| Last month | Last 3 months | All time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Completed lessons | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Attendance rate | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Hi Mikkel, I've played with the first part. Not sure how much my suggested changes are about English and how much they are irrelevant views on style:
Susan was in every respect, except one, a completely normal teenager. Her aunt Vivian was a little worried that she might become a little nutty had it in her to become a little too nutty at some point. But it was probably just a phase. There was no cause for alarm at this stage. As long as everyone pretended everything was all right, things would most likely be so.
What set Susan her apart was an her intense love for assault rifles, a love that which she gladly shared with her friends peers. It was her favourite topic of conversation topic. Her friends peers, that is, Lucy and Jane, always tried to steer the conversation in another direction, for when it came to guns, they were not as passionate as she was, when it came to guns. “Guns and Roses” were alright all right, but “One Direction” were better. [Whether you refer to bands in the singular or the plural is a stylistic choice, not strictly a question of grammar]
Susan loved them at a distance, assault rifles, that is, The same way Lucy and Jane loved “One Direction” at a distance, Susan loved assault rifles. She had all the editions of Bazooka! from 1971 - 2011. The glossy pictures with the shining firearms were so real, almost tangible, yet they were something far away and unattainable.
Her parents were so God damn prim and proper. They wouldn’t let her have a gun any! She was only thirteen. And in the UK where she’d had the misfortune of being born, no one, even adults, could buy a real guns. She would have to wait for an eternity until she could get one. She wished that she had been born and bred in the US and not in the UK.
In America, they love guns, all guns. If you wanted to, you could even drive in a tank to school if you wanted to.
Her parents were school teachers. She liked her parents all right, they just didn’t really understand very much. According to them, war was a terrible thing and you couldn’t very well fight a war without weapons. So weapons were evil, and the only way to get rid of evil was to get rid of them everything. Yes, yes she knew all that, but you could still fight a war with your fists, and you didn’t cut off people’s fists, did you? Just because they could p̶o̶t̶e̶n̶t̶i̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ hurt someone.0 votedSeptember 4, 20166- Australia, like every other country, has one embassy in China. It also has three consulates in mainland China and one in Hong Kong. Together, you can indeed call these the "Australian diplomatic missions". Note that "missions" does not have a capital M and that it has an "s" at the end because it is plural. So, you can use the phrase "Australian diplomatic missions" to mean the Australian embassy and consulates in China.0 votedSeptember 2, 20161
- This expression has more cultural significance than linguistic significance. To understand it, you need to listen to a song by the Grateful Dead - one of their most famous - called Truckin': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pafY6sZt0FE Secondly, you need to be familiar with Robert Crumb and a particular image that he created. Here is the Wikipedia article on Crumb: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Crumb And here is the image - a quite famous image - that he created as part of a one page comic strip called Keep on Truckin': https://clinock.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/img5911.jpg As for what the expression means, just do a Google search. You'll get about 450,000 hits, and there are lots of sites discussing the expression's history (one view is that it goes back to 1930s depression era marathon dancing for money, as depicted in the film They Shoot Horses, Don't They?) and its meaning. Why do I say that it has more cultural than linguistic significance? I say that because just about every English speaking person knows this expression, but it is rarely used. Associated with the late 1960s and 1970s, I'm not convinced that it was used very much even then. It's well-known because of Crumb and the Grateful Dead, not because it is an expression one hears very often in real life.0 votedSeptember 2, 20162
- If you are unsure of your plans, you might say "I might go to Paris". In other words, you haven't made a decision. You might go and you might not go. If there's a good chance that you're going to Paris, but it isn't yet certain that you will/can go, you could say "I might be going to Paris". For example, someone has invited you to Paris, you want to go, but it depends on whether you can come up with enough money to buy an airline ticket. Similarly, you could say "I might be going to the Ed Sheeran concert" if a friend has offered you a ticket, but you have to get out of another commitment before you can accept. Despite what I've just said, in these cases it would also be perfectly correct to say "I might go to Paris" and "I might go to the Ed Sheeran concert". To me, this is not an issue of grammar, but a matter of tone. "I might be going" suggests expectation, whereas "I might go" is neutral. Here's someone using "I might go" to be deliberately neutral/mysterious: Tom: I might go to Paris. Bill: Really? Tom: I'm thinking about it. Bill: Where are you going to get the airfare? Tom: Maybe that's not a problem. Bill: Not a problem? ... OK, time to stop being mysterious. Spill the beans. What's happening? Tom: My girlfriend bought tickets! We're going to Paris!0 votedSeptember 1, 20163
- The gentleman who wrote the blog post from which you are quoting speaks English as a second language. That is apparent from what you have quoted and from a quick scan of his very long blog post. The reason that you're having a problem understanding these sentences is that they are very badly written. The passage that starts "Because you are going to target..." is gibberish. Unfortunately, one would have to spend a good deal time reading his post, which is about how to make lots of money on the internet with very little effort, to make sense of what he's saying. Maybe read things that are written in better English? Also, maybe look up the word hustler.0 votedAugust 31, 20161
- "3) That is certainly how I would interpret 'goer' but it is not a British term." It certainly is a British term, and it has been used in this context since the 14th Century. From the OED: GOER b. In collocation with comer, freq. as a way of including all people who pass through a particular place; esp. in comers and goers. a1425 (▸c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) Y schal take awei fro it a goere and a comere aȝen [L. euntem et redeuntem]. ?a1425 (▸c1400) Mandeville's Trav. Þei eten euery day in his court mo þanne xxxti Mill. persones, withouten goeres & comeres. a1450 (▸1408) tr. Vegetius De Re Militari Þese wardes..makiþ al þe wey siker to comeres & goeres and alle cariages. 1467–70 in Cal. Proc. Chancery Queen Elizabeth Keping an open in for all comers and goers. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) Mark vi. f. lijv, There were many commers and goers. 1562 R. Fills tr. Lawes & Statutes General All citezens, burgeoises, and inhabitantes shall take diligent hede..for al maner of goers or commers. 1694 L. Echard tr. Plautus Rudens ii. viii, in tr. Plautus Comedies 173, I shall have a fine time on't, if I must be bound to draw water for all comers and goers. 1706 T. Betterton Amorous Widow ii. 21 My House is become as common for all Comers and Goers, as the Mall or Spring-Garden. 1762 S. Foote tr. P. N. Destouches Spendthrift in S. Foote et al. Comic Theatre I. 123 He keeps open hose for all comers and goers. 1848 J. Oxenford tr. Goethe Autobiogr. I. 374 There seemed..such a swarm of uncles and aunts, relations, cousins, comers, goers, gossips, and guests, that [etc.]. 1919 E. Goodwin Duchess of Siona xii. 295 The guard..made some sort of parley with the few chance comers and goers. 1988 Herald (Melbourne) 28 June I draw your attention to the shambles of the various taxes on goers and comers in recent times. 2004 F. P. Wilson Crisscross 317 Why not check out Julio's? Hang out on the street and watch the comers and goers.0 votedAugust 31, 20166
- In English, "I'm not" and "I ain't" mean the same. The difference is that "I'm not" is grammatically correct English and "I ain't" is slang. Accomplished English speakers, when they want to adopt a somewhat defiant tone, or in some cases a comic or ironic tone, can use "ain't" to good effect. As someone who is learning English, I would suggest that you avoid it. As for "gonna", and its sibling "wanna", just don't. Ever. While these have become common in internet chat, especially among teenagers, and apparently on this forum, it is hard to imagine a use of the English language that sounds whinier, lazier and uglier.0 votedAugust 31, 20160
- This is from a song by a band called Ylwa called Bring the Fire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUcxJW4J1dk The lyrics are here: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/shake+it+up/bring+the+fire_21034323.html "Do it up on the floor" means "Get up on the dance floor and dance", but it's pretty obvious that this line, and others in the song, are also intended to be mildly suggestive. In English, "do it" can be slang for "have sex". The song was apparently used in a Disney Channel comedy series about Chicago dancers called Shake it Up.0 votedAugust 31, 20160
- Just about any French film that has had an international release will have English subtitles. One place to start is with Criterion, a company that specialises in releasing high quality versions of important films. Every one of Criterion's French films will come with English subtitles, and I suspect that many also come with Spanish subtitles. This is Criterion's web site: https://www.criterion.com This is the Wikipedia article about them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Criterion_Collection On Criterion's site, you can do an advanced search for just films from France. It turns out that there are 220 French films in their catalogue. In many cases, Criterion's films are available from third parties, such as iTunes, as well as from Criterion.0 votedAugust 30, 20160
