Expats in UAE learn to mind their language

[Francis Hult]

Gulf News

 

Expats in UAE learn to mind their language

 

What does it mean to have a chip on your shoulder - literally a fried piece of potato lying on your shoulder, or to have a problem that happened in the past, that you can't get over?

 

Having a chip on your shoulder is just one idiom (a saying with a different meaning to 

what the words actually say) in English - known to be a complex language.

 

It is such idioms that prove to be stumbling blocks for those learning the language, as well as other aspects such as homonyms (words pronounced and spelled in the same way but with a different meaning), grammatical quirks and silent letters.

 

Full story:

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/education/expats-in-uae-learn-to-mind-their-language-1.639877

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/edling/attachments/20100615/6f6ca6b5/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
Edling mailing list
Edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu
https://lists.sis.utsa.edu/mailman/listinfo/edling
List Manager: Francis M. Hult