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Profile
Hi, I'm Pat. Love languages. Wish I had more time to study them!
Learning
Chinese (Mandarin)
French
Italian
Spanish
Portuguese
Ukrainian
Russian
Japanese
Tamil
Vietnamese
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Lesson Feedback
Teacher reviews
まき0417
Japanese
May 22, 2026
Thank you for coming to today's lesson. We practised basic japanese:D You did very well, and your pronunciation is really good. Let's keep practising!
Jinli
Chinese (Mandarin)
Feb 16, 2026
Hi, Pat, glad to meet you. Given your sensitivity and familiarity to languages, I truly believe you will learn Chinese very well.
Maria
Spanish
Mar 22, 2020
Muchas gracias por la clase Pat, te expresas y comunicas muy bien en español!
Maria
Spanish
Mar 7, 2020
Muchas gracias por la clase Pat, tienes una conversación muy fluida en español, tienes mucha habilidad para hablar de distintos temas!
Activities
  • Commented
    I enjoy learning Russian. I found a teacher here on Italki whom I like very much. She is very patient with my frequent errors. There is no real practical reason for me to learn, other than a love of language. I really love the music of the sound of the Russian language. One day I hope to be able to sing in tune!!
    0 voted
    February 27, 2021
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  • Commented
    At the moment, having become a little tired of lockdown, I would welcome the opportunity to visit just about anywhere!!
    0 voted
    February 27, 2021
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  • Commented
    Favourite. ;) "Catcher in the Rye" because it introduced me to the phrase "raining like a bastard" which I have used whenever possible since I first read it.
    0 voted
    February 20, 2021
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  • Answered
    I think they mostly mean the same thing with a possible very subtle difference. "Can you see the girl who is singing..." is asking if you can see the girl. Which girl? The girl who is singing. So the fact that she is singing is being used to identify which girl you mean. "Can you see the girl singing..." is asking if you can see the girl in the act of singing. So the question is concentrating on the act of singing a little more. This is a very subtle difference, and depending on context, the difference may not really be there at all. Just in case it helps.
    0 voted
    February 20, 2021
    1
  • Commented
    As full as an Aberdeen puggy on a Friday night. This one needs a bit of explanation. First of all puggy is Scottish slang for a fruit machine or slot machine or one armed bandit. During the North Sea oil boom, Aberdeen was the centre of activity and the oil workers would generally congregate there at weekends when not working on the rigs. It was a relatively well paid occupation, so there were a lot of hard working hard partying people with money to spend and a short window of opportunity. Every pub would have one or more puggies, and inevitably by the end of Friday night, they would be full to bursting with coins. So this - to be fair, not all that well-known - expression is used if you've overdone it and are feeling a little full after a big meal.
    0 voted
    February 6, 2021
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  • Commented
    For someone who was not blessed with fair features: Face like a bulldog licking p*ss off a thistle.
    0 voted
    February 6, 2021
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  • Commented
    Banter = friendly teasing or general humorous commentary. Hence, Bantosaurus, Archbishop of Banterbury are a couple of examples of phrases used to describe someone who is a master of banter.
    0 voted
    February 6, 2021
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  • Commented
    The bee's knees. (Just the best thing possible). More pithy version: the dog's b*llocks. Sometimes shortened, e.g. "It's the dog's!"
    0 voted
    February 6, 2021
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  • Commented
    I like these ideas a lot. It's a shame the links got mangled.

    In fact, the first link (from the word coffee) currently links to an article about paedophilia in the French church! Is it really not possible to fix the links? I think some people will be put off by this and it would be a shame for such a great message to be lost through poor execution.
    0 voted
    January 30, 2020
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  • Answered
    You're not missing anything. This is just a slightly idiomatic version. The meaning is exactly as you have it. Either version sounds OK to a (UK) English ear. In fact, I believe - but I"m not a grammar expert - that what is missing is simply the infinitive "to be". I.e. S thought it (to be) better.... This is clearer with another example. Fred considered him a fool = Fred considered him to be a fool. In other words the "it" in your example and the "him" in mine, are both in fact object forms rather than subject forms. "It" is invariant so the subtle distinction is not obvious. One thing to note is that this construction does feel ever so slightly historic. You're more likely to meet it in literature than in the modern spoken (or written) language.
    0 voted
    January 18, 2020
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