The Chomskyan doctrine and foreign accents

I surprised to find 'Uriel' agreeing that 'doable' is a word. I have heard the expression 'do-able'. I have also heard the expression 'can - do'. Someone has a 'can - do' attitude.

I think that there is a wider problem. Just because you have spent a great deal of time and effort studying English, that does not make you an expert. I know that there are lots of native speakers who have trouble putting two words together. But as a rule, you should listen to what native speakers say to you. I believe in some countries they insist on native speakers being of graduate level, which I am. Although I did not graduate in English unlike Damian.

I noticed that 'doable' is in an online dictionary. Even so, I would advice you to split the word up. Otherwise the shape of the word is very similar to 'double'.

I will welcome the opportunity to take your (Xie) paragraph to pieces.

<<In fact, what actually confuses me most is how come people still believe in this sort of biological shit that you can't do something, which isn't anything bodily, for biological reasons. By common sense, you need healthy legs to run. Legless people can't run. But also by common sense, if you can learn something, it must also be doable. Vowels and consonants are even far easier than learning to run, amputee athletes included.>>

First of all, do not use words like 'shit'.

The first sentence taken as a whole does not make sense.

<<In fact, what actually confuses me most is how come people still believe in this sort of biological shit that you can't do something, which isn't anything bodily, for biological reasons.>>

Try to avoid 'in fact', it is used much to often.

Can you rephrase what you want to say?

I think that you will find that you try to rephrase what you are trying to say, you will find it is nonsense.

Learning a language is something physical. There is a physical and a mental component to learning a language. Learning a language is not all in the mind.

OK, lets go on to the second sentence.

<<By common sense, you need healthy legs to run. Legless people can't run. But also by common sense, if you can learn something, it must also be doable. Vowels and consonants are even far easier than learning to run, amputee athletes included. >>

'By common sense': this is not a typical expression. You seem to be evoking a law of common sense. You can talk about 'natural justice' in this way, but not in this context.

Again - what are you trying to say?

"To run, you must have healthy legs; amputees (leg-less people) cannot run)."

You can then go on to say, to be able to learn English you must be able to 'read, write and remember words'. However you confuse the argument by getting everything in the wrong order. It is as if you are saying:


"If you can read, write and remember words, you can learn a new language. If you can do these common activities, then learning a new language is 'do -able'."

Xie

I have taken the trouble to correct a passage that you have written. You often write long passages in Antimoon. Nobody is stopping you. That does not mean that what you write makes sense.

I would advice you to post much shorter comments.



Read what you have written.

Read it out aloud.

Check it with Microsoft Word.

Think about other people.

Think about people reading what you have written.

Does it make sense?

Can I express myself in a simpler way?

Are my arguments confused?

What am I trying to say?




Why not try doing some simple exercises in Livemocha.com?

Oh darn, are you offering some lessons telling me that my mom is a woman? (a common Chinese ironic expression, since you like taking things literally, I give you stuff like this)

You have serious problems with violating all but one of the Gricean maxims. You wrote a lot of irrelevant stuff (to this topic), a lot of stuff that lacks quality, and you write too much (quantity).

In fact, other than that I might write English that is eligible but incoherent, particularly due to a lot of digression. I admit that. In a way, I could even admit that I'm hijacking my right of writing for creative writing. I could see your points, don't misunderstand. I'm in no way trollish either, but there's just too little time for me to formulate what to write. I do this for my own term papers and other formal, monitored writing, but I do think it isn't worth much writing some drafts before I post.

Indeed, now that with the urgent need of doing SLA seriously, I'll post much less (shorter and fewer posts, as you wish).

Sir Damian writes more normal and elegant English than I do, but by the same token, you could accuse him of being very long-winded. I guess he'd be more patient than I am, I must say.

Be Positive

Be Constructive


Above all, 'be happy!'







Damian is capable of writing well when he wants to. There lies the difference.

Gricean Maxims

The Gricean Maxims are a way to explain the link between utterances and what is understood from them.


SLA: Service Level Agreements.



Xie

I think that you will find that 'less is more'.

Write less, think more.

Edit yourself!



To a certain extent, if you just write rubbish; it is an insult to people who try to read what you write.

On the positive side, think of the time I have taken to correct you. Also think of the time I have taken to try and understand what you are saying.

I can understand Xie perfectly, and he writes pretty well too.
Robin Michael, stop writing pointless off-topic bullshit and spoiling other's threads. This thread is about accent reduction.

One thing is certain; Xie writes better and more coherently than Robin Michael.