domingo, 29 de abril de 2007

Why not Labor's Day?

Question:

Recently I was asked why we say " Mother's Day" but " Labor Day" (not "Labor's Day"). Why not " Laborers' day"? After all, we labor so hard, we are actually "laborers".
We have also "Father's Day" but " Christmas Day" (not Christmas's day).

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( English teacher )

"Mother" and "father' are people and the days chosen to honor them are called their days. So the possessive forms of "mother and "father" respectively are used to name their days, i.e.. "Mother's Day" and Father's Day".

"Labor Day" is a day that has been chosen to honor all working people. "Labor" refers to the work done as well as the workers collectively. we don't normally use an apostrophe 's' after the word "labor" to indicate possession. Thus "Labor Day" is used.

"Laborer's Day" does not sound so neat.

As for " Christmas", the word means " the mass or festival of Christ". "Christmas" is not a person, so we can't put an apostrophe 's' after it. "Christmas Day' means "the day of the festival of Christ".

I was looking for some information about the holiday we are celebrating today here in Brazil, and I found this interesting fact. I asked something about Labor's Day and Google corrected me. I confess that, even though, I was in doubt. Up to the moment I found this interesting address, where we can solve a lot of other question. Take a look and see if you don't agree with me!!

http://www.englishdaily626.com/qna.php?015

This is my contribution for the day! Have a nice holiday!!!!!

Hot Spot

English around the corner is a place where we will try to help each other and try to solve our problems. That's why it is around the corner. It's always close to us.
Nowadays I've been teaching young children from 5 up to 9. It's been very hard because I am not using any material, it was decided not to adopt any book. Then, I am supposed to research
about the topics which were stablished as the syllabus for the grade, look for activities, some times the same topic but with different approaches, depending on the age or group I am working at the moment. And to get successfull in this task, I had to search a lot of sites in order to achieve it.
And it is a good idea to work with holidays. So, I pass some addresses where I could find a sort of activities that , for sure , will help you a lot if you have the same needs.
So, good luck for us all, and if you have other ideas or suggestions to give, please, feel comfortable and give us your contribution!!

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/mom/cards.html

http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/mothersday/songs.htm

http://www.the-little-experience.com/

http://www.sitesforteachers.com/index.html

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/h_back_to_school.htm

http://www.disney.com.br/pracurtir/colorir.htm

Why English Around the Corner?



Have you ever seen the movie "You've got mail"? It's an excellent romantic comedy with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, where they are bookstores owners. Hers is 'The Shop Around the Corner', a place where children and parents can delight the pleasure of reading and listening to stories. She is a girl who inherited from her mother the store and passion for Literature and children. He is a businessman who knows the market, what people are looking for, and has a very agressive way of working. They fight furiously, and finally he got her out of the market. The turning point of the story is that they exchange e-mails without knowing about their identities.

Why am I starting my blog talking about this movie? First of all, to tell you about my blog's name, and because I am crazy about movies. I think they are good tools for the act of teaching. And when we have the opportunity of changing, using different instruments, we have to take advantage of it.

Then, as soon as possible, I will post some movie activity for you to use in your classes.