 Anonymous wrote: |
yo guys!
i've read all your comments...and i gotta say i've lost any hope to learn english...reading or hearing how others talk kinda depresses me cos i realize that i'm very bad at it, that i can't speak at all. nobody can understand me, some people make fun of me when i speak- my pronunciation is ridiculous, my grammar sucks. i had english classes in high school for 4 years but that was long ago....i've forgotten everything.
now i need to start from the beginning ![Sad [:(]](/emoticons/emotion-6.gif) well...maybe not from the beginning-beginning but i'm there.
i'm a self-study so it's much more difficult...because lots of times i have no clue whether i pronounce a word correctly or not.
anyways...i am not going to give up cos i really want to learn plus i love english! especially amercian english which sounds the best in my opinion. i watch movies, talk with a friend from the states on yahoo every now and then...but i'm always scared to talk on the mic...so we type. some kind of psychological barrier doesn't allow me to talk on the mic ;/ i'm too ashamed even though i know he would not laugh cos foreign accents ain't anything new to him.
i know complaining won't help so i'm sorry to bother u all...wish me luck in my self-studying! i'll keep my fingers crossed for u guys too.
take care
kam
.P.S i forgot to say that i'm from europe (poland). |
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@Kam:
Your written English is quite good! You certainly sound very fluent and competent. But, inexplicably, you, like many other foreigners, wrote your message in AOLspeak. I've noticed that many beginning English speakers that post messages on forums use the same style of writing on forums that they would use to chat with their buddies on Instant Messenger. That style instantly labels you as either a beginner at English or a 12-year old. It's funny because 90% of beginners make this same mistake on forums, no matter what country they're from. It's as if their own language doesn't have capitalization, or something. So, here are my criticisms. If you follow them, you're written English, will improve dramatically. Remember, practice other forms of written English, not just Instant Messenger.
"yo guys"
This is a very non-standard stigmatized greeting, that used to be used by teenagers when they wanted to sound "cool". Now it's rather obsolete, and sounds rather comical. I would change it to "Hey guys", if you want a better sounding informal greeting.
"i've"
In English, "I" is *always* capitalized. The only place it isn't capitalized is on Instant Messenger. On forums, it's always capitalized.
"gotta"
Not a real word. It's from "got to". Replace it with "have to" or "must" when writing.
"sucks"
Mostly used by 12-year olds.
"cos"
I don't think this is ever used by native speakers. Most native speakers if trying to express [ kVz ] (from "because") would tend to write "cuz" because it's spelled like it sounds. "Cos" is an abbreviation for "cosine", and when you're using it for "because" implies it should be pronounce [ kOs ] , which to a native English speaker sounds absolutely nothing like [ kVz ] . Remember "s" and "z" are separate sounds in English at the end of words. But remember this is only appropriate on AIM. On a forum, just use "because"--it's not that much harer to type.
"ain't"
Hmm. Whom are you learning your English from anyway? Southerners? People from the African-American cultural group? This is a highly stigmatized word in English.
"u"
Spell it out! "u" is only used on Instant Messenger...really...
"u all"
There is no second person singular/plural distinction in English. Use "you". If you absolutely must make a distinction, don't pick the Southern/Texas version. Use "you guys", which is used in the North and the West.
".P.S."
Should be P.S.