Carol's notebook entry: Jun 12, 2010

Today is the second day<strike> to come here. </strike>I've been here on italki.

I have met a lot of friends so I feel very happy. Thanks again <strike>to </strike>for helping help me. I hope we can help each other.
<strike>
Wish everyone have a good mood</strike> I hope everyone is in a good mood (better to say,  "is doing well").

Too Lazy to write entries

I haven't written entries for a few days<strike>,</strike> because I don't know what to say or maybe because I am too lazy.
I had thought about some typical subjects to write about, but when I began to write, I felt it was difficult. I couldn't describe <strike>it</strike> (my thoughts) with my poor vocabulary.
I think I should begin <strike>with the</strike> by learning <strike>pronuncition in learning</strike> American English pronunciat.I had found (and downloaded) some videos and <strike>texts </strike>(articles or materials) <strike>in </strike>on the internet about<strike> the accent training of </strike>American English accent training <strike>,and I had downloaded them</strike>. I watched the videos and read the <strike>texts</strike> materials and while I found them to be helpful, <strike> these days.I appreciated them,but</strike> I had downloaded too more many  materials <strike>of american accent training </strike>to be able to choose <strike>which </strike>one that suits me. I think all of them are good, but I will choose one and study it deeply. I think <strike>it  </strike>this is <strike>my </strike>necessary <strike>choice</strike>.

For this last part you could also say "I think all of them are good, but I think it is necessary for me to choose just one and study it deeply."

First notebook entry: Introducing myself

I am a native Chinese speaker and I am currently a PhD student.

To add onto the comment made by Kat, we typically do not begin a sentence with "and." In some cases though, it is okay to start the sentence with an "And." However, in your example, you would not, and I think you should combine the first and second sentences because they are both short and related (talking about who who you are).

I want to find someone (with whom: formal) to practice my oral English (with: colloquial) and I will help you with your Chinese.

"With whom" would make your sentence a little bit more formal. You could tack on "with" to the end of your sentence instead, if you wanted to be more colloquial or informal. If you were writing a research paper, you would not want to end the sentece with "with," as you will commonly hear that you should not end your sentences with a preposition (with, on, at, over, etc.).

Hi　everybody. I <strike>am the person who</strike> like playing basketball,　watching movies,　listening to <strike>the </strike>music and singing songs.  I like classical and rock music. 

I moved "I like classical and rock music" up one sentence because I think it makes more sense here to talk about your favorite music and then your favorite singer.

<strike>When you</strike> If you (were to) ask who <strike>is </strike>my favorite singer is, my answer will absolutely be Avril.

It is better to say "If you were to" instead of "when you," as it is not guaranteed that a person will ask you that question. In most cases you cannot presume that they will ask that question, and so it is more proper to say "if" than "when"

Singing songs and communicating with others make me happy.  I wanna make friends and (we can) learn from each other!

For the last sentence "I wanna make friends and learn from each other!," the second part of the sentence must have a plural subject, as it would not be proper to say "I learn from each other," with a singular subject. "Each other" implies that there is more than one person and some action is being reciprocated between two sides. It must be something like "They (or we, in your case) can learn from each other."

I'm a student.　I want to learn English so I'm looking for an English teacher (or someone to help me learn).

"so" better than "and" -- one leads to another, cause and effect:

I want to learn English --> look for English teacher
                                          --> read English magazines, etc.
 

If he/she wants to learn Chinese too, I think we can learn from each other.

How you write this last part depends on whom you would like to address. If you are, as I'd assume, requesting for English help from the italki crowd, you'll want to be more direct by using "you", rather than using the third-person "he" or "she." Also, since it isn't explicitly clear that the "English teacher" is "you", you'll want to begin the sentence with your request. Perhaps, something like the following:

"If you can help me with my English, that would be great. Also, if you want to learn Chinese, I can teach you too. Then, we can learn from each other."

If you're simply trying to describe your thoughts, then it's okay to use "he" or "she," as you originally wrote. However, nowadays, most grammarians (or English teachers) will likely tell you not to use only "he" or only "she" if the gender of the subject is unknown. The alternative would be to use "he/she" or replace the pronoun with the type of person (e.g. "the English teacher" or "the person I meet"). Also, some people will sometimes use "they" instead, but be careful, as "they" is plural and technically is not correct if you're only referring to one person. People will often use "they" colloquially in casual/informal situations.