LinkedIn, Macmillan and the English language

Most companies that advertise jobs in LinkedIn are leaders in their field, are at the forefront of research, have branches worldwide, answers and solutions for their clients, are at the cutting edge of technology, the best in innovation... or so they say. They try to sell themselves with hype (hoopla) using language that betrays them. La crème de la crème in their industry do not bother to use acceptable English, and often slip into blunders that belie their presentations. Do not be deceived.
Youngsters who usually are half baked culturally and linguistically, are appointed to positions where they show their true colors with a lack of respect for the basic tool: language, the English language in our case.
There are many examples to pick from, but I have chosen Macmillan Education which is shopping around for new employees. "You will be a native speaker level of English (native preferred)..." I guess they mean that the "native speaker" must be born in the UK. It beats me. Macmillan is very innovative in punctuation: "with an understanding of the publishing industry/its customers/its competitors..." The slash instead of a comma is very intriguing. The candidate must have "an understanding of the pedagogical principals of language-learning." Principals? I guess they mean "principles." But they repeat the "principals" a line below: "... an in depth understanding of both language-learning and publishing principals." and they write "in depth" for "in-depth." Only a begginer would confuse "principal" and "principle"... but we are dealing with Macmillan Education, no less. The whole ad is riddled with poor syntax, faulty grammar, senseless matter and phrases, bad punctuation... which shows the copy was not properly vetted. If the writer argues that he meant "principals" he is in for trouble. May I exclaim: "O tempora, o mores"? And further: "Vade retro, Macmillan"?

To marry or not to marry: he ahí el dilema

● Marry. Casarse en castellano lleva la preposición con. En inglés no: “He married a rich girl,” se casó con una chica rica. “I am going to marry him,” me voy a casar con él. 

 En voz pasiva lleva to: “I am married to an idiot,” estoy casado con una idiota. “Who is she married to?” ¿Con quién está casada? “

To get married,” casarse. “They got married yesterday¸” se casaron ayer. “Finally he got married to my sister.” Finalmente se casó con mi hermana. (Finally he married my sister.)

Metaphors / Metáforas

People do not seem to read or write poetry any more, and yet a good poem can save our day and lift our spirits when emotional darkness envelops us. A poem by Keats, Donne, Frost,  Emily Dickinson, Shakespeare... can bring joy to our despair, solace to our loneliness.

Poetry uses metaphors: comparisons between two things that are not alike but which we  pair. For example:

Ruby lips (labios de rubí.)

Kisses are the flowers of love.

Laughter is the music of the soul.

Words are the weapons with which we wound.

We are all shadows on the wall of time.

I was lost in a sea of nameless faces.
Life is a walking shadow. 

What do you think? Are you poetically inclined? In Spanish, would-be poets wrote about "dientes de perlas", "labios de rubí" and "tu boca es como dos pétalos de rosa." But such is the metaphor.
I belong to a generation that was forced at school to learn poetry by heart. I can recite poems in English, Spanish and French, and even in Galician, to this day. It never hurt me. 

¿Es la gramática aburrida?

Una chica de Instagram, profesora de inglés, dice "No estudies gramática superaburrida." Para ella la gramática no es aburrida, es "superaburrida". Mucho más aburrida que simplemente aburrida... como para salir corriendo.
Yo creo que el estudio de la gramática ni es aburrido ni es divertido, ni tiene por qué serlo. Debe ser una actividad instructiva, que aporte algo, que nos ayude a dominar algo, con rapidez y claridad, para que ahorremos tiempo y esfuerzo.
Cuando vamos de acampada a un bosque, el mapa no tiene por qué ser divertido, ni aburrido: es simplemente una herramienta para que no nos perdamos. Con el mapa llegaremos a nuestro destino y no nos perderemos en un barranco lleno de osos y hienas. (¿Osos y hienas juntos?)
La gramática nos dice que los ADJETIVOS en español CONCUERDAN en GÉNERO y NÚMERO con los nombres: una mesa redonda, dos mesas redondas; un papel blanco, dos papeles blancos.
Y ya está. Esto no es superaburrido, ni superdivertido, ni tiene por qué serlo, pero así podremos evitar errores estúpidos como "un melón blanca" porque ya sabemos que el adjetivo concuerda con el nombre, melón, que es masculino singular. Entonce diremos "un melón blanco."
La gramática es un medio, una herramienta, para llegar a nuestra meta, aprender el idioma, con rapidez y seguridad. Y luego viene la repetición, la práctica: "repetitio est magister (mater) studiorum", decían los latinos.
Grammar is the roadmap to language-learning.

Whose..? ¿De quién..?

Si repetimos estas frases unas veces, no tendremos dificultades para preguntar de quién es algo, en inglés o en castellano:

●  Whose pen is this? ¿De quién es esta pluma?  

Whose turn is it? ¿A quién le toca?

Whose cars are those? ¿De quién son esos coches?

Whose fault is it? ¿De quién es la culpa? 
Whose responsibility is it? ¿Quién es el responsable? ¿De quién es la responsabilidad?

Double possessive in English

● Double possessive: 

of +’s: She is a friend of Peter’s. (She is Peter’s friend.)   

A friend of my father’s. (My father’s friend.)

A teacher of my son´s gave me a book. (My son´s teacher...)

The object of the preposition of must be a human being.
And That´s all, folks... for today.

Have got vs have... y algo más

● I have got vs. I have. (Una de las primeras expresiones que enseñan en inglés).

Siempre es mejor emplear el verbo “to have” que la expresión “have got.” Así, escribiremos “We have a problem” en vez de “we have got a problem.” “I have to go” es siempre mejor que “I have got to go.”

●  Es posible – IT is possible (El pronombre es necesario en inglés).

Es difícil – IT is difficult

Es my cómodo – IT is very comfortable.

¿Es bonito? – Is IT pretty?

¿Es posible ser tan bobo? – Is IT possible to be so silly?

● Children. Hijos. (Es más que niños.) 

“How many children do you have?” ¿Cuántos hijos tienes? “I am an only child”. Soy hijo único. “My oldest child is forty” Mi hijo mayor tiene cuarenta. En castellano el masculino plural se refiere a ambos sexos: hijos, padres, nietos, children, parents, grandchildren. Granddaughter, nieta.