Comments on: Film Notes: Invictus

By: Jean-Marc

Jean-Marc — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 13:42:26 +0000

Yes, an magnificent CREDO which was a challenge because of the wide atmosphere in South Africa at that time and a possible civil war.
In his biography ” Mandela’s way: Fiteen lessons on Life, Love and Courage ” by Richard Stengel , director of Time’s publication, M.Mandela told about this particular experience. But may be more interesting, he talked ( the book is an interwiew too) , the way he managed to obtain a gain with the worst director in the worst South Africa’s prison by speaking rugby and africaans language ( the both were symbols of Africaner domination ).

By: Jean-marc

Jean-marc — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:31:09 +0000

Thanks Brian for your advices

I read in French some years ago some novels by Nick Hornby and I bought “About a boy” in the Penguin active reading collection level 4 ( I mixed some books in full english and collection like these one from Macmillan, to Penguin and another ; a very good advice you gave us last year ) ; for example, there are Cdroms with the Nick Hornby ‘ book and exercises too!

i don’t know Tracy Kidder ; thanks to this opportunity of reading.

During our private lesson last summer,Gerry gave me a very interesting author to progress in this way : Daniel Silva .
His main character is a mainly art restorer and sometime an israeli spy : “the english assassin ” I am reading now, is particularly rich in phrasal verbs and may be I am going to write again the book with all my notes ! Fascinating adventures and easy to read.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:22:04 +0000

Just about anything written in a fairly informal tone will have lots of phrasal verbs. To give two examples, Nick Hornby is a British novelist who is a master at creating smart, funny dialogue — try High Fidelity or About a Boy, both of which were made into films. A non-fiction writer who comes to mind is Tracy Kidder, an American Pulitzer Prize winner whose book Mountains Beyond Mountains tells the story of Dr. Paul Farmer, the “Man Who Would Cure the World,” through interviews and thoughtful description.

By: Jean-marc

Jean-marc — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:40:27 +0000

May be, Brian, you have some books especially rich with phrasal verbs to recommend ?

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:58:09 +0000

Thanks, Jean-Marc, for your recommendation of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography and also for that great quote from Mandela about learning English.

By: Jean-marc Alibert

Jean-marc Alibert — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:27:03 +0000

Thanks Brian for your clever and finesse explanation. So let’s go to phrasal verbs! I like very much their rhythm too…

Concerning M. Mandela, I read his autobiography a long time ago ( published in 1996 ) , it is an extraordinary book; he wrote it when he was in prison at Robben Island and during this period, he learnt english.
He had some important comments between people who learn english and succeed : ” they never give up even after many years .That’s their secret of success”.

I never forgot his words.

If somebody wish to read it ,there is an excellent synthesis on this website:

http:archives.obs-us.com/obsenglish/books/Mandela/Mandela.html

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:48:49 +0000

Thanks, Jean-Marc, for your valuable observation about the difference in tone between phrasal verbs and their one-word synonyms. Phrasal verbs, based as they usually are on short, one-syllable verbs with Germanic, Old English roots, tend to be informal and colloquial. For example, if you hear that a scheduled meeting did not take place, you could ask: “Was it called off or put off? Or did no one show up?”

If you were asking the same question in a more formal way, you might say or write: “Was the meeting cancelled or postponed? Or did no one appear at the scheduled place and time?” The short verbs call, put, and show evolved from some of the most ancient words in English and are therefore more common in everyday conversation, while cancel, postpone, and appear all come from Latin and have a more formal tone.

If you’re a French, Italian, or Spanish speaker, for example, you probably find it easier to use the Latin-based words than the Old English words, but if you want to understand and use English vocabulary in everyday conversation and informal writing, it’s worth your effort to learn the phrasal verb equivalents of the more familiar Latin-based verbs.

By: Alibert

Alibert — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:49:01 +0000

Thanks a lot, Brian, for this amazing blog,the time you used for,rendering easier as usual some difficult points ,with your learning process, these terrifying phrasal verbs !

But I have a question: is there a particular goal in english to apply phrasal verbs and precise verbs . Is it a more daily use for the first and a writing, intellectual use for the second ?

For example, I am reading two books : the first by Jim Harford ” The logic of life” or how an economist explains the way we deal our decisions every day ( fascinating book ). He uses more phrasal verbs than the second : ” Brain rules” by John Medina , a scientist in molecular biology , ( 12 principles for surviving and Thriving at work, home and school) : amazing too!

The first is ( according my personal views ) a little bit more popular.

Jean-marc

By: Sergio Madrid

Sergio Madrid — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:58:08 +0000

this is a great idea…!!! I like that….becouse, we can practice our english with actual topics….

congrats…Acadia family!!!

By: Fiona Boyd

Fiona Boyd — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 02:32:54 +0000

I love this poem. Nice blog, dad! =D