First notebook entry: Introducing myself

Hello everyone, I'm a college student in Beijing now. [Excellent!]

[I] hope we can be good friends... [Two points: (1) Here you should use the word "hope" instead of "wish". in English there is a subtle difference between the two words. To say "wish" in this case means that you're not sure there is a chance that "we could be good friends". It could also mean that you have tried to be good friends, but it is not happening. To say "hope" means you are hopeful, and you believe there is a chance. (2) Using "hope", you need to also use "can" instead of "could" because you are hopeful, and not doubtful!]

and I want to find a native English speaker who also wants to improve his/her oral Mandarin... [One little point: The noun phrase "a native English speaker" is singular, so you have to add "s" to the verb "want".]

then we can help each other and talk face to face or by phone or something if possible. [Excellent!]

Also, I'm learning Japanese now, so if you are also working on your Japanese, we can study together~ [Excellent -- just be careful of the spelling of "Japanese"]

[I] hope we can enjoy a great time here! [Again, be careful of the word "wish". It is tricky. You need to say "hope" and "can" as I already explained. I should note that you can use "wishing" in this case, like this: "I'm wishing us a great time here" -- that sounds a little weird. It's best to learn the usage of "hope" vs. "wish".]

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Hello Dear Esther!

As I said on nciku, we can help each other!

By the way, if you correct my Chinese, don't worry about trying to explain the grammar. I have been an English teacher for 20 years, so I think about these things all the time. It's okay just to write it the correct way without any explanation. ^_^

~Ned