Dr Faith Text & Talk Hub

Silent 't' (Spoken English Class 001)

Happy Sunday, folk.

For everyone who'd be in church today, please note that the letter 't' is silent in the following words:

Apostle
Epistle
Christmas

Let me quickly point your attention to the fact that letter 't' is silent in words which end with the -sten and -stle. Examples of such words are:

Fasten
Glisten
Listen
Moisten

Bustle
Castle
Gristle
Hustle
Jostle
Nestle
Pestle
Rustle
Whistle

You can listen to the right pronunciation of these words on the net.

Jesus loves you so do I.

𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 (𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝟬𝟬𝟭)

Good morning. I believe you had a restful sleep.

Since this is our first interaction this year, let me say compliments of the season to you. Note that 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 is spelt with '𝖎' rather than '𝐞' in the sequence -𝐩𝐥𝐢- and that the word also ends with an '-s'. Complement is related to the word 'complete' whereas compliment is about expressing praise/approval or good wishes. Please note this and use each appropriately.

Shall we begin our journey to writing and speaking well this year, now that the festive season is over?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄

In English, the verb HAVE is one of the three verbs that can play the role of both a primary and an auxiliary verb. I will discuss each one after the other. (I use HAVE to mean that the verb has different forms depending on person, number, and tense -- have, has, had, having)

A primary verb is a verb that can stand on its own. In a sentence like "Bimbola loves her husband", you will see that "love" does not have any other verb after it. "Love", in the preceding sentence, is an example of a primary verb. Let us see "HAVE" functioning as a primary verb in the following sentences:

🔸 I have a goal this year.
🔸You have joy in your heart.
🔸She has what it takes to succeed.
🔸We have an online class by 2 o'clock.

Please note that "HAVE", as a primary verb, is not used in a progressive sense. That is, you cannot use have + ing. Simply put, using the form have + ing is grammatically wrong when HAVE is a primary verb. Thus, it will be grammatically wrong to use "having" in the examples given above:

*I am having a goal this year ❌
*You are having joy in your heart ❌
*She is having what it takes to succeed ❌
*We are having an online class by 2 o'clock ❌

NB:
The asterisk is used in grammar to indicate that an expression is ill-formed.

You need to understand that "HAVE", as a primary verb, is an example of verbs termed STATIVE verbs. Stative verbs refer to a state of someone/something rather than an action of/by someone/something. Some examples of stative verbs are understand, own, owe, love, like, etc.

I guess you now know why your grammar teacher had told you that expressions such as the ones listed below are grammatically wrong.

*I am loving you. ❌
*Are you understanding me? ❌
*She is owing me N1,000. ❌

These sentences are wrong because the verbs in them are stative and so cannot be used in a progressive (continuous tense) form. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒏 (𝒍𝒐𝒍).

Back to "HAVE". Do you now understand why "HAVE" cannot be used in the continuous form?

Until next class, do write well and speak well.

Your Coach
Dr Faith

Thank you for being here with us. May we have a profitable time together this year.

Thank you for walking with us in 2022.
Thank you for being part of our success story.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to make impact.

May 2023 be greater than yesteryear and be full of great accomplishments.

How was your night? Oops!

I heard a teacher use this popular Nigerian morning greeting with her pupil a while ago and felt it is high time I commented on it. I feel obliged because pupils trust their teachers so well that they believe whatever their teachers say or do is the standard. I remember how my children, when they were much younger, would argue with me on issues of correctness, supporting their arguments with "my auntie said it". I couldn't put a stop to that until I asserted myself as a professional in some unprofessional way by telling them: "look, if your teacher goes back to school today, she'll be my student and she'll listen to me!" What else could I have done to change their mindset and to make them trust my guidance as a professional English Language user!

Okay. Let's go back to the "how was your night?" matter.

I know your intentions when you ask about someone's night is to show you care about them. That's good. However, I'm not sure your intention is to know whether your addressee had their bath before retiring to bed or not, or whether they wore their pyjamas or nightie or not, or whether they had their undergarments on or not, or whether they shared the night intimately with their partner or lover or not.... That question has these and many other implications. This is why that question, though a common morning greeting around here, is rude and intrusive.

The next time you're tempted to ask someone about their night, ask yourself: "wetin I wan hear? I be sobo ni?"😄😄😄

Good morning.

Today is the D-day! We are excited! Join us at 6 pm (WAT) via
https://facebook.com/events/s/conversation-with-olu_bambi/5541065879261782/

Repetition brings freshness!

You might have heard this saying: "there are 1001 ways of calling a thief, a thief." What this saying does is to point attention to the fact that language system provides us with multifarious options that we do not have to repeat the same thing over again whenever we are using language. The most handy example here is the part of speech referred to as pronoun. For example, it will sound odd if someone keeps mentioning a name, say "Aduke", over and again without making use of the relevant pronouns at some point -- she and hers. Right from the first lessons in language classes, the teacher tries to let us see why repeating the same word or language element makes our use of language seem to lack freshness and creativity and so she discourages us doing such. What do we do as a result? We try our best to avoid repetition in language use.

In spite of this belief about repetition in language, it is a rhetorical strategy that helps with the creation of memorable texts. That is why, in the circumstance of creating persuasive, compelling and memorable texts, the ability to explore repetition for freshness is highly priced! The freshness inherent in repetition comes from its "unusualness" and "unexpectedness." Repetition breaks our expectation and forces new reality upon language. It's like when you suddenly find a golden egg in a crate containing 30 eggs. You are bound to see the golden egg first before the other usual eggs.

Gaining the mastery of how to use repetition for rhetorical effects is thus essential for any text creator who wishes to stand out. Why do we still remember Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" till today? What about Barack Obama's "Yes, we can" speech?

Do you still remember this nursery rhyme?
"Betty bought a bit of butter, but she found the butter bitter so she bought a bit of better butter, to make the bitter butter better." Do you notice the repetition of the /b/ and schwa sounds?

This is to let you know that repetition for rhetorical effects can occur at any level of language: sound, word, phrase, clause and that it makes a text to be memorable.

If you desire to know more about how to use repetition for freshness, then join the conversation between adeleye and myself this Saturday, 29 October by 6 pm (WAT)

Experience in rhetoric has, however, shown that repeat

Yesterday, as I waited in the car for hubby and was reading a copy of Tanure Ojaide's The Questioner, a young man hawking books approached me to market his stuff. One thing led to another and he told me that he also writes poems "but not academic ones." I was fascinated by his submission and had to probe him a little further. He told me that he had always thought too that poems written by high profile poets were the ones to be categorised as academic poems. I didn't waste time in letting him know that what is academic about a poem is that it found its way into the classroom for an analysis. He was thankful for the explanation. With that mindset reengineering, I am sure he would begin to think seriously about his poems and himself.

But, wait, does his case not describe your current state of mind? Do you also not look down on your poems and probably hide them from others because you believe you are not enough or worthy to be read? Do you also feel that your inability to use high-sounding, rare, and formal words make your lines less authentic? If that is your case, then mark 6 pm, Saturday, 29 October 2022 on your calendar as I shall be in conversation with Adeleye Mayokun here https://facebook.com/events/s/conversation-with-olu_bambi/5541065879261782/ and we shall deal with the nitty-gritty of what spoken word art is and what spoken word art entails. You sure don't want to miss this. This might be the leap you need to fly!

Looking forward to meet. It promises to be explosive.

Hello there!

We've been behind the scenes working on something!

Are you a wordsmith, a poet, or a spoken word artist? Do you wish to develop your power of rhetoric and expressiveness? Are you interested in painting with words?

Then, we've got your back as we shall be in a conversation with Adeleye Mayokun , a spoken word artist and podcaster on Saturday, 29 October 2022 by 6pm.

It will interest you to know that Mayokun has participated in a number of competitions and won a number of awards. Mayokun uses art to drive change so she curates spoken word poetry to raise awareness about environmental sustainability in her podcasts. Her art also embodies the subjects of faith and becoming. She has just begun and only scratched the surface of her potential.

So, if you wish to know the nitty-gritty of spoken word artistry, then this is a lifetime opportunity you won't want to miss.

The conversation takes place here (Facebook live).

Happy new month!

Promise you'll read a book this month and be a better version of yourself.

What are you reading?

Bimbola Idowu-Faith

Telephoning etiquette

Speaking on the telephone is another important aspect of public speaking. Understand that you are required to pay attention to some principles of good behaviour as far as telephoning is concerned. Know that you demonstrate good behaviour while making telephone calls when you do the following:

1. Greet the person at the other end (that's courteous),

2. Introduce who you are, mentioning your name and organisation

3. Confirm the person at the other end (you don't want to divulge personal, confidential, classified, or top-secret information anyhow),

4. Say why you are calling as briefly and clearly as possible, and

5. Thank the receiver for their time, their kindness, the information or clarification provided, etc.

Pleeeease, don't be one of those people who will call and start asking "Is that so-and-so?" That's rude! That's an invasion of their personal space!

These principles are applicable to written conversations on social media, as well. Don't just bump into someone's inbox or direct message without greeting them or introducing yourself. That's rude! That's an invasion of their personal space.

The fact that they replied you or didn't complain doesn't mean it's right.

Let's stop normalising the abnormal.

Bimbola Idowu-Faith