Add me as well please! :)

I think one reason that schools have a uniform is to avoid obvious signs of class differences. The school wants to avoid discrimination against some students because they don't have nice clothes or fancy accessories, so they implement a uniform. This is most common in private schools, here in the U.S.

In Saudi Arabia, Arabic is the language of the Qur'an, the Holy Book of Islam, so it is the official and the valued language there. However, English is also widely spoken. The English language has become the dominant and most powerful language, so it is used there in business and commerce. However, some Saudis have yet to realize the real importance of English and they are wondering, “Why English? Our native language is very precious and it's our life!” But English is also very important for us as Saudis: it is the language of science, technology, and scientific research. So, in a single word, English is opportunity. English is an opportunity for a better job and a better life. However, English is also beneficial for the whole world, not just for Saudis. English is the world's second language; with English, we can become part of a global discussion about problems such as hunger and disease. When the world has a common language to solve problems with, that represents hope for a better, shining future. Just pay attention to punctuation, and capitalizing sentences! You'll notice that I added a lot of commas, and moved the punctuation around a bit. Overall, you did a great job!

Here's one: He's a couch potato! Meaning he watches a lot of TV and never gets off the couch.

In America in particular, our society over-values economic success (making money), and this is reflected in the jobs we consider good and bad. So the main jobs that are stigmatized in the U.S. are jobs that don't make a lot of money, and jobs in the sex industry.

Je pense que c'est "sur," comme "sur la plage."

Wish: I wish you knew Danish so you could teach me. (It has to be conditional for the can, I think.) "I wish I had known you better" means there is no chance now to get to know this person, so it is in the past. If you still could get to know this person, it would be: "I wish I knew you better" Also, grammatically it would be: "I'd wish you the best of luck, but you already have it." But I would never say that to someone! It sounds kind of rude. I would just say "I wish you the best of luck!" Hope - That sentence is right! I worked it out, and I don't think you can ever use hope in the past tense. "I hoped that you would be cool" or "I had hoped that you would be cool" both mean that you had this hope in the past, but it did not end up working out (like they turned out not to be cool!). The second one is more formal. So you can say that you had a hope in the past, but you can't hope for something in the past (because it's too late, and it has already happened) Both of your examples for If are correct! If I were an astronaut, I would go to the moon. If I had studied harder, I could have passed the test. If we go to the movies, we will have to spend money. If you eat the cake, you will feel sick.

They're the same when you're talking about an actual stone, but you could also call someone a "gem" meaning they're great, but you wouldn't really call them a jewel.