Patrick CP #5

Date/Time: September 13, 2018, 6:39 p.m.

Location: CIES Courtyard

Topic Discussed: Vocabulary Development and Colloquialisms

The conversation today included several topics. Initially, we explored further the concept of when to use gerunds and when to use infinitives. English is indeed an interesting language. What a surprise to observe that, even in the absence of a “golden grammar rule”, patterns do exist.

My conversation partner reminded me of some of the colloquial phrases we explored during the previous conversation. I was reminded of that discussion when she used one of the phrases in the context of her discussion, “high on the hog”. Laughter erupted.

A new word we explored was “pejorative”. I have no idea now how this came up during an illustration or explanation I was offering, but the word surfaced. Nonetheless, realizing she didn’t know the word, I used several sentences to illustrate the word. Even better, I looked up the word on my phone, so we could read the definition. Then, I told a story to illustrate the word in context. She understood immediately how the word can be applied in various contexts.

One other activity was to apply today’s class discussion about “long” or “short” (i.e., open or closed vowels). A few words my conversation partner spoke were “beautiful mistakes”. So, I asked her a question: Is it long or short “e”?” “Do you know why?” The immediate answer was, “It’s because of the guardian consonant.” Success.