Eu aprendo português Meu nome é Jennifer. Eu sou duma ilha do Caribe. Eu falo francês e inglês e agora eu aprendo português. Eu penso que músicas brasileiras são interessantes e legais. Eu moro na Irlanda e quero ficar aqui. Aqui, eu aprendi a cozinhar e a gostar de batatas.

As chaves - Pedro, cadê as minhas chaves? - Eu não sei onde estão as tuas chaves Laura. - Eu tenho um teste de francês e eu estou atrasada! - Calma, calma. Aqui estam. - Desculpe Pedro, eu estou cansada.

Network problems in Ireland When I arrived in Ireland, I did some research to decide which network among Vodafone, Eir and Three I would join. Vodafone seemed to be the most expensive one. I had then to choose between Eir and Three. People working at Eir looked more outgoing. That's how I made up my mind regarding the network. Besides, I knew that I would be able to unlock my phone and switch to another operator a few months later. So, I joined Eir. I was happy enough until I moved out. The reception was good. But the poor Wifi was insufficient and I had to connect my laptop on my cell phone network to feed my TV show addiction. As a direct consequence, my 15Gb were no longer enough. Three happened to have a deal at that time which offered me 60Gb for less than what I was paying to Eir. So, I happily started the process to switch networks. Unfortunately, since the process was completed, my phone reception is so poor that I'm constantly asked to turn on my data and my phone automatically switches to the poor Wifi of the house...

A writing task As far I'm concerned, not all of the statements in the second exercise are myths. I have firmly held beliefs that people use fewer gesture hands when telling a lie. Indeed, when doing so, we are so focused on the words coming out of our mouth and on avoiding actions which could betray our lie that we pay attention to keeping control of our body and, therefore, use fewer hand gestures. Concerning the other statements, I'm not sure about the one according to which avoiding eye contact would be a sure sign of deception. However, I can say that I make all the other signs of lies when thinking. For this reason, I would say that the related statements are widely held beliefs which are simply not true.

The day before I left (1) I have just been aware of the limited weight I am allowed to carry in my luggage : 15kg. The problem is that I am not known for my ability of travelling light. One might say “didn’t she check that kind of informations before booking ?”. Well, I usually do but this time, my mom booked the flight for me and she has completely forgot to tell me that limited-weight-thing. For now, I am a bit upset. How could she do that to me ? Last time we travelled together, we had one luggage for both of us and it appeared that we carried 12kg for three days.. Should I specify that she didn’t take a lot of things ? So, here I am, less than ten hours before leaving home and my luggage weighs more than 19kg. With that company, carrying excess baggage costs $10 per extra-kilo. - “It’s okay”, says my aunt. “You just need to take a handbag” I already have a luggage, my not-so-little purse and my laptop-bag. And I am not planning to take a cab but to take buses.. But do I have the choice ? Believe it or not but I have already put aside all the unnecessary things.

A picnic invitation Hi Paul, I am setting up a picnic at Finsbury Park next weekend. I would be glad to have you there. There will be a lot of people from our old neighbourhood so you will not feel alone. I am preparing some personalised dishes so tell me what kind of you like and let me know if there is any food you cannot eat. I am looking forward to seeing you there. Jen.

Chinese learning diary (1) The first thing I did after deciding to learn Chinese seriously is to look for a good teacher. Why did I not first try to learn it by myself ? I had already tried to learn it a few years ago at school and I knew that Chinese could be hard to learn, especially if we consider its tones. Besides, I had seen how hard it was (and it is still being) to overcome my English learning past years and I did not want to make the same mistakes. When I decided to pick up English studies again, I had a huge need of structure. I needed help to evaluate my weaknesses and someone to show me the way. I often felt discouraged at that time but I went through it. I still have a lot of things to learn and to improve but I feel more comfortable now. I know where I am going. Anyway, as I was saying, the very first thing that I did is to look for a good teacher who could help me to deal with the Chinese tones and who I could stick with, someone I feel comfortable with as both a person and a student. I think that I have found her :-).

A day with a friend I am going to move soon and today was the last time that I saw one of my friends. This morning I helped her cooking for her family. Then, we had planned to spend the rest of the day together. We went to eat to a so good Arabic restaurant where I had wanted to take her for long. It has been very hot in France recently so, according to that, I had intented to take only a salad. But the chef of the restaurant prepares a dish that I cannot resist. When I saw what I love, I could not help it. To make matters worse, my friend finally decided not to take a salad. I thought "you leave soon, just enjoy your time!" But after eating, I felt so heavy that I could barely walk....! Then, we went to the cinema. But we went there on foot under the sun and the warm... By the time we reached the cinema, I was so tired that I fall asleep and I missed half of the movie.

Would be that easy for Chinese people to correct texts written in pinyin ? I would like to write some essays in Chinese and get correction. But, I have a Chinese friend and I know that it is hard for her to read pinyin. So, I was wondering if I would get correction for my texts if I wrote them in pinyin.