ESL Blogs

Well, well! I see no one is interested in correcting my learner and explaining teacher's mind in my blog from March 17, Part I, although you seem to like Part II! Why? It is my undrerstanding that the first part has been much better and more exciting! It is your business for sure. If I were you, I would avoid an easy road to my goal. But any learning blog should result in your gaining at least some new knowledge. I promised to explain everything and have posted a blog about all phrasal verbs I used or expected to hear. From this blog, you may learn what we feel hearing or reading what you say. Hahaha! You don't have to wait for long to read about my new nightmares!

Just enjoy my learner's confusion now!

Episode I.

Learner: “Yesterday, I ran over my friend downtown but he pretended not to recognize me and passed away.”

Teacher: “No wonder he did! I wonder he had enough time to pretend! I wish I would never run into you anywhere!”

In fact, the learner said driving downtown, he knocked his friend down, driven over him and a poor guy died! Reacting to what he heard, the teacher said he wanted to stay away from the learner’s car on the road to avoid the untimely death. Also, he was surprised that the learner’s friend had had enough time to make believe he didn’t recognize his murderer!

So, the correct sentence is:

“Yesterday, I ran INTO my friend downtown but he pretended not to recognize me and passed BY.”

Episode II.

Learner: ”You know two days ago I reserved a table in a nice restaurant and called away my girlfriend asking her to join me for dinner. I had waited her for a few hours but she neither called nor showed off!”

Teacher: ”Hahaha! Show off?! You have done your best! If I were her, I would call off all our meetings in advance! If I were you, I would rather have called for her before dinner or call on her to beg pardon. But being myself, I am calling you down! To arms, my boy!”

 Let’s see what the learner said. He told/requested/ordered a lady to go somewhere while asking her to join him for dinner. First, men can only ASK ladies. They shouldn’t TELL or REQUEST anything if they are not ladies’ bosses. If we even are, we ASK them to do what they have to. Moreover, if the lady had done what she was told, she wouldn’t have been able to come to the restaurant anyway and could have just showed off somewhere else, where the learner had sent her!

The teacher’s reaction to what he heard was sarcastic, didactic and instructive. First, he said the learner had done everything he could to demonstrate his disrespectful attitude to a lady. Besides, he said if he had been that lady, he would have cancelled all their possible future dates. If the teacher had been the learner, he would have come to the lady’s place before dinner to give her a ride to the restaurant. At least, he would have paid her a visit some later to beg her pardon for being so impolite. Moreover, the teacher said that being a gentleman he was challenging the learner to a duel for the latter to know how to behave. Hahaha!

So, the learner should have said:

“You know two days ago I reserved a table in a nice restaurant and called (up/in) my girlfriend asking her to join me for dinner. I had waited her for a few hours but she neither called nor showed up!”

Episode III.

Learner: “Sir, I thought my article would bring out the last issue of the Journal but they decided to put it away till May!”

Teacher: “Is there anything really special in the last issue of this famous Journal to be brought out?! I though you have brought off your research! If you haven’t, our partners may bring us up before the arbitrage!”

First of all, the learner used the wrong voice. TO BRING OUT means to produce, especially to publish something new (a book, a journal, any other edition). However, the journal he meant has been well-known and popular for many years. So, “my article would bring out the last issue of the Journal” sounds incorrect and senseless. On the other hand, TO BRING OUT may also mean that something makes you show/demonstrate some kind of feelings or behavior or skills you don’t usually show. For example:

She never brings out her best dishes even when guests arrive.

You should be aware of it to understand the teacher’s reaction.

Now, TO PUT AWAY means the same as TO SET ASIDE or TO PUT DOWN. If you hold something in your hands, you put it away if you don’t need it at the moment.

I believe after my explanations you understand the teacher’s reaction better. He wondered what was so special in the March issue because, according to the learner, his article could have given some new information about the famous journal! LOL! He also meant the first thing for the learner to do was to complete his research so that the company wouldn’t be imposed for violating the terms of the contract.

The learner’s correct sentence is:

“Sir, I thought my article would be put in print in the last issue of the Journal but they decided to put it off till May!”

Episode IV.

Learner: "Danny, I think that lady is out-of-date. She told me to look for someone else to share dinner with! She said it is you who can call me away being my boss. Did she really mean what I think?"

Teacher: "Come on! You know I am married to a woman. But if you want to be considered up-to-date, you had better pick up a few girls hoping at least one of them would be able to understand your true intentions."

According to Roman, if a man says a woman is out of date, he hands down his own death sentence and it is better to kick the bucket at once! I agree 100%!!!  In fact, our learner didn’t know why the girl had missed the date and decided she didn’t want to date him. Also, he reported her direct speech and she meant that only their boss (me) could tell them what to do. As our learner didn’t know what TO CALL AWAY means (he thought it meant to call someone for a date or to talk to someone in private), he might have thought the girl hinted to my being a gay! And, of course, I wondered why people who know me can think so because I LOVE WOMEN! You know, EC ladies have hinted to my “different” orientation more than once! Hahahaha! So, the “teacher” tried to justify his traditional orientation and advised the learner to try inviting a few English speaking girls for a date hoping that at least one of them would understand his English and his good intentions. Now, you may see how funny and confusing this episode was! But I’d like to tell you that in real, those two have got along in overcoming the language and cultural differences and are dating now. Sure, nobody knows where it may lead them but…. I do like happy end!

So, to avoid misunderstanding, our learner should have said something like this:

"Danny, I think that lady has passed me over for dating. She told me to look for someone else to share dinner with! She said it is you who can call me away being my boss. Did she really mean what I think?"

Well, I hope you’ve learned something from these mistakes and will think what to say before using any phrasal verbs in any situation. But it is not the end as I have seen a nightmare again! Hahahaha! I believe you know what to expect!

As always, you can ask me any questions if you have any doubts or….

Have a great week!

For those who haven't read, here are the links to the blogs I have mentioned

https://my.englishclub.com/profiles/blogs/let-s-try-to-learn-phrasal-verbs-having-fun

https://my.englishclub.com/profiles/blogs/to-my-previous-blog-some-explanations