Black English Vernacular - Watch the video

Have you ever heard of African American Vernacular English? If so, you might be familiar with this kind of speech. AAVE is also known as Black English or vulgarly Ebonics. The latter is a portmanteau of the words EBONY and PHONICS.

That's the most beautiful English I've ever heard in my life. I love African American Vernacular English and she speaks it fluently. She might not even know there is a science called Sociolinguistics and another called Dialectology in which people study Black English Vernacular and other kinds of English. So before you criticize her speaking skills, go get further information on language!

Click on Black English Vernacular and watch the video.
This is what she has said:
"Well, I woke up to get me a cold pop, and den I thought somebody wuz barbecuin'. I said: Oh Lord Jesus! It's a fire. Then I ran out, I didn't grab no shoes or nu'in' Jesus, I ran fo' ma life! And den a smoke got me, I got bronchitis, ain't nobody got time fa' dat."
Transcribed by BKA JAY and Evison Sarmento Thank you for the collaboration.
The comparison between Mainstream English and Black English.

"Ain't nobody got time" means "Nobody has time"
"I got bronchitis" means "I have bronchitis"

As you can see above, the word "got" is used to express possession and even though it is the past tense of "get", it is used in Simple Present sentences.

I got a car and it is blue. = I have a car and it is blue

The negative goes exactly like this:

I ain't got no. = I don't have a car.

Rodrigo P. Honorato

25 Most Fascinating Blogs of 2011 - By Accelerated Degree

Hello Flabbergasting people,

First off, I would very much like to thank you all for having voted for Flabbergasting English. I am really happy to have our blog amongst the top-25 Most Fascinating Education Blog according to Accelerated Degree.

By clicking on the link below, you will be able to see the 25 most fascinating blogs:

http://www.accelerated-degree.com/top-25-english-teacher-blogs-list-all-the-best-english-teacher-blogs2/

See you soon,

Rodrigo P. Honorato

Assess Yourself as an English Speaker

Hey Flabbergasting People,

How have y'all been? First off, I would very much like to thank you all for coming over and following Flabbergasting English. Be sure it is a pleasure for me to share my thoughts, ideas and questions every now and then with y'all.

Speaking of my questions, I want to know how you classify your English according to the photo above. And if you can, how would you define the four types of speakers? As a Brazilian teacher, I would say I'm a proficient speaker of English. I can naturally communicate with people in English and I know how to use grammar accordingly. However, these definitions might change from time to time and people might define each of the types differently. Let me know what you think!

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Rodrigo P. Honorato

Prepositions of Time

Hey Flabbergasting People,

How have you been? I hope you are all okay. Well, I came here today to help you with these prepositions of time. There are three which are really useful: IN, AT and ON. They are used in different situations. It is really simple. Check them out.

IN - Years, Months, Periods of the Day, and Decades
Examples:

1. My birthday is IN March. Generally we throw a party to celebrate it. 
2. The World War II started IN 1939 and finished IN 1945.
3. What do you do IN the morning? And IN the afternoon?
4. The Beatles were very successful IN the 60s.

 AT - Time (Hour). Use AT ABOUT when it is not that EXACT time. And it is used before NIGHT.
Examples: 

1. What time are you going to be there? I might be there AT ABOUT 3:00pm.
2. My alarm goes off AT 7:30am, but I hop up out of bed AT 7:45am.
3. What are you doing AT 2:00pm? I'm teaching 
4. My class starts AT noon. NOON = MIDDAY = 12:00
5. I would rather work AT night than in the morning.

ON - Days of the Week, Weekend, and Holidays
Examples: 

1. I usually go to the church ON Sundays.
2. I think my mother will be traveling ON the weekend.
3. What do you usually do ON Christmas? 
4. Christmas is celebrated ON December 25.

Well, I hope it helped you see how to use these prepositions. There aren't rules to use them. The best way is memorizing and putting them in practice. See you later.

Rodrigo P. Honorato

Nomination - Most Fascinating Blog

Hey y'all,

Flabbergasting English has been indicated by Accelerated Degree as one of the Most Fascinating English Teacher's blog. If you can, please vote for flabbergastenglish.blogspot.com

Click on the link below and vote. Thank you in advance.
http://www.accelerated-degree.com/2012-fascination-awards-english-teacher-blogs/

Rodrigo P. Honorato

Nomination