For vol. 14 I want to include a simplified version of Little Red Riding Hood. (Just like we did with the Gingerbread Man and The 3 Bears.)
It is looking pretty awesome so far, but …. we’re stuck with a grammar question.
It would be great if you could help. 🙂
So the traditional phrasing of the story is:
Grandma, what big eyes you have!
To which the wolf replies
All the better to see you with!
These are great sounding sentences, but I feel they are a little too archaic and not the sort of everyday language that kids can use straight away.
So I want to rework them and use some of the language we have to teach (for exams etc.) and ideally that would be “Why?” and “Because”
e.g.
“Grandma, Grandma why do you have such big eyes?”
“Because I want to see you better.”
Now, is this a grammatically correct use of “because”?
(e.g. Does the previous “why” question count as a main clause to go along with the subordinate clause? )
Or do you have any other way of phrasing it that still sounds cool but is really simple?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Be genki,
Richard
P.S. The winner of last month’s comment competition was … Micki! If you’d like the chance to win a Genki English volume download of your choice (maybe vol. 14?) then get commenting on the blog, each month I pick one at random to get the prize, this month it could be you!
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Hi Richard, hope this helps x
Grandma, grandma why are your eyes so big?
Because, I can see you better.
I agree that “Why are your eyes so big?” seems more useful. I like “Because I want to see you better.” because we use this grammar pattern a lot.
(-: Thank you for the prize!
How about something like this?
Grandma, Grandma, you have great, big eyes! You have great, big ears! You have great, big teeth!
Yes, yes, yes, my dear. I can see you well!
I can hear you well! I can eat you UP!
Different grammar pattern, but also useful. And, it sounds a little better. MY grandma would have said, “I can see you just fine, I can hear you just fine, I can eat you UP!” but I don’t think that’s best usage, LOL.
I am so glad you are doing this. I feel so uncomfortable teaching the Momotaro in the sixth-grade text-like book. I know they want a Japanese fairy-tale, but I wish they’d go for something like the Jizos in the snow or something. Something where we don’t go out and bash people who are different from us.
How about, “Grandma, your eyes are so big!”
“They’re big so I can see you better.”
Or, “I can see you better with them.”
I don’t think it is grammatically correct…at least in my understanding. I think you would need to say, “My eyes are so big, because I want to see you better.”
I remember in primary school, the teachers wouldn’t allow us to start a sentence with BECAUSE, or any other conjunction because we would end up with a fragment like that “Because I want to see you better.” Of course, as we mature in our writing, we learn we CAN do this by moving the TWO phrases of that sentence before and after “I have big eyes, because I want to see you better.” “Because I want to see you better, I have big eyes.”
It isn’t correct written grammar, but for speaking I think it is just fine! That’s the way I would answer and I would expect my students to answer…I don’t need a whole…”My eyes are bigger because ….”
I think the written grammar can come later or be highlighted as a separate part of the lesson by the teacher, as the goal of Genki English is speaking! First, let’s get the kids understanding the “why – because” relationship and answering those questions…then we can teach them how to write it with perfect grammar (put a chunk of the question before the BECAUSE).
I’m surprised you are worried about perfect grammar here, because usually the aim is just for regular speaking (i.e. I’d like a milk, a coke, an orange juice [really should be a GLASS OF milk, a CAN OF coke, a BOTTLE OF orange juice]…right?
So, I think go with what fits into the song you have going. If perfect grammar fits “My eyes are so big, because I want to see you better.” then do that. If “Because, I want to see you better.” fits, do that. Most people answer this way orally anyway.
Looking forward to these songs!
I think ‘so’ would sound more natural than ‘because’.
“So they/I can see you better”
“To see you better”
“Because they let/help me see you better”
“Because I want to see you better” isn’t a complete sentence, and it wouldn’t be correct in written form, but it is exactly how a native English speaker would answer the question in real life. I think it is fine for spoken English; however, I don’t think the two sentences sound balanced rhythmically the way the original does. It doesn’t “chant” right. (Of course, I don’t know the music you are writing for it.) I might change the answer to “Because, my dear, I want to see you better.” Then again, the first sentence doesn’t chant well either. If you took out the word such, it would chant fine. “Grandma, grandma, why DO you have big eyes.” “Because, my dear, I want to see you better.” Then repeat the same pattern for the other questions. Or it would also sound good with a rhythmic change to Jessica’s suggestion. “Grandma, grandma, why DO you have big eyes.” “They’re big, my dear, so I can see you better.”
Martin and Janice are correct. Bad written grammar, but it is the way we talk.
How about: “Grandma, you have really BIG eyes.”
“Big eyes help me see you better.”
This is a little closer to the original story where Red is making an observation rather than asking a question.
I would say:
“So that I can see you better!”
No idea whether that is grammatically correct though!!
Italian version:
Grandma,grandma….”what big eyes you have!”….”To see you better!” In my opinion, why and because change the meaning.
As I see it, the question and the answer have to be based on the previous knowledge of grammar constructions like “do you have” or “want to”. Plus it’s a good chance to get kids acquainted with the new question “Why?” and the answer beginning with the conjunction “because” (it’s used in everyday language very often, isn’t it?)
I could suggest something like
“Grandma, Grandma? What are your big eyes for?”
“So that I can see you better!”
But rhythmically and musically it’s not as good as it has to be. That’s why I’d rather vote for Richard’s veriant!
Oooh!! CD 14, how exciting!! I´m really looking forward to it!
Written and spoken english are completely different, as mentioned above by several others. I think it would be great to have a song with a correct (written) question and a colloquial response. This is so common in everyday speaking it would be great for the kids to use:
Why are your eyes so big?
Because I want to see you better!
Why are your ears so big?
Because I want to hear you better!
and a rhyming twist:
Why is you mouth so big?
Because I want to eat you (up) with butter!
Can´t wait to hear the final results!!
How about this: ( a super simple version )
“Grandma, grandma why are your eyes so big?”
“Because BIG eyes are better! I can see YOU!!!”
“Grandma, grandma why are your teeth so scary?”
“Because SCARY teeth are better! I can eat YOU!!!”
“Grandma, grandma why are your ears so long?”
“Because LONG ears are better! I can hear YOU!!!”
I suggest you keep it really simple as that story is for younger kids and mine would take a long time to understand “better”.
Oh,Grandma,your eyes are very big!
So I can see you,little one.
I wouldn’t even complicate things so much. Why not just keep it super simple at
“Grandma, you have big, big eyes!”
“I can see you better!” or better yet, “So I can see you better”?
I would say:
“Grandma, Grandma? Why are your eyes so big?”
“So I can see you better!”
I like these sentence patterns because they are easy to say, and include useful grammar like:
Why are (your)…?
(so) I can…!
looking forward to reading your version of the story to the kids 😉
Maybe it is better to avoid ‘so’ and ‘because ‘ in a simplified song. How about-
“Grandma, Grandma why do you have such big eyes?”
“Why? I can see you better with big eyes!”
¨You can always also say:
“Grandma, Grandma, your eyes are (so) big!”
“They are! They are!”
or
“You have big, big eyes!”
“I do! I do!”
They “why” to “eat you better” or whatever, can still come in the end
I vote for:
“Grandma, grandma, why are/is your … so big?”
“So I can … you better”
It sounds correct and usefull. You can often encounter the “why – so I can” connection so I think it will be of a great use.
I´ve just done a LRRH roleplay with wolf masks with my 7 year old primary students.They practised the very simple language of:
`You,ve got big eyes, Grandma.´
`Yes, I´ve got big eyes to see you.´
`You´ve got big ears, Grandma.´
`Yes, I´ve got big ears to hear you.´
`You´ve got big teeth, Grandma.´
`Yes, I´ve got big teeth to eat you.´ ( At this point the wolf chases LRRH, the kids loved it!)
The students loved it as it was simple and usable English which they found easy to reproduce. They were also practising the short form of have got in 1st person and 2nd person singular, body parts and senses. My kids loved using the wolf masks as it allowed the more reserved students to take on the role of the wolf which boosted their confidence.
I’m actually doing this story a little less traditionally… I wanted to get the children practicing the verb ‘To have’in this scene, Sooo….
Miss H: Grandma!! You’ve got really beady eyes!!!
Wolf: Beady eyes!!????? No I haven’t!
Miss Hood: Yes, you have!
Haven’t!!!!
Have!!!
Beady eyes.. ha!.. Rude girl!
Oh! And Grandma… you’ve got really big ears too!!
Big ears??!!I haven’t got big ears!!
Yes you have!
etc…
continue with.. big mouth, dog’s breath, big yellow teeth… or whatever makes your kids laugh.
Wolf: I’ve had enough!! I’m hungry! I’m going to eat you up!!