How to Use Chunking for Confident and Fluent English
Incorrect chunking in English can create a lot of confusion and frustration for learners!
A little story for you.
During my very first week at university (I studied English Language and Literature), one of the teachers walked in, set his books on the teacher's desk, turned to face us and said:
"Tell me: what do you think you're going to learn during these next 4 years?"
Several students raised their hands and he addressed them one by one.
"I'm going to learn how to speak English better", said one.
"I'm going to be a professional English/Spanish translator", answered another.
"I'm going to become a more cultured person".
"I'm going to be an English teacher".
That wasn't me, by the way. Never in a million years, at that time, did I think I'd become an English teacher. "I'm going to write a novel", was my reply. But I haven't written it yet.
Anyway, the answers kept coming, and the teacher let everyone have their say.
When the room became quiet, he paused for a while, then looked at us intently and said, "no".
Forty pairs of eyes followed him as he paced from one side of the room to the other.
"No", he repeated. "It isn't how to be an editor, a writer, a teacher or a translator that you'll learn in these next 4 years. I mean, I cannot guarantee that. But you know what I can guarantee?"
Here he stopped and looked at us, and we stared back at him in silence. "I can guarantee... that by the end of these 4 years, you'll have learnt how to read."
There was a burst of laughter and someone said, "we already know how to read, teacher."
He smiled back and said, "That's what you think. That's what the problem is. You think you know. But you don't know. And in these next 4 years, I'm telling you, what you'll be learning is how to read," he repeated.
"Four years from now, you'll be able to read not only the words on the pages, but the words that are missing. You'll be able to read between the lines. You'll become far better at understanding yourself and others, as you become familiar with authors, characters, spaces, places, times, novels, poems, prose, drama, intrigue, love, friendship, betrayal, reconciliation, exploration and discovery. You'll see the big picture. You'll become interested in the tiniest detail. Yes. That's right," he said, looking out of the classroom's great windows towards the trees in the distance. "If you learn nothing else over these next 4 years", he continued, turning from the windows to face us with deep passion in his eyes, "one thing you'll definitely walk away from this course with, is the ability to read."
What about you? Do YOU know how to read?
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