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Subject verb agreement?



 
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Subject verb agreement? Thu Dec 28, 2006 15:31 pm  Subject verb agreement?
 

Hi,

Could you please take a look at the sentence below and tell me what you think regarding subject/verb agreement:

As a result, I enrolled in classes to learn how to teach English as a second language. I was constantly looking for ways to make the lesson enjoyable while learning.

To me, it's not clear who is learning -- the teacher or the students ('while learning'). If the sentence read 'while teaching', it would be clear that this part is referring to the author (the teacher) rather than the students.

So, what's your take on this?
Regards,
Torsten
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Torsten Daerr

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Subject verb agreement? Thu Dec 28, 2006 16:29 pm  Subject verb agreement?
 

Hi Torsten,

I agree it is confusing and ambiguous. I assume the 'I' in the sentence has enrolled on the course because they want to make their lessons more enjoyable so I would change to:

Quote:
I was constantly looking for ways to make MY lessonS enjoyable FOR STUDENTS while THEY WERE learning.

A
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Subject verb agreement? Thu Dec 28, 2006 16:35 pm  Subject verb agreement?
 

I also find the sentence a bit confusing. As it stands, it suggests "I was trying to combine fun with learning as a student myself (or: while I was learning myself). After all, in the previous sentence he says that he was learning. But perhaps he meant 'for when I am a teacher'.
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