| Last month | Last 3 months | All time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Completed lessons | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Attendance rate | 100% | 100% | 94% |
Pushing my English to a higher level
I guess if I could live even just a few months in an English speaking country ,my English would jump-start. Fact is, as long as I will be staying here in Italy, it's hard to compete with the Italian language. One should feel a language like his own, and use it for the majority of the day. I watch American movies on a daily basis, but it's never enough: some kind of accents are difficult for me. If I were to hear an anchorman or anchorwoman on CNN, that's a piece of cake for me: they speak a standard American accent that is very easy for me to understand. But let's say I wanna watch an action movie or a movie set in the southern states, then man, it's a helluva different thing for me. But I won't give up: I'm keen on accents and slang and I just need to "tune in" to a different way to speaking. I've had lots of chances to read in the past, now it's time to listen, listen everyday even if at first I won't be able to understand, but that's the only way. I might say that I should have done this before, since I started learning English many years ago, shouldn't I? And, furthermore, sometimes I've got some weak points too, like in the tenses and question tags, so I don't want to boast saying that I don't need any grammar, I still need it and I'd like to polish my writing and speaking skills still some more.0 votedMarch 1, 20161- Getting More Organized About My Learning
So it is February, usually that time when have to start assessing the plausibility of your New Year's Resolutions.
I am trying to think through how to make a language exchange more effective and I would greatly appreciate what has worked for you all.Time: Usually my biggest issue, just because I don't have a steady schedule for what I do. Some days I may be in the office for 12 hours, other days I may be running from meeting to meeting or conference call. So it is tough to consistently make available a part of my week to practice, let alone making sure I have the energy and don't just use that block for sleep or something less labor intensive.
Language Level: I would say there is a certain level of knowledge in your target language for which if you are under, compounds the amount of work the other person will do to understand what you are asking them. I would say I am at that level in Mandarin and am quickly trying to get out of that space, but it is a space that I will have to navigate until I truly feel comfortable that I am not wasting someone's time.
Content: Obviously when most people trying to start a language exchange, the conversations had remain low level, about things like daily life and the mundane. But for me, the knowledge I want to obtain is a bit more technical and I want to get that across. I want more assistance translating certain ideas than say learning small talk. I also want to create opportunities to practice my understanding with that new knowledge (role play for example) and that might not be something everyone feels comfortable with.
February 19, 201600 As an English speaker, there are things that I always have trouble getting my head around.
- Subjunctive: English speakers don't use this all that often so it takes work to use it correctly.
- Slang, Idiom and Casual Talk: While I would say I could read the average newspaper article without that much help, I still struggle with the day to day basic communication. My Spanish is very much school learned.
- Professional Vocabulary: I would say that the more formal vocabulary for talking about certain topics (politics, health, business, etc.) would be useful and I would assume it would be rather uniform from country to country.0 votedFebruary 18, 20160- Notebook Entry Editing: Best Practices
So I try to make it a habit, when I am editing someone's entry, to clear note where I am changing their language. This could be either by removing words, which I do using the strikethrough feature, and adding ones that I use a different colored font for. But the usefulness of all this depends on the level of the person writing the entry in the first place. For some, my comments are useful in getting a feel of how a native speaker would say or write something. For someone with less proficiency, they may know how to write it but are left to their own devices to figure out the grammatical nuances of why what they wrote originally was wrong.
So I ask you all, what is most helpful to you receiving useful feedback and how would you give it?February 18, 201610 When I am annoying my friends everyday...
This is about some phrases I learned recently. When I am annoying my friends every day, I study lots of authentic ways of saying words or phrases. So did they.:D
1.看走眼
I saw wrong.
2.黑 / 自黑
make fun of yourself.
3. 干爹干妈
Godmother/ Godfather
4.干爹
sugar daddy
5. 网红
Internet celebrity
6. 笑尿
laughing my ass off
7. 欣慰
satisfied/gratified
8.吃撑了（撑到走不动路)
I feel full now
I feel absolutely stuffed now, I can't even move.
9.菜市场
food market
10.心理阴影
someone left with "a bad impression" (But my friend said it's kind of hard to translate in English)
11.放鸽子
to stand someone up (For instance, he stood me up.)
12.唱歌嗓子破音
his voice cracked
13. 打电玩
go to the arcade and play video games
It helps a lot. Thanks all of you.*I tried translating this and your friend is right. Maybe a close translation would be to "give off bad vibes" or something to that effect.
0 votedFebruary 17, 20161A bad little moment
Yesterday at 7:30 pm, I received a call out of the blue. so It was a person that is was making a pass at me, but I don't like him. and When I was talking with to him, he realized that I was been being a bitch with towards him. Then I told him that I didn't want he him to call me anymore.0 votedFebruary 17, 20160What do I think about Russia
It seems Russian culture is so similar to Persian culture. I was reading about their culture and at that while I felt it that what was said about Russia Iran because all of them are said about Iran too. Actually, it’s interesting to see that because it would be easier for me if I travel there and I will have less problem while I’m there as I don’t need to figure out huge cultural differences. Being close to each other can be one reason and having the same religion also, as I’ve heard Islam is one of the popular religions there.
Saint Petersburg is a completely artistic city which makes me really happy. I like architecture, photography, painting, dancing and anything related to the art field. In that case, I think this city can be a good destination for me to travel to. They have many memories and customs related to the cold weather and anything caused by that which makes me think how different attitudes people can have based on where they born! I would have been completely a completely different girl with different experiences if had I had been born in Russia or South Africa :D0 votedFebruary 8, 20161Situation of Venezuela 2.0
Although recently the opposition won the elections of the National Assembly (something we all expected), the things have been becoming worse. Each day I see less food on markets. The economy there is a mess. I'm pretty sure that the new assembly members are doing the best that they can, but it is difficult because of the pitfalls of government. Everyday, I saw huge lines on at the markets but now they are worse than ever, with rows them occupying hundreds of meters up till to maybe one kilometer maybe. This worries me a lot. The situation of public health is *amazing horrible. We have already asked for humanitarian aid medicines because people die because of many different illnesses that could be treated. Violence has been very present common lately. I see a lot of resentment on both sides of the political spectrum of Venezuela. Please pray for us!*I highlighted this word because I don't think it clearly conveys the meaning you want it to. Let me know if you have any questions.
0 votedFebruary 6, 20160My Pet
My family has a dog, actually it is my sister's pet. His name is Sansão. His name means he is the strongest dog in the whole world. It's a joke of course because he is not like that hero of the Biblical stories.
I don't like Sansão very much, although I like dogs a lot. Sansão is not a the kind of dog which receives people in a happy mood. He just sleeps and eats many times a all day. Now he is fat and it that isn't good for his health.0 votedFebruary 6, 20161Turkmenistan - Where is it?
Today I would like to share with you probably a new term, that one called "Turkmenistan". Perhaps, the first question coming in to mind is "Where is it?" and "Why haven't I heard about of it before?" and I'll try to reply fot it to that.
Let's look back for to some in history. There was a country - the Soviet Union, which was consisted of 15 republics, and one of them which was the Turkmen Soviet Socialistic Republic. Well, then comes came 1991 when the Soviet Union crashes collapsed and the country, named Turkmenistan has been creating was created . In At the head of state came was Turkmenbashi ("The head of Turkmens" - name that he had given to himself). Since then Turkmenistan has being been one of the most closed countries in the world. That Such times may remember remind us of the Stalinist period with his cult of personality and when students even studied a book written by him at school classes about a book written by him. Obviously, internet was prohibited, there was no freedom of speech, as there is none currently as well. After his death, ascends to the throne second and today's dictator ascended to the throne. Not much has changed, but at least internet has been provided and the country has become, so to speak, a little more open, although it's still practically impossible to get a visa to visit it.And this is the main reason, why so few people have ever heard about of it.
But I sincerely hope, that something will change, and tourists can discover exciting places such as the endless desert, "Gates to hell", enormous canyons, plateau of traces of dinosaur bones and many other amazing sites.
Thanks for reading.
p.s. Beg your pardon for any mistakes in advance, waiting for recommendations how to avoid them.0 votedFebruary 2, 20160
