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I'm looking for _serious_ exchange partners (primarily French speakers!) mainly to practice conversation. I've studied French for several years in high school, but alas, have not come close to attaining proficiency :( Also just started learning Spanish, but do not wish to foist my awful Spanglish on anyone yet... I am ethnically Chinese, so while I do speak basic Chinese, I've found that it has quite deteriorated from disuse. At the moment, I'm focusing on French and Spanish. Eventually I'll be looking for Chinese native speakers. Ideally, I'd like someone who can speak English at a somewhat advanced level, because, well, I'm looking to do language _exchange_ after all, not merely to teach someone else English.
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  • Corrected

    Red: grammatical error

    Blue: incorrect, awkward, unnatural, or unidiomatic usage


    The mere word “tantrum” certainly draws conjures up in our minds the image of a child lying on the floor, in a not very passively quiet manner though.

    "...image of a child on the floor screaming" <-- I think this is a much clearer and more concise version of what you're trying to say. "Passively quiet" is redundant.  

    But, what about grown-ups?

    This is just a nitpick; I don't know if you purposely chose the word "grownup," but I personally prefer "adult." There's nothing wrong with "grownup" (so don't consider this a <em>correction </em>per se), but as an adult American English speaker, I just feel like we use the term "adults" more frequently; there's almost a sense of childishness to the word "grownup," I suppose because we mostly hear children talk about "grownups" or what they want to do when they "grow up," etc. 

    Can’t grown-ups afford to throw tantrums every once in a while too?

    Well of course it would be considered childish for a man or a woman of certain age to drop to the ground and make unbridled random kicks along with an obnoxious sound.

    "Man or woman of a certain age" -> "man or woman PAST a certain age." Personally I think this is a bit long-winded and would prefer simply "an adult" or "a grown man or woman," etc.

    The word "unbridled" is typically used to describe more abstract things: i.e., unbridled passion, unbridled fury, unbridled emotion, etc. Anyway, this entire sentence just sounds very clunky: "...it would be considered childish for an adult to drop to the ground kicking and screaming."

    So after serious investigation, and meticulous put together of ideas thought, I have come up with a brief of guide: “the art of throwing tantrums at this not-so-young age for adults”- an art that requires certain skills, which are summarized as follows:


    1. One must never be right on the reason or cause of the tantrum, otherwise one is rather taking a stand, which is automatically disqualified for a tantrum function.

    ...I...wish I could correct this sentence. But I can't. Because I haven't the faintest idea what you're trying to say.

    2. One ought to sulk for as long as possible, immersed in endless thoughts of resentment and resent for the whole world. Without any real reason of course.

    3. Try to (pretend to?) sleep or slumber at any given time someone comes near to talk or say whatever whenever someone approaches.

    4. Fast for the whole sulking period, (but don’t famish out starve because of your meaningless tantrums, we don’t want a gastritis as an ultimate result to end up with gastritus) assure but keep an ample supply of nourishment (food?) to remain concealed hidden from anyone everyone else around the house. Maybe not necessarily really nourishing but sufficient not to starve. Not necessarily nourishing (or healthy) but adequate to prevent starvation.

    So two things: 1) you randomly switch to "we" (first person plural/inclusive) whereas before you were addressing the audience directly (second person); 2) gastritis is an inflammation of the lining of the stomach......I'm not aware that you would get gastritis from starving yourself...In fact, wikipedia says the main causes are alcohol consumption and use of NSAIDs. (I could be wrong).

    5. If needed be, communicate with short answers, answer with a curt “yes/no,” but in every opportunity the preferred ones must be responses are “maybe, I don’t know, whatever, I’m fine”

    6. Facial expressions are also a must for an effective performance (otherwise no one will notice there’s a tantrum going on)

    lol

    7. To break from end the tantrum, just come around pretend as if nothing has happened, feigning insanity or amnesia. If someone tries to dig(??) ask about the performance that had has just taken place, go back through the previous bullets and put in place practice any possible combination of them together the above.

    Of course, by all means my advice is, just don’t throw tantrums…at all.

     

    Hi, you're obviously at an advanced level, so here are some "advanced" mistakes I've noticed: Your writing is too verbose; two main reasons: 1) using words that serve little/no purpose (easy fix: trim these out!); 2) phrasing things in a longwinded or roundabout manner (think about how you can express these ideas in a clearer and more succinct way). On a related note, I noticed quite a few phrases that were incoherent; I think this  because you are trying to express an idea merely by gluing a bunch of words together and hoping the end result will convey your meaning. Unfortunately, this is not the case. However! The good news is, as you learn/improve your English, you'll develop a better speaker's intuition for the language and you'll gradually learn which words to use together and for which situations (for example, set expressions and idioms).

    Anyway, I realize I might sound a bit harsh in my previous comments; I just want to say that I'm very impressed by your written English and your ambition (this was a long article, and you definitely took a lot of chances), which is why I took the time to comment on a lot of things that are fairly subtle. Good luck!

    0 voted
    July 29, 2012
    2
  • Corrected

    First notebook entry: Introducing myself

     

    I am learning English, because I want make friends from around the world!
    My native language is Chinese ,and I grew up in CHINA. [note: I suggest against writing "China" in allcaps. If you want to provide emphasis, use an exclamation mark instead]
    I enjoy playing basketball and surfing the internet!

    0 voted
    July 29, 2012
    0
  • Corrected

    Red: grammatical errors

    Blue: sounds awkward/unnatural/unidiomatic/etc.; suggestions for improvements while preserving approximate meaning

     

    How many of us had have seen the movie, "Mama Mia," starring Merryl Streep?

    It uses many Abba songs to be sung by the actors. The soundtrack features many ABBA songs ("sung by the actors" is basically implied; however if you wish to keep this phrase, I'd advise against using this awkward, pseudo-passive voice "songs to be sung by the actors," and instead go with "actors sing ABBA songs").

     

    If you love the movie, then it may come as a surprise that this movie is based on other an earlier movie!

    A 1968 comedy, "Buona Sera," starring the hourglass figure, (what does this even mean?) Italian actress Gina Lollorbrigda; "Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell".

    Instead of a story about an American woman living in Greece, it is about a reunion of War War II veterans back to in Italy.

    She became the widow of a fictional Capt. Campbell, the name of the soup company she took to protect the reputation of both the mother and daughter.

    ^ this entire sentence does not make sense. First, it does not follow logically from the previous sentence: who is "she"? Secondly, how does assuming such an identity protect the heretofore unmentioned "mother and daughter"?? Am I to assume "she" is the unmarried mother who has a daugther?? Anyway, here is a grammatically correct version of this sentence: "She pretended to be the widow of a fictional Captain Campbell, which is actually the name of a soup company. She took on this identity to protect the reputation of a mother and daughter."

     

    My, my, how the times have sure changed! 


    For those who have access to Youtube, you can see watch the comedy movie trailer and hear listen to the complete theme song; a very chirpy piece.

    Gina was not only an actress, a professional photographer, a sculpturess but a diva too. Here's an aria which she sang in her own voice. (Personally, I feel like the whole "in her own voice" thing is implied)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDC35KmJW7I&feature=related

    Especially For you Elisa
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwleaqTfByE&feature=related

    Wikipedia

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buona_Sera,_Mrs._Campbell

    Trailer:

    For those who want to see more images of this screen goddess (goddess of the silver screen? I'll be honest; as an American, I've never heard "screen goddess" before [not saying it's not correct, and people will know what you mean] but this expression is much more common):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=IB-t77NWJQU&feature=endscreen

     

    Good job! Your written English is quite good. 

    0 voted
    July 26, 2012
    0
  • Corrected

    First notebook entry: Introducing myself

     

    I am learning English, because I want to work in for an foreign-funded company.

    I'm actually not sure how to translate "foreign-funded company." I think you mean just a <em style="color: #0000ff;">foreign</em> company, although that phrase also doesn't sound natural either. Perhaps you should just stick with "multinational [corporation]."


    My native language is Mandarin, and I grew up in China.

    This is a minor nitpick because this sentence is technically correct. However, as an American, I very rarely hear anyone say their mother tongue is "Mandarin." Instead, most of us just say "Chinese," and only use "Mandarin" when we want to specify or differentiate from other dialects. Similarly, you don't hear people say 普通话 is their native language.


    I am fond of listening to pop music. I usually do some reading during my leisure free time.

    Americans don't say "leisure time." We say "free time," though some people might also do stuff "for leisure" (this is less common and sounds more formal).

    0 voted
    July 25, 2012
    1
  • Posted
    How to say "person in their 20s/30s/etc" in French? For example, a man in his 20s -> "un homme d'une vingtaine d'années"?? C'est ça? What if you wanted to specify early/mid/late 20s? Is there a French expression for this as well? Merci!
    July 23, 2012
    2
    1
  • Corrected

    Please avoid using "AOLese". Even in very casual online conversation, most English speakers above the age of 14 do not use "u" and "coz" seriously.

     

    First notebook entry: Introducing myself

    I'm from Hong Kong, China and I'm learning English now.

    This is a suggestion: I would avoid saying "Hong Kong, China" because everyone knows where Hong Kong is; similarly, you don't hear people say "I'm from Paris, France" or "I'm from New York City, US," etc.

    So I'm glad to talk with u you and exchange ideas about learning languages and cultures as well.

    I'm studying English coz because I want to study abroad.

    Nice to meet u !

    0 voted
    July 23, 2012
    1
  • Corrected

    First notebook entry: Introducing myself

     

     

    <em>Please</em> put an extra whitespace after the period! Not only is it grammatically correct, but it improves readability immensely.

     

    I am an university student in China.

    Comment: you don't say "an university" because there is no vowel sound. For example, you'd say "an underling" and "a unicorn."


    I must learn English well because my major is English Education.

    But my spoken English is not good, and I have a heavy accent.

    I hope I can correct my pronunciation and improve my spoken English here.

    What's more, I hope I can make friends from other countries.

     

    Not bad!

    0 voted
    July 23, 2012
    0
  • Corrected

    Call It Dairy

    ^ The title is very strange to me. I have no idea what you're trying to say, but I'm going to guess that you probably mean "diary" (as in journal) instead of "dairy" (as in milk/yogurt...) >_>

     

    I think I really need a personal teacher to tutor my me in English this time.

     

    Although I registered on Italki two years ago, I am going to use this website efficiently until these days.

    This sentence doesn't make any grammatical sense. It would be correct to say "I'm going to use this website efficiently these days." However, taken in context with the preceding clause, the sentence still doesn't sound natural. I think I can guess your meaning, and I would say, "Although I registered on italki two years ago, I have not started efficiently using this site until recently (or until a couple days ago)."


    Before that, I am trying tried every way in of self-teaching, and to see how far I can go could get.

    Be careful, because even though we English-speakers generally aren't very particular about verb tense, the "before that" definitely indicates past tense.

    Actually, I haven't worked so hard after the graduation since I graduated from high school.

     

    The fatigue pressure made me feel excited and confident which is much better than live living idly.

    This doesn't make sense semantically. "Fatigue" means tiredness so that won't make anyone feel excited..."Pressure" means 压力, which may not be exactly what you mean, but this is the most common word Americans would use when talking about rigorous schoolwork. I also would not use "excited and confident" because they have very positive connotations. I would say something along the lines of, "The pressure motivated me to work hard, so I learned a lot/made fast progress. Now I am living idly and have no/less motivation."

    0 voted
    July 22, 2012
    1
  • Posted
    lazy americans Hier, j’ai chatté avec un français que j'ai rencontré sur un site d'échange des langues (language exchange?). Il m'a dit que les français ne regardent pas les séries télévisées! De plus, presque toutes les séries télé viennent des Etats-Unis. Ça m'a bien étonné! A vrai dire, je suis très...disons...sédentaire. Ce que j'aime le plus, c'est de dormir et de "surfer" sur internet. Je passe le temps à regarder des vidéos sur Hulu et des animés (animations japonaises? Je ne sais pas le bon terme...le terme correct?). En fait, mon pseudonyme, mochiguman, vient d'un série animé "Tatami Galaxy." Bon. J'ai un tas de questions pour les francophones: Qu'est-ce que vous faites pour le divertissement?? Boire du vin, manger du fromage, et regarder les films de Godard ou de Truffaut?? Je crois que la plupart des américains (de mon âge, c'est-à-dire une vingtaine d'années) aiment regarder la télé, jouer aux jeux vidéos, lire reddit (lol), etc. Où est-ce que vous trouveriez des vidéos sur internet? Vous n'avez pas un "Netflix" français? Hulu? Youtube? Vous utilisez BitTorrent? (Ce n'est pas illégal en France ou d'ailleurs?) Quelles séries télé regardez-vous? Quels sonts vos endroits web favoris? Par exemple, quelques sites web assez populaires pour les américains: facebook (ugh, je déteste FB), tumblr, twitter, youtube, reddit, même 4chan (ce site a une mauvaise réputation), etc.
    July 22, 2012
    1
    0
  • Corrected

    Yesterday was very hot

    Yesterday was very hot in Madrid. At dawn, there were a clearful, intense blue sky (this sentence sounds a little off; I would say, "At dawn, the sky was clear and intensely blue"). The temperature was risen rose up during the morning until get to 37 degrees Celsius. At 13:30 we went to the swimingpool swimming pool to take a bath* and it was very refreshing. After lunch we were in siesta (took a nap?) with the air condicioned conditioner switch on. But the worst was the nighttime,; the temperature wasn't going down and my body was covered by in sweat. I just have seen saw the weather forecast and today is going to be the same.

    0 voted
    July 22, 2012
    2