What Use of English did you learn at school or university which you later found out to be inaccurate, too broad, an over-generalisation of a rule or pattern, or just Spanglish? Please leave your (mis-)Use of English examples in the Comments below, and add questions if you would like an exploration of the points.
Some of what learners learn as Uses of English are necessary simplifications required by those levels - beginners need black and white Uses and later they move to grey, or at least they should ... Sometimes learners learn literal uses (denotations) when what they need at higher levels are more figurative or associated uses (connotations).
English changes with time, and with region or educational level or occupation, and while some university professors are not fully-informed of these changes; some are just wrong. Similarly, some horrific AI "translations" and automated transcripts on video platforms can lead people to think that what is wrong is right.
Please share your experiences in the Comments below so we can all learn, and perhaps even laugh. Some recent examples :
- head-teacher
- teacher of English
- coffee, sugar, bread and milk are always uncountable
- gerunds are uncountable
- "Thanks God" occurs because "gracias" is plural.
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What's wrong with Teacher of English?
ReplyDeleteGrammatically, nothing; the phrase is as correct as "the house of my the brother of my father". However , English speakers just do not use it.
ReplyDeleteThe major confusion seems to be, at least amongst some Chilean university professors, between English and English, or between the adjective (of or from England) and the noun (subject name).
Yes, English teacher can mean a teacher from England but it almost never does. Like Maths teacher, PE teacher and Latin teacher it means a teacher of the subject.
Grammatially, English teacher is the same as bookshop, wineglass, basketball shoes where a noun modifies a noun ("nouns in apposition").
So, you are an Engish teacher. You could say Chilean English teacher if you want to show that you are not an English English teacher, however "teacher of English" is Spanglish.