Creativity Requires Constraint

Cheetahs, how  70 mph chasing can run prey while many?

That is pretty good for a non-English speaker to know that many words. How do they do that? 
  1. Immerse Yourself In New Experiences. ...
  2. Learn Something New. ...
  3. Ask More Questions. ...
  • Curious. Creative people enjoy learning new things, so their free time may include reading books or watching videos about topics they find interesting. ...
  • Playful. ...
  • Open-minded. ...
  • Flexible. ...
  • Sensitive. ...
  • Independent. ...
  • Risk-taking. ...
  • Intuitive.
Am I creative or logical?

Logic uses reasoning and analytical abilities. It seeks to identify the cause and effect. Creativity involves elements of innovation, emotion, and chance. It seeks to discover new solutions.

How are creative brains different?

There is a difference in brain structure between artists and non-artists, which accounts for the difference in ability. Artists view the world differently, focusing on the whole visual field rather than individual objects. This allows them to see shadows and contours that non-artists would miss.

That is Wikipedia so far, differentiating between creative and logic. Maybe you are more comfortable with logic than creativity, but that does not mean you can use it as an excuse. I am co-teaching in a beginners TESOL class. Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Learning another language is not the same as a math class; a chemistry or history class. In those classes you learn something new; how to apply calculus, or learn the table of elements. In language study you learn to say something you already know, in a different way. Grammar? Yes, but that is just part of it. In our native tongue, we all express ourself different, depending on our upbringing, the environment we live in - our culture - and how we relate to others. 

I lived in five different cultures; really six, because California and Florida are not the same even though they speak (more or less...) the same language. California is to the far left and Florida is to the far right... geographically. By "lived in", I mean at least five years in each. Not having spoken Spanish for ten years, I picked it up again in California with our sanitation foreman at the tomato cannery. He noticed I spoke more of Castillano, rather than the more common Spanglish spoken in California. He came from southern Mexico where Castillano is more prevalent as it is in Venezuela. 

Going back to our first phrase: Cheetahs, how 70 mph chasing can run prey while many? To make this more understandable, we need some constraints, best explained in the following table:                 

         

Five columns, in grammatical order, start with an amount or kind, followed by who or what; in other words, the subject. This is followed by the verb, or action word. Next is a pronoun or adverb describing what, which can be followed by a when where, what, how description. There are exceptions, but this order will give a complete thought or sentence. 

Next are a bunch of words. Here is where the creative part comes in. You can create a sentence with the appropriate word for each column. We need some constraints before we can be creative. Our phrase should read: How many cheetahs can run 70 mph while chasing prey? 

Have fun and be creative with this table :-)
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