A Short Summary of Noah Webster.docx
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A Short Summary of Noah Webster.docx
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AShortSummaryofNoahWebster
AShortSummaryofNoahWebster'sLife
NoahWebsterwasbornonOctober16,1758,intheWestDivisionofHartford.Noah'swasanaveragecolonialfamily.Hisfatherfarmedandworkedasaweaver.Hismotherworkedathome.Noahandhistwobrothers,CharlesandAbraham,helpedtheirfatherwiththefarmwork.Noah'ssisters,MercyandJerusha,workedwiththeirmothertokeephouseandtomakefoodandclothingforthefamily.
Fewpeoplewenttocollege,butNoahlovedtolearnsohisparentslethimgotoYale,Connecticut'sonlycollege.HeleftforNewHavenin1774,whenhewas16.Noah'syearsatYalecoincidedwiththeRevolutionaryWar.BecauseNewHavenhadfoodshortagesduringthistime,manyofNoah'sclasseswereheldinGlastonbury.
Noahgraduatedin1778.Hewantedtostudylaw,buthisparentscouldnotaffordtogivehimmoremoneyforschool.So,inordertoearnaliving,NoahtaughtschoolinGlastonbury,HartfordandWestHartford.Laterhestudiedlaw.
NoahdidnotlikeAmericanschools.Sometimes70childrenofallageswerecrammedintoone-roomschoolhouseswithnodesks,poorbooks,anduntrainedteachers.TheirbookscamefromEngland.NoahthoughtthatAmericansshouldlearnfromAmericanbooks,soin1783,Noahwrotehisowntextbook:
AGrammaticalInstituteoftheEnglishLanguage.Mostpeoplecalleditthe"Blue-backedSpeller"becauseofitsbluecover.
For100years,Noah'sbooktaughtchildrenhowtoread,spell,andpronouncewords.ItwasthemostpopularAmericanbookofitstime.BenFranklinusedNoah'sbooktoteachhisgranddaughtertoread.
In1789,NoahmarriedRebeccaGreenleaf.Theyhadeightchildren.Noahcarriedraisinsandcandiesinhispocketsforthechildrentoenjoy.TheWebsterslivedinNewHaven,thenmovedtoAmherst,MA.There,NoahhelpedtostartAmherstCollege.LaterthefamilymovedbacktoNewHaven.
WhenNoahwas43,hestartedwritingthefirstAmericandictionary.HedidthisbecauseAmericansindifferentpartsofthecountryspelled,pronouncedandusedwordsdifferently.HethoughtthatallAmericansshouldspeakthesameway.HealsothoughtthatAmericansshouldnotspeakandspelljustliketheEnglish.
NoahusedAmericanspellingslike"color"insteadoftheEnglish"colour"and"music"instead"of"musick".HealsoaddedAmericanwordsthatweren'tinEnglishdictionarieslike"skunk"and"squash".Ittookhimover27yearstowritehisbook.Whenfinishedin1828,attheageof70,Noah'sdictionaryhad70,000wordsinit.
Noahdidmanythingsinhislife.Heworkedforcopyrightlaws,wrotetextbooks,AmericanizedtheEnglishlanguage,andeditedmagazines.WhenNoahWebsterdiedin1843hewasconsideredanAmericanhero.
AmericanandBritishEnglish
AmericanandBritishEnglisharedialectsofEnglishwhichhavearecognisedstandardformandareequallyacceptableinAcademicEnglishaslongasthestyleandregisterusedareappropriatelyformal.TherearenosignificantdifferencesintheacademicformofothervarietiesofEnglish.ThesetendtoresembleeithertheAmericanorBritishform.Forexample,AustralianEnglishgenerallyusesthesamespellingasBritishEnglish.
DifferencesbetweenBritishandAmericanEnglish.
Throughoutthispage,blueisusedtodenoteBritishEnglishandredtodenoteAmericanEnglish.
Themostnoticeabledifferenceintheacademiccontextisinspelling.Therearealsogrammaticaldifferencesandvocabularydifferences,althoughrelativelyfewinformallanguage.
Spelling
Ingeneral,bothAmericanandBritishspellingareacceptable,butitisimportanttobeconsistent,atleastwiththeuseofthesameword-theatreortheater,butnotboth-andinyourchoiceofizeoriseendingsasincriticizeorcriticise,plagiarizeorplagiarise.TheCambridgeInternationalDictionaryofEnglishgivesBritish,AmericanandAustralianEnglishspelling.AmericanspellingtendstoreflectpronunciationandBritishspellingtendstoreflectgrammaticalorhistoricalimplicationsaswell.
However,theremaybeadvantagesinusingBritishspellingincertainsituations.Forinstance,twoforms:
programmeandprogramexistinBritishEnglish.Theformercanbeanounreferringtotelevisionprogrammesorprogrammesofevents(plans,conferences,atheatreprogrammeetc.).Thelattercanbeanounreferringtocomputerprograms.Bothformscanbeverbs,butthereisnospellingdistinctionbetweenthemexceptintheinfinitiveform(asinShelearnedhowtoprogramthecomputertocalculatethevalueofthepoundagainsttheEuroattwelvehourlyintervals)andthepresenttense.Ifyouwishtomakereferencetobothmeaningsinyourwriting,thenBritishEnglishmakesausefulreference(meaning)distinctionbetweenthetwo,whileAmericanEnglishhasonlyoneformprogramtorefertoboth.
BritishEnglishdistinguishesbetweenpractice(noun)Ihaven'tdonemycellopracticeyetandpractise(verb)Hepractisesthecellofortenminuteseverymorning.However,AmericanEnglishtendstousepracticeasbothanounandaverb.StudentstakingCambridgeexaminationsareadvisedtoadopttheBritishsystemasthisreflectstheunderlying(根本的)grammatical(partofspeech)distinction.
Grammaticaldifferences
TherearefewgrammaticaldifferencesbetweenAmericanandBritishEnglishthatareofconcerninAcademicWriting.Thepastparticiplesgotandgottenareoneofthemostobviousdifferences,buttheyarerarelyusedinformalwriting.TheEurohasgot/gottenridofthecurrencyexchangetransactionswhichusedtobenecessarybeforethesinglecurrencywasinstatedismorelikelytobeformallyexpressedasTheEurohasabolishedtheneedforcurrencyexchangetransactions.
AmericanEnglishacceptstheuseofthesimplepasttensewithjust,alreadyandyet(Didyouseehimyet?
/Hejustwentout?
/Didyougotherealready?
)whileBritishEnglishrequirestheuseofthepresentperfect(Haveyouseenhimyet?
/Hehasjustgoneout/Haveyoubeentherealready?
)InAcademicEnglish,theBritishformispreferableastheAmericanformtendstobeperceivedasinformal(ratherthaninaccurate).
Particledifferences-ClintonmetwiththerepresentativesoftheDaughtersoftheRevolution/Clintonmettherepresentatives-arenotsignificant,thoughBritishmarkersmay'correct'thewithasitseemsinformal.
AmericanEnglishcanmakewhatBritishEnglishconsiderstobeuncountablenounsplural,forexampletechnologies.Whenthisoccurswithformal,technicalvocabularyinaspecificcontext-thenewtechnologies-BritishEnglish,overtime,tendstoadoptthesameform.
Vocabularydifferences
Therearemanyvocabularydifferences-flat,pavement,tap,trousersorapartment,sidewalk,faucet,pants,forexample.Mostcausefewproblemsexceptwherethesamewordhasadifferentmeaning.PantsinBritishEnglishreferstounderwear,forexample.ItmaybewisetocheckwithBritishfriendsincasemeaningisdifferentinEnglishorincaseaparticularformdoesnotexistinBritishEnglish.
Ingeneral,themainobjectinAcademicEnglishistocommunicate(rememberClarityandRealityparticularlyhere)yourmessagetoyourreader-probablyyourtutororexaminer-sobeartheirunderstandingandpreferencesinmindwhenyoumakedecisionsaboutthemostappropriateformtouse.
DoreenduBoulay,SussexLanguageInstitute1998-2001.
WebversionbyMatthewPlatts.
AquarrelabouthowgreatwouldthedifferencesbetweenthetwokindsofEnglishbeinthefuturecausedvehementargumentandthefollowingismypointofview
BeingthepaternallanguageoftheothernativeEnglishes(CanadianEnglish,AustralianEnglish,NewZealandEnglishandSouthAfricanEnglish),BritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishtodayarethetwomainEnglishlanguagesoftheEnglish-speakingworld.Althoughtoomanyhasalreadybeensaidoverhowthescope,thetypes,andthepossibleffectsoftheinconsistencybetweenthetwokindswillbeinthefuture,thequarrelontheissuehasnotcometoanendatall.
ThecoverofthejournalForumXXVII,No3,July1989,recallingthetopicandprovidesaresearchofevidenceofthedifferencebetweenthetwokindsofEnglishoverthecenturies.NoahWebster(inDissertationsontheEnglishLanguage)claimedthatafurtherincompatibilityoftheAmericanlanguagefromtheEnglishnecessaryandnevitable.Healsopredictedthat“NorthAmericanEnglishwouldeventuallybeasdifferentfromBritishasDutch,DanishandSwedisharefromGermanorfromoneanother”.MarkTwain(inTheStolenWhiteElephant)thoughtAmericanandBritishEnglishtobedifferentlanguagesanddeclaredthattheformer,spoken“initsutmostpurity”,cannotbeunderstoodbyanEnglishpeopleatall.ThisattitudewasreviouslyexpressedbyCaptainThomasHamilton(inMenandMannersinAmerica).Hesaidthat“inanothercentury,thedialectoftheAmericanswillbecomeutterlyunintelligibletoanEnglishman.”
EnglishforWorkandBusiness(EWB)
(CanadianBusinessEnglishinstitute)
TheEnglishforWorkandBusiness(EWB)Programisdesignedforprofessionals,businesspeopleanduniversitystudents.Thisprogramincludes25hoursperweekofintensiveinstruction.CertificateandDiplomaprogramsareavailable.
Studentsinthisprogramtakethreeclasseseachday:
BusinessOralSkills,BusinessWriting,andBusinessConcepts.Althoughtheprogramusestopicsfromworkandbusiness,themainfocusisEnglish.
BusinessOralSkills
Youwilllearnavarietyofworkandbusinesscommunicationskills(meetings,interviews,presentations,telephonecalls,negotiations,etc.)andusethemwithconfidenceandaccuracy.YouwillalsoimproveyourEnglishpronunciationandoralfluency,publicspeakingandpresentation.Yourcla
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