Friday 18 April 2014

Global Village Traveller , Poem by Mark Hurlin-Shelton ...copyright 2013

Global Village Traveller


I have awoken
with dreamy eyes
In so many unfamiliar places

On warm exotic beaches
under bridges
in inexpensive inner city beds

  I usually awoke alone
Sometimes to birdsong
or the muezzins prayer

In Cairo , Bangkok,  London, or Marrakesh
In Copenhagen,Casablanca,
Paris or Prague,
Usually In search
 of some extraordinary adventure
 to delight my restless heart.

And I have found
that dogs sleep lazily in doorways
 or wag their tails identically in all these places

That the madness 
of love, money power and need,
in every domain
Its all the same

I have noted
That children throw tantrums in supermarkets
 in the very same manner
in every culture, language,and tradition

And some days
a smile or kind word could make
the sun come out,
In my brooding heart,
with equal efficiency
,whether beamed from
 an Egyptian, Hindustani, Czech,or Thai.

I have travelled too far , too long
 ,down these many roads,
that all led me away from
Yet strangely led me further away from
but back
back to the memory
of a broken house.

Yet still,
man is man
And I am me
and I have survived
and wine and money freely flow
girls blush, boys bully,
Promises are whispered
and hearts break,
Young Boys, from east to west
In Bethlehem or Tel-Aviv
play with their toy guns
and little girls their dolls and skipping ropes

And the plea for love
In the hungry eyes
of solitary faces
in a hundred thousand doorways
all share one language.
Its human
And its mine.

The Noun poem by Mark Hurlin-Shelton Copyright 2014

I would like to tell you about these things called nouns,
Like 'Hope' and 'books' and 'flocks' and 'clowns',

A common noun refers to anything,
It's tangible , we can see and touch,
While an abstract noun is for an invisible something
- not a physical thing as such.
"Love" and "hope", we cannot put these in a box...
As we can a book, a boy, a toy, a fox.

A proper noun this is a name for a place or person, it's something real,
Like London, Tuesday, John or Mrs McNeal,
Do take care to not forget a-
-Proper noun begins with a capital letter.

The collective noun refers to a group
Like a company of actors or performers in a troupe-
And their art may inspire our hearts
With the love and hope and feeling
That the abstract noun imparts,

Pronouns replace nouns they simplify,
Like "them" and "we" and "us" and "you" and "I",
Their relatives help us to relate -
"That" boy, "What"time, "which" man, "who"  went, "what" fate,

So nouns all add to our understandings
In telling us about the world of things.
So be sure to master nouns,
Like "Love"" and "Goose" and"Toys" and "Clowns. "

"Parts of Speech" poem- by Mark Hurlin-Shelton

Parts of Speech.

by Mark Hurlin-Shelton,    copyright 2014


In English there are different types of words.
Like articles, prepositions, nouns, adjectives and verbs
They have special functions and they teach
Us to distinguish the various parts of speech.

NOUNS of course are words for "things"
Some we can touch or feel or put inside a box
Like BOOKs  and BOYS  and DIAMOND RINGS
And ELEPHANTS  and CAKES and CLOCKS.

(On second thoughts an elephant might just break the box)

Abstract nouns speak of things we cannot see,
Like hope and love and eternity,

Verbs are action words for "doing",
Like "TRY " and "FLY"
- while words like "eating"and  "gluing"
and "perusing",
These are words
half noun/half verb....
Like "believing", " waiting", and "amusing",
These  Gerunds are somewhat more confusing.

An adverb describes how something is done
Like how BEAUTIFULLY  she sang, or how QUICKLY  he had run,
These adverbs help describe the verbs,
While adding interest to the words.

An adjective describes a noun
Like a CLEVER boy, or a SILLY clown
Always descriptive, it tells us more,
About the PRETTY girl, or the DIRTY floor.

A preposition gives us an indication,
Of where something is in relation
To something else,
Like under the Table,  ON the shelf
Or AGAINST the wall,
Or THROUGH the doorway, DOWN the hall,
Like AROUND the corner, or IN your dreams,
Or OVER the rainbow, or sprinkles ON your ice cream.

Conjunctions, like "AND", and "BUT", "BECAUSE", "HOWEVER"
Help connect our sentences together,
"THEN", "ALTHOUGH","UNLESS","BECAUSE"
Join phrase to phrase,
And clause to clause.

An article is either definite or not,
AN eskimo, A spaceship, THE Polka-dot,
If there's only one of something then use "the"
But if it's one of many, then choose "a".

The interjection -
Express feelings like
joy or excitement,-
Like a huh?! Yea !! wow ! Gee
or a yay Of "delightment" -
Or not so nice feelings
Like groan, sigh or a moan-
All kinds of feelings- whether happy or dark,
Interjections usually end with an exclamation mark. :)


I hope that I have left nothing out
If I have give me a shout,
I hope this lesson helped to teach,
You all about our parts of speech.
:)

How to study and teach vocabulary, by Mark Hurlin Shelton.



Having a good understanding of Latin, Greek and Germanic root-words ,suffixes and prefixes will help you immensely in your ability to understand and teach vocabulary.

You will also need to know and understand synonyms,for words and to know the difference between equal or interchangeable synonyms and "unequal" synonyms
(words which do not mean exactly the same and are not interchangeable -or which only mean the same in a specific context.).
Eg: "perhaps" and "maybe" are equal synonyms and are therefore perfectly interchangeable.(You can swop them).
"House and Home" are not quite equal, they are almost the same in meaning, but do have different connotative meanings.
Words like "Beautiful, pretty, handsome, sexy, and attractive, stunning, gorgeous, good looking, shapely" are NOT equal interchangeable synonyms, as they all have different specific shades of meaning and connotation.

We understand words only in relation to other words.We rely on words to explain other words. The only way to explain a word without a word is to point to a physical object while saying the word for it.

So
1) when teaching vocabulary first make sure that you are teaching words that you understand very well.
2) Provide the list of words to your students,
3) Ask your students to first tell you their own understanding of these words.
4) The class can discuss them and give you their ideas.
5) Then ask them to consult a dictionary (or a few good dictionaries) eg: Oxford English Dictionary and even perhaps a Thesaurus- and look up the meanings and then the synonyms for each word.
WARNING: Be very careful with a Thesaurus because if you don't know how to use one- you may be led to think that a word may mean the same as a word listed next to it- but very often the words listed are not true synonyms at all, but are only related concepts or what I call "unequal or unequivalent synonyms."
Two EQUIVALENT synonyms explain or define one another and are interchangeable."

With two NON-EQUIVALENT or unequal synonyms- one of the pair will explain or define the other- but it's partner will not explain or define the word that explained it !!
I mean for example. A poodle is a dog, but a dog is not a poodle.
(The word dog explains what a poodle is , but "poodle" does not explain what a dog is !!
A boy is a related concept to a man, they are both male, but a boy and a man are very different things.

6) Next to each word on your students vocabulary list they should first write down at least 3 different dictionary definitions of that word.
7) Possibly they may need to also write down both a literal (denotative) meaning and also any colloquial, figurative or connotative definitions of that word.
8) Then, around each word they should draw a neat circle.
9) Around that circle first write down synonyms that mean exactly the same .
10) Then, draw a larger neat circle around all those words and then on the outside of the larger circle write down those words which mean almost the same but not quite.
11) Then, when finished draw another larger neat circle around that.
12 On the outside of the new circle write down words which are unequal /non-equivalent synonyms.
13)Draw yet another larger neat circle around these words.
14) Then write down around the outside of that circle ,words which are related words and concepts. 15)Then of course these words and their synonyms need to be studied, revised and understood as well as possible.
16) The next step is to use these words in sentences.
17) Check with a native speaking teacher or friend who has a good vocabulary to make sure that you have used these words properly.
18) Also you will need to use them in spoken conversation.
19)The rule is USE them or USE them.
Unless you put your vocabulary into practice it will soon be forgotten.

Before a word truly can be said to have become a part of your vocabulary you will need to:

1) Spell it properly
2) Thoroughly understand it's dictionary definitions.
3)Understand its denotative and connotative meanings.
Denotative means the literal meaning as defined by a dictionary. "Connotative" means the way it is actually used in actual speech.
Eg: "Wicked"denotatively means something "evil", yet connotatively young people use it to mean that something is great, awesome or cool.
4)Know a fair number of a words equivalent synonyms and be able to distinguish them from its non-equivalent synonyms and related concepts.
5) Be able to pronounce it properly.
6) Be able to use it properly in a written and a spoken sentence.

I hope you understand, please ask me if there is anything that you don't quite understand. This may seem difficult, but once you grasp the difference between equivalent and non equivalent synonyms. It will become a lot simpler and clearer.
Also realise that one word may mean the same as another in one particular context, (situation) but mean something completely different in another.

Only experience and a good grasp and knowledge of your own vocabulary, will enable you to make the very important distinctions between words. Are two words the same in meaning ? Are they equivalent in meaning and interchangeable?
. Do they mean the same only in a particular context, but not in others?
Are they just related concepts, but not actually synonyms?

You will need to thoroughly understand all these distinctions if you wish to become a good teacher of vocabulary.

Kind regards,
Teacher Mark.