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President Bush's Problems with Grammar

Most teachers will certainly agree with me that we spend a lot of time trying to convince our students that English is really not so difficult. We use many kinds of exercises designed to help students feel comfortable learning English, exercises that help students feel confident when speaking English. Luckily, most of our students do a wonderful job of learning English and I would like to applaud their efforts.

In order to congratulate you and further encourage you in your efforts to learn English, I would like to be completely honest with you for a moment. English is difficult! English is so difficult that even the current President of The United States has some difficulty using it correctly. Here are some memorable quotes of President George W. Bush. Unfortunately, President Bush seems to have some basic English usage problems. Take a look at these quotes, have a good laugh, and see if you can spot the mistake. Click on the arrow to see if you have identified the mistake correctly( For computer version users).

Most importantly, congratulate yourself on having learned such a difficult language. A language that even the President of the United States, George W. Bush, finds challenging!

Many thanks to Daniel Kurtzman About's guide to political humor. REZA KAFIPOUR

A Few Grammar and Vocabulary Problems

"Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" —George W. Bush -- ...Are our children learning? "Laura and I really don't realize how bright our children is sometimes until we get an objective analysis."—CNBC, April 15, 2000 -- ...how bright our children are... "She is a member of a labor union at one point."—Announcing his nomination of Linda Chavez as secretary of labor. Austin, Texas, Jan. 2, 2001 -- She was a member of ... "Drug therapies are replacing a lot of medicines as we used to know it." -- ...a lot of medicine as we used to know it.

"I have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people together." —Bartlett, Tenn., Aug. 18, 2000 -- ...A leader is someone who... "We ought to make the pie higher."—South Carolina Republican Debate, Feb. 15, 2000 -- ...make the pie larger. "Will the highways on the Internet become more few?"—Concord, N.H., Jan. 29, 2000 -- ...become fewer? "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.''—Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001

-- ...and he or she will be able...

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