Search results for 'tag:Expressions tag:Conversations' matching tags 'Expressions' and 'Conversations'

I'm more cuter now. My cuteness grow with every day.

Jackson6612 — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 05:26:01 GMT

Please correct the following conversation. What if much cuter is used instead of more cuter? How would it affect meaning? What if only cuter is used without more or much? What parts of speech are more and much in expressions more cuter and much cuter? Can I say: Let's talk about this over the phone?

- I'm looking at your picture.
- You don't have any of my pictures. Do you?
- Yes, I do have.
- Don't tell me you have that dimented picture of mine from school days.
- You were cute then.
- I'm more cuter now. My cuteness grow with every day.
-Let's talk about this on the phone.

Here's my presentation.

Ellisa — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:13:53 GMT

Hello teachers!
I wrote a script for my presentation.
There must be grammar errors as well as better expressions than I wrote.
Please give me some advice!
Thanks in advance!

Good morning everyone!

Today here I am to give you some useful advice concerning studying abroad. As we all know, we are all from the college of foreign language which means most of us are keen on how to be fluent in language what we're studying. The most popular way of it is studying abroad where the language is spoken. I want to ask you how many of you've been abroad to study language? Raise your hand, please. Then was it effective to improve your language skill? Or what extend did you satisfy? As for me, I was really sorry that I needed to come back to Korea since my English has become a lot better while I was in NZ. However, I've seen many of Korean students not merely wasting their money and time but also not developing their English skills. Then, which factors should be prepared for a successful overseas study? Here's two tips you can do before you go abroad.

First of all, I highly recommend you to study any grammar book carefully before you go abroad. Some say that you can speak language without knowing its grammar. In this case, people recommend you to memorize full sentences which is quite useful. Other say that by learning how to speak, you can acquire its grammar naturally. I have a different opinion, though. These methods might be effective for young children but not for us at all. We don't have much time to be exposed to the English speaking environment which is essential to learn language. Also this is one of the major reasons why people go abroad. Therefore, you need to know the basic grammar of the language which will makes you more easier to understand.

Second, practice your listening more than reading, writing and speaking. I strongly believe that listening is the most important matter than others in language. There were lots of students who even couldn't understand what their teacher's saying. They were just sitting their classroom and following what their classmates were doing. They would learn the culture and got some words from the class but it's not effective somehow. I'll tell you my story. Once I was really proud of myself when I totally understood what my English teacher said. Then on the weekend I met him on the street. He was with his friends and I wanted to cut their conversation. However, I wasn't able to since I couldn't pick up even a word from their conversation. I was shocked. It was such a disaster. Next Monday, I asked him how this happen to me and his answer was this. Most of the teachers who is working at institutes needed to speak clearly to understood their students. That's why I couldn't understand their conversation which was normal speed for them.

From now, I'll give you two tips which you can follow when you are abroad.

First of all, set a specific goal to achieve. I was wondered how can I know that my English skill's getting better. For that reason, I chose to take exams which can show how I've improved. I took IELTS and TOEIC even though they were a bit expensive compared to Korea. However it worth spending because they were a great criteria to estimate my improvements. There must be lots of exams for Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Spanish and so forth. As you see your score is getting higher, you will obtain more confidence in language.

Second and my last advice is 'be active'. When your foreign friend invites you to a party or just a dinner, be there! You might think you are not close to the friend, or your language skill is not good enough to communicate with them. Don't think too much. They just want to be your friend. Even though you are studying at a language school, there's a time limit you can speak the language. In other words, you need more time to practice the language. Then you can practice it with your friends, who have different mother tongue with yours. I've tried not to speak Korean with my korean friends, but the attempt failed before long. Why? It's obvious. If we couldn't think of proper words, then we talked in Korean. Also, I picked up some useful words from my friends not from the class. Make lots of friends as you can and get along with them.

To put it in a nutshell, study a grammar book carefully and improve you language skills before you go abroad. Then set a specific goal and be active as you can be while you are studying in abroad. Thank you for listening.

Re: tenses/simple/continuous

CalifJim — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:32:57 GMT

Newguest
Can you give me some example/conversation in which you would use "How long were you learning English?"

If you Google "How long were you learning" you'll find almost nothing. The verb learning doesn't work particularly well here, the more idiomatic expression being How long did it take you to learn ...

Nevertheless, I found an example that illustrates the contrast between the progressive and simple past tenses in a fairly idiomatic way.

How long were you learning the guitar before you got the hang of it?

As I mentioned before, the past progressive is often a scene-setting tense for a simple past event, so sometimes you don't feel as though you're getting the whole story until you're told what the event is.

How long were you learning English before you became really good at it? therefore sounds much more like authentic English (to my ear) than just How long were you learning English?

_____

Further Google research shows that How long were you ---ing ...? goes quite often with a before clause, thus:

How long were you trading before you became profitable?

How long were you dating your partner before you got married?

How long were you dating before you got engaged?

How long were you dating before you said, "I love you"?

How long were you using WTM before you participated in the forums?

How long were you dieting before you noticed any results?

How long were you playing before you hit the jackpot?

How long were you going to that school before your father filed the lawsuit?

How long were you playing before you knew this was the thing for you?

In every case, slightly higher-register English would have used How long had you been instead of How long were you, thus,

How long had you been playing before you hit the jackpot?

Re: How do you practice your spoken english?

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:11:37 GMT

I practic by hearing the conversations in films and the expressions from English dictionnary.because i cannot conduct face to face conversations with native speakers of English as there are no arround my p
rovince

Re: bright ideas to brighten lessons

AlpheccaStars — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:11:15 GMT

I find that something that requires physical energy gives life and enrgy to a class.

Yesterday in class (beginning level), some of my students were omitting "a" in saying "I have a pen". They would say "I have pen."

So I had them (7 in the class) all stand up. Then we chanted and danced in place to the rhythm:" I --- have --- uh" (with stress on the "uh"). Then "uh-uh-uh".

Everyone was laughing and having fun.

I bring objects to class for play-acting in conversation. It works for a small class, no so well with a large class.

Yesterday I brought plastic dishes, cups, bags, forks, spoons, pens, pencils etc. to class. The objects had a lot of different colors. I used these to practice expressions like

This is...,That is..., These are

and the verbs have, want and give.

Please correct this English essay (1000 words)

amalievinter — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:21:47 GMT

GENRES

There are two categories within the world of texts: fiction (invented) and non-fiction (non-invented). The down-categories - e.g. epic, lyric poetry and drama - are called genres.
The concept "genre" descends from the Greek word "genos" that means family or kind. A genre is a category of texts - both fiction and non-fiction - that have something in common and that separate them from other texts. The genres can thus again be subdivided.

Examples of genres that both belong to fiction are the poem and the drama. Poems are often short, poetic texts - they describe an atmosphere, a feeling, an experience. They consist of stanzas and verses and have fixed rhymes, rhythms, sentence constructions and layouts. A word class dominates.

   Dramas are longer descriptions of actions - that is epic - in which there are included poetic aspects. They express with the help of a conflict that is the turn point and that drives the action forward. Therefore they consist of a beginning, a middle and an end that together has for intention of entertain.
   In order to exemplify the difference between different genres Shirley Jackson's "Charlesâ and âCall me Arnoldâ written by Studs Terkel are processed here.
   The first mentioned is the example of a classic short story. There is an introduction: âThe day my son Laurie started kindergarten â¦â (page 7, line 1) and more than one character involved: ââ¦ I watched him go off the first morning â¦â (page 7, line 3). The combination of direct and indirect speech which is one of the short story characteristics is also a part of it: âHow was school today? I asked elaborately casual. All right, he saidâ (page 7, line 14-15). Finally the story has a sudden and surprising ending: âCharles? she said. We donât have any Charles in the kindergarten.â (page 12, line 24-25).

The genre of the other text is the interview. The conspicuous difference from the short story is that it bounds of a question and an answer. There may possibly be an introduction and a conclusion. In this case you can see that it is an interview because the text only consists of direct speech: âIf I would believe in life after death. I would say my before-life I was living in Americaâ (page 14, line 14-15). He only shows himself for the interviewer and the reader. At the same time the text consists of spoken language expressions like âYou know what I mean?â (page 15, line 29). However it is an edited interview since the questions are edited out. This is among other things seen of the answer âI have emotionsâ (page 15, line 5) where it is obvious that he was guided to answer. The identity of the sender is explained too: âI was born in a little Austrian town, outside Grazâ (page 13, line 1) and âI came out second three times â¦â (page 13, line 15).

Just as the genre varies there is also a difference in the language of the texts. Both texts are built up like dialogues but there is difference between the sentences. While Shirley Jackson uses longer sentences with verbs, adjectives and details: âThe third day â it was Wednesday of the first week â Charles bounced a see-saw on the head of a little girl and made her bleed, and the teacher made him stay inside all during recessâ (page 8, line 24-27) and difficult words like âincredulousâ and âinsolentâ Schwarzeneggerâs answers are short, easy understood and fact orientated: âIt singles out: the winnerâ (page 13, line 13-14). He only speaks in main sentences.

The same disparity finds expression in the people's manner and characteristics. In the short story the people's character judging from actions and conversations is interpreted. Laurie is intelligent and smart as he while Charles is evil plays funny to get the parents' attention: âLook at my thumb. Gee, you are dumbâ (page 8, line 17-18). Later the story changes and Charles becomes good: âLaurie reported grimly at lunch on Thursday of the third week, Charles was so good today the teacher gave him an appleâ (page 10, line 20-22). But as Charles turns up to be Laurie he suddenly is a childish and brutal person: âCharles wanted to color with green crayons so he hit the teacher and she spanked him and said nobody play with play with Charles but everybody didâ (page 8, line 21-23).

The interview shows on the other hand clearly the person's identity. Schwarzenegger is determined and result oriented: âI had a dream that I wanted to be the best body-builder in the world and the most muscular manâ (page 13, line 4-5). He repeats himself about feelings: âYou must control your emotions â¦â (page 15, line 6-7) and âEmotions must not interfereâ (page 15, line 19). It's important for him that he has tangible, firm and honest demands - otherwise he may not be himself. This also means that his statements can sometimes be taken as didactically and provokingly: âIâm trying to make people in America aware that they should appreciate what they have here.â (page 14, line 23-24).

The identity thought is the generally essence of both "Charles" and "Call me Arnold". In "Charles" it is an abstract condition when Charles' actions only do not say anything about identity. But if the parents' role is included it makes sense. The parents are engaged at their child's childhood - e.g. shown in connection with the mother's correction of Charles: âAnything, I said. Didnât learn anythingâ (page 7, line 19). On the other hand they cannot realize the facts and see through that Charles doesn't exist even though the mother discovers a difference: ââ¦ my sweet-voiced, nursery-school tot replaced by a long-trousered, swaggering character â¦â (page 7, line 5-6). The message is that a neglected togetherness or upbringing will damage the identity.

In "Call me Arnold" it is about concrete conditions because Schwarzenegger only directly tells about his own story. Furthermore there is a focus on the individual: âNobodyâs holding you backâ (page 14, line 19-20) and âIf you have a dream and it becomes a reality, donât stay satisfied with it too longâ (page 16, line 2-3). The message is that the identity is created by objective, simple and logical observations and considerations with yourself.
The different way of expression, the person development and the communication but about the same theme explains why different genres are founded. Some genres are better in something than others and appeals better to another spectrum of people. This difference that unites texts will cause the interest of reading forever.

Leaping Imagination

HSS — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:28:01 GMT

Hi, how are you?

Could someone please help me see what "a leaping imagination" is? The expression appeared in the following, excerpted from a book I'm reading in which a son struggles with his father, a widower with Asperger's syndrome. Is it an imagination that comes in mind out of the blue without intention, you might experience when you are alone in a quiet setting?

I knew I'd never know, and I had no intention of delving further. But with a leaping imagination in a quiet house, I could envision a quiet man who struck up a conversation about his rare coin collection with a poor young waitress at a diner, a woman who spent her evenings lying in bed and dreaming of a better life.

Hiro/ Sendai, Japan

Re: singular / plural

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:52:44 GMT

This is an example of a grammar issue that is made difficult because frequent usage of the "a lot" construction in informal conversation makes it tricky to say what is correct based on how it "sounds." Whether the nouns are countable/uncountable or singular/plural is beside the point; as they are part of a prepositional phrase, they are really only serving as part of a modifier. "Lot" is the noun to be concerned with.

You wouldn't say, "There were a group of children at the playground." "Group" implies many children, but the noun itself is singular. It *would* be correct to say, "There were several groups of children at the playground," however. The expression "a lot" works similarly.

Re: Real / Really - Is my way of thinking correct?

Avangi — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 05:47:23 GMT

I hear "real slow," "real quick," and "real bad" a lot in casual conversation - "real poor" less often. They're obviously lower register, and ungrammatical, but almost like fixed expressions. "Really quick" is extremely popular in the US lately, and is a notable exception to your rule about using (or not using) "ly" on both words. "Real quick" is also very hot lately, but "really quick" seems to be used when someone is promising to do something (or wants something) even quicker than "real quick." I've even heard, "really really quick!"

Seems like everybody's in a hurry lately.

- A.

Re: Filipinisms/Filipinoisms? Ring a bell?

Mister Micawber — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:07:37 GMT

.
I would consider this exercise damagingly prescriptive; most are neither uniquely Filipino nor wrong. However (and my comments refer to AmE/BrE):

1. Free subscription of... (Free subscription toâ¦) - prepo issue-- AmE/BrE uses the collocation subscribe to.
2. Can I speak withâ¦? (May I speak withâ¦) - To sound more polite/ask permission?-- Both OK. 'Can' is more casual but just as common.
3. Come again? (I'm sorry I didn't get quite get that / Excuse me? / I'm sorry would you please say that again?) - English trainers discourage agents to use this because they say that it could mean 'cum again')-- The English trainers are nuts. Come again is common and casual. Your examples in parentheses are overly formal for most situations.
4. It's for free! (It's free. / It's free of charge. / We're sending it to you for free.) - Filipinos have been used to saying 'It's for free'. How do I say that it should be avoided? What makes it wrong?-- Nothing makes it wrong; it's fine.
5. Hold your line/For awhileâ¦ (Would you mind if I put you on hold for a second? / Please hold) - hold your line is absurd. any comment? what about for awhile?-- I agree that 'Hold your line' is not natural in AmE/BrE. 'Please hold' or 'Could you hold, please' is the usual.
6. Open/ close the light/computer (Turn on/off the light/TV/computer) - how do I explain this? it sounds like opening/closing the tv for repair.- This seems to be a direct translation from Spanish? Tagalog? At least, it is the same error that Japanese make.
7. Do you mind waiting? Yes, I'll wait. (No, not at all. / No, I don't mind at all.) - YES is the issue. wrong response. any other feedback?-- 'Yes' is logically wrong but common when the tag ( e.g. 'I'll wait') is also present; speakers seldom have the opportunity to stop and think about the 'Do you mind?' form, and this includes native AmE/BrE speakers.
8. Anything? (Is there anything I can do for you? / How may I help you?) - fragmented, seems vague?-- Yes, it seems vague and fragmentary out of context.
9. I'll ask her an apology. (I'll apologize to her. / I should make an apology.) - this sounds illogical?-- Not a natural AmE/BrE formation.
10. We take lunch. (We eat lunch. / We have lunch (every Sunday).)-- 'Take' seems to be an occasional replacement in this context in many Englishes. It is not an egregious variation.
11. We accept repairs. (This shop repairs cars/cellphones, etc.)-- Seems fine to me.
12. We accept painting jobs. (This shop does painting jobs.)- Quite common.
13. Tuck out (Untuck)- Odd.
14. He was salvaged. (He was assassinated.)-- A new meaning for the word for me, and it is not in the dictionary. Perhaps some confusion with 'savaged'?
15. She delivered her baby yesterday. (She had her baby yesterday. / Dr. Smith delivered her baby.)-- This is fine. From the dictionary-- 'to give birth to: She delivered twins at 4 a.m. '
16. Xerox (Photocopy)-- Very common in AmE at least. Among my generation, 'to xerox' is perhaps more usual than 'to photocopy'.
17. Oppositor (Opposition member)-- A new word for me. Not a bad formation, but perhaps difficult to understand by foreigners.
18. Hand carry (Carry - on luggage)-- A new word, but reasonable.
19. It's traffic today. (Traffic is heavy.) -- It seems vague and fragmentary
20. Senatoriable (Senatorial candidate) -- Odder than #17
21. At around 2pm (At about 2pm) - around is Am? about is Brit?- Very common in AmE; it also appears with this meaning in the Cambridge dictionary.
22. I failed in Accent training. (I failed accent training.)-- A common expression, though I prefer your alternative.
23. We were under Mr. Johnson. (Mr. Johnson was our teacher.) - Filipinos are used to saying 'That student is under my class' so this filipinism has started.-- In context, 'We were under Mr. Johnson' sounds fine, while 'That student is under my class' does not.
24. My brother is taking up law. (My brother is taking law. / My brother is studying law.) -- 'Take up' is common, but means the overall intention, not just the matriculation.
25. Where are you studying? (Where do you go to school? / What school do you go to?)- 'Where are you studying' is fine.
26. Pass by my office before you go. (Drop by my office before you go.) - Brit/Am phrasal?-- Not AmE, at least. 'Stop by' or 'Drop by'.
27. We have one participant only. (We only have one participant.) - should they say 'only one participant'?-- The 'only' can go in several places; at the end is one of those places.
28. I talked to her already. (I already talked to her.) - I need help on adverb order. This confuses all Filipinos and me too. Where should adverbs be placed?- Adverbs are relatively variable in their placement. In this case, both are all OK. More interesting is that AmE uses simple past more consistently with 'yet' and 'already' than does BrE, which prefers the perfect aspect.
29. Will you be at the office at 7am? Actually. (Will you be at the office at 7am? Yes.)-- Not AmE/BrE
30. Actually, I like Jennifer Aniston. (I like Jennifer Aniston.) - Actually/basically has become Filipinos expressions.-- I wouldn't say that it is unique to Filipinos; many AmE speakers develop the habit in various contexts. Too much is too much, however.
31. As per Paul, all request forms should be signed by him. (As per Paul's instructions, all request forms should be signed by him.)-- This is common bizspeak throughout the English-speaking world.
32. Wanted: Sewer (Wanted: Tailor or seamstress)-- Yes, it is certainly open to misinterpretation! But 'seamstress' is sexist.
33. Take home (Take it home / To go. / For take out)-- 'Take home food' seems like a regional variant of 'take out food'.
34. I felt kind of tired. (I felt rather tired.)-- 'Kind of' is very common in informal AmE.
35. As to the projectâ¦ (About the projectâ¦)-- A common formality in most Englishes.
36. Thank you for that/this one. (Thank you for the information. / Thank you.) - I need to send this in a few minutes and I still couldn't think of an explanation. Phrasing sounds awkward to me. But besides getting straight to the point, why did 'for that/this one' make it wrong?-- 'One' is wrongly used; 'information' is uncountable.
37. I do love playing basketball/volleyball. (I love playing basketball/volleyball.) - this may sound right depending on the flow of the conversation, right? e.g. you don't love playing... No, I do...-- You are correct. This is called the emphatic 'do'.
38. Currently, I live in Quezon City right now. (Currently, I live in Quezon City. / I live in Quezon City.) - redundant - now and currently.- Yes, redundant.
39. Actually, I like Microsoft, Symantec and Adobe (I like Microsoft Symantec and Adobe)-- The comma is necessary if Microsoft and Symantec are different softwares.
40. As per Mon, all request forms should be signed by him. (As per Paul's instructions, all request forms should be signed by him.)-- This is the same as #31, and OK.
41. I do apologize (I apologize.)-- This is fine indeed. It is the same as #37, and is more polite than your bracketed alternative.
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