What is the main problem of advanced English learners?

So, what is it? Sophisticated vocabulary? Grammar? Necessity to sound like native speaker?
I'll tell you - it's a LACK OF CHALLENGE.

Cmon, you know the way it usually starts. During the classes you may transform grammar structures and do some comprehensive reading (all to get ready for your TOEFL or CPE), you may dwell on some specific vocabulary, but you actually never work hard!

Let's admit

- you are by far not so anxious about preparing your speeches: it is never a problem for an advanced English learner to think of something just on the spot
- neither you are anxious about the vocabulary (one can dig into it forever, and your own vocabulary is already pretty rich)
- not that it's difficult for you to transform grammar structures after the examples in the exercises or the way your teacher wants you to.
As a result, you feel stuck at the same level without any progress. You don't see much point in continuing with the classes, but to say hello to the old friends or maintain your level.

Does it mean you've reached perfection? Not really.

Here some TRUE challenges for an advanced learner.

1. Try proofreading and beta-ing. You'll need to demonstrate all your skills there: spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. It is always easy to choose between grammar structures when doing exercises in your course book or correcting a text with mistakes, made on purpose. Trying to correct something written by a native speaker, meant to express his ideas rather than follow some learning patters, is quite different thing.
In order to do it, you'll have to demonstrate good 'feel' of the language and ability to give good advice on sentence flow.

2. Express yourself. Just as I've said, there is a GIANT difference between writing a letter, narrative, article, summary, or whatsoever following the guidelines in your course book, and expressing yourself. Unleash your imagination and create a narrative or even fan fic, write something you feel strongly about, as if it is a blog or personal diary. Convert your thoughts and emotions into words. Do it for the audience of native speakers. There won't be an example to write after and you'll be challenged to convey your idea.

3. Write summaries. Summaries is the best way to push you into using your own words for expressing ideas.
Here you go!

Vorpal (размышление на тему слов)

В английском языке есть слово "Vorpal", перевода которого вы не найдете на lingvo.com, придумал его Льюис Кэрролл (Lewis Carroll). Это слово встречается в "Алисе в Зазеркалье" ("Through the Looking-Glass"), в стихотворении "Бармаглот" ("Jabberwocky") два раза в словосочетаниях "Vorpal Sword" и "Vorpal Blade". Само стихотворение  является, пожалуй, самой известной попыткой ввести в язык несуществующие слова.

С легкой руки английского сказочника во многих компьютерных играх самый-распресамый меч называется "Vorpal Sword".

В компьютерной игре "American McGee's Alice" Алиса орудует "Vorpal Blade".

Вот и он (жмите на картинку, она большая и красивая, это постер к сиквелу "Alice: Madness Returns")

В русской версии игры он переводится как "кухонный", так как Дина Орловская, автор самого известного перевода этого стихотворения на русcкий язык, не дала буквального значения оригинального словосочетания "Vorpal Sword".

Сам Кэрролл говорил, что он не знает, как объяснить этот термин. Традиционно его понимают как "sharp" ("острый") или "deadly" ("бьющий без промаха"). А переводят (в контексте стихотворения) как "меч бурлатный" (Щепкина-Куперник), "бострый меч" (А. Щербаков), "чудо-юдоострый меч" (В. Орел) и т.д. и т.п. в зависимости от воображения переводчика. Из вышеперечисленных переводов "бострый" мне симпатичнее всего, так как в других содержатся аллюзии русских сказок.

Александр Тейлор (Alexander L. Taylor) в своей биографии Кэрролла "Белый рыцарь" ("The White Knight") предположил, что слово могло возникнуть путем поочередной перестановки букв в словах "verbal" (словесный) и "gospel" (евангелие). Если учесть тот факт, что Кэрролл был священником и математиком, любящим лингвистические шарады, то это вполне возможно, так что, на мой взгляд "Vorpal Sword" - это скорее "Sacred Sword".

Ниже картинка сэра Джона Те́нниела (John Tenniel), первого иллюстратора книг об Алисе. Это, собственно говоря, Бармаглот. Кстати, он же "Борморчун" -  "jabber" согласно http://thefreedictionary.com переводится, как "говорить быстро и непонятно", бормотать.

Чей-то сын держит "Vorpal Sword".

При написании статьи использован материал из Википедии и http://centrolit.kulichki.net/centrolit/jabberwocky/index.html

Интервью с Американ МакГи, если кто не в курсе, что за игра такая и любопытно глянуть.

Feels like spring

should I greet you as if we had merely eaten together one night when the white birches dripped wet and lightning etched black trees on your walls? it is not love I am asking love comes from years of breathing skin to skin tangled in each other's dreams until each night weaves another thread in the same web of blood and sleep and I have only passed through you quickly like light and you have only surrounded me suddenly like flame the lake is cold the snows are sudden the wild cherry bends and winter's a burden in your hand I feel spring burn in the bud. Copyright, Mary Mackey 1987 From "The Dear Dance of Eros"

What's wrong with CAE?

By way of example:

In the reading part of CAE test, which was giving an outline of the existing guide books publishers, they were asking: "The guide books of which publisher are least numerous?"

It took me AGES to find the answer. All due to the fact that the key word "few" was buried insіde the longest sentence, describing other features of the publisher.

Well, I guess anyone to pass CAE is likely to be familiar with emphatic structures. Actually, to emphasize on something we need to put it in the beginning or in the end of a sentence. I guess, the authors of the CAE are likely to know this too.

I would say, that writing skills of a person who puts tiny "few" in the middle of a long sentence, and hopes for it to be spotted by a reader right away, ss...suggest of incompetence.

Since the purpose of the test is not to check how attentive someone is, but to monitor his language skills, what is the point of such tasks? Hardly there can be someone wishing to pass CAE test and at the same time wondering what "few" means.

What is more, exactly such tasks give rise to numerous strategies of passing the FCE CAE CPE tests, to the strategies not relevant to having language skills.

My accent

To go on with the story about accents, I add a video to demonstrate a Russian accent.

For me it was of particular interest as my first language is Russian.

Accents:
How To Do A Russian Accent

British vs American

It has been a lot of discussion about British and American English.

Some teachers in my university had the opinion which can be called puristic.

Sally Johnson and Natalie Braber in their book "Exploring the German language" give the perfect description of the phenomenon:

"Linguistic purism can take different forms. Generally, however, it is

concerned with the opposition to changes taking place in a language or the desire
to change something which is already present in the language. This can also
include the preservation of elements which are seen as desirable and very often
involves the ideas of prescriptivism (the laying down of language rules and how
language ‘should’ be spoken or written) and judges the influence of foreign
language elements. Purism and prescriptivism have in common the belief that
linguistic judgements can be made, and that we can contrast ‘good’ versus ‘bad’
usage of language. Both schools of thought generally follow a model of tradition,
i.e. older forms of language are ‘better’ than present-day language and that
changes taking place within the current period are often viewed negatively."

Thus, we were to learn British English, which was under the circumstances a difficult task. We did read authentic books where we could pick up gmammar structures and sentence flow, we could also watch videos, however our communication to the British native speakers was limited.

My ancounters with Americans were, on the contrary, numerous, starting from childhood when several Peace Corps projects were run at my school. This made American English intonations much more familiar to me.

To tell the truth, many British accents, as well as many American ones are stunning.

Go to you tube and you'll understand that I am not the only one who loves parroting accents.

Here are some great tips from Amy Walker:

I can't help showing you the famous "21 accents" by Amy Walker, which I learned about from one of my favourite university teachers:

Two more videos on British and American accent:

Accents:
How To Do A British Accent

Accents:
How To Do An American Accent

So, in your opinion, what makes your accent?

How to learn new words

Yes, you can fall in love ...with words!

One expression I've recently fell for is pockets of the city, which refers to backstreets. Met at New York Daily Photos blog.

It is very often that I discover just awesome words.

And you? Can you share words that impressed you?