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About Nell Hunt
Expertise
I can manage almost anything: vocabulary, grammar correction and practice, spelling (though I'll have to have my dictionary open), listening and pronunciation, writing practice and correction, practicing and familiarity with idioms and two-word verbs,assistance with the TOEFL. What I believe I'd have trouble with are: 1) remembering the exact term(s)(the entire vocabulary for English grammatical form) for various grammatical rules, and parts of speech. I'd either have to get out a few old workbooks from my ESL teaching days, or find a site that had most of the grammatical rules mapped out and marked for remembering what context they work in. 2) helping someone writing a paper or reading a textbook in math or natural sciences. I was never able to help students much who were writing math or science papers; when I had to deal with math and science English vocabulary I'm totally unfamiliar with, I just had no way to help the students move forward. (My subject background is in the arts and humanities, and the social sciences.)

Experience
I was a volunteer ESL instructor for six weeks one summer at The Southeast Asia Center here in Chicago, and during that time, worked with mostly seniora. From there, I found my first paying job as an ESL instructor at Truman College here, one of our City Colleges of Chicago. I taught ESL for 16 hrs a week, and English Composition four hrs a week for approx. 13 yrs at the Lakeview Learning Center branch of Truman College. I also taught a 4-hour pronunciation class on Saturdays. Very strong experience.

Organizations
No longer a member in any professional or writers' organizations.

Publications
Have published short fiction and poetry in many literary magazines over the years, never in a monograph.

Education/Credentials
BA in Creative Writing and American Lit - Univ. Washington, Seattle MLS in Library Science - Syracuse University - Syracust, NY MS in Human Development - Univ of Chicago School of Social Sciences - Chicago, IL MFA in Writing - Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts - Bard College - Avon on Hudson, NY Post-Grad work in Human Development - no degree received

Awards and Honors
All my awards and honors had to do with academics.

Past/Present Clients
Became ill/ disabled in 1995: continued to do tutoring with ESL students, mostly graduate school students working on term papers or thesis papers, for approximately six more years. Also helped students study for the TOERL exam in order to be accepted into the city college I used to teach at.

You are here: Experts > Homework Help > Immigration Issues > English as a Second Language > compare to/with

English as a Second Language - compare to/with

Expert: Nell Hunt - 11/5/2009

Question
QUESTION: Dear Nell,

Here I am with a new question "which is better":

1. (Hawkings:) By comparing yourself "to/with" other people, you'll find your problems are not so terrible. (In my textbook, "to" is used. I'm not sure if "with" can be also used here. If yes, which is better?)

2. He thought hard and "came up with" an idea. (Except "think of", "find" or "find out" can take the place of "come up with", can't they? If yes, which is better, find or find out? In my workbook, "find out" is used, but I think "find" is better. Right?)

Thank you.

Best regards

mmleft

ANSWER: Dear mmleft --

It's nice to see you. :)

1. comparing yourself to other people = compare to / CORRECT /

Compared to people with many children to take care of, I feel lucky to have only one.

When I compare city life to small town life, I realize there are pros and cons for both.

2. He thought hard and came up with an idea. CORRECT came up with

They worked together, and found out and idea. #This does not work.# WRONG

They worked together, and found an idea. #This is CORRECT. YES, you are right; "find" is best.)

3. When I visited my parents, I found out that they don't sleep very much. CORRECT/ found out

If you go to the college today, could you find out for me when registration begins?

I want to find out why I have a headache when I wake up every morning.

Hope this helps! Your work is excellent, mmleft!

Best wishes,

Nell

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you, Nell, but I still don't know whether "compare to" is the same as "compare with". It seems that they are not the same to some extent. Right?

Thanks again.

mmleft

Answer
Ohhhh mmleft --

Sorry, I overlooked this! Yes, you are right again!

Let me see if I can think of a situation in which I would use "compare with."

Hmmmm. I am going to conclude here that I don't actually use "compare with" myself, either in writing or in speech.

Here is a verbal expression that is similar, though: along with/ together with

This expression, rather than looking at things separately by comparing them, implies looking at things at the same time.

1 - Together with my son and his girlfriend, Joan, I had dinner with Joan's parents.

2 - My family, along with other families in the area, went to that place for brunch on Sunday mornings for many years.

So mmleft, in my opinion (IMO) (<----this is an abbreviation I use when I write comments in blogs on the Internet, which means "in my opinion," ) "compare with" is not a commonly used idiomatic expression. What I notice is that it is sometimes used in speech. Often, when people write something in English, it is more formal, or correct (proper) English. But when they speak, they resort to more careless or casual usage that is not recommended for writing.

This expression is one of those that is not quite correct, but can be used casually, in speech. Also, these idioms often change depending on an area someone lives in; idioms, remember, have a great deal to do with region than other types of words.

Hope I've helped.

Best wishes,

Nell

P.S. Thanks for following up when you did not understand. Being persistent and determined is important when learning English!!!

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