About my previous internships in Chemistry

Today, I would like to tell you about my previous internships. I want to do this because it will help me to talk about my training periods for my future job interview in English.

I carried out four internships in the field of Analytical Chemistry. Analytical Chemistry allows us (or "is the sub-discipline of chemistry that allows us) to determine if a compound is present in a sample or not, and, if yes, in what amount.

My first internship was during my 2-year undergraduate studies in Chemistry. I worked with lab technicians in the Organic Micropollutants department. This training period lasted for 2 months. I ran liquid/liquid extractions of water samples with an organic phase in order to extract some [any?] organic compounds that were present in the sample. The extract was then analyzed by another lab technician's team.

For my second internship, I worked on metal analyses in liquid, solid and gaseous samples using Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) [in American graduate academic writing, you first give the full phrase, then the acronym, so that the reader can understand]. I prepared samples before analysis [did you do the analysis, or someone else?]. This internship lasted for 10 weeks [above you wrote "2 months" - choose a consistent style, either writing "two months...ten weeks..." or "2 months... 10 weeks" for clarity].

During my third internship, I carried out diverse analyses on acrylic emulsions in a quality-control lab of a well-known chemical company. The acrylic emulsions had been manufactured on site, and I performed experiments at the middle- and end-stages of production. These experiments included, for example, measuring the pH of the product, determining its viscosity, quantifying the amount of residual monomers, and determining its solid content.

In my fourth internship, I was in charge of the re-validation of 2 analytical methods on a Fast Liquid Chromatography [FCL?] device. These methods determined the amount of acrylamide and certain biocides ["some" sounds vague] in acrylic emulsions. Furthermore, I wrote reports about the results I got during my experiments.

All of these internships have been interesting. They allowed me to my knowledge of Chemistry into practice, as well as my laboratory handling skills. Furthermore, I improved new skills, namely team spirit and self-sufficiency.

Thank you in advance for your comments.

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Very impressed - I really hope someday my French is as good as your English!  The corrections I've made are really polishing up an essay that's quite good to begin with, edits more for style and consistency than for grammar.  I left in place the capitalization of Chemistry and "learnt," neither of which are used in American English, in case you're applying to UK schools.  I wish you lots of luck in your graduate applications!

Route 66

Route 66

I started my journey in Illinois. I was visiting Michigan Avenue, in Chicago, with all the skyscrapers, when I suddenly saw on the square a big statue of Marylin Monroe.  Then I went to the Millenium Park, where I saw the Harris Theater [?] and the famous Cloud Gate sculpture.

Afterwards I went to the John Hancock Center, one of highest buildings in Chicago. At the top of the building we had an incredible view of Michigan Lake and the whole city. At night I decided to visit the Skydeck, where you are suspended 400 meters up, above all the lights of the city.  It was amazingly beautiful. 

Next I went to Saint Louis. I saw the Gateway Arch, which marks the border between Illinois and Missouri. I went to a bar named Bikers, where the ceiling was full of women’s underwear. It was funny! Later on, I went to a drive-in to see a movie, but the movie was boring and old.

I continued my journey on the Mother Road to Kansas. There I went to [ate at?] the diner 4 Women On The Road. Outside the diner, I saw the tow truck which inspired Martin in the movie Cars.

When I got to Oklahoma, I stayed all day in The Blue Whale, a small amusement park. At night I went to a restaurant called Pops, where you can taste over 600 kinds of soda. In front of the restaurant there was a sculpture of a soda bottle covered with dazzling multi-colored LED lights. It was beautiful to watch while drinking.

When I arrived in Texas, I immediately went to Big Texas Ranch because there was a challenge I wanted to do: to eat a four pound steak within one hour. I did it, and they offered me my lunch. Then I went to Cadillac Ranch.

Next I went to New Mexico, the land of Natives Americans. Santa Fe had a particular architecture which we found nowhere else. Later on, I got some rest at the motel El Rancho which welcomed many stars of Hollywood at the time Hollywood was shooting westerns.

Then in Arizona I went in the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest where there are fossilized tree trunks which date back more than 225 million years. Afterwards I went to the Grand Canyon, where I saw a lot of squirrels. Then I did a helicopter ride. I saw the Colorado River: it was impressive.

Finally, I arrived in California. I had to visit the boulevard Walk of Fame, to see these famous stars on the ground. After the countryside of Illinois, the red rocks of Arizona, [I was glad to see the?]  sea and palm trees of Santa Monica.

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Nice essay!  You have some very descriptive adjectives.  Using paragraphs and sentence breaks, as well as varying your punctuation, will help the story flow more easily.  

Why not add some more details about your trip?  See below: in the places I've put three stars (like this: ***), the sentence ends abruptly, as though you haven't finished your thought.  (I'm learning French, and so I understand if this was the most you could write - it's a lot already!)

I started my journey in Illinois. I was visiting Michigan Avenue, in Chicago, with all the skyscrapers, when I suddenly saw on the square a big statue of Marylin Monroe.*** [What was so sudden about it?  What heppened then?] Then I went to the Millenium Park, where I saw the Harris Teather [?] and the famous Cloud Gate sculpture.

Afterwards I went to the John Hancock Center, one of highest buildings in Chicago. At the top of the building we had an incredible view of Michigan Lake and the whole city. At night I decided to visit the Skydeck, where you are suspended 400 meters up, above all the lights of the city. It was amazingly beautiful.

Next I went to Saint Louis. I saw the Gateway Arch, which marks the border between Illinois and Missouri. I went to a bar named Bikers, where the ceiling was full of women’s underwear. It was funny! Later on, I went to a drive-in to see a movie, but the movie was boring and old.*** [What movie?  What was boring about it?]

I continued my journey on the Mother Road to Kansas. There I went to [ate at?] the diner 4 Women On The Road. Outside the diner, I saw the tow truck which inspired Martin in the movie Cars.

When I got to Oklahoma, I stayed all day in The Blue Whale, a small amusement park.*** [What did you do there?] At night I went to a restaurant called Pops, where you can taste over 600 kinds of soda. In front of the restaurant there was a sculpture of a soda bottle covered with dazzling multi-colored LED lights. It was beautiful to watch while drinking.

When I arrived in Texas, I immediately went to Big Texas Ranch because there was a challenge I wanted to do: to eat a four pound steak within one hour. I did it, and they offered me my lunch.*** [How did you feel after eating four pounds of steak?  Way to go!] Then I went to Cadillac Ranch.*** [Why did you want to go to Cadillac Ranch?]

Next I went to New Mexico, the land of Natives Americans. Santa Fe had a particular architecture which we found nowhere else.*** [What was that architecture like? Did you like it or not?] Later on, I got some rest at the motel El Rancho which welcomed many stars of Hollywood at the time Hollywood was shooting westerns.

Then in Arizona I went in the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest where there are fossilized tree trunks which date back more than 225 million years. Afterwards I went to the Grand Canyon, where I saw a lot of squirrels. Then I did a helicopter ride. I saw the Colorado River: it was impressive.

Finally, I arrived in California. I had to visit the boulevard Walk of Fame, to see these famous stars on the ground.***[How was it to visit the Walk of Fame? Did you enjoy it?] After the countryside of Illinois, the red rocks of Arizona, [what about the sea and palm trees do you want to contrast?] *** sea and palm trees of Santa Monica.

I like coding

Today, I would like to discuss one of my passions. This passion is not at all bound to my current job, which is teaching CPR. This one is coding. Around 2 or 3 years ago, I was looking for someone who was able to make websites. During my research, I came across a web site called openclassrooms.com. It was a web site for beginners who are interested to learn about the basics of coding. So, at that time, I found out what coding was. So, I have learned a lot about coding websites. I think the reason why I am so interested in coding is because, when you know how to code, you can build companies faster, and increase your list of clients really fast.  It is interesting if you are an entrepreneur or someone who wants to create things with new technologies. I also like it because there is always something to learn. It is like an endless way to learn.

Thanks for the correction.

Live fast.

I read a French book called "Vivre vite" (Live fast), written by Philippe Besson. It's a novel about James Dean, an American actor. The book relates the story of his short life. What is interesting is that the story is told from the point of view of his relatives (mother, father, aunt...) and the people who met him (producer, actress, director, teachers..), as well as by James Dean himself for a few chapters. The plot is linear. It begins with his birth, told by his mother, and ends with his tragic death. This book is easy to read and I think that an intermediate French learner could understand most of it. I really appreciate reading this book, but something disturbed me when I was through with it. The plot is based on the real facts of James Dean's life, but as a novel, it is mixed with situations or ideas from the imagination of the author. In the end, you don't know what is true and what is imagined, and this made me feel quite uncomfortable. So, I suppose that now I have to read a serious biography about James Dean.

Flashcards

I would like to write flashcards for English speakers who want to learn French. I would be glad if a native English speaker could correct my English. :) (Even if you don't know anything about French, I just want my English to be correct.) Thanks in advance! 

I have noticed through my lessons that the way to use the word "plus" in French is pretty tricky for people who are learning French. I would like to try to explain briefly how to solve this issue.

First of all, you have to know that there are two different forms of "plus."

#1 "Plus" = meaning "more" or "plus" (as in English).  For this form of "plus" in French, the final letter "s" is pronounced. Some examples:
"J'en veux plus" = I want more" , "deux plus deux égal quatre" = "two plus two are four."

#2 "plus" = meaning "any more", or "no longer."  In this form of "plus," the final letter "s" is NOT pronounced. 
"Je n'en veux plus" = "I don't want any more", "Il ne m'apartient plus" = "it no longer belongs to me."

The tricky point with form #2 is that we frequently say in coloquial language:" j'en veux plus" (without pronoucing the final s). When we say this, it actually means, "I don't want any more." Using correct grammar, we should say in this case, "je N'EN veux plus".

I hope this will be helpful! :)

The weather in France

Today the weather is peculiar (particular means something specific; peculiar means something unusual or different!) in France, because we have a lot of snow! It's hard to drive your car right now. But it's definitely wonderful to see France under the snow! If you like skiing, come here. :-)

Normally, the weather is good, we have a lot of sun, and it's not very windy.

But, as in all countries, the weather depends on your location. For example, if you're living in the south, the temperature is hot. In the north, it's cold, and many days it rains. :-(

My favourite place in France is the south, because we can go swimming in the summer in the sea. It's very hot, and you'll never see the rain.
What do you prefer? Snow or sun? :D