In perusing the above-captioned article, I was horrified by the numerous mechanical, syntactical, and grammatical errors. Well-trained English teachers don't need to rely on textbooks for such instruction; in fact, they easily pinpoint errors that the textbook editors overlooked. Far too many recent college graduates with a B.A. in English wouldn't be able to explain the difference between a squinting and a dangling modifier.
Re: "Why We Don't Like English Classes"
People can dislike English classes for any number of reasons. I'll mention just one in my case. When I had English in high school and college I disliked many of the poets and novelists that my English teachers liked and assigned for us to read. Yet, I love English language literature when I can read authors that I like and whose poems and novels are special to me.
"...the difference between a squinting and a dangling modifier."
OK, I'll bite. What IS the difference?
OK, I'll bite. What IS the difference?
for some Americans are really hard.
We don't care if we know how to spell or even proper grammar.
We don't care if we know how to spell or even proper grammar.
Well, English classes were always my favourite subject, as well as my native language classes. Those were the only subjects I didn't have to study at home to get a good grade, I just understood all the stuff right there at the class. On the other hand, I always hated mathematics, because I just didn't get a single thing.... LOL :))
One more thing: Since I have always been very good at grammar (and when it comes to my native language, we had to learn really advanced grammar), I was the only one in the class that always wanted my professor to ask me grammar instead of literature. Everyone else hated it. When my professor wanted to check our knowledge, everyone just wanted to talk about literature because they would just learn what they needed to learn and talk about it, but I didn't want to waste my time with that and my professor knew I was good at grammar, so when it was my turn to talk, she would always say: "Let's talk about grammar, shall we?", and I would reply with a smile: "Of course!"
Sanja, In regard to - (and when it comes to my native language, we had to learn really advanced grammar). I hope that the following is a constructive comment - There is a school of thought that says it is little better to use a footnote than put a lot of words inside brackets. The desirability of using footnotes increases, if you are producing a formal report.
Footnotes provide flexibility - different types of readers can readily
read the same document.
read the same document.