This week I was organizing all the
entries that I have posted to the now-defunct site Lenguajero and its spin-off
Scribblando. I filed all the posts by date in a folder. In total, I have
written over 30 posts.
After reviewing all the posts, I have
found repeated mistakes in the usage of two specific words: prepositions and
articles. In fact, there is a preposition error in almost all the entries. I
try as much as I can to use prepositions correctly, but it is so difficult and
frustrating. However, I have an alibi, native speakers frequently use
prepositions incorrectly too. So be careful with your google results when
looking for advice on the correct usage of a preposition.
I appreciate Matt and Kathryn for
their valuable comments in all these writings. They have been excellent English
teachers.
In conclusion, even though
sometimes I run out of topics, I want to continue improving my writing skills.
Practice makes perfect!
It's funny that you wrote this today, Alex. Just this morning I was thinking about the curse of prepositions! I think I also make at least one mistake with prepositions in every entry.
ReplyDelete¡Pero hay una buena razón! ¡No hay reglas claras para su uso! A veces "por la mañana" es correcta; a veces debe ser "de la mañana". Escribí "por las calles" cuando debía haber sido "en las calles". ¿No camina la gente POR la calles? ¡Y los artículos! ¡Rayos! En mi iglesía hay dos letreros con el lema de la parroquia, uno en inglés, el otro en español. Las palabras "growing in faith, serving in love" están traducidas como "creciendo en LA fe, sirviendo com amor." ¿Porqué es LA fe y no EL amor? ¿Quién inventó este idioma?
OK... sorry for the rant. What I conclude from all this is that you can't learn these grammatical elements by study. Only by hearing their use over and over do we begin to recognize what sounds right and what doesn't. I think the silver lining on this cloud is that, when we do some day find ourselves surrounded by our new language, we will pick up the right patterns very quickly. At least I hope so.
By the way, I found no mistakes in your entry, not even with articles or prepositions!
Tienes otro problema Matt. Puede haber discrepancias en el uso de las preposiciones entre distintos países que hablan español. En ocasiones he visto que otros foristas te han hecho observaciones sobre el uso de preposiciones que para mí no necesariamente están usadas incorrectamente.
ReplyDelete