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03
MAY
2018
Shakespeare used plural pronouns too

Is “They” Okay? Is it okay to use “they” for a singular pronoun of unknown gender?

‘Chandos’ Portrait of Shakespeare in the National Portrait Gallery, London “There’s not a man I meet but doth salute me As if I were their well-acquainted friend.” Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors, Act IV, Scene 3: William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British playwright...
28
NOV
2017

Teaching Matters: Correcting Error in the Classroom

  “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” -Socrates (c. 470-399 BCE), Ancient Greek philosopher   What are “good mistakes?” How can we – as teachers of English – encourage students to make more of them? When can we use error as an...
17
SEP
2014

Perfection and grammar: not essential for ESL students, or even native speakers

Certain grammar rules unnecessary for comprehension, everyday conversation “Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.” -Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) Spanish surrealist painterIs it always essential to have perfect grammar? Must we always avoid split infinitives, dangling...
26
JUN
2014

Proceed with Caution: Gender-Neutral and Plural Pronouns

How to approach pronouns in English class “The world is still a weird place, despite my efforts to make clear and perfect sense of it.” ―Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) American journalist How unfortunate it is that English has no gender-neutral pronoun, one to use when saying “he...