Squirrel's nest

Discuss any questions in English. Practise your writing skills.

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Belka_Teacher
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#51

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

tourist, study again - I studied French, stopped doing so, now want to continue that activity. OK, will change it to something like ' resume my studies' or sth like that to make things clearer. Brushing up is not really what I am after.

Thank you for your feedback! It is indeed very valuable. Are you participating in 100 day challenge? Do you need any help with checking anything?
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#52

Сообщение Kind_Punk »

'French airplane' is OK )

My name is Turkish. Funny name for an Englishman, I know. My parents were on the same plane when it crashed. That's how they met. They named me after the plane.
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#53

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

Kind_Punk, well, if something is confusing, then I should edit it. I really want to learn how to write so that my writing is easy to read.
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#54

Сообщение tourist »

Belka_Teacher пишет: 26 мар 2018, 23:14 tourist,
Are you participating in 100 day challenge? Do you need any help with checking anything?
No and no, I've got enough challenges of my own and they last for much longer than 100 days, thanks anyway.
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#55

Сообщение tourist »

We played games, sang songs, read stories and newspaper articles, and watched films.
btw the Oxford comma at the end is a can of worms, so I wouldn't dare getting into that )
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#56

Сообщение Mary May »

Belka_Teacher пишет: 26 мар 2018, 16:34 I must admit I became quite fluent at French during that trip and could speak on almost any topic with ease.
Then I didn't practise French for more than ten years. Well, I read a paragraph or two in French now and then and that's probably it. One year and a half ago I decided to study French again as I realised I was losing my skills and would soon forget the language completely. I decided to take some tests
I must admit - maybe I am wrong, but it seems to me that "admit" has a slightly different connotation of sth that you are reluctant to say; so, I would say sth like this:

"I would say, I became quite fluent at French during that trip, so I could speak on almost any topic with ease. Then, for more than ten years, I hardly had a chance to practise it. The most I did/the only thing I did now and then was to read a couple of pages - and that was probably all. About 18 months ago I decided to start studying/learning French again..."

or "a dozen of pages" if you like
Последний раз редактировалось Mary May 26 мар 2018, 23:59, всего редактировалось 1 раз.
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#57

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

tourist, I have been using it for too long and have no intention of giving it up)))

And this article actually makes sence))) https://www.buzzfeed.com/sarahhenrich/1 ... .gvmNVBdQZ
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#58

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

Mary May, no, but it really is just a paragragh or two, not even a page. And I would like to use a present tense here. I will think about how to make myself more clear.
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#59

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

Mary May, hardly had a chance... I had a lot of chances, just am too lazy, that is it))) You make me sound more hard-working, but I wanted to appear lazy bones.
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#60

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

Mary May, and you use a lot of commas that shouldn't be there.
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#61

Сообщение Mary May »

Belka_Teacher пишет: 27 мар 2018, 00:06 Mary May, hardly had a chance... I had a lot of chances, just am too lazy, that is it))) You make me sound more hard-working, but I wanted to appear lazy bones.
OK - hardly made an effort...
The most I did/the only thing I did now and then was to idly read a chapter or two...
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#62

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

Mary May, oh now not even a chapter; I will stick with a paragraph, but I like other expressions. Thank you so very much!
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#63

Сообщение Yety »

life-long learner пишет: 26 мар 2018, 16:39 I've always thought that 'an error' is bigger and worse than 'a mistake'. When people say: 'an error was made' it means something bad is going to happen. So I thought.
Yep, no doubt about that.
But imo in language leaning contexts "error spotting" (as in "spot the error and correct the sentence") seems to have acquired a somewhat idiomatic character, becoming a sort of set expression, a collocation with a rather technical meaning.
IYHO.
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#64

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

I've edited my post about French a bit. Should I make these corrections in the original post or as a new message? What is more convenient for my readers?
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#65

Сообщение paveltashkinov »

Belka_Teacher,
Are you going to upload some of your Proficiency essays? Can hardly wait to read them.
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#66

Сообщение acapnotic »

Belka_Teacher пишет: 27 мар 2018, 15:14 I've edited my post about French a bit. Should I make these corrections in the original post or as a new message? What is more convenient for my readers?
Hmm... I thought we only had 60 minitues to edit our posts. Has it changed?
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#67

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

paveltashkinov, probably yes, but in the exam sections. They are actually quite awful. I'm much better at creative writing than at analytical one.
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#68

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

acapnotic, I'm abusing my priviledges of a moderator, but if you think it is unethical I will stop. I just thought if would be much more convenient for my readers.
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#69

Сообщение paveltashkinov »

Belka_Teacher пишет: 27 мар 2018, 15:43 paveltashkinov, probably yes, but in the exam sections. They are actually quite awful. I'm much better at creative writing than at analytical one.
My case is quite opposite. I am better at a-matter-of-fact stuff, be that reports, proposals and anything of that sort.
When it comes to creative writing...well, it leaves a lot to be desired. Frankly, so do my writing skills in Russian, although I seldom use them (apart from emails). Anyway, I'd like to see your essays, just to have an idea of what other candidates' performance might be.
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#70

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

paveltashkinov, OK, I will post the ones that I have already written and will try to post more when I write them.
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#71

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

Belka_Teacher (CPE Writing)

There you go. I will post one writing a week there so that I will have time to process the comments.
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#72

Сообщение acapnotic »

Belka_Teacher пишет: 27 мар 2018, 15:44 I just thought if would be much more convenient for my readers.
I don't think so, because the comments that follow it will become irrelevant, and the relevant ones will be two pages further.
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#73

Сообщение Belka_Teacher »

acapnotic, thank you! OK, then I will do the following from now on - I will post the edited post around five days after the original one.
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#74

Сообщение tourist »

I think it would be easier to follow if you put corrections in the original text ,
leaving both the old version and the changes made side by side.

Ability to make changes withing an hour is obviously convenient,
but we are running the risk of losing track of who said what and when.

I would reduce the window of opportunity to 10-15 minutes or so
to allow for correction of the obvious typos and such, but leaving the material changes clearly visible.

Sure it would expose more of our mistakes to others, which is often embarrassing,
but it is a motivation for improvement in its own right )
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#75

Сообщение Chaika »

decided to join in and open my own one.

In this construction we omit the "one".

and work on some of my weak points

"of mine" sounds odd here even tho it means the same.
'of my" is optional here because context already suggests the weak points are yours.
Also sounding quite normal is: work on my weak points.
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