hello pip..am actually a new comer to the ukgate ..and am jst very impressed bout the way your teaching english..i like it very much...i actually admire learning english..english is one of my favorate language..but i quess am having difficulty in writing and i will be sitting for my ielts exam on the 27th this month and am kinda scared particulary form the writing task part one..the graphs,charts and diagrames...i've been to a 3 days ielts workshop,but am nt sure if am ready yet..i think am good at listening as well as speaking but my problem in speaking is that i've alwayz wanted to talk to a native speaker which am havin difficulty in finding one to talk to..in fact i know none,,,so am practicing alone with my self..what sould i do i really want to be able to comunicate with a native speaker who knows the language well..

sorry bout all the questions :-) thank you..

hello pip ...u have to help me man! :P

im goin to college dis year n i need 5 band in IELTS in each section :s

so tell me how!!? :s

That's very good, however, the word 'number' itself is a singular countable noun, so when using, 'number' the sentence should read:

The NUMBER of people who took up the English course in 1989 WAS much lower than in 1999.

Also, just to get you thinking about 'took up the English course', was this one particular English course at a particular college or English courses?

'the English course' = a specific English course at the college (disregarding all other English courses)

'English courses' = including all English courses at the college

Hope this helps.  It's such a pleasure to have an interested, conscientious student.

Pip

Thank you for your kindness answer Pip 

You are right in saying that it is possible to express this trend as a percentage.  But you'd need to write the sentence in a different way (see below). 

However, the word 'number' is correct here because it is a number out of 1000 (which is simply a rounded number used for abbreviating the actual number in the entire country).  So, in the graph, if 70,000 people died in one year in England, this would be 0.001% of the total population or 1 death per 1000.  It is this number that is falling in the example; '1 death per 1000'.

If expressed as a percentage the sentence should read, 'The percentage death rate fell considerably' (omitting the reference to 'per 1000' because this would mean we are dealing with a number).

I hope this answers your question, in that my use of 'number' is only one way of expressing it.  As is all too often in English, there are many ways of saying the same thing.  It's just the focus that changes.  It normally depends on the writer's interpretation, and style, when writing these kinds of reports.

I am glad you are finding the course helpful in general, and I thank you for your question.  It's always good for a teacher to think about his own work.

Good luck with the rest of the course.

Pip

Hello Pip

I have a question.

I am studying “writing lesson #4”. There is the question what I don’t know.

Which is at “Expressing Rates,”

 mortality rates fell considerably.

->The number of deaths per 1000 people fell considerably.

I think it should be “percentage” instead of “number” because the category is “Expressing Rates.”

Would you please explain the reason why the sentence use “number”…???

And I satisfied with your lesson indeed.

Thank you

Hi Pip

Thank you very much for your answer regarding using "on foot". I found your method of describing what the wrong usage of the expression might produce in the mind of a native speaker absolutely excellent. I thought that there could be no explanation in this example and it is just how the preposition "on" got established in this context. I am happy when I find out new things where I thought there is nothing else to discover.   

Hello Pip

How are you doing?