My first log in italki

My friend from weixin reccomended this site to me, actually,we just talked on weixin last night. He is nice. When he knew I wanted to improve my spoken English, he told me about this site. I am an English major student, but I am not good at it. I chose English as my major just because I like it. I really want to speak English well, and talk to many people, and make friends around the world!

Hi Cassie,

Welcome to italki. I'm new too. I'm glad you like learning English. I'm an English teacher so that makes me happy. Please be careful to put a space after a punctuation mark. It is important to and makes your writing much easier to read. I can help you study if you like. Send me a message.

Best wishes,

Katherine

Seeking for friends!!! (Three exclamation marks are ok in an informal online context, but don't do it in the IELTS or in academic writing.)

I have about four (This is better that "4" for IELTS and academic writing.) months left to take the IELTS test for studying aboard, which is a short period for me to improve my English, in particular my oral English. Therefore, I'm very eager to find friends who can help improve my oral English in these four months. Of course, we can keep in touching after that.
I hope anyone who wants to be friends or learn Mandarin or Cantonese contacts me immediately. Skype, Line, Whatsapp or other social apps are more suitable for having a chat! I'll be grateful!! (Again, only one exclamation mark for the IELTS or academic writing.)

Hi Alan,

I've corrected this with the IELTS and formal/academic English in mind because you've said that was your goal. There are some things that are acceptable online or in text messages that are not acceptable in other contexts.  Be careful with these though because many native speakers find them irritating. Please be careful to put one space after a punctuation mark and no spaces before. I think this sometimes seems like a very small thing to people who are used to a different script but it is very obvious to a native speaker and looks particularly bad in academic writing and formal writing. I can help you prepare if you like. Send me a message.

Best wishes,

Katherine

Reading

I am reading "King Solomon's Mines" to improve my English.

My Story

Hello,

My name is Rustam. I'm from Russia. I want tell you a little story from my childhood. It's based on a true story. One day, I  came home and I watched a horror movie. When I finished watching the movie, I was scared, because I don't love horrors, stories. Besides, I was alone at home. Evening came, I decided to invite friends. That was not scary, but suddenly the light went out. I went to the balcony and saw that no one had light. (This should be in past tense. More importantly, "no one doesn't" is called a double negative in English. When no and not are used together, they become positive. So "no one doesn't have" means" everyone has.)  I was very scared, and then it began to play on my imagination. I could hear that someone was walking around the room. I could hear water dripping in the tub. I put on a sports jacket, jeans and shoes. I found 100 roubles in my jeans. I bought a Big Snickers and a ticket to/went to a disco. Now, I remember this story with a smile.

Hi Rustam,

* Only the last sentence should be in present tense. Everything else should be in past tense.

* Please, remember to put spaces after punctuation marks. It makes your writing much, much easier to read.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a classic. It's surprisingly easy to read.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - make sure you get a copy with the original illustrations.

Anything by Roald Dahl, but especially Boy - He wrote for kids and adults but people of all ages can enjoy his kids books.

Have you considered short stories? Any of the ones by Oscar Wilde are great and very beautiful.

What do we know about Peru in South America? (You can use the accent if you really want to, but it's not standard English.)

Some people immediately related Peru to Macchu Picchu or the Inca's Empire. But Peru is more than those names and places.

Peru has some of the best prospects in Latin America for economic growth, (or "Peru has some of Latin America's best economic prospects") and is the favourite destination of many travelers wishing to try our cuisine and see the countryside feasts during Holy Week. (This sentence is ok, but not great. I think it would be better as two sentences since ecconomic prospects and tourists' favourite spots are too different to fit together naturally. Perhaps try: "Peru has some of the best prospects in Latin America for economic growth. It is also the favourite destination of many travelers wishing to try our cuisine and see the countryside feasts during Holy Week.")

I think this is a very good video that summarizes what is Peru is about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNIFo4uZ754

Bye,

Pablo

Things I have done in recent days (A native English speaker would not say "these days" to refer to the past, even the very recent past.)

It has been many days since my last notebook entry. (If you were writing about a real book, "notebook" would refer to the whole book. A notebook entry would refer to one section.) In recent days, (You should use a comma when you put the time phrase at the start of the sentence.) I have been with my family, my friends and other relatives from Argentina. They were in Santiago and Valparaiso. there They spent the New Year there with fireworks by/over the sea. 4 days later, they traveled to my city and we had a family dinner. We were (unless you were eating for 2 days! :)   ) with them for 2 days then they returned to Santiago to go their home in Buenos Aires.

(You don't want an article here) Last week I was at Santiago visiting the doctor. I went with my mother and my 2 sisters in my aunt's car. After visiting the doctor, we went to eat in the to Costanera Center. After that, we saw a lot of smoke because we have many forest fires in the country. The air was heavy. I resented (I'm not sure what you mean here; perhaps, I "rested" my eyes.) my eyes, but we went to take a bus to return. Finally, I had good results in my medical exams.

Gracias por su ayudar con mi escrito. Felicidades en su buena noticia.

My Second Post or All the thoughts that bursts my mind.

Hi you All! Did you miss me?

My mother founds an academy for my sister and I to improve our English. The classes will be in July, but first we need to pass a level test. I'm so nervous! It will be a writing test and a speaking test, so I really need to practice.
I'm scared because I think about (or "I imagine" is a good phrase for this) myself trembling beforehead (or "in front of") the English teacher - or puking on him, or peeing on myself or whatever I could do when I'm nervous-.

On the other side of the equation ("on the other hand" is a nice phrase for this) , I'm excited because I wanna know English better than I do now. Will my teachers be nice to me? Will these lessons help me with my shyness? Will my classmates be a bit idiotic (Idiot is a noun. You want an adjective here.) or will they be nice?


Besides, I'm so worried about the end of my couse at college. I have to compose an speech - or something like that - about something. I picked "Transhumanism", that is about humans enhanced by biotechnological engineering. (Sounds interesting!)
I'm studing Philosophy and my topic, transhumanism, is part of ethical thinking.
That work takes me too much time.

I want time to spend on my reading books or maybe my own book -I'm writting a fantasy novel- but I can't for now.

Well, I don't know what more to say... then, that's all for now, folks!

Good luck with your tests and assignments!