When Thinking in English

Although English is not as rich as Czech and many other languages are, to understand and speak it properly still requires a bit of an adjustment, and you must switch your mind set so that you do not make things more difficult than they really are. If you overengineer English, learning it is going to be hard.

When trying to speak English, remember to "Think Literal" | foto: Profimedia.cz

Angličtina na iDNES.cz
VŠECHNY LEKCE ZDE

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Think Literal - You is YOU
When trying to speak English, try to think literally, as in a physics sense. While this may not seem very clear at first, what is meant by this, is just try to say what something is or what it might be doing.

For example, in English there is only ONE form for the word you, instead of several different variants like those which exist in other languages. Since there really is only one "you" in this world, English uses it. It's that simple.

In English, "you" remains "you" -- no matter what. It doesn't matter whether I am addressing "you" in the first person, second person, third person, past tense; present tense, future tense, or anything else. In English, "you" remains "you" -- just like "you" remain "you" in the real world. Anything else, is just extra work. In English, none of this is necessary.

Cousins vs. Cousins
In Czech, there are two words for the word cousin. In English, there's only one: cousin. Unlike Czech, in English, it is irrelevant if your cousin is a man or a woman, the person is still your cousin. Just as in real life.

Notice the Pattern - It's Literal
Notice in these two examples that there is a very simple but powerful principle here: it's called being literal. Notice that English makes shrewd use of it.

"You" are "you" -- no one else is ever going to be "you" regardless of what form they speak to you in.

In this same way, your cousins are your cousins. Whether they're males or females is simply extra info which doesn't change the fact that they're your cousins.

            Jokes - Quotes from Einstein

1. "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
2. "Try not to become a man of success. Instead, become a man of values."
3. "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all art and science."
4. "If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts."
5. "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
6. "Example isn't another way to teach, it is the only way to teach."
7. "Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them."
8. "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
9. "If I could live my life all over again, I would be a plumber."

 

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