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It's really incredible just how far studying a language can take you. Learning Spanish in high school led to me doing a Bachelor's in Linguistics at Harvard, where I also studied Arabic and which allowed me to spend two summers studying and working in Amman, Jordan. Since graduating, I've also spent some time in France, and have been studying Latin in my spare time. I absolutely love languages, and am always excited to learn more! Right now, I'm largely focused on developing my speaking abilities in Levantine Arabic. I've also taught English while I was in Jordan.
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  • Answered
    If you don't mind, here's a more polished version of your question. "I can understand speech fairly well, but writing is difficult for me. What can I do?" I don't see "speaking" as a noun very often; I'd prefer "speech". Phrases like "for me" should be at the beginning or end of a clause, but not the middle. So, "For me, writing is difficult" and "Writing is difficult for me" are fine, but "Writing for me is difficult" is wrong.
    0 voted
    February 4, 2014
    0
  • Answered
    The third sentence sounds a bit awkward to me. Because it's so obviously referring to a completed action in the past, I'd use the past perfect, like so: "If you had been more vigilant while carrying that precious wallet, you wouldn't have lost it."
    0 voted
    February 4, 2014
    0
  • Answered
    I think it's also important to look at the practicalities of this as well. Dialects naturally emerge even within the same country. Language is always changing. In order to keep it static, you'd need someway of ensuring that everyone is communicating with lots of different people. Increasing globalization may make this more possible in the future, but there's no chance in the present.
    0 voted
    February 4, 2014
    0
  • Answered
    I have no problem with "approximate" as a verb. It's not exactly an everyday usage; most people would just use "guess", but it's perfectly valid. I've never known of any distinction between "approximate" and "estimate".
    0 voted
    February 4, 2014
    0
  • Answered
    On a more grammatical level, "tell" always requires an indirect object. "Say" doesn't. For example, "I told that I'm going to the store" is wrong. "I said that I'm going to the store" is fine. "I told him that I'm going to the store" is fine.
    0 voted
    February 4, 2014
    0
  • Answered
    "Their engagement in the conversation increases when they discuss interesting topics. " Fortifies means to increase in strength or durability. The past tense "fortified" doesn't match with the (incorrect) present progressive "they (are) discussing", so I made them both present. You could also keep the past tense and say "engagement in the conversation increased when they were discussing". "Over" isn't used with "discuss" like that. It generally doesn't need a preposition. "If he doesn't comply with my request, I'll complain about him." I've never heard "complain against". "Had he phrased his views on sex crimes properly and appropriately, he wouldn't have to resign." In order to use "then" like that, you need an "if" to go along with it. You could do "If he had phrased... then he wouldn't...". "The presence of awkward phrasing can inhibit effective communication." Saying "a communication" sounds like you're referring to one letter or message. Using the more general "communication" works better here.
    0 voted
    January 4, 2014
    0
  • Answered
    Basically, we don't. I've never heard "bespeak" before. It may be a more archaic or antiquated word, but, as a native speaker, I have no idea what it means.
    0 voted
    December 29, 2013
    0
  • Answered
    In this case, it means "officially became law". The books, in this case, refer to law books.
    0 voted
    December 29, 2013
    0
  • Answered
    "Most of" is used to refer to a subset of a specifically stated group. In "Most of my students", this refers to a subset of students in the group "my students". Compare these phrases: "Most painters" - refers the majority of all painters "Most of the painters in this room" - refers to the majority of the painters in the group of painters in this room. Generally, "most of" is more specific. It specifically states the group you're talking about. Most people love this movie. Most of the people love this movie. You need an article. Most of them are right The fourth sentence in ungrammatical.
    0 voted
    December 13, 2013
    1
  • Answered
    In brief, chances "for" or "of" something happening is how likely that thing is to happen. Chances "against" something is how likely that thing is to not happen. So, "the chances would have been a hundred to one against their ever finding it again," means that the chance of them not finding it again is very high (a hundred to one).
    0 voted
    December 13, 2013
    2