off the WAL

This blog has now moved to its new site on the Washington Academy of Languages homepage: http://www.wal.org/wordpress
Please come visit us!

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I’ve worked at WAL for many years as an activities coordinator with our English language students. At the beginning of each new term, I must plan a menu of things to do, see or play so that the students can enjoy using the English language skills they are learning at WAL.
But sometimes… I just need [...]

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Presidential debate John McCain Barack Obama Black and white 08
Originally uploaded by Haneybabe
There is a great thing that can be done with language in our culture, that is, the rules of politeness are suspended during presidential elections. We are allowed to call presidential candidates names, tell lies, and alter the pragmatics of the language. [...]

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Sarah Palin
Originally uploaded by Celeste Van Kirk
It is ironic that we are celebrating Noah Webster’s birthday – the founder of American English would be 250 years old this week. It should be recalled, but seldom is, that when his dictionary of American English appeared, only about 60% of Americans spoke English. This was [...]

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Hilary Clinton speaks in Elyria, Oh
Originally uploaded by bridget commisso-caswell

In this political year, we are particularly sensitive to gender-specific language which may brand one as a sexist. There are certain speech patterns that are followed by gender and they have been known for a long time. Here are a few patterns which we hardly [...]

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