Teaching languages is my job. I teach Japanese to Internationals and English to Japanese people. I've got the right qualifications, but does that mean anything? Yes and no. Yes, it's an official qualification and I can proudly (and slightly vainly...) say, "I'm qualified". But it doesn't mean that I'm a some sort of language guru. Far from it.
When I was teaching English the other day I came across this problem with the order of adjectives. 'Wooden Japanese big black old table'. How does that sound? Odd, isn't it? Do you know why? I didn't know this myself, but there is an implicit rule regarding the order of adjectives in English. It is - how big, how old, what colour, where from, and what is it made of - in this order. So it has to be 'big old black Japanese wooden table.
If you want to add your personal opinion, such as 'ugly' or 'beautiful', it has to come before the rest of the adjectives. So, it becomes 'ugly big old black Japanese wooden table'.
The other 'rule' is sizes and lengths come in front of widths and shapes. Oh my word...! 'Thin short girl' (aka...me) is wrong. It has to be 'short thin me'. 'Round large man' is wrong and 'large round man' is correct ;) There's more. If you describe two colours you have to insert 'and' in the middle, like 'black and white dress'. Any other combo would have to be 'little black dress' without 'and'.
Very springy ('gy' bit is pronounced not in the same way as 'spongy' and doesn't mean coil spring nor fresh water) salad today :)
Ingredients (for 1 person):
a handful of rocket leaves
half a dozen asparagus
about 50g Feta or any goat's cheese, crumbled
2 preserved lemons, thinly sliced zest only
Heat a grill pan for about two minutes (quite hot) on the hob and lay asparagus. Keep turning and grill until nicely charred. Transfer them into a bowl and sprinkle some olive oil. Set aside. Scatter rocket leaves, shredded preserved lemon zest, asparagus, and Feta on a large plate. Dribble some olive oil and season to taste.