English - Multi

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English - Multi

Postby Multiturquoise » 2013-09-15, 13:47

(I tried to use British spellings while I'm writing this. And if I have mistakes, you can correct me)

Hello!
This is my personal thread in the English forum. My English is at advanced level. I want to improve my fluency in English, so I'm studying everyday. I'm a user here for approximately two years, but I started using the site in March this year. I learn English at school, but I learnt most of it on my own. I'll go to school on weekdays, I'll be more active at the weekend. I prefer British English to American English, because British English is very beautiful. But most of the popular sites like Google use American spelling, since they're based in the United States. But I prefer to use ‘colour’ instead of “color”. As everyone knows, my favourite singers are Ellie Goulding and Florence Welch. I'm an admirer of music and languages. I will ask you my questions about English here. My priority is to improve my fluency in English. Because many people can speak English wherever you go. Music and languages make my life complete, I can't live without them. And of course, I love Karen Gillan. I want to end up the text here. Goodbye!
Last edited by Multiturquoise on 2018-03-11, 17:17, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: English - boracasli

Postby johnklepac » 2013-09-23, 2:56

A few corrections. Not at all bad, for a non-native:

boracasli wrote:Hello!
This is my personal thread in the English forum. My English is at an advanced level. I want to improve my fluency in English, so I'm studying everyday. I've technically been a user here for approximately two years, but I actually started using the site in March of this year. I learn English at school, but I learnt most of it on my own. I go to school on weekdays; I'm more active on the weekend. I prefer British English to American English, because British English is very beautiful. But most of the popular sites like Google use American spelling, since they're based in the United States. But I prefer to use colour instead of “color”. As everyone knows, my favourite singers are Ellie Goulding and Florence Welch. I'm an admirer of music and languages. I will ask you my questions about English here. My priority is to improve my fluency in English. Because many people can speak English wherever you go. Music and languages make my life complete, I can't live without them. And of course, I love Karen Gillan. I want to finish the text here. Goodbye!

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Re: English - boracasli

Postby ling » 2013-09-23, 11:51

boracasli wrote:so I'm studying every day.


"everyday" is an adjective meaning "ordinary".
"every day" is an adverb meaning, well, "every day".

It's a mistake that's very common among native speakers of English.

My priority is to improve my fluency in English, because many people can speak English wherever you go.

Clauses beginning with "because" are dependent, and should be linked to an independent clause with a comma.

Music and languages make my life complete: I can't live without them.

Linking two independent clauses with a comma, but no conjunction, is an error known as a "comma splice". Instead, use an appropriate conjunction (and, or, but, etc.), or else use a semicolon (;). If the latter clause elaborates on the first, then you can use a colon (:), like above.
Last edited by ling on 2013-09-23, 12:12, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: English - boracasli

Postby Lazar Taxon » 2013-09-23, 12:10

ling wrote:Clauses beginning with "because" are dependent, and should be linked to an independent clause with a comma.
They're not always linked by a comma - I think it's a question of whether the "because" clause is the focus of the sentence or not. For example,

"Which movie did you see?"
"I went to see Gravity, because it got good reviews."
(The independent clause is the focus, and the dependent one is an addendum to it.)

vs.

"Why did you see Gravity?"
"I went to see Gravity because it got good reviews."
(The dependent clause is the focus.)
Native: [flag=]en-us[/flag] Good: [flag=]es[/flag] [flag=]fr[/flag] Okay: [flag=]de[/flag] [flag=]la[/flag] Beginning: [flag=]it[/flag] Interested in: [flag=]he[/flag] [flag=]hi[/flag] [flag=]ru[/flag]

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Re: English - boracasli

Postby cangying » 2013-10-05, 12:21

I should say wow boracasli I can see you everywhere!:P
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Re: English - boracasli

Postby Multiturquoise » 2013-10-11, 11:53

Thanks for everything. I want to continue writing. I'm actively studying Chinese nowadays. I may after begin to learn Japanese and Korean. I have the right to learn any language using any way. And I like the way I learn languages. English that is taught at school is never enough to talk fluently. I also make mistakes in any language, including my native language. Everybody makes mistakes. People are born to make mistakes, so I want to state that we learn from our mistakes.



Edit:

My English is around B2-C1, but I think it's going down since I don't study English very much. I think I should study more English. I've been listening to English-language* songs every day, but I don't think it will be the solution. My Greek is around B1-B2, I've been trying to improve it, but I think that the books I have aren't enough to improve my Greek. I've been learning many languages at the moment, but I don't have time to study all of them.

* I don't refer to them as “English songs”, because there aren't only English (although most of my favourites are from England), but also Scottish, Welsh, American, New Zealand and Australian singers that I listen to.



When I was a child, I had a great musical taste (I still have a great musical taste*). I liked Lolly's “Big Boys Don't Cry”, but I didn't listen to her other songs. I'm still listening to the songs that I used to listen when I was a child. I feel like I'm in my childhood. And in 2007, I had more favourite singers. I began to like various artists. One of the ones that I liked the most was Gia Farrell. She was only 18 years old, and I was 8 or 9 years old when I discovered her while watching a music programme on TV. I miss those days, because Justin Bieber was only a YouTube personality, and there was no One Direction** in those days.

* I especially love to listen to Katy Perry, Ellie Goulding and Florence + the Machine songs.
** An English-Irish boyband that I dislike.



I've been learning languages since 2002. The first one that I learnt is English. And in 2007, I began learning Russian. And now, I've been learning many languages including Swahili.
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Re: English - boracasli

Postby linguoboy » 2013-12-07, 3:48

Eftychia wrote:Thanks for everything. I want to continue writing. I'm actively studying Chinese nowadays. I may afterlater begin to learning Japanese and Korean. I have the right to learn any language using any way.

"Right" seems like an odd word choice. You would normally assert a "right" to do something like this only if someone else had disputed it.

Eftychia wrote:And I like the way I learn languages. The English that is taught at school is never enough to talk fluently. I also make mistakes in any language, including my native language. Everybody makes mistakes. People are born to make mistakes, so I want to state that we learn from our mistakes.


Eftychia wrote:My English is around B2-C1, but I think it's going down since I don't study English very much. I think I should study more English more. I've been listening to English-language* songs every day, but I don't think itthat will be the solution. My Greek is around B1-B2, I've been trying to improve it, but I think that the books I have aren't enough to improve my Greek. I've been learning many languages at the moment, but I don't have time to study all of them.

* I don't refer to them as “English songs”, because there aren't onlyI don't just listen to English singers (although most of my favourites are from England), but also Scottish, Welsh, American, New Zealand and Australian singers that I listen to.

When I was a child, I had a great musical taste (I still have a great musical taste*). I liked Lolly's “Big Boys Don't Cry”, but I didn't listen to her other songs. I'm still listening to the songs that I used to listen when I was a child. I feel like I'm in my childhood. And in 2007, I had more favourite singers. I began to like various artists.

Awkward. I would say something like, "Starting in 2007, I began to like various other artists as well."

Eftychia wrote:One of the ones that I liked the most was Gia Farrell. She was only 18 years old, and I was 8 or 9 years old when I discovered her while watching a music programme on TV. I miss those days, because Justin Bieber was only a YouTube personality, and there was no One Direction** in those days.

* I especially love to listen to Katy Perry, Ellie Goulding and Florence + the Machine songs.
** An English-Irish boyband that I dislike.

I've been learning languages since 2002. The first one that I learnt is English. And in 2007, I began learning Russian. And now, I've been learning many languages including Swahili.

Minor stylistic point, but I would dump one of those "ands".
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Re: English - boracasli

Postby Multiturquoise » 2013-12-23, 22:29

I'm curious about Australian spellings. Could someone give me links of some sites that teach Australian English. I love it when someone talks with a British or an Australian accent. I'll frequently listen to SBS Radio to improve my Australian spelling.
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Re: English - boracasli

Postby Saim » 2013-12-24, 3:48

To be honest, I'm not sure if there are any differences in spelling between the written English of Australia and that of England - as far as I'm aware all of the Commonwealth uses the same orthography, it's just in the US that they have something different.

Regarding the accent, the main difference I suppose are the vowels. Our dipthongs can be a bit funny to other English speakers (the word vowel itself can be a bit of a shibboleth). If you want to listen to something in Australian English, maybe check out the ABC since they usually have good-quality programs - the only problem is their website doesn't give you access to anything if you're outside Australia, though I imagine a lot of it is uploaded to YouTube (one of my favourite shows was the Hamster Wheel and I watched it on YouTube, I wouldn't recommend it though because it mostly makes fun of Australian politics and media so it might not be funny to outsiders especially not those interested in politics).

Anyway, good luck!
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Re: English - Eibhlín

Postby Multiturquoise » 2014-01-18, 21:27

You know I always write my texts using British rules and words, but this time I try to write using American rules and words. So please correct my text according to written American spelling.

I'm going to improve my English. I actually write my English essays in British English, since we're all using British English materials. But it doesn't matter.

Some people simply say "America" instead of "the United States". Is this usage also correct?

English is spoken by millions of people, so you can communicate with many people if you can speak English. But I don't think only one foreign language is enough. I'm learning many languages as possible. My English is still around B2-C1. English is not my most favourite language, but I can understand English materials or texts very easily. I after realised that English is the key for learning other languages.

I'm going to finish the text.
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Re: English - Eibhlín

Postby Levike » 2014-01-18, 21:46

Eibhlín wrote:I after realised that English is the key for learning other languages.

I am not totally sure but I think Americans spell realised as realized with a z.

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Re: English - Eibhlín

Postby linguoboy » 2014-01-18, 22:30

Levente wrote:
Eibhlín wrote:I after realised that English is the key for learning other languages.

I am not totally sure but I think Americans spell realised as realized with a z.

Yeah, that's the only obvious BE spelling I spotted. As for the rest of the text, I found only a couple of errors:
Eibhlín wrote:I'm going to improve my English. I actually write my English essays in British English, since we're all using British English materials. But it doesn't matter.

Some people simply say "America" instead of "the United States". Is this usage also correct?

English is spoken by millions of people, so you can communicate with many people if you can speak English. But I don't think only one foreign language is enough. I'm learning as many languages as possible. My English is still around B2-C1. English is not my most favourite language, but I can understand English materials or texts very easily. I after(later?) realized that English is the key for learning other languages.

As to your question, "America" is considered correct but somewhat informal. Depending on the context, it can sound a bit jingoistic.
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Re: English - Eibhlín

Postby Multiturquoise » 2014-01-27, 17:40

I'll use British spellings in this text. No offence to American English speakers or learners, but I don't want to switch from British to American again. Please do not replace the British quotation marks with American ones while correcting my post.

English is the language which most people learn. But I'm learning British English. If you ask me why, here's the answer. Because English is originally spoken in the United Kingdom, and most of my favourite people are from there.

And here is my opinion about American English:
American English sounds somewhat exotic to my ears, but some people are learning that variant of English. I know, most websites are originally in American English. I've always learnt British English at school. I also know American English spellings, but I don't use them in my daily life. I know that Microsoft didn't release the Windows versions before Windows 8 in British English. At that time, people had to get used to American spellings.

I'm changing the topic back to British English.
British English sounds very beautiful to my ears. I'm totally in love with British English. I don't just love the way it sounds, but also the written form. For example, ‘learnt’ seems more beautiful to me than ‘learned’.

American English: [Randomly found it while searching for CNN (USA) interviews]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN_AOVWirzo

British English: [If you ask why I posted an interview with Ellie Goulding, that's because I really love her (I'm a Goulddigger of hers)]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGMnh3qPgqA
Last edited by Multiturquoise on 2014-01-27, 17:55, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: English - Eibhlín

Postby IpseDixit » 2014-01-27, 17:46

I'm learning the British accent.


There's no such thing as "the British accent"... You probably mean RP (received pronunciation) which is one of the many British accents.
Last edited by IpseDixit on 2014-01-27, 17:49, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: English - Eibhlín

Postby linguoboy » 2014-01-27, 17:48

Not much to say except that it's "no offence to American English speakers" and "sounds somewhat exotic to my ears".

Also "No offence to other accents" sounds odd. Not because it's ungrammatical but because accents aren't something which can feel offended. A native speaker would probably formulate that differently.
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Re: English - Eibhlín

Postby JuxtapositionQMan » 2014-03-01, 2:16

I put sidenotes in blue.
Eibhlín wrote:(I tried to use British spellings while I'm writing this, and if I have mistakes, you can correct me)

Hello!
This is my personal thread in the English forum. My English is at an advanced level. I want to improve my fluency in English, so I'm studying everyday. I have been a user here for approximately two years, but I started using the site in March this year. I learn English at school, but I learnt most of it on my own. I'll go to school on weekdays, I'll am more active at the weekend. I prefer British English to American English, because British English is very beautiful [you can insert an emoticon to retain the flow of the sentence], but most of the popular sites, like Google, use American spelling, since they're based in the United States. But I prefer to use ‘colour’ instead of “color”. As everyone knows, my favourite singers are Ellie Goulding and Florence Welch. I'm an admirer of music and languages. I will ask you my questions about English here. [try to make more compound and complex sentences to make it flow better] My priority is to improve my fluency in English. because many people can speak English wherever you go. Music and languages make my life complete; I can't live without them; and of course, I love Karen Gillan. I want to end up the text here. Goodbye![Goodbye is usually used more for emphasis in written messages]
I prefer to use different spellings for different contexts, myself: color /ˈcələr/ v, colour /cɔˈlur/ n.
Eibhlín wrote:You know I always write my texts using British rules and words, but this time I will/shall try to write using American rules and words. So please correct my text according to written American spelling.

I'm going to improve my English. I actually write my English essays in British English, since we're all using British English materials, but it doesn't matter.

Some people simply say "America" instead of "The United States". Is this usage also correct? [Yes...no...sometimes...it depends. Mostly, you can. When being formal, "The United States" is preferred.]

English is spoken by millions of people, so you can communicate with many people if you can speak English, but I don't think only one foreign language is enough. I'm learning many languages as possible. My English is still around B2-C1. English is not my most favourite language [British spelling, not American], but I can understand English materials or texts very easily. I later realized that English is the key for learning other languages.

I'm going to end the text.

Another sidenote: while German is known for its ridiculous compound nouns (Rhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbierbarbärbelrhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierbi-errhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbartbarbierrhabarberbarbarabarbarbarenbarrhabarberbarbarabarrh-abarberbarbararhabarberkuchen), we in English are known for our ridiculously long compound sentences, and not just rarely used stuff, like the whole Rabarberbarbara ^that^, but commonly used stuff. It may not seem natural, but you'll eventually get it.
Last edited by JuxtapositionQMan on 2014-03-01, 4:09, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: English - Eibhlín

Postby linguoboy » 2014-03-01, 3:51

JuxtapositionQMan wrote:I haþ/have been

It's one thing if you want to use cutesy affectations in your own writing, but they are unacceptable when correcting someone else's writing. Haþ is not even correct historically and you should not be suggesting it even as an alternative to a learner of the language.

JuxtapositionQMan wrote:I'll be more active at the weekend.

I be is acceptable in African American Vernacular English, but not in other varieties. You shouldn't include it in a revision without a usage note to that effect.
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Re: English - Eibhlín

Postby JuxtapositionQMan » 2014-03-01, 4:02

Good points! Fixed!
(Btw, thanks for correcting my mistakes. I'm native, but not infallible, so thanks.)
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Re: English - Eibhlín

Postby Multiturquoise » 2014-06-02, 14:13

I'm going to write another text to be fixed.

My English may be good, but it’s never perfect. Everyone makes mistakes even in their own language. It may seem weird to some people, but actually it isn’t. It means that we don’t even know our native language very well. I’m trying to learn Estonian. Despite the fact that it’s one of the most difficult languages to study, I’m trying to improve anyway. However, English is phonetically more difficult than Estonian and I have to improve my English in order to stay in the United Kingdom. I’ll either go to Estonia or the United Kingdom when I come of age, but this situation may change. I’ll maybe go to Qatar this summer, so I’ve begun to study Arabic more intensively. As far as I’ve heard, most people in Qatar can speak English. I’m spending almost all of my free time after school in front of the computer, but I generally use the computer to study languages and read the news.

* What’s the difference between strange and weird? I used ‘weird’ but is the word ‘strange’ also acceptable?
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Re: English - Eibhlín

Postby Saim » 2014-06-02, 16:14

Eibhlín wrote:I'm going to write another text to be fixed.

My English may be good, but it’s never not perfect.[1] Everyone makes mistakes even in their own language. It may seem weird to some people, but actually it isn’t. It means that we don’t even know our native language very well. I’m trying to learn Estonian. Despite the fact that it’s one of the most difficult languages to study, I’m trying to improve anyway.[2] However, English is phonetically more difficult than Estonian and I have to improve my English in order to stay in the United Kingdom. I’ll either go to Estonia or the United Kingdom when I come of age,[3] but this situation[4] may change. I’ll maybe go to Qatar this summer, so I’ve begun to study Arabic more intensively. As far as I’ve heard, most people in Qatar can speak English. I’m spending almost all of my free time after school in front of the computer, but I generally use the computer to study languages and read the news.


[1] I'm not actually really sure why you said never here. Do you mean it'll never be perfect?
[2] I feel like this would flow better if you rephrased it this way: I'm trying to learn Estonian, despite the fact that it's one of the most difficult languages to learn. Learn sounds better than study here, but I'm not sure if I can explain why.
[3] when I come of age is ok but sounds a bit poetic to me; I would suggest when I grow up (or maybe when I finish school or when I'm older if that sounds too childish).
[4] More of a plan than a situation, don't you think

That's great that your time on the computer is constructive, good luck with your language learning endeavours. :)

Eibhlín wrote:* What’s the difference between strange and weird? I used ‘weird’ but is the word ‘strange’ also acceptable?


The main difference is register, I think. Strange is neutral whereas weird is informal.


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