Text One English is a queer Language

--- by Alice Hamilton

Warm-up Questions

– What puzzled you most at the beginning of your English learning? Was it due to the difference between English and your mother tongue?

– What kind of language do you think English is? Use some descriptive words to describe it.

About the Author

• the founder of occupational medicine

• First woman on the staff in Harvard University

• Life-long associate professor

Hammonasset Beach

• Hammonasset Beach State Park is Connecticut's largest shoreline park that offers over 2 miles of beach to enjoy swimming, strolling along the boardwalk, or just relaxing in the sun and surf.

Structure of the TextParts Main Ideas

Part One (para1) The problem with the two usages of “going” puzzled Jarmila.

Part Two (para.2) The author was beaten by the second problem concerning the different meanings of “miss”.

Part Three (paras3-8) The complicated use of “up” not only confused Jarmila but also the author and her family.

Part Four (para9) The use of “must ” also came to Jarmila as a puzzle.

Part Five (paras10-11)

It deals with the various collocations with “get”.

Part Five (paras12) Those polysemic words also made great trouble for Jarmila and Bohus.

Part Seven (para13) There are also some seemingly illogical expressions in English which may constitute difficulties for non-English speakers.

Discussion

– In what way do you think Chinese may puzzle foreigners? Explain that with examples.

– Can you think of some Chinese characters that have extensive collocations?