English Language Learners - 2014-02-18 (page 2 of 4)

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12:00 PM

@snailplane Everything is English is so easy for you, isn't it?

in English*

@MaulikV > nods

Anonymous

@MaulikV I'm a native speaker, but I don't have a particular aptitude for language, so I have to work at it.

What does federal mean?

Anonymous

Related to the federal government of the United States. It federates fifty states into one--a union.

@MaulikV Don't u think we all should have taken birth in America only? :-)

12:01 PM

Not all native speakers are good at grammar. In fact, they'll be least bother about it but the way you look, understand and explain is commendable

Anonymous

When something is federal in the U.S., it is part of the national government, not a state or local government.

I take it this way - I'm a native speaker (Hindi) but then if it's grammar, I keep myself at bay!

At least they can talk without any fear, right?

Anonymous

@hellodear2 It would be a shame to lose the diversity of the world's cultures and have but one language to speak.

nods

12:02 PM

nods

@snailplane what is meaning of this part.....

> cultures and have but one lan

thus guaranteeing its fame. what does it mean?

Anonymous

@hellodear2 It would be a shame to [ [ lose the diversity of the world's cultures ] and [ have but one language to speak ] ]. The phrase "have but one language to speak" means "have only one language to speak"

Anonymous

"but one" = "only one"

great!!

Anonymous

@IceGirl "which guaranteed that it would be famous"

12:04 PM

If I had to speak this line, I would have spoken after using few more words.

Don't lose your culture merely over one language!

Demand for enjoyment of the canyon is so great that the BLM has been obliged to institute a rationing program: No one camps there without a permit and only a limited number of permits are issued.

Ewww!! I was just joking. >.< ewwwwww

Crystal, one thing that I find very difficult is the order of words in a sentence.

Dam usually understands my jokes. :-)

Anonymous

12:05 PM

@IceGirl Do you have a more specific question?

@snailplane Couldn't agree more!

Anonymous

@hellodear2 I didn't assume that you literally meant everyone should be born in the U.S. :-)

Anonymous

But that doesn't mean I can't respond to it.

Is it even possible? :D

I didn't understand whole sentence

12:07 PM

What is BLM?

Oh, "The federal Bureau of Land Management".

Yes

Let's see this part first: Demand for enjoyment of the canyon is so great that the BLM has been obliged to institute a rationing program

demand for?

the need or desire that people have for particular goods and services

Demand for enjoyment of the canyon is so great ~ everyone wants to enjoy the canyon (for their own pleasure).

It was too much... so the BLM has been obliged to institute a rationing program

Anonymous

@IceGirl A lot of people want to use the canyon. Too many people want to use it, so they have to limit the number of people who can use it. You're only allowed to go there if you have a permit, and they only give out a certain number of permits.

12:09 PM

@snailplane Thank you very much

I got it very well

@hellodear2 Have you checked out that American phonology website yet?

When our sentences turn blue? here on the chat?

Anonymous

Do you feel the sentences you're getting are very difficult, Ice Girl?

@MaulikV Yours

Yes so so

12:11 PM

LMAO

Anonymous

@MaulikV Blue? Do they ever turn blue...?

that simple it was!

Anonymous

Oh, the background behind them.

Anonymous

The sentences themselves don't change color, though.

OMG. how to deal with Crystal!

;)

Anonymous

12:12 PM

Well, when you say they turn blue, I get a particular mental image. That mental image doesn't include the background changing color, so I didn't understand what you were talking about at first.

Anonymous

I'm just pointing that out.

What does rationing program mean?

I'm at advantage because trying to understand is what non-native speakers do. :)

@IceGirl People have to share.

thanks

This is how they can shared, under BLM permission: No one camps there without a permit and only a limited number of permits are issued.

Anonymous

12:14 PM

@DamkerngT. Share, but I assume that's just a typo.

Wondering if @hellodear2 is still here.

Two friends and I took a walk into Aravaipa Canyon a few days ago. We walked because there is no road. There is hardly even a foot trail. Twelve miles long from end to end, the canyon is mostly occupied by the little river that gives it its name, and by streambanks piled with slabs of fallen rock from the cliffs above, the whole overgrown with cactus, trees and riparian desert shrubbery.

Anonymous

Hmm...

We walked because there is no road?

@snailplane Ah, yes. I could make lots of typo now. Because I'm picking a video clip for hellodear2 at the moment.

@IceGirl No road ~ we can't drive there.

Anonymous

12:16 PM

@DamkerngT. Ah, no worries. You explicitly asked me to correct your grammar today, so I'm making token efforts here and there :-)

Please do anyway. :)

And if I forget to thank you, I actually thank you every time. :)

There is hardly even a foot trail?

It seems like Matt's mom is a teacher.

Anonymous

Is this Matt Damon again?

Anonymous

I envy you, being on a first-name basis with all the stars of the world.

12:18 PM

@snailplane His clip was in this clip.

@snailplane I just hope that he won't be mad at me calling him by his first name. :)

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Clipception!

@IceGirl A foot trail would usually be better than this foot trail.

Anonymous

I've never actually seen Inception, but the 〜ception meme seems widespread.

@snailplane Must be because Inception. :)

@DamkerngT. What?

12:20 PM

@IceGirl I think the writer wanted to say that this foot trail is hard to walk on.

Anonymous

@IceGirl Damkerng's sentence means "Most foot trails are better than this one. This one isn't very good."

Anonymous

The original sentence probably means the foot trail is not well-defined--you can barely tell there's a foot trail there

OK

@snailplane Ah, I think that is more plausible.

the canyon is mostly occupied by the little river that gives it its name?

Anonymous

12:22 PM

@IceGirl Yes

@snailplane It's admiration and not difficulty!

Anonymous

(Okay, okay, I know "yes" isn't the answer you were looking for, but it sounded like a yes-no question :-)

Anonymous

@IceGirl The river is little, but it takes up most of the canyon. The canyon is named after the river.

Anonymous

Oops.

Anonymous

I realized after I wrote that that it says the river is little :-)

12:24 PM

the canyon is mostly occupied by the little river that gives it its name, and by stream banks piled with slabs of fallen rock from the cliffs above, the whole overgrown with cactus, trees and riparian desert shrubbery.

Anonymous

I guess that would make the canyon relatively small, too.

I didn't understand these sentences

Which part?

Anonymous

That's only one sentence. (Actually, just part of one sentence.)

whole

Anonymous

12:25 PM

@IceGirl What parts of it do you understand?

Anonymous

Ah, the earlier sentence fragment makes more sense now that I read the complete sentence

the canyon is mostly occupied by the little river that gives it its name. I got this one.

Anonymous

> Twelve miles long from end to end, the canyon is mostly occupied by the little river that gives it its name, and by streambanks piled with slabs of fallen rock from the cliffs above, the whole overgrown with cactus, trees and riparian desert shrubbery.

now the sentence after it

Anonymous

There is no sentence after it.

12:26 PM

i want to know

Anonymous

The canyon is mostly occupied [ [ by the little river that gives it its name] and [ by streambanks piled with slabs of fallen rock from the cliffs above ] ]

by stream banks piled with slabs of fallen rock?

Hah, you're faster than me, as usual.

@DamkerngT. lol

@IceGirl Which words you don't know?

Anonymous

12:27 PM

Those two things take up most of the space in the canyon.

Crystal not only has her hands on the language but also her fingers travel pretty swiftly on the keyboard!

@MaulikV True. So true! ^^

piled with slabs

Look up the words pile and slab.

pile= to fill a place or container or cover a surface with a large amount of things

right?

12:31 PM

Yes.

slab=a thick flat piece of a hard material such as stone

You can think of piling as stacking up.

@IceGirl Exactly!

overgrown?

slabs of fallen rock makes it obvious that it's about rock.

Look up overgrow.

Anonymous

@IceGirl collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/overgrown

12:33 PM

covered with plants that have grown in an uncontrolled way

Anonymous

@IceGirl Yes

when grass or plants are overgrown, they have grown in an uncontrolled way

Anonymous

Also yes.

Anonymous

Wow, I'm up late. I shouldn't have had so much caffeine!

riparian desert shrubbery?

12:34 PM

Hmm... Do snails like caffeine?

Oh, I don't know this riparian word.

riparian ~ something related to a river

@snailplane riparian desert shrubbery?

do you know?

Do you know the word shrub?

a small bush with several woody stems

Yes. shrubbery ~ lots of shrubs

Anonymous

@IceGirl collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/riparian

12:38 PM

please wait

Anonymous

Riparian is a relatively rare word, but it's in the top 20,000 on the COCA frequency list.

0

Q: Would you please help me complete the conversation?

I've listened to this video over and over but failed to get some parts of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCMrQ3sEdtU From 05:06 to 05:32 they pause the interview to show a clip. Here is my perception of the conversations of that clip. Would you please check this? (I've placed dots wherever...

Did you read the PS?

I mean that drew my attention and not the question!

:)

Crystal, you have been around for quite a long time

what's that PS?

OH, he just removed PS

exactly...you removed it... what was that?

?

@DamkerngT. Aravaipa is an Apache name (some say Pima, some say Papago) and the commonly accepted meaning is ''laughing waters.''

laughing water is the name?

The name fits. The stream is brisk, clear, about a foot deep at normal flow levels, churning its way around boulders, rippling over gravel bars, plunging into pools with bright and noisy vivacity

I really don't know this one. But I think the water might make some sounds that remind people of laughing, perhaps.

@snailplane Aravaipa is an Apache name (some say Pima, some say Papago) and the commonly accepted meaning is ''laughing waters.''

Anonymous

12:47 PM

Do you think that question is off-topic? I decided to answer it anyway. (I was going to answer it in a comment anyway, so I figured I might as well post it as an answer regardless.)

I asked about the PS

not the question!

The name fits means it's suitable?

@snailplane Oh, I can't even have a good try on that clip. (My computer is at its limits.)

Anonymous

@MaulikV Yes, I know.

Anonymous

The postscript was definitely in need of removal. :-)

Anonymous

12:49 PM

I thought it was better to remove it than to comment on it.

@IceGirl Yes.

Anonymous

@MaulikV Thank you. I pride myself on my ability to stay alive. I've managed thirty-two birthdays in my time. In fact, I plan on having more birthdays in the future!

Anonymous

You might say it's a talent of mine.

about a foot deep at normal flow levels?

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Oh, maybe another time.

12:50 PM

Yes, I can check it out later.

Argh, I hate Flash. :)

Anonymous

In case you want to make it a contest, I had to listen to it twice to transcribe the missing portions.

Help

Anonymous

@IceGirl What do you need help with? I wasn't looking.

about a foot deep at normal flow levels?

Anonymous

"about a foot deep at normal flow levels"?

Anonymous

12:52 PM

Ooh, a hat trick!

yes

Anonymous

Oh, the hat caved in.

Anonymous

In any case, "about a foot deep" is about 12 inches deep. That's about 30 centimeters deep.

Anonymous

"At normal flow levels" means that's how deep it is when the river is normal

Anonymous

But sometimes, it might be more or less than that.

Anonymous

12:53 PM

For example, if there's a raging storm, it might be deeper.

Anonymous

"Normal flow levels" describes the river in its normal conditions.

rippling over gravelbars?

plunging into pools with bright and noisy vivacity?

Look up ripple and gravel

vivacity=lively

right?

Yes.

Anonymous

12:55 PM

@IceGirl Liveli-ness

to move in small waves, or to make something move in this way

Anonymous

Vigorous, animated, full of live, full of energy

Anonymous

@IceGirl You'll understand ripple if you do a Google image search for it.

Anonymous

You make ripples when you throw a rock into a still pond.

small stones, used to make a surface for paths, roads etc

Anonymous

12:57 PM

Yes, that is gravel. A bunch of small rocks.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. I had a hard time understanding something in Japanese today.

I don't know if I can help. :)

Anonymous

Oh, I figured it out.

Yay!

Schools of loach minnow, roundtail chub, spikedace and Gila mudsuckers - rare and endemic species - slip and slither past your ankles as you wade into the current. The water is too warm to support trout or other varieties of what are called game fish; the fish here live out their lives undisturbed by anything more than horses' hooves and the sneaker-shod feet of hikers. ( PLEASE DO NOT MOLEST THE FISH.)

Schools of loach minnow?

12:59 PM

@IceGirl Break it down, and tell us which part(s) you don't understand.

roundtail chub?

spike dace?

I suggest to look up these words first.

Anonymous

Poor fish!

Anonymous

@IceGirl You can tell what those are by the word schools.

Anonymous

Schools of A, B, C, and D

Anonymous

1:01 PM

What could A, B, C, and D be?

Yes. This "schools" is not for students.

Sorry I didn't understand

Anonymous

"- rare and endemic species -" ← When you read this, you know that they're species of something.

Look up the word school.

I know school

Anonymous

1:01 PM

"slip and slither past your ankles as you wade into the current" ← they're species of something that can slip and slither past your ankles while your feet are in the water

Anonymous

So you can tell what A, B, C, and D are from context, without looking them up.

Anonymous

There are lots of native speakers who wouldn't know what "spikedace" are, but they could still understand this sentence using context.

Strange, I thought that dictionaries would have better definitions for this schools.

I couldn't find a good one.

Anonymous

education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/school_2

Yes. That's nice. But it seems like the one used by Google doesn't have it.

Anonymous

1:03 PM

Wow, ELL is getting so many questions!

Anonymous

The New Oxford American Dictionary?

yes.

Anonymous

It's got it, but Google's only showing part of what NOAD has.

Anonymous

oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/…

What does you wade into the current mean?

1:05 PM

@snailplane I meant do you know the matter? What had happened to that user?

Ah, schools of dolphins.

Anonymous

@IceGirl Walk into the water. Put your feet into the stream of water.

Since he talked about the moderators and some surprising things?

Anonymous

@MaulikV As I said before, I thought it was better to remove it than to comment on it.

Anonymous

I don't think I should talk about it.

1:06 PM

Oh, that means you know but don't prefer talking about it. Okay.

@snailplane sneaker-shod?

Mysterious it seems. Anyway... that's okay

sneaker-shod feet of hikers ~ feet of hikers who wear sneakers.

Thank you

I'm really tired

Anonymous

@IceGirl Shod is the past tense and participle of the verb shoe.

1:11 PM

I'll be continue this essay later. It's too long

It consists 4 pages

Anonymous

Consists of four pages? Sounds long.

Yes

It's long and hard

Anonymous

It seems like these essays contain a lot of grammar you're not quite familiar with yet.

Have a good time my friends. See you soon. Bye :)

Sure

Bye. See you soon.

Hoo-ray! StoneyB to the rescue!

Anonymous

1:14 PM

Oh, where did he uh, be to the rescue to . . . ? I have no idea how to form that sentence.

@snailplane It's from that movie. Just like Superman to the rescue.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. I understand the phrase!

Anonymous

But I can't figure out how to turn it into a question :-)

Hmm... Go look up my old question.

Anonymous

Can you be more specific?

1:15 PM

I remember I asked it. Wait...

Anonymous

Oh!

2

A: What is the full sentence of 'X to the rescue'?

Similar to the comment, I'd read it as: Judah Buckner is coming to the rescue! This would probably be said by Judah Buckner himself, speaking in third person.

Anonymous

Oh, I've already seen that.

Anonymous

I'm still not convinced, though.

Anonymous

I mean, it's as fine a way to explain it as any.

Anonymous

1:17 PM

But I don't think it is that full sentence.

Anonymous

I just think it resembles that full sentence and has the same meaning.

It seems like you prefer it the way it is.

Anonymous

But where was StoneyB to the rescue? :-)

Anonymous

You didn't answer my ill-formed question.

Anonymous

I want to see the rescue!

1:19 PM

I think I've just seen his name popped up on the main a few minutes ago. :)

Anonymous

Oh!

So I think he might help answering many questions.

Anonymous

Hooray!

This one is still warm...

0

A: What's "that strength"?

This is 19th-century poetry, and Tennyson was a little given to archaisms. A strength is an obsolete term for a company of troops†, and Ulysses is addressing “my mariners”, the men whom he led to Troy and who passed many dangers with him on the return voyage. So he's saying “We aren’t that band o...

Anonymous

I was writing an answer, but StoneyB beat me to the punch.

Anonymous

1:27 PM

Not to that question, but to another.

Matt did that to me once yesterday too. :)

I was typing my question, just three lines, and Matt already posted his complete answer. :)

So I clicked "cancel".

Which reminds me that I think 1.7 answers/question is fine for ELL.

My answer and Matt would be essentially the same.

Anonymous

Probably.

By the way, I found it a little strange that I got beaten by Matt while I was listening to Matt Damon's clips.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Matt-based synchronicity?

Hehe. Prolly.

Who knows? They might be one and the same Matt. :)

Anonymous

1:33 PM

Seems unlikely. Matt Damon was born in the US :-)

But our Matt doesn't say anything about where he comes from.

Anonymous

It's obvious.

I take it that you know that he's not from the US. :)

Probably from the UK, according to one of his answers on ELU.

Anonymous

He's previously referred to expressions as Standard English, using his own definition of standard meaning "acceptable everywhere", which were not used in American English

Anonymous

So you can reasonably infer he's not a native speaker of American English, but he is obviously a native speaker

Anonymous

1:37 PM

His style of English appears to be BrE.

I think American English is also acceptable everywhere too.

Hmm... perhaps not the Queen.

Anonymous

There are phrases used in either AmE or BrE which are are less acceptable in the other.

Anonymous

I should have been more precise, though.

Anonymous

That discussion has since been comment-deleted, though, so I can't refer you to it. :-)

Anonymous

Hmm. Apparently so. I'm just trying to find out where it originated and then I'll change my answer. It's not acceptable British English - at least not where I'm from :) — Matt Nov 22 '13 at 8:03

Anonymous

1:39 PM

That seems to imply he's from Britain. Or at least from British.

Ah, I see. That makes it very obvious. :)

Anonymous

Being neither American, nor taking any interest in American sports, I can honestly say I have never heard it used seriously by any native speaker, at all, my entire life, in any context. It might be a word, but it's not a good one for a learner to use. Even so, I have updated my answer — Matt Nov 22 '13 at 8:15

Anonymous

There you go--"[not] American"

Winningest strategy, a nice word.

Anonymous

Sports jargon. Mostly.

1:42 PM

Sounds like baseball.

Or maybe NFL.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Here's the quote that Nate asked people to transcribe in his question, which you said was too much for your computer: quarplet.com/quote.wav

Anonymous

In case you want the practice

A .wav file is much better, thanks.

Oh, very British.

? You'll and I should've been in Amsterdam doing truce up my [farth].

I couldn't decipher the other one, though.

Anonymous

Ah, it was kind of tough.

Yepbut, ...

I can hear something like Beck and choice.

? Yepbut, Beckham can't have a choice.

Okay, I will look up your answer. :)

Ah, Mars Bars!

Anonymous

1:55 PM

Can you hear it with the transcript?

I'm sure I will hear it. :)

It's loo' like.

Anonymous

Yes, that's right. The /k/ is entirely elided

And that failed my transcription entirely, at least for three or four words. :)

I still think the /b/ in his Mars Bars is also funny.

Anonymous

Oh, let me listen to it again. I didn't notice the /b/ being funny

Anonymous

I can hear the /b/ okay. What is funny about it?

Anonymous

1:59 PM

Does it have to do with aspiration?

@snailplane Yes.

It made me hear it as a /th/ sound.

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