These words – success, failure, effort, belief – take different forms and collocate strongly with other words.
They’re also problematic for Indonesian scholars. Success has become sukses, effort is translated from upaya, and belief is subject to the same word form error as life (see note below).
Use a dictionary to complete the following text with suitable forms of these words.
Instructions
Enter the following items into the gaps, then click 'Check your answers!'
This could be achieved using gravity to allow the water to flow from the higher to the lower level.
This is possible in some languages but not in English. In English if something happens the same way, all the time, predictably, without variation, then there isn’t really any question of probability (‘could‘). For regular, predictable phenomena use good old present simple tense without modals:
This is achieved using gravity to allow the water to flow from the higher to the lower level.
Only use modals for unpredictable or uncertain situations, and then think about the degree of predictability or certainty:
This could be achieved using gravity to allow the water to flow from the higher to the lower level, but there are other, better methods. (= Gravity perhaps not the best method)
In most situations this can be achieved using gravity to allow the water to flow from the higher to the lower level. (= Gravity usually the best method)
Notice that could implies a more negative evaluation than can. Indonesians should think carefully about this distinction as they tend to over-use could, having been taught in school that could is more formal than can. Well, yes it is, but only in offers and requests:
Can you pass the salt? (informal)
Could you pass the salt, please? (formal)
Excuse me. Would you mind passing the salt? (very formal)
Physical shops are more convenient than online stores. Firstly, in physical shops customers are able to touch goods and try on clothes. Secondly, shopping in physical shops can be a social activity.
There is a category of physical store aptly named ‘convenience stores‘. Many countries have 7 Elevens. In Indonesia we have Indomaret, Alfamart and Circle K.
Indonesians might call a shop that sells everything at a low price ‘convenient‘. However, the prices in convenience stores like Circle K can be quite a lot higher than average. These shops inflate prices precisely so that they can offer ‘conveniences‘:
they are numerous, especially in cities
they have ample parking if they are situated on a road
they can even be found inside large shopping centres
they stock items that most people need on a daily basis
they provide fast and efficient service
These are all features that native English speakers would consider ‘convenient‘. In English something is ‘convenient‘ when it saves you time and effort. Being able to touch goods is not a matter of ‘convenience‘. It may be practical, but it is not what most people would call ‘convenient‘, and neither is meeting your friends when you go to physical stores.
Students, especially Indonesian students, often tell me that they would much rather watch a film than read a book. Reading is boring, they say.
I would like to invite you to think again about reading.
My teaching colleagues and I would all agree that reading novels is fun, and we all recommend this kind of ‘extensive’ reading to our students. Most of us would also agree that when a film is made based on a book, the book is always much more satisfying than the film of the book.
Let’s try an experiment. Let’s see which you prefer – the book or the film? First you’re going to read and listen to a short text. Then you’re going to watch a movie clip based on the same text. Finally you’ll reflect on the experience and think again about which you prefer – reading or just ‘watching’.
1. Reading
Read the text shown in the clip below and use your imagination to picture what’s going on in the ‘story’. Think carefully about the imagery and about characters in the story. What do the people in the story look like? Where are they?
2. Watching
Now watch the ‘movie’. Compare what you see in the film to what you saw in your mind as you were reading. Did you ‘see’ the same things? How are the images in the video different from the images you saw in your mind when you were reading?
3. Reflection
So what do you think? Do you still prefer watching somebody else’s thoughts. Who is the best ‘director’? You when you read? Or someone else when they read?
I’d be very interested to know your thoughts about reading vs. viewing. What are your preferences and why? Please comment below.
And why do you think I showed a picture of an iceberg as the featured image for this post?
Is it worth to spend large amounts of money on space exploration?
This is an expression that doesn’t really have a nice translation in Bahasa Indonesia, (closest equivalent = layak) and so I seldom hear it from students. But it’s extremely common in spoken and written English, and so it’s one you should learn to use.
This is the correct collocation:
Is it worth spending large amounts of money on space exploration?
Possible answers include..
Yes, it’s (it is) worth it.
Yes, it’s (it is) worth spending money on space exploration.
No, it isn’t (it is not) worth it.
No, it’s (it is) not worth it.
No, it isn’t (is not) worth spendingmoney on space exploration.
When you ask “Is it worth it?” you’re asking..
Is it basically more advantageous than disadvantageous?
Is the extra expense justified?
Is the additional time investment justified?
And so we have the idiom “If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right!” If you’re investing extra time and/or money into a job or task, then it would be a sin to put in less than 100% effort:
And now for the challenge. Can you think of 5 activities that require additional time, effort and expense but are still worth it? Comments below! 🙂
Budi tried to teach himself IELTS but made no progress. Then he discovered @guruEAP and last Saturday he could achieve band 7.0.
Ok,ok.. I made this one up. It may look like shameless self-promotion, but it’s a problem I often see in student writing.
Consider this scenario:
When @guruEAP first arrived in Indonesia he could speak only English and French. Now, after 20 years in Indonesia, he can speak Indonesian fluently. Last weekend he bought some bananas from the local market and he was able to negotiate a reasonable price.
Here there are two kinds of ability:
A permanent ability that existed/exists continuously over time (“..he could speak../..he can speak..“). Note that this can be past or present.
A temporary ability in the past that existed momentarily, relating to a particular event (“..he was able to negotiate..“). Note that this is always past.
So if we return to the original problem:
Budi tried to teach himself IELTS but made no progress. Then he discovered @GuruEAP and last Saturday he was able to achieve band 7.0.
Note that the temporary ability was required in a situation that was difficult and required effort / struggle.
Advertising tends to make people more consumptive.
Once upon a time consumption meant ‘wasting away’, but in the context of tuberculosis, not shopping. Of course these days consumption is still a kind of wasting, but not as life-threatening!
As we know that, last year the government removed English from the elementary school curriculum.
English, even academic English, is full of ‘fixed expressions’ – phrases that are always written and spoken in exactly the same form. Fixed expressions can be quite long and may include some sophisticated grammar, but it’s best to think of them as individual vocabulary items. Record them as vocabulary items. Memorise them as vocabulary items. Don’t change the word order of a fixed expression, and don’t change any word forms inside a fixed expression, even if you think your alterations make sense:
You will be less likely to make errors like these if you memorise fixed expressions much as you might memorise individual vocabulary items. You may also notice how the structure of a fixed expression differs from its translation. For example, Indonesians feel a strong urge to add bahwa after seperti kita ketahui. (In English there is nobahwa):
As we know, last year the government removed English from the elementary school curriculum.
As we know = 1 item, 3 words (not 4!)
Notice also that in this example as we know also requires a comma (,) to separate it from last year.
Record fixed expressions in your vocabulary notebook. Review them. Memorise them. Use them in sentences. And watch how your IELTS scores for writing and speaking start to increase!
They’re also problematic for Indonesian scholars. Success has become sukses, effort is translated from upaya, and belief is subject to the same word form error as life (see note below).
