Shirley's notebook entry: Sep 07, 2010

Today is the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Sheazhen economic zone. The government has organized a fireworks display tonight and many people have gone to the location of the display, so there are traffic jams on every road/street in Shenzen.

It is better to get some work experience first, then think about post-graduate study. There are several reasons for this. 1. employers will always hire someone on the basis of experience first, qualifications second. 2. most people are still not sure which career path they want to follow, even when they qualify with a particular major; work experience can help you decide. 3. if you want to go to a really good graduate school, you will have a better chance of getting into the school if you have experience (this is the case in the west).

Personally, I don't like my major. It was OK while I was studying, but now I am working it has no relevance to my job. I am an English teacher now, and my major was Computer Science.

There is no such thing as 'real English'; there is no standard English. Speaking with a Sudanese accent is not a problem - everybody speaks with some kind of accent. It is only important that you try to pronounce the sounds clearly, and with a smooth rhythm. I'm not familiar with Sudanese speakers, so I don't know which sounds in English will give you the most difficulty.

As Reiman has pointed out, (b) is incorrect due to the tautology (i.e. using a word or phrase when a similar word or phrase has already been used). In fact, the use of however is also a tautology in (a). Also, the use of 'has' in this sentence does not make sense. It probably should be - 'Although she tried her best, she failed', because it is pretty clear that it is an event that has already been completed. If for any reason you wanted to use the present perfect tense (i.e. 'has') it should be in both clauses: 'She has failed, although she’s tried her best'; or, 'Although she’s tried her best, she's failed.' You might use this tense if the action has very recently been completed. The word 'however' could only be used implace of 'although' in sentence (a). I hope this isn't confusing!

I think you have answered your own question very well. I would agree with most things you said, and also you should always tell your friend the truth, even if it is something they might not want to hear, or agree with.

How to improve your English? That depends on how good it is now? Can you give me more information on your ability?