Try + and + verb or Try + to + verb?

Following a link on a recent tweet, I found myself on an interesting web page called English Language FAQ. Followers of this blog know that I have, in the past, posted a few FAQs myself, usually in response to students' queries. Grammar rules often intrigue me, and drive most of us up the wall because for every rule, there are one, or three, exceptions.

The post I was reading asked this question:

Well, I thought...curious? Perhaps not so. There are a lot of anomalies between formal and informal speech, and this is one of them. To be pedantic, one can argue that 'try to + verb' is grammatically correct. But if 'try and' is used so often in informal speech, why is it incorrect?

My answer to Jay's question went like this:

If you follow the comments, the subject of Google Fight came up. Although it's an interesting idea, the results are to be digested with a pinch of salt. To further demonstrate this, and the fact that there are other peculiar forms of speech, I told Kieran, the page's editor to Googlefight 'she do' and 'she does'. In any case, here are the results of that and also that of 'he do' vs 'he does'.

Actually, if you look at it carefully, it's rather peculiar. 'He does' display 103 million hits, and 'he do', 2.45 billion, but yet, 'he does' is shown as the winner.

In the case of 'she', 'she does' gave 591 million hits, and 'she do', 958 million, but again, 'she does' was proclaimed the winner.

Talk about anomalies...

In any case, what I wanted to show was that there are many grammar rules that aren't exactly followed in informal usage, the third person singular form being one of them. Of course, popular usage doesn't make it right, but if something is used often enough, sooner or later, it creeps into mainstream use, and then, what?

Can you think of any other examples?

Needs Analysis for Business Students

If you're a business student of mine, please take a few minutes of your time to complete this survey. Click the image below to begin.

It will help me tailor to your needs more accurately. Thank you!

TEA 2010, Powerpoint Presentation Uploaded

Some of you had come to me and asked for a copy of my presentation, so here it is. Although I covered only a cross-section of the possible technological tools that can be used in education, I hope I have inspired you enough to try some of them. Note that the examples in the presentation are linked, so make full use of them.

Don't forget to complete the survey. The results can be seen by everyone, so do take a look at what your peers thought of the sessions, too.

Over the next days or so, time permitting, I will post some tutorials which I hope will help clear some of the doubts some of you have. I'm sorry that there wasn't enough time in the workshop session to help everyone. So, keep coming back here to read!

One of the major problems was not being able to do some of the activities I'd shown, or not being able to see some parts of my blog.

Most important, I always encourage people to have more than one browser. A lot of you just use INTERNET EXPLORER. I'm afraid that this isn't suitable for some sites, especially if you have older versions. So, do keep it up to date, and also, have another browser handy. I'd recommend Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. When one doesn't work, try the other.

Most of the games and activities I'd shown use Flash and/or Java, so make sure you have them in your machine and that they are allowed to execute.

Don't forget to look at the USEFUL RESOURCES page if you can't find any of the tools I've mentioned.

And, I keep repeating, don't hesitate to ask me for help! Below each post, you'll see 'n comments', where n is the number of comments for that post. Click on it to bring you to the comment menu where you can read other comments or write your own.

This blog: All the resources you find here in my blog are free for you to use. Just let your audience know where the material came from. If you want to link to any of the online activities, I'd prefer you to link to the relevant post here rather than directly to the activity itself. I was surprised when some of you expressed doubts regarding using my material. Sure, if you want to buy me a coffee every now and then, it will be most appreciated! ;-) And, yes, everything here has been the result of my own sweat - some of you were surprised at this, too. Of course, I've had to use other people's resources, too. That's what the Internet is for - sharing, but I always try to credit my sources. If I'd missed it somewhere, I'd appreciate being told. Alternatively, if you see my material being used elsewhere without proper credit, I'd appreciate being told, too.

Purpose Games: I use this site quite a lot. If you plan to use my Purpose Games (all my point-and-click games are there), do ask your students to register. That way, you can keep track of who has done what and what kind of scores they have. This, hopefully, would encourage healthy competition between them.

And do ask your students to place comments here in this blog, too.

bridging the gap between digital native...

See more presentations by acLiLtocLiMB | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations

This PowerPoint presentation can also be downloaded from Slideshare and Google Sites. Those of you who have Microsoft Office versions 2003 or older can download from Scribd.

CLIL Survey School Year 2009-2010

Updated: 27 May 21:15 GMT

I've modified a couple of questions in the survey: I changed the last question to 'Which class do you belong to?'  and inserted a checkbox question 'Select your school'. This will make it easier if you are just interested in seeing your school's replies (possible only if you're viewing the spreadsheet). Go to VIEW on the menu bar and select LIST VIEW. In this mode, you can select whatever you're interested in. For example, if you're only interested in IES Alonso Quesada, scroll onto the column SELECT YOUR SCHOOL, choose IES Alonso Quesada, and the spreadsheet will only display the results where this has been the selection.

Since, I've just made the change, surveys taken before this (see date/time above) will not have the last question reflected.

Well, unfortunately, the time has come for me to say goodbye to you all. Of course, I would have liked to stay until the end of the school year, but the decision wasn't mine to take.

With any luck, I will be back again with you next school year. I hope you will keep coming back to this blog in the summer, if only to say hello to me!

Please take 5 minutes of your time to complete this survey. You might have done one with your respective schools, but this is for me. As I'm a strong advocate for a paperless society, mine is online, and the results of the survey can be seen by everyone.

There are 4 sections; no question, except one, is compulsory. If the question doesn't apply to you, leave it blank. You can give your name, or you can remain anonymous. The only information that you must give is the name of your school and your class.

Thank you!

Although this survey has been designed by myself for myself, everyone is welcomed to do it. Just leave the questions that don't apply to you blank.

After completing the survey, you can see the results of the survey. If you want to see them directly, here are the links:

See the analytics.

See the spreadsheet.

Oh, incidentally, if you aren't able to see the analytics on Mozilla Firefox, try Internet Explorer or Google Chrome.

Opinion Harven School Las Palmas

As I was browsing through today's visitor's statistics, like I often do, I was curious to find one had come in here on a Google search for "opinion harven school las palmas". Hehehe. He was directed to: http://acliltoclimb.blogspot.com/2009/10/countries-and-nationality-elementary.html

Date: 19 May 2010. Time: about 16:20

Well, if that person reads this and is still searching for that information, feel free to email me! ;-P

Google Fast Flip - for fast browsers

Google has just introduced its latest tool, the Google Fast Flip. It allows you to flip through pages quickly, much in the style of flipping through magazines, to find items you would like to read more  about in detail. My initial reaction to it was 'Fantastic!' It's especially useful for my searches for vocabulary items which I think are appropriate for the words/phrasal verbs/idioms of the day sections in this blog. For most of us who have little time to keep ourselves informed of what's happening in the world, it is indeed an online blessing. You can search for items, and you can choose contents, subjects or sources. Tell me what you think of it!