THE WARREN FOUNDATION AGAINST THE ILLITERATE AMERICA: English Grammar Launch: Upgrade your speaking and listening

THE WARREN FOUNDATION AGAINST THE ILLITERATE AMERICA: English Grammar Launch: Upgrade your speaking and listening: a double-faced sphinx

Ron Ramden: So, what has happened since John Dewey said that America was like a double-faced sphinx struggling to reconcile its traditional roots and values with the rapid changes brought about by industrialization and modernization.

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: The struggle is still continuing – and on most various battlefields. One of them is education.

Ron Ramden: Which is Dewey’s cup of tea.

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: Yes, but it was also a cup of tea the Warren Foundation, Seattle, Washington, which took over his mission in the nineties. Specifically, Mr Novikoff, the passionary missionary, set up the branch office in Europe on behalf of the American missionaries.

Ron Ramden: Wait a minute, English in Europe is rather decent, a great deal better than in America

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: Better than in America definitely but not better than in the Great Britain of the Dewey’s times, that is even more definite. Just imagine::

THE WARREN FOUNDATION AGAINST THE ILLITERATE AMERICA: English Grammar Launch: Upgrade your speaking and listening: the BBC lags behind

They say on the BBC: “…less people…” whereas “less” is a comparative from “little” and “little” is used with uncountable nouns whereas the noun “people” is countable. Look: with countable nouns in the plural “few” is used, the comparative form of which is “fewer”. That is, they should have said “fewer people”.

Ron Ramden: The BBC? It is the English who showed us the way and…

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: …and they themselves have lost it.

Ron Ramden: As I understand, this catastrophic situation encouraged the Warren Foundation to “teach English the English”

THE WARREN FOUNDATION AGAINST THE ILLITERATE AMERICA: English Grammar Launch: Upgrade your speaking and listening: saving Private American.

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: Yes, and especially the Americans. According to the US Department of Education, half of the adult population cannot read above the sixth grade level. Experts believe there has long been a literacy crisis in the United States, which has become worse in recent times.

Ron Ramden: And our omnipotent grammar?

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD:Our omnipotent GRAMMAR’s BECOMING AN ANACHRONISM may have devastating consequences! Just as our grip on culture is more tenuous, increasingly English grammar is treated like an anachronism. The popularity of texting may be a factor. People think they can write like they talk, in a stream of consciousness.

The Six-Head Dragon.

Ron Ramden: Ok! The situation seems to be disastrous. What did English Literacy Progression Series /ELPS/ intend to do in Europe and the US. Incidentally, I guess that you are their successor nowadays and the spirit of Mr Novikoff is inspiring you.

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: It does beyond measure. The goal is to emphasise the most crucial grammar rules which really make a difference. The GrammarNess of the Six-Head Dragon, so to say.

Ron Ramden: What are the heads unless it is a fairy tale!

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: Anything but a fairy tale. Those six heads are 1) Present Perfect vs Past Simple, 2) Participle I vs Participle II, 3) Active Voice vs Passive Voice, 4) The Sequence of Tenses, 5) Plural Nouns, 6) Comparative Degrees of Adjectives.

Ron Ramden: What is it that makes you different?

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: It is quite the opposite of what was in the past. In the past it was “first the form then the function” like “Past Indefinite is used when we refer to past actions”. Now it is “first the function then the form” like “When we want to refer to past actions, Past Indefinite is used”. In other words, a student must understand WHY she needs grammar. As a matter of fact, we are the present half of the sphinx.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Ron Ramden: What is the method?

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: Grammar in Context. As Ludwig Wittgenstein was saying: “…a wheel thst can be turned though nothing else moves with it is not part of the mechanism…”.

The same is with grammar: it works only in the mechanism of the context. Therefore, we write essays, reports, letters, statements, memos etc – with the Six-Head Dragon. And last but not least, the Six-Head Dragon tests.

Ron Ramden: Do we speak about individual lessons or group lessons?

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: Both are good in their own way. The group lessons are cheaper. Send the message to WhatsApp +79261799481 and we will give it a thought.

Ron Ramden: Let us summarise! First!

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: When we speak about English Grammar, in the first place we speak about the Six-Head Dragon.

Ron Ramden: Second!

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: English Grammar is meaningful as it helps one to climb a career ladder.

Ron Ramden: Third.

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: : Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Ron Ramden: A word is a wheel.

Sergey Sakhnevich, PhD: Exactly.