English as a Second Language (ESL) Calendar


Monthly Writing and Presentation Clinics

Our next meeting will be noon to 1 pm on Wendensday, 14 May, at FL2-1001. We are glad to have Eric Gilleland, a scientist from RAL/NCAR to talk about the origin of English. The title of his talk is English---It could have been worse.

Despite being a largely simplified language, the numerous idiosyncrasies and exceptions-to-rules characteristic of English provide plenty of difficulty for those subjected to having to learn it. But it could have been far worse. The earliest records of thjje language had a complicated case system with three genders and the beginnings of prepositional idioms that were awkward at best. Unfortunately, Modern English courses often completely ignore the history of the language in favor of memorization techniques and wild competitions such as spelling bees. Many of the idiosyncratic trappings of the language can be easily explained through its historical development, which may be helpful when trying to retain the otherwise nonsensical anomalies in memory.

Although clearly Germanic, English language origins and its earliest history are only speculative. Even the closest living modern language to English itself has a history ensconced in mystery. In this presentation, Eric Gilleland will talk about the languages thought to be the likely origins of English, as well as its closest modern relative. Eric Gilleland will give some examples from various writings of Old, Middle, and Modern English in order to demonstrate how certain words and structures have developed over time to create a complicated, but greatly simplified, language. For example, "shall vs. will," "who vs. whom," -gh in "enough vs. though," wh- in "whole vs. wheat," etc. Some words and phrases, naturally, develop in their own unique ways (e.g., bugs in computers), and Eric Gilleland will give some examples of these as well.




We meet regularly for brown-bag lunches and special workshops to improve writing and presentation sills in a casual, supportive environment. We also arrange lectures on pronunciation and other subjects as opportunities and requests arise. Pleae email jsun@ucar.edu with suggested topics, excerpts from papers you'd like some help with.

World English TableTalk


Table Talk is a low-pressure way to practice English conversational skills, to form relationships with each other and with native speakers of English, and to have a good time. Table Talk meets monthly at FL cafeteria.

Individual Mentoring

For individual mentoring appointments, email mgolden@ucar.edu.

Staff Development

View Comm/Sci Staff development course descriptions and schedules


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