Search results for 'tag:Writing styles tag:Expressions' matching tags 'Writing styles' and 'Expressions'

Re: since, ago

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 10:00:08 GMT

Hoa Thai wrote:

Hi Goodman,

Maybe I should not touch your nerve again - You are so expressive and I am scared! (for your heart and for my embarrassment). Don't worry, I am all barks and I no bite!

However, I must present my thought to find out what is wrong with it. Here I come.

I havenât been myself since yesterday. Yesterday marks a complete past. I am fine with this
I havenât been myself since I met you. Met marks a complete past. Ditto!

Today is 11/22/2007. Two days ago means 11/20/2007, which marks a complete past. Thus, âI havenât been myself since 11/20/2007â is the same as âI havenât been myself since two days ago.â

Others may feel ok with this but it hurts my ears and probably hurts the earsof the teacher who taught me how to use proper English. She was invited to BeiJing University to teach English in the 80's. When her 5 years contract was finished, she came back to the state and was teaching in the ESL class I was in. If not for her, I most likely won't be able to rub elbows with the English experts here. Well, she was the one that taught me never to mix ago in present perfect situations. For your sentense, I would say "I haven't been myself for the last/ past two days".

That is where my brain becomes confused with your reasoning.

Now regarding your comment about native people might not be better than non-natives in using good English â I understand why you said that: the seemingly biased view causes pain to people who do not belong to the regarded circle. However, we must accept the fact that âperfection is the result of constant use.â (Of course, constantly use in a wrong way will form a bad habit). When ESL learners come to forums like this, with fresh learning, they want a confirmation of people who they trust to take them to the next plateau of knowledge; and they rely on native, know-best, English teachers. I am one of them! (not the teacher, but the learner - mind you) You are overly humble!. It is up to each learner to ask, validate, and ask again. Knowledge seekers are smart people, they will form their own opinion about a forum debate. My goodness! you read my mind. Finally, someone shares my light! And if a non-native English speaker like you can regularly give the information seekers sensible GOOD ENGLISH answers, I think you would establish a good image for yourself. I am not sure what to make of your last comments. But I can tell you this, establishing a good image for myself on this forum is probably "mission impossible" because the image I have created here is one that gets the darts thrown at it! The truth is, I am not the kind who relies on books but rather the kind who learn through media and interacting with others. I am still learning, refining and polishing my English. I make many mistakes and I am not shy saying it because I recognize mistakes allow me to see where I need to improve and remember not to repeat them.

Here is what Edward D Goodman, an excellent writer, editor, and a scholar in my eye, writes, â â¦ good English is a kind of snobbery, It is not standard English but the English of a minority who are likely to consider themselves superior, and are also likely to be considered superior by others. English that is good enough in one context may not be good enough in another, and thus good English amounts to savor faire, a touchstone of the snob. All of us fail to use it occasionally, and some of us fail to use it frequently. Those who fail infrequently look down on those who fail frequently; those who fail frequently either live in constant fear of embarrassing themselves or find some way of taking pride in their unvarnished expression. Those who fail infrequently make further distinctions among themselves; the famous grammarian H.W.Fowler observed, âAlmost every man is potentially a purist and a sloven at once to persons looking at him from a lower and a higher position â¦. than his own.ââ I don't quite grasp what is in his mind - but I sure want to climb the knowledge hill and find the pleasure in use the language,

I am still wondering why Clive though Anon was me! I take that as a complement for a uniqueness of my writing style, which I donât even know I have one.

Best to all,
Hoa Thai

Hi Hao,

Thank you for your post.

Maybe I should not touch your nerve again - I hope you are being humorous and not sarcastic You are so expressive and I am scared! (for your heart and for my embarrassment). Don't worry, I am all barks and no bite!

However, I must present my thought to find out what is wrong with it. Here I come.

I havenât been myself since yesterday. Yesterday marks a complete past. I am fine with this
I havenât been myself since I met you. Met marks a complete past. Ditto!

Today is 11/22/2007. Two days ago means 11/20/2007, which marks a complete past. Thus, âI havenât been myself since 11/20/2007â is the same as âI havenât been myself since two days ago.â

Others may feel ok with the use of "ago with present perfect, but it hurts my ears and probably hurts the ears of the teacher who taught me how to use proper English 20 plus years ago. She was invited to BeiJing University to teach English in the 80's. Many of her graduate students ended up in goverment assigments working as translators and interpretors in the U.N. When her 5 years contract was finished, she came back to the state and was teaching in the ESL class I was in. If not for her, I most likely won't be able to rub elbows with the English experts here. Well, she was the one that taught me never to mix ago in present perfect situations. For your sentense, I would say "I haven't been myself for the last/ past two days".

That is where my brain becomes confused with your reasoning.

Now regarding your comment about native people might not be better than non-natives in using good English â I understand why you said that: the seemingly biased view causes pain to people who do not belong to the regarded circle. However, we must accept the fact that âperfection is the result of constant use.â I couldn't have agreed more (Of course, constantly use in a wrong way will form a bad habit). When ESL learners come to forums like this, with fresh learning, they want a confirmation of people who they trust to take them to the next plateau of knowledge; and they rely on native, know-best, English teachers. I am one of them! (not the teacher, but the learner - mind you) You are overly humble!. It is up to each learner to ask, validate, and ask again. Knowledge seekers are smart people, they will form their own opinion about a forum debate. My goodness! you read my mind. Finally, someone shares my light! And if a non-native English speaker like you can regularly give the information seekers sensible GOOD ENGLISH answers, I think you would establish a good image for yourself. I am not sure what to make of your last comments. But I can tell you this, establishing a good image for myself on this forum is probably "mission impossible" because the image I have created here is one that gets the darts thrown at it! The truth is, I am not the kind who relies on books but rather the kind who learn through media and interacting with others. I am still learning, refining and polishing my English. I make many mistakes and I am not shy saying it because I recognize mistakes allow me to see where I need to improve and remember not to repeat them.

Here is what Edward D Goodman, an excellent writer, editor, and a scholar in my eye, writes, â â¦ good English is a kind of snobbery, It is not standard English but the English of a minority who are likely to consider themselves superior, and are also likely to be considered superior by others. English that is good enough in one context may not be good enough in another, and thus good English amounts to savor faire, a touchstone of the snob. All of us fail to use it occasionally, and some of us fail to use it frequently. Those who fail infrequently look down on those who fail frequently; those who fail frequently either live in constant fear of embarrassing themselves or find some way of taking pride in their unvarnished expression. Those who fail infrequently make further distinctions among themselves; the famous grammarian H.W.Fowler observed, âAlmost every man is potentially a purist and a sloven at once to persons looking at him from a lower and a higher position â¦. than his own.ââ I don't quite grasp what is in his mind - but I sure want to climb the knowledge hill and find the pleasure in use the language,

I am still wondering why Clive though Anon was me! I take that as a complement for a uniqueness of my writing style, which I donât even know I have one.

Re: since, ago

Hoa Thai — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 01:57:33 GMT

Hi Goodman,

Maybe I should not touch your nerve again - You are so expressive and I am scared! (for your heart and for my embarrassment).

However, I must present my thought to find out what is wrong with it. Here I come.

I havenât been myself since yesterday. Yesterday marks a complete past.
I havenât been myself since I met you. Met marks a complete past.

Today is 11/22/2007. Two days ago means 11/20/2007, which marks a complete past. Thus, âI havenât been myself since 11/20/2007â is the same as âI havenât been myself since two days ago.â

That is where my brain becomes confused with your reasoning.

I am still wondering why Clive though Anon was me! I take that as a complement for a uniqueness of my writing style, which I donât even know I have one.

Best to all,
Hoa Thai

Re: Please assess this essay!

julielai — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 15:17:12 GMT

Every English learner has their (agreement) own difficulties in learning this language. The difficulties differ from individual to individual. Someone may be in deep trouble of (awkward) using proper words in writing essays while ~~someone~~ others see listening as their major obstacle ~~needed to overcome~~ (redundant). In my opinion, writing seems to be the hardest skill to grasp alongside (if it is alongside, then shouldn't they be equally hard? hmmm) the second hardest one: listening.

First, let consider writing. When I write something in English, usually an essay, my poor vocabulary has limited my ability to express what I actually mean. Sometimes, I donât know the word to depict what I see, hear and feel, or how to write things naturally like an Englishman do (agreement). Using a dictionary is not likely to help much, because if I use any word that I found (tense) in the dictionary, it just leads to a fact that: (wording) my writing or essay is completely weird and become (agreement) nothing other than a mess of strange expressions and irrelevant words. Even when I use an English dictionary, and I have checked the word definition well, ~~but~~ I still find it hard to opt (wording) which words to use accurately. As you know, in English, there are some terms that are ~~fixed to be~~ used only in some contexts, if you express by another way, it just likes baby-writing (what do you mean?). Therefore, writing a paper or an essay are harder than ~~just sitting back,~~ (you're talking as if "sitting back" is an option alongside reading and listening) reading an (agreement) enjoyable books or listening to your favourite English songs. In those case, you adsorb passively what are imparted to you. In contrast, when you write, you need to do brainstorming and create (you coin new words?) your own words and write down your own thoughts. Certainly, this task is required not only ideas ~~to write~~ but also something else: Write ornately (wording) or formally? Which perspectives to stand on? How to arrange ideas well? What point
~~needed~~ to be emphasized or neglected? Even when you use words, terms or expressions approximately (wording), ~~but~~ a poor ideas performance (what do you mean?) or an unfamiliarity of relevant English writing style still leads to failure.

Second, consider (awkward) listening. Because you donât use English as your mother tongue (connect these two sentences). So an unfamiliarity of listening English people talking is no surprise. Moreover, I canât concentrate much when listening, especially listening to a bad English tape or a long and technical conversation. Sometimes, this obstacle stems from other matters (wording). Usually, I hear the words clearly but need a little time to remember what it (agreement) means. Additionally, I pronounce some words inaccurately so when hearing the right pronunciations, I almost canât recognize them. But in my opinion, this problem can be easily dealt with. The key to be successful is very simple: just listen as much as I can and the progress can be by leaps and bounds. This task is a continuing (awkward)one and it does take time to get improved. I need over 2 month to make progress in listening. Now I focus on listening to technical or professional issues. They are far more difficult than just daily conversations.

On the whole, I see writing and listening as the two most difficult skill (agreement) to be made fluent (awkward). Other skills like reading and speaking donât bother me much because Iâm rather confident with those skills.

Please assess this essay!

Hookeba — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 15:01:44 GMT

It's me again!
I found this forum extrememly helpful in order to improve my writing skill. So I decided to post another essay to have you assessed.
Would you mind checking it out ?

Topic : What are your difficulties in English learning?>>

Every English learner has their own difficulties in learning this language. The difficulties differ from individual to individual. Someone may be in deep trouble of using proper words in writing essays while someone see listening as their major obstacle needed to overcome. In my opinion, writing seems to be the hardest skill to grasp alongside the second hardest one: listening.

First, let consider writing. When I write something in English, usually an essay, my poor vocabulary has limited my ability to express what I actually mean. Sometimes, I donât know the word to depict what I see, hear and feel, or how to write things naturally like an Englishman do. Using a dictionary is not likely to help much, because if I use any word that I found in the dictionary, it just leads to a fact that: my writing or essay is completely weird and become nothing other than a mess of strange expressions and irrelevant words. Even I use an English dictionary, and I have checked the word definition well, but I still find it hard to opt which words to use accurately. As you know, in English, there are some terms that are fixed to be used only in some contexts, if you express by another way, it just likes baby-writing. Therefore, writing a paper or an essay are harder than just sitting back, reading an enjoyable books or listening to your favourite English songs. In those case, you adsorb passively what are imparted to you. In contrast, when you write, you need to do brainstorming and create your own words and write down your own thoughts. Certainly, this task is required not only ideas to write but also something else: Write ornately or formally? Which perspectives to stand on? How to arrange ideas well? What point needed to be emphasized or neglected? Even you use words, terms or expressions approximately, but a poor ideas performance or an unfamiliarity of relevant English writing style still leads to failure.

Second, consider listening. Because you donât use English as your mother tongue. So an unfamiliarity of listening English people talking is no surprise. Moreover, I canât concentrate much when listening, especially listening to a bad English tape or long and technical conversation. Sometimes, this obstacle stems from other matters. Usually, I hear the words clearly but need a little time to remember what it means. Additionally, I pronounce some words inaccurately so when hearing the right pronunciations, I almost canât recognize them. But in my opinion, this problem can be easily dealt with. The key to be successful is very simple: just listen as much as I can and the progress can be by leaps and bounds. This task is a continuing one and it does take time to get improved. I need over 2 month to make progress in listening. Now I focus on listening to technical or professional issues. They are far more difficult than just daily conversations.

On the whole, I see writing and listening as the two most difficult skill to be made fluent. Other skills like reading and speaking donât bother me much because Iâm rather confident with those skills.

Re: Question - inept

trellis — Thu, 27 Nov 2003 06:33:37 GMT

If you go to http://www.google.com/
and make this search -> define: inept

you will get this page:

not elegant or graceful in expression; "an awkward prose style"; "a clumsy apology"; "his cumbersome writing style"; "if the rumor is true, can anything be more inept than to repeat it now?"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn

generally incompetent and ineffectual; "feckless attempts to repair the plumbing"; "inept handling of the account"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn

revealing lack of perceptiveness or judgment or finesse; "an inept remark"; "it was tactless to bring up those disagreeable"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn

I tell you this way so you can try it again for future definition needs.