currently working on with a click on a button in your task bar. It is even possible to have several instances of the program running simultaneously so you can switch back and forth between different projects that you may be working on. Once you are completely done, all the time that is spent on each project is summed up and can either be printed out or saved as a text file. This is a nifty little program that requires neither a lot of computer resources nor a lot of time to learn.

Machine translation and human translation: in competition or in complementation

By John Hutchins

. Introduction