English Speaking/listening via Chat

[tvtech]

tvtech, what is wrong? That's no way to treat a new member here! As a matter of fact, that's no way to treat any member! What's gotten into you?

The OP simply wants help learning English. What's wrong with that?

Bad day at the rockface. Some are meant to use their heads as hammers. Others as tools.

And others to simply think.

I fall in the thinking one still (hopefully).

Regards,
tvtech

 

[wizard]

119 Posts......than this Stop playing games and wasting good peoples time.

Bugger Off say I. Find another Playground rather. This is a Technical Forum.....and that is it.

No Regards,
tvtech

confused:
What's Wrong dude? I do not want to waste the time of people here! Actually as the Title of this thread shows I just want to Improve my English Speaking/listening skills via voice chat and hence I am looking for a native English buddy to talk to... Jim replied and told that he and maybe other guys here may want to improve my written English first, and I welcomed that. I have just learnt English at highschool, and then via reading English books,Papers and forums like this one, I want to say that I never have had any access to Native English speakers to judge my English, that's why Any suggestion (even about my Written English is welcomed to me).
Anyway, If you were a Native english Speker (Sorry but I do not know if English is the first language in South Africa or not) your above comment could be very encouraging to me as a nonnative english!!

Finally, Yea I do know that this forum is a technical place. but can you Translate the "Members Lounge" to me please?

REGARDS
Wizard

 

[DerStrom8]

confused:
What's Wrong dude? I do not want to waste the time of people here! Actually as the Title of this thread shows I just want to Improve my English Speaking/listening skills via voice chat and hence I am looking for a native English buddy to talk to... Jim replied and told that he and maybe other guys here may want to improve my written English first, and I welcomed that. I have just learnt English at highschool, and then via reading English books,Papers and forums like this one, I want to say that I never have had any access to Native English speakers to judge my English, that's why Any suggestion (even about my Written English is welcomed to me).
Anyway, If you were a Native english Speker (Sorry but I do not know if English is the first language in South Africa or not) your above comment could be very encouraging to me as a nonnative english!!

Finally, Yea I do know that this forum is a technical place. but can you Translate the "Members Lounge" to me please?

REGARDS
Wizard

You're okay Wizard, you've done nothing wrong. You posted to the right forum--members lounge is for general, even non-technical topics to be discussed. That is exactly what your post is about, so you're perfectly fine. I think tvtech is just having a bad day.

Don't worry about a thing.

Matt

 

[wizard]

You're okay Wizard, you've done nothing wrong. You posted to the right forum--members lounge is for general, even non-technical topics to be discussed. That is exactly what your post is about, so you're perfectly fine. I think tvtech is just having a bad day.

Don't worry about a thing.

Matt

Thanks Matt for your encouragement,

I just thought that maybe my Written English is so good that made tvtech to think that I am just fooling other guys here in this thread.

 

[jpanhalt]

Your written English is quite good, and is better than some native American writers on this forum. I have had a number of students form various countries. The one mistake many make is to talk too fast. Listen to a little of this lecture and notice how slowly the professor speaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRh75B5iotI (link thanks to Mister T).

No one will think you don't know the language or are dumb when you speak slowly. If someone is rude enough to ask you to speak faster, just give them a sample of your native language. Then ask, "Understand?"

John

 

[JimB]

I have had a number of students form various countries. The one mistake many make is to talk too fast.

I have noticed this also.

I don't know if it is because their native language runs faster than English or what, but while they know all the words quite well it is delivered like a machine gun and with an awfull accent which makes it impossible to understand what they are saying.
They also speak "English" to each other in the same manner which re-enforces the failings.
Their teachers were probably no better at English either.

During my visits to Malaysia (1 year and 18 months ago) there were articles in the local news paper (The Straits Times) compaining about the poor standard of English teaching in the country.
English being an "official language" in the country.

JimB

 

[tvtech]

You're okay Wizard, you've done nothing wrong. You posted to the right forum--members lounge is for general, even non-technical topics to be discussed. That is exactly what your post is about, so you're perfectly fine. I think tvtech is just having a bad day.

Don't worry about a thing.

Matt

Hi Matt

I went haywire....cracked a bit and all.

Stay well buddy.

Regards.
tvtech

 

[wizard]

Your written English is quite good, and is better than some native American writers on this forum. I have had a number of students form various countries. The one mistake many make is to talk too fast. Listen to a little of this lecture and notice how slowly the professor speaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRh75B5iotI (link thanks to Mister T).

No one will think you don't know the language or are dumb when you speak slowly. If someone is rude enough to ask you to speak faster, just give them a sample of your native language. Then ask, "Understand?"

John

Thanks John.

What is the problem with those native American writers on this forum? If they are native American so they should not have any problem in english writing!

 

[wizard]

I have noticed this also.

I don't know if it is because their native language runs faster than English or what,

Actually I have noticed another thing as well. My native language is not a too fast talking language, it's just normal but a bit slower than the ameriacn language, but when somebody from here goes to the US and lives there for several years and learns the english over there, he/she would talk the US as fast the US people do, but when they talk their native language they speak it just like when they were in their native language country (ie slower than English). So maybe it is not the mother tongue language that causes you to talk a scond language too fast or too slow but I think it is the "willing" of a nonnative english speaker to talk fast when he/she goes to another country having a faster language and in the second country he/she notices that ""yea, they are talking so fast and I should do that too", and finally he/she ends up in an extreme manner.

 

[wizard]

Hi Matt

I went haywire....cracked a bit and all.

Stay well buddy.

Regards.
tvtech

It's ok buddy...

 

[DerStrom8]

Hey Wizard. May I ask what your native language is?

 

[wizard]

Hey Wizard. May I ask what your native language is?

Hi DerStrom8,

Yea why not, My native language is a combination of say Arabic + Persian + Greek (so little)!

 

[atferrari]

Hi DerStrom8,

Yea why not, My native language is a combination of say Arabic + Persian + Greek (so little)!

According to my book, Maltese. Am I right?

 

[wizard]

According to my book, Maltese. Am I right?

Oh god!!! No,

What book are you talking about?!

 

[jpanhalt]

Arabic + Persian suggests to me that it is one of the Iranian languages, perhaps a modern version of Farsi. Or, as along shot, a dialect in Turkey. As for Greek, we all have a little Greek in our language. Ever see more than one "octopus?" (Remember, plurals of Greek words are formed differently that the plurals of similar sounding Latin words.)

John

 

[wizard]

Arabic + Persian suggests to me that it is one of the Iranian languages, perhaps a modern version of Farsi. Or, as along shot, a dialect in Turkey. As for Greek, we all have a little Greek in our language. Ever see more than one "octopus?" (Remember, plurals of Greek words are formed differently that the plurals of similar sounding Latin words.)

John

Hi John.

What do you actually mean by your last Sentence here? Any example please?
furthermore did you read my #28 post in this thread?

 

[jpanhalt]

Yes, I read and reread your post #28. Are you referring to the couple of misspelled words in my last quote?

"along" should be "a long," and "that" in the last line should be "than." I try to catch such errors, but some inevitably sneak in. Some people, myself included, have a very hard time proofreading text on monitors.

As for my Greek comment, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia on the subject:

Source= Wikipedia "octopus"
The term "octopus" is from Greek ὀκτάπους[40][41] (oktapous, "eight-footed"), with traditional plural forms "octopuses" (pronounced /ˈɒktəpʊsɪz/) from English grammar and "octopodes" (pronounced /ɒkˈtɒpədiːz/) from the Greek. Currently, "octopuses" is the most common form in both the US and the UK. The term "octopod" (plural: "octopods" or "octopodes") is taken from the taxonomic order Octopoda, but has no classical equivalent. The collective plural "octopus" is usually reserved for animals consumed for food.[citation needed]

Some authorities consider "octopi" an objectionable[42] hypercorrection, feeling the form arose from the incorrect assumption that "octopus" is a Latin second-declension form. However, "octopus" is a scientific Latin third-declension noun with a plural of octopodes. Nevertheless, the Oxford English Dictionary (2008 Draft Revision)[43] lists "octopuses", "octopi", and "octopodes" (in that order), labelling "octopodes" 'rare' and noting that "octopi" derives from the misapprehension that octōpus is a second-declension Latin noun. The book further maintains that if the word were native to Latin, it would be third declension octōpēs (plural: octōpedes) after the pattern of pēs ("foot", plural pedēs).[44]

My university course in Latin and Greek in modern English (circa 1960's) was intentionally pedantic and considered "octopi" as an objectionable hypercorrection. As for the Wikipedia justification, all editors with whom I have dealt would require "octopus" to be italicized, if it were used as the Latin scientific name. Thus, that use would be easily identified in text (but not in speech ). I meant my comment sort of tongue in cheek. I use "octopuses" most commonly, sometimes "octopodes" just to show I was awake occasionally in that long-forgotten class.

Plurals in American English are easily made by rule (e.g., "octopuses"); although, some might sound a little funny, look strange, or require context to know they are plural. One such example taken from electronics is "LED's." That spelling can be either a plural or a possessive depending on context. Sometimes, the plural is written "LEDs" for which there is little ambiguity.

In sum, what is correct is what the editor decides. It is useless to argue with an editor's decision.

Now, back to practicing everyday English. OK?

John

 

[wizard]

Yes, I read and reread your post #28. Are you referring to the couple of misspelled words in my last quote?

"along" should be "a long," and "that" in the last line should be "than." I try to catch such errors, but some inevitably sneak in. Some people, myself included, have a very hard time proofreading text on monitors.

Oh no Buddy, I just wanted to know what's wrong with those native Writers you mentioned (I even did not get any care of your mistypings):
"Your written English is quite good, and is better than some native American writers on this forum"

As for my Greek comment, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia on the subject:



My university course in Latin and Greek in modern English (circa 1960's) was intentionally pedantic and considered "octopi" as an objectionable hypercorrection. As for the Wikipedia justification, all editors with whom I have dealt would require "octopus" to be italicized, if it were used as the Latin scientific name. Thus, that use would be easily identified in text (but not in speech ). I meant my comment sort of tongue in cheek. I use "octopuses" most commonly, sometimes "octopodes" just to show I was awake occasionally in that long-forgotten class.

Plurals in American English are easily made by rule (e.g., "octopuses"); although, some might sound a little funny, look strange, or require context to know they are plural. One such example taken from electronics is "LED's." That spelling can be either a plural or a possessive depending on context. Sometimes, the plural is written "LEDs" for which there is little ambiguity.

In sum, what is correct is what the editor decides. It is useless to argue with an editor's decision.

Now, back to practicing everyday English. OK?

John

Thanks for this one as well. You are very kind dude!