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English Language Quotes

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English Language Quotes

“I do feel that scripts get developed now to a point where they're sort of actor-proof. If the actor is not very good, the narrative still survives because it's all in the dialogue. Not to say there aren't great performances in English-language films, because there are every year, but the 1970s were awash with great performances, and I was wondering whether it had to do with the amount of space and the amount of responsibility given to the actors.”

IfsFeelsYearsStillsFilmActorsLanguageGivenSpaceResponsibilityWonderAmountPerformancesVery GoodScriptsProofDialogueNarrativeEnglish LanguageGreat Performance
Author:Paul Bettany
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“I believe it is essential to have English as the official language of our National Government, for the English language is the tie that binds the millions of immigrants who come to America from divergent backgrounds. We should, and do, encourage immigrants to maintain and share their traditions, customs and religions, but the use of English is essential for immigrants and their children to participate fully in American society and achieve the American dream.”

ShouldBelieveChildrenUseDreamGovernmentAmericaLanguageI BelieveMillionsShareAchieveEssentialsTraditionBackgroundsTiesOfficialsImmigrantsCustomsAmerican DreamEnglish LanguageDivergentAmerican SocietyTies That Bind
Author:Jim Sensenbrenner
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“The United States, a land of immigrants from every corner of the world, has been strengthened and unified because its newcomers have historically chosen ultimately to forgo their native language for the English language. We have all benefited from the sharing of ideas, of cultures and beliefs, made possible by a common language. We have all enriched each other.”

WorldHas BeensMadeIdeasStatesCultureBeliefLanguageUnitedCommonUnited StatesLandCornersChosenNativeImmigrantsEnglish LanguageUnifiedCommon LanguageNewcomersCorners Of The WorldNative Language
Author:S. I. Hayakawa
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“Four. That's what I want you to remember. If you don't get your idea across in the first four minutes, you won't do it. Four sentences to a paragraph. Four letters to a word. The most important words in the English language all have four letters. Home. Love. Food. Land. Peace. . .I know peace has five letters, but any damn fool knows it should have four.”

IfsKnowsWantShouldFirstsImportantIdeasHomeRememberLanguageFiveFourLandMinutesFoolLettersShould HaveSentencesDamnI Want YouEnglish LanguageParagraphFood LoveImportant Words
Author:Lyndon B. Johnson
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“James Joyce's English was based on the rhythm of the Irish language. He wrote things that shocked English language speakers but he was thinking in Gaelic. I've sung songs that if they were in English, would have been banned too. The psyche of the Irish language is completely different to the English-speaking world.”

IfsThinkingWorldHas BeensDifferentSongLanguageRhythmSpeakersShockedEnglish LanguageBannedJoyceEnglish SpeakingGaelic
Author:Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh
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“All the words in the English language are divided into nine great classes. These classes are called the Parts of Speech. They are Article, Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction and Interjection.”

LanguageClassSpeechNineDividedArticlesEnglish LanguageVerbsAdjectivesNounsConjunctionsPronounsAdverbsPrepositionsParts Of Speech
Book:How to Speak and Write Correctly (illustrated): Fully Formatted Version
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“What's great is we actually have friends who belong or have previously belonged to the Amish community, so we got first hand stories and I was able to talk with them about visitors and visiting the Amish country. It was very enlightening to think this is very much going on as we speak. What was really interesting was that the upcoming Amish generation is actually closer to average American teenager in their use of the English language because of the use of technology.”

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Author:Alyson Stoner
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“Joyce's writing in Dubliners contains some of the most unshowily beautiful sentences in the English language. I learned from him that if you write a good, clean line of English, you can get under a reader's skin. The reader won't even know why, but there you are. Didion, Berger, the many others I mentioned above, and many, many poets I haven't mentioned. Writers of this calibre are the moving targets the rest of us are always chasing.”

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Author:Teju Cole
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“I've done a lot of going back and forth with my own writing, in particular translating my English language stuff into Ukrainian - poetry as well as prose. But I actually hate doing it. It is a thankless, mind-numbing process, additionally unpleasant for me because it reminds me of my ambiguous status of not belonging anywhere.”

WritingMindWellsDoneHateLanguageStuffProcessMy OwnParticularProseBelongingTranslateEnglish LanguageBack And ForthAmbiguousUkrainianNumbingThanklessNot Belonging
Author:Yuriy Tarnawsky
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“The lyrics are not an important thing to me. In fact, it can be a distraction. If I knew the language enough to know it was a horrible love song with stupid lyrics - like most of the popular songs are today in the English language that I hear - then it would be much more of a turnoff then if it would allow me to interpret it from the expressive capabilities of the vocalizing or of the sound itself, which allows me to create my own meaning for it, which elevates it into a higher piece of work for me.”

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Author:Alan Bishop
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“English was my fourth language. I arrived, I enrolled in public school, as a child, I believe I was about six years old when we finally landed in Michigan. And I was initially put in special education because I couldn't quite wrap my mind around the English language because I was listening to Hungarian and Albanian and German. My mind broke down like I couldn't quite wrap my mind around the fourth language.”

YearsMindBelieveChildrenSchoolLanguageI BelieveSpecialListeningSixBrokeFourthPublic SchoolEnglish LanguageWrapsMichiganSix Year OldsHungariansAlbanianSpecial Education
Author:Masiela Lusha
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“Our children learn the phonetic method, which is why they're very good spellers, I suppose. Because rather than ABC or just saying a word, they'll have to go a as in apple and all the other a's there are in the English language. They learn that when they're four. Children all over America can tell you that a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y are vowels. But you ask them about that "sometimes y," and they can't tell you.”

ChildrenSometimesAmericaAsksLanguageFourOur ChildrenMethodVery GoodApplesEnglish LanguageJust SayingVowels
Author:Marva Collins
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