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CHRS: IBMPC 2
Oops!  What I meant to say was:

Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

 AH>  If one has a dictionary which explains the etymology, 
 AH>  i.e. from whom we borrowed the word, it's easier to 
 AH>  understand spellings like "yacht" & "caught".    


           Perhaps I should have typed "knot", rather than "yacht"... but then
you might learn more, if you look up "yacht" for yourself, than you would have
learned if you are fairly content with what you already know about "knot".  My
point is that native speakers tend to struggle with these issues as well... so
what you are seeing in Dallas's message is our version of gallows humour.  :-)

                

 ak>  It is also a big question what percent of all English  
 ak>  words is known to all the people speaking English. ;)


           No argument AFAIC.  When last I heard there were +/- half a million
words in the English language, not counting technical terms... but the average
social conversation included only about 300 of them.  I don't talk down to the
folks I meet in this echo, yet they seem to keep coming back for more....  :-Q



 ak>  So, when speaking English, maybe it is a good idea to 
 ak>  simplify phrases and don't use old fashion words. 


           In some cases, yes.  In others it's sufficient if you get the drift
... while people like Anton & me will have a wonderful time with material like
"lest thy clownish bearing discover thee".  I don't remember now what you were
asking about on that particular occasion... but I immediately added IVANHOE to
my "must-read" list & was not disappointed.  It's a good adventure story which
like most classics can be appreciated on a variety of levels, and as a teacher
I'm delighted when others can admit they have no idea what I'm babbling about.
In my experience very few junior high school students do that... and one of my
former students told me I was the only teacher he'd ever met who said "I don't
Inknow".  If you tell me you don't understand I can slow down or try rewording
what I said or get back to you when I've examined the matter further.

           I'm quite in awe of those who can master a foreign alphabet, as you
have, in order to communicate with me.  I reckon we all have our talents.  :-)
--- timEd 386 1.10.y2k+




Area : Ardith's 14 Discussion

Date : Sat Jan 08, 20:14                                                   loc
From : alexander koryagin                                     2:153/7715 To  
: Ardith Hinton                                          2:153/7715 Subj :
Confusion!!                                                          
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* Copied (from: English_Tutor) by Ardith Hinton using timEd/386 1.10.y2k+.

Hi, Ardith Hinton!
I read your message from 06.01.2022 23:56

Happy New Year!

  DH>>  We speak of a brother and also of brethren... [etc.].
  ak>>  For English learners it should be something more
  ak>> positive.;-)
  AH>           Understood.  Okay... in general, and on a more
  AH> serious note:            1)  My native tongue has simplified
  AH> various other inflections which caused a lot of grief when I
  AH> was trying to learn French & German.            2)  If one
  AH> has a dictionary which explains the etymology, i.e. from whom we
  AH> borrowed the word, it's easier to understand spellings like "yacht"
  AH> & "caught".  In short, we borrowed them from different languages.
  AH> And once you know words like "scribe" in English, you can make 
sense of
  AH> headers written by people from Europe who've forgotten to change their
  AH> language toggle....  :-))

It is also a big question what percent of all English words is known to all
the people speaking English. ;) So, when speaking English, maybe it is a good
idea to simplify phrases and don't use old fashion words.

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
fido.english_tutor 2022
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