Bill the English Teacher

Good day, teacher Bill. It´s good to see you´re back again. First of all, I want you to remember that this is my second letter for you. I wrote the first one about 6 months ago (Sorry!!!). I want to thank your information abut "Tag questions sentences beginning with "I am...". I shared your lesson with all of my friends here in Colombia. Thanks again, teach.
Second, you told me about your nickname "Papi chulo", well, there are 2 things I think you should know. "Papi chulo" is an expression that latin women (Specially in Central America) use when they don´t wanna say "Handsome boy". So, if you are called "Papi chulo" that means you are very attractive and good looking !!! ; )
On the other hand, there is another meaning. Well, I don´t know how to say this, but I´ll try. "Chulo" is an expression used to identify a person who works on the street. This person is usually wearing colorful clothes and big gold necklaces, so, they always catch the attention of people on the street. if someone says you look like a "Chulo" they mean your clothes are very extravagant. In Colombia, there is a negative meaning for the expression "Chulo" because that´s the way we call some big black birds which like to eat dead animals. So, nobody likes to hear "You look like a Chulo" but it´s different if they hear "You look like a Papi chulo", that means you are catching the attention of everybody because you look great !!!
OK, dear Billy, now, it´s time for my questions. Some years ago I had to solve a laaaaarge English test because I wanted to work at a very prestigious high school here in my hometown. I got a very good grade but I didn´t get the job and the most funny thing is that I was the only one who got a good grade : 86%. The other 2 teachers got 32% (!!!) and 54%. When I had an interview with my potential boss, he offered me a poor salary, so, I said "Thanks a lot, but not". The point is that I still remember that I had to solve an exercise and I did read "Apply inversion to the following sentences"...What !!! What the heck is inversion?, I wondered. However, there was one example and I used it as a guide. Unfortunately I didn´t write those exercises on a piece of paper and I forgot the topic. When I wanted to ask you about it, you were on vacation, so, I had to try to find information on the internet or at another websites. I found poor information, however, I made a worksheet for my pupils and I tried to do my best explaining that topic but I still think I don´t have all what I need. I did read that inversion is not usually used in daily conversation, unless you want to emphasize a negative situation. This is one of the examples I found : You can say "She rarely studies at home" or, if you apply inversion, the resulting sentence is :
"Rarely does she study at home". The second sentence begins with "rarely" because that´s the expression you want to emphasize and after that, you have to use the construction of an interrogative sentences "does she study at home" but you are not asking a question!!!. I made these examples but I don´t really know if they are correct :

Under no circumstances did we give up !
Rarely have I heard such nonsense !

Now, I did read that there are some other types of sentences with inversion applied : "If sentences but WITHOUT If !!! And I don´t remember the others. I only understood the first situation (Question that is not a question) and that´s what I explained to my pupils. But I felt bad : ( I would like to explain the complete topic. However, once again, I have never seen a text book with that topic. And I haven´t found on the internet a page with examples and deeper information.
Dear Bill, I really hope you will show me the light again. Oh, I have another question about this topic : Can I only apply inversion for negative situations? I mean, what if I say :

Always did I find the right answer.

They say that inversion is used only with negative adverbs and expressions such as : not at all, never, seldom, under no circumstances, no sooner, not until, and so on...

I would like to receive a personal answer. This is my e-mail address : odagos@hotmail.com but I also think you should write your concept here, so, everybody will read and learn about this topic. Anyway, send me a copy to my e-mail, thanks a lot, dear teacher Bill.
God bless you and all of those who have read this letter, and thanks for your time.
OSCAR

P.S : If you find any grammar mistake in this letter, please, let me know. Thanks again. If somebody has further information about inversion, please, send it to my e-mail.

Comments

Lynne September 18, 2009 23:41

Hello Bill,
I hope you're fine today?
-Lynne-
Oscar Agudelo September 18, 2009 15:00

Good day, teacher Bill. It´s good to see you´re back again. First of all, I want you to remember that this is my second letter for you. I wrote the first one about 6 months ago (Sorry!!!). I want to thank your information abut "Tag questions sentences beginning with "I am...". I shared your lesson with all of my friends here in Colombia. Thanks again, teach.
Second, you told me about your nickname "Papi chulo", well, there are 2 things I think you should know. "Papi chulo" is an expression that latin women (Specially in Central America) use when they don´t wanna say "Handsome boy". So, if you are called "Papi chulo" that means you are very attractive and good looking !!! ; )
On the other hand, there is another meaning. Well, I don´t know how to say this, but I´ll try. "Chulo" is an expression used to identify a person who works on the street. This person is usually wearing colorful clothes and big gold necklaces, so, they always catch the attention of people on the street. if someone says you look like a "Chulo" they mean your clothes are very extravagant. In Colombia, there is a negative meaning for the expression "Chulo" because that´s the way we call some big black birds which like to eat dead animals. So, nobody likes to hear "You look like a Chulo" but it´s different if they hear "You look like a Papi chulo", that means you are catching the attention of everybody because you look great !!!
OK, dear Billy, now, it´s time for my questions. Some years ago I had to solve a laaaaarge English test because I wanted to work at a very prestigious high school here in my hometown. I got a very good grade but I didn´t get the job and the most funny thing is that I was the only one who got a good grade : 86%. The other 2 teachers got 32% (!!!) and 54%. When I had an interview with my potential boss, he offered me a poor salary, so, I said "Thanks a lot, but not". The point is that I still remember that I had to solve an exercise and I did read "Apply inversion to the following sentences"...What !!! What the heck is inversion?, I wondered. However, there was one example and I used it as a guide. Unfortunately I didn´t write those exercises on a piece of paper and I forgot the topic. When I wanted to ask you about it, you were on vacation, so, I had to try to find information on the internet or at another websites. I found poor information, however, I made a worksheet for my pupils and I tried to do my best explaining that topic but I still think I don´t have all what I need. I did read that inversion is not usually used in daily conversation, unless you want to emphasize a negative situation. This is one of the examples I found : You can say "She rarely studies at home" or, if you apply inversion, the resulting sentence is :
"Rarely does she study at home". The second sentence begins with "rarely" because that´s the expression you want to emphasize and after that, you have to use the construction of an interrogative sentences "does she study at home" but you are not asking a question!!!. I made these examples but I don´t really know if they are correct :

Under no circumstances did we give up !
Rarely have I heard such nonsense !

Now, I did read that there are some other types of sentences with inversion applied : "If sentences but WITHOUT If !!! And I don´t remember the others. I only understood the first situation (Question that is not a question) and that´s what I explained to my pupils. But I felt bad : ( I would like to explain the complete topic. However, once again, I have never seen a text book with that topic. And I haven´t found on the internet a page with examples and deeper information.
Dear Bill, I really hope you will show me the light again. Oh, I have another question about this topic : Can I only apply inversion for negative situations? I mean, what if I say :

Always did I find the right answer.

They say that inversion is used only with negative adverbs and expressions such as : not at all, never, seldom, under no circumstances, no sooner, not until, and so on...

I would like to receive a personal answer. This is my e-mail address : odagos@hotmail.com but I also think you should write your concept here, so, everybody will read and learn about this topic. Anyway, send me a copy to my e-mail, thanks a lot, dear teacher Bill.
God bless you and all of those who have read this letter, and thanks for your time.
OSCAR

P.S : If you find any grammar mistake in this letter, please, let me know. Thanks again. If somebody has further information about inversion, please, send it to my e-mail.
Faeze September 17, 2009 9:19

Hi Bill
Thanks alot that dont reject me
8)
SARA SAR September 16, 2009 7:47

i like u say topic and i write about it bill
selma September 15, 2009 21:27

I give you a warm welcome for your coming back.
Congratulating! Very nice drawing which I saw on any comment.
Selma,
SARA SAR September 15, 2009 11:01

hi
i like be ur student. i will send u my writing.
cheer up bill
ravi shankar September 15, 2009 7:54

yap i want 2 learn english from child hood onwards im in vernacular language only thts y i sufferd a lot with english language
if u have material (english and spanish ) pls forward me and suggest me how 2 learn good and efficient language
thanking you,
ravi
ravi shankar September 14, 2009 13:01

yap he is pandit ravi shankar great musician
nice 2 meet u sir
i wann 2 learn good english
im woring in social service organisation as a finance executive
Lynne September 13, 2009 23:18

Dear Bill,
I'm happy to see you. :-)
-Lynne-
Laura September 13, 2009 4:59

The student exchange experience being in Indonesia was amazing and life changing, especially since I am Indonesian. I lost my father when I was young and was unable to get alot of information about the country so I was able to get a partial scholarship and go on the exchange. I love helping and teaching and just happened upon this website by chance. I am so excited! Thank you so much!
Laura