English Helps from Sara

Be sure to read through these PDFs. BEGIN WITH #1!

Capitalisation and spelling: Capitalisation and spelling greatly influence how any of your written work is viewed.

Numbers and punctuation: This is very important – even VITAL - when writing numbers and prices. MEMORISE these differences!

Although we haven’t yet gone intensely into this in class, there are definite differences in the language that could/should be noted. Business and research language tends to be more formal, while personal use takes on the informal, as a general rule. I’ve included two PDFs that deal with this idea (one in each direction).

NOTE from SARA: For your presentations, please use language you are comfortable with.

Contractions, abbreviations and acronyms are an integral part of today’s communication.

Contractions, as they seem more friendly and can speed things up.

     HOWEVER, contractions should NOT be used in formal business letters or other official communications.

Abbreviations and acronyms are necessary in chats and texting.

     But they should be used with caution in formal business letters and other official communications.

From the OXFORD DICTIONARY:

contraction (noun): a short form of a word “He's” may be a contraction of “he is” or “he has.”

abbreviation (noun): (of/for something) a short form of a word, etc.

acronym (noun): an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. ASCII, NASA, LOL).

I’ve only included information on contractions in English here, as abbreviations and especially acronyms are available everywhere on the Internet.

1. There are two explanatory PDFs here. The same information is given on both. One explains the English tenses in German. The other explains the English tenses in English.

2. A "Pictoral" PDF gives expanded explanations in English, including a visual, sentence formulas and sample sentences.

As is the case with most languages, spoken English is naturally shortened, often making contracted words and phrases the norm.

Although originally based on American English, both PDFs are useful for helping you understand what native speakers are actually saying, no matter where they are from.

Of course, accents play a major role – and there are of course regional differences. And honestly, the Brits and Australians are champions at shortening words. A favourite example of mine is the word “extraordinary”. It essentially has 6 syllables. The Americans usually do it in 5: ex-tror-din-ar-y. A great many Brits can do it in two: “strord-nri”.

And the Australians shorten just about everything (you can find excellent examples online).

When you take a look at the PDFs – I’m sure you’ll recognise a LOT if not all of the situations. I can be contacted if you need help in pronouncing anything. And I added translations to the idioms, so you'll know what's being said.

How does that go again? As we know, each language has its quirks.

So, I’ve included a sentence structure chart, time order words and a PDF covering verbs followed by ‘-ing’ / ‘to + infinitive’

NOTE: adjectives are found under “Using Adjectives”

Anything else can be found on the Net.

Adjectives describe nouns. So, in this section we will cover general use of adjectives – and then using adjectives to describe people and personalities.

We see ourselves and others through OUR eyes. The results may not be the same as those of others.

There are unending words and terms available. We will NEVER reach the end. So, here you’ll find lists as of 25 April 2023. If you need a term not listed, talk with Sara.

You have 6 PDFs:

1. How to Use Adjectives – General word order

2. Describing people – quick overview of adjective order

     - Sara uses herself as an example.

3a Describing Appearance D-E Glossary – German to English

3b Describing People by Appearance E-G – from English to German in more depth

4 Hair Styles including facial hair on men – illustrations

5 Persönlichkeit_Describing Personalities_D-E Glossary_sm