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I enjoy learning languages and am currently focusing on French. If you speak this language, please don't hesitate to get in contact with me. I'll be happy to help you with English. Only interested in 50/50 exchanges. I'm interested in hiking, travelling, music and reading. As a teacher, I also have a special interest in educational issues, especially dyslexia and special educational needs.
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Completed lessons00231
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Teacher reviews
Julian
French
Sep 17, 2024
Un écrit vraiment réussi, et une argumentation d'excellent niveau avec un vocabulaire approprié. Nous allons attaquer la production orale au prochain cours.
Julian
French
Sep 10, 2024
Excellent travail après toutes ces années :) Je pense que le vocabulaire est toujours là, il faut juste pratiquer afin de retrouver ton rythme d'antan.
Julian
French
Oct 6, 2022
Nous avons parlé de la littérature, un sujet différent et complexe, particulièrement lorsqu'il s'agit de décrire le contenu d'un livre. Excellent travail Leigh!
Julian
French
Jun 1, 2022
Notre dernier cours avant le C1, épreuve pour laquelle Leigh s'est préparé intensément! La qualité de son discours et de son argumentation sont réellement au top! Je ne doute pas de son succès :)
Activities
  • Corrected
    Badminton

    In this notebook, I would like to talk about badminton and exchange opinions with other English speaking players and coaches. I've been playing badminton since I was 12 years old (now, I´m 32) and I've been working as a badminton coach in Spain for 10 years.


    -Good job, Pablo.
    In English, to talk about something that we've been doing for a certain period of time, you must use the present perfect tense with gerund.
    -I've been playing badminton since I was 12.
    This gives the sense that you have been playing and are STILL PLAYING now.
    0 voted
    June 25, 2020
    0
  • Corrected

    Random portrait

    In the woods was dwelling there dwelt/lived an odd man.

    Past simple (there dwelt / lived) sounds better here.  'Lived' is the more common word, 'dwelt' sounds more like this genre of writing.


    He was alone because most of all, he loathed to talking. Moreover, he took part in a weird worship based on the famous Necrominicon described by Lovecraft.



    Sometimes, when people got close(d) to his home, they could hear some vague words pronounced in an uncanny language. By all accounts, this man was well-nigh eighty and was still as stiff as an old branch. His face was terribly scared by time, like James Cook certainly was after his long journey near the "Terra Australis", the his skin more and more wrinkled/furrowed steadily by the sun.


    By paying attention, we could notice that his treads were mildly irregular.

    I'm not sure what you mean by this sentence - 'treads'? - Do you mean the way that he walked?  Tread for 'pas' sounds a bit unusual in this sense in English.  It might be:  By paying close attention, we could see that his strides were slightly irregular, but I'm not sure if that's what you mean.


    A great character description, using great language.  I enjoyed reading it.  If you need any more explanations, please don't hesitate to ask me!

    Leigh

    0 voted
    June 1, 2019
    2
  • Posted
    Mais tu pars en vacances, non? La semaine prochaine, je vais partir en vacances. Alors, je dis ça parce que c'est l'impression de tous mes amis quand je parle du sujet avec eux. Et c'est vrai que le samedi prochain je vais aller en bus de Vigo à Saint Jacques de Compostelle. Là-bas, je vais prendre l'avion pour aller en Irlande et je vais passer une semaine entière tout près de Dublin. Mais il y a un petit détail qui tout change. Parce que je n'y vais pas tout seul. Si j'irai tout seul, il serait plus facile. Mais non. J'y vais avec 29 enfants qui ont 10 et 11 ans. Donc, ça veut dire que je ne vais pas être dans les cafés ni les bars. L'idée de faire une petite promenade tranquillemente dans le centre-ville est impossible. Et qu'est-ce que je vais faire? Je vais passer le temps en compter de 1 à 29, pour savoir si quelqu'un s'est perdu. Et on ne perd jamais l'enfant qu'on a hâte de perder (exonération de responsabilité - c'est une blague...ou au moins je crois que c'est une blague).
    June 1, 2019
    2
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  • Corrected

    The coffee praiser

    The three of us were having a quick coffee in the rest room (a restroom is a toilet in US English.  I think you mean 'staff room').

    As always, we were chatting about / discussing about our every day work and current affairs around the world. Nothing strange.
    There were a couple of co-workers there too who we usually came across with at this time everyday. Two women: a younger girl and a middle-aged woman. We just tossed them a cold hello everyday. We didn’t even know their names.
    But this day, everything went differently.

    When Ton was approaching to the coffee machine, one of them, the oldest one, loomed over him and said:

    “Are you the one who was speaking?”

    “Well, yes. It was me” Ton answered a little bit intrigued.


    “You have a beautiful voice, son. You could work in the radio (or 'on the radio')”. She went like this (I'm not sure what this means), but pulling a stern face. Very serious.

    After this thrilling statement, Ton's face was pure poetry. He could just launch ("return / muster / manage" would sound better here) a timid “thanks”. Unfortunately it wasn’t heard by the woman. She had already turned the other way and was walking back to the corner where the other girl was waiting.


    We didn’t exchange any further words with them that morning.

    Time has gone by, and still we still don't ever know either if she was either trying to flirting with Ton or if she just wanted to be keen. In any case, it s a very creepy way of starting a conversation with a semi-unknown (I would say that a person is either 'unknown' or 'known'.  You can't be semi-unknown.  Perhaps you could say 'a practical stranger / a mere acquaintance) person in an office. Please, first, speak of about the weather to open conversations.

    0 voted
    August 3, 2018
    2
  • Corrected

    Changes in my life

    There are moments in life when you feel that many things are going to change. This is one of them for me.

    For nearly three years, I’ve been working as a guide in a Science museum. It was a very entertaining job, I could never get bored! Every day, I had to show and explain some parts of the museum to the children or teenagers who visited us. I also was also in charge of performing some participative workshops related to sciences: chemical reactions, physics of pressure and light, technology... I even had the opportunity of to practise my English, as I sometimes had to guide international groups. These days I got very nervous. I was always thinking: “What would will happen if they ask me something and I don’t know how to explain it in English?” Nevertheless, in general I enjoyed my job.


    (OR - I was always wondering what would happen if they asked me something and I didn't know how to explain it in English)


    Now things have changed a little bit. During the last year I’ve been specializing at in Science communication. The main aim is, as it was at the museum, sharing scientific knowledge with everybody. Science isn’t just for scientists, it’s necessary for everyone, and we all should be aware of that. But, unfortunately, my job at the museum didn’t give me enough money to live all my life. I’ve been forced to change. But that’s not a bad thing at all. I feel it like it's an opportunity to progress.

    I’ve found a new job in a communication department in a Biology organization. From September, I’m going to help with the preparation of events related to the biology, health and biotechnology areas, including hospitals, research centres and industry. It is a completely different task to do, but I won’t miss (miss out on is better) my two interests: science and communication. And I’m sure there’ll be some things in English too... so I need to practise during the summer!

    I have to be honest: I’m frightened. But I’m also excited and willing to begin this new adventure. Many things are going to change, but I’m just hoping that in a year I’m as happy and motivated as I am right now.



    Well done, Beatriz!  An excellent piece of writing.  I'm sure that you have no problem whatsoever to explain things in English, especially now that I've read this!


    Good luck with the new job and the new challenges and experiences that it'll bring!


    Leigh

    0 voted
    July 31, 2018
    2
  • Posted
    This content violates our Community Guidelines.
    July 31, 2018
    9
    0
  • Corrected

    My first day on Italki

    Today has been my first time on Italki. I'm here because I'm looking to improve my English skills.
    I've studied this language when I was at high school but, from this moment, I've forgotten how to express myself properly, and I've lost fluency.
    Now I am preparing an exam and I need to update* my English. I wish to learn quickly and recover all these things that I've lost.


    Well done, Carlos!

    A good first piece of writing for your first day on italki!

    *instead of saying to update my English, I would suggest 'to refresh' my English or 'to improve my English'.  'To refresh' has the idea of 'reciclarse'.

    Leigh  

    0 voted
    July 31, 2018
    1
  • Posted
    Breve ensayo sobre el poema 'Caminante' (de Proverbios y cantares (XXIX) de Antonio Machado) El poeta comienza por dirigirse directamente al protagonista, llamándole 'Caminante'. Esa referencia, sin articulo y entonces sin género, attribuye una sensación de abstracción a este personaje y sugiere que el poeta se refiere a más que una persona. Cada caminante necesita un camino, pero en la primera estrofa vemos que es simplemente un camino de 'huellas...y nada más'. Este uso de antítesis es interesante, porque entendemos que para este caminante 'no hay camino', sino, las huellas que deja. No es un camino físico, el camino no existe, él construye su camino mientras anda. Esto quiere decir que el caminate y el camino son representativos. El camino se refiere a la vida de una persona, el caminante es la persona que vive dicha vida. La segunda estrofa confirma esta idea, diciéndonos que 'Al andar se hace el camino'. El camino de cada uno es un camino nuevo, y entonces cada ser humano tiene que forjar su propio camino. Si no existe el camino por delante, es verdad que existe el camino por detrás de cada uno. El poeta aquí está empleando otra metáfora. La senda que existe si volvemos la vista atrás tampoco es una senda física. Él confirma que 'nunca / se ha de volver a pisar' sobre ella. Es una senda de memorias, de experiencias y fundamentalmente del pasado, algo que nunca podemos vivir de nuevo, y entonces no podemos volver a pisar estas sendas. Sí que se puede volver la vista atrás y pensar en ellas, pero se quedan en el pasado. El efecto es de introducir algo de nostalgia en la obra. Cada 'caminante' está formado por sus experiencias y recuerdos, pero no podemos volver a esos momentos. Además de esto, nos transmite la sensación de que la vida pasa rápido y que cada uno sigue caminando hacia su propio destino. La repetición de la frase 'Caminante, no hay camino' en la última estrofa nos llama la atención de nuevo de que no estamos hablando ni de un caminante ni de un camino literal. Son representaciones de la vida de cada uno. La última metáfora también sirve para destacar la brevedad de la vida humana. En vez de dejar un camino, dejamos 'estelas en la mar'. Machado quiere acordarnos que la vida es efímera. Cada uno deja sus 'huellas', pero estas huellas son pasajeras. Como estelas en la mar, el barco desaparece por el horizonte y en un instante las estelas también desaparecen. La vida es rápida y breve. Pronto, no quedará ninguna huella y se olvidará del caminante y del camino.
    July 30, 2018
    4
    0
  • Corrected

    Marianela Nuñez, the Argentine ballet dancer who shines in London.

    Marianela was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1982. She began to dance at 3 years old, and when she was 8 she entered the prestigious ballet school of Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. At 14 she joined the corps de ballet of the company.
    After a hard audition, she got to enter* the Royal Ballet School in London in 1997. She joined the company in 1998, was promoted to First Soloist in 2001 and to Principal Dancer in 2002. She played all the main roles of the classical ballet repertoire.
    She danced too in the principal theaters** of the world, like La Scala, Milan, the Bolshoi of Russia and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. In 2018, she has been was awarded the title of best dancer by/in Great Britain.
    But she isn´t only a great ballerina. She is also a modest person. She never forgets her origins and every year she comes back to Buenos Aires to offer a charity gala***. And of course,​ she will dances in Theater Colon too. She is going to play this year the Merry Widow on August 5 and 8.****


    * it sounds better if you say gained a place at or was accepted to study at

    **  this is correct, but since you are learning British English, it is theatres

    *** it is more natural to say 'to host a charity gala ________' - you need to say what type of gala it is - a charity gala ball/dance/dinner

    **** a more natural word order would be:  This year on the 5th and 8th of August, she is going to perform (in) The Merry Widow.



    Well done, Azucena, a very interesting and informative piece of writing!

    Great job, keep up the good work!

    Leigh

    0 voted
    July 30, 2018
    3
  • Posted
    La chica del tren: un resumen sin destripar la historia. Cargada de una tensión palpable desde su comienzo, La chica del tren, primera novela de Paula Hawkins, cuenta las peripecias de las vidas de tres mujeres inglesas, cada una vinculada por una red de intriga que se desvela paulatinamente en el transcurso del libro. Escrita en líneas generales en forma de tres agendas, las tres mujeres, Rachel, Anna y Megan cuentan sus historias de sus vidas, por un lado distintas y separadas, por otro inextricablemente unidas. Clasificada como thriller psicológica, la novela trata de temas tan dispersas como la familia, el amor, las drogas, el alcoholismo, el rechazo, el abuso y la paranoia. Da tantos giros que realmente no se puede predecir en ningún momento el último desenlace. En varios puntos claves, varios acontecimientos nos sugieron hasta que puerto la historia va a llegar, pero después algo tan inesperado nos deja boquiabiertos, sin saber que va a occurir en el próximo capítulo. Si bien es verdad que al principio los cambios de perspectivas (cada capítulo cuenta con una nueva perspectiva de Anna, Rachel o Megan) y de fechas puede dar la sensación de saltar de una cosa a otra, al fin y al cabo, ese aspecto llega a ser una de las cualidades que más engancha al lector. Es un libro de 5 estrellas, lo cual recomiendo encarecidamente a todos los públicos adultos.
    July 29, 2018
    6
    1