improving english language

epilot · Jul 12, 2006

BeeBop said:
Hi Epilot,
I have been waiting for you to return.
I see you are trying to address the issue of capitalization, and there is a big improvement. Good for you! Now, further on that one, the word for your self 'I' should always be capitalized. That is the next step, and an easy one.

The first and second pairs are really very much the same in meaning, and can almost always be interchanged. The last pair is a bit more complex. 'End,' and 'end up' both signify finality, however when you add 'up' to 'end,' there is a suggestion of destination, combined with some uncertainty. The word end can be used to signal the end of a book, end of a physical object, or destination. When you add the word 'up' there is a suggestion, or conotation that there is a direction, or path being taken or followed. Where will we end up? Where will all this stuff end up? They are, however, very close, and at this point, just read all of these pairs in the same way.

You see, there is a lot of value in practice, and it is working for you. Keep on studying! It can take up to ten years for an adult to become anywhere near fluent, especially in a complex language like English.

The difference in verb form can be very confusing. I think the most difficult ones are the verb 'to be.' {I am, he is, she is, you are, we are, they are, it is} and the infinitive form of any verb. That is the one which prefixes the verb with 'to.' {To go, to do, to make, to have, to eat} With the first one, be, there is no way around learning how to congigate it by memory. Both sentences you asked about, are correct.

The CD you have will probably help a lot, but I would also take Philba's suggestion, of watching English movies, with the English subtitles. They will be very helpful as well. As Phil pointed out, the BBC is a very good channel to listen to, and they even have some help on the internet, which I think is very good:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

Of course, reading is easier than writing, but you should try to read from good examples. Try some news items, or better still, try reading some simple novels. I know these will not be in your area of interest, but they will help the most with your language study.

Begin with a capital! (Yes, this time I'm scolding you.<smile>) You did make a very good leap here, and I also want to congratulate you for it. You learned by context, the meaning of the word. Just yesterday, I was talking with some Korean friends, and they too, had trouble understanding what I meant by swearing, because they had the 'dictionary' meaning in their minds. This is one of the hardest things to become familiar with, the informal and common use of words, also known as 'idiomatic expression.' The only thing which will help you with this, is practice listening, and asking questions.

I think you are doing very well, and as JimB points out, you can be understood.

Just to reinforce the idea of practice, on Friday I took an American friend to see my dentist. I felt very good because the taxi driver understood me the first time I said "Geyonggii Do Pak Mul Gwon ga ya." (Go to Geyounggii Provincial Museum)
The last time I took a taxi there, I had to repeat it three or four times before he understood. Baby steps, man, baby steps. You will get there.

Best wishes,
Robert

Hi Robert,

Thanks for your supports.

Few years ago I bought a structure book (E. S. S Comprehensive english grammer for university students), it is a very good grammer book for me and I read it but have forgoten some parts like part of infinitive( the words that come with ING and the words that come with TO).
I want to look at this book again and I am sure my English language will be very better after reading it but it does not have lot of your valuable advice, Yes I am sure.

Yes I know that link about BBC and have read some subjects and listened to some trainings.

I have discovered that the best way for me to improve my speaking is english movies with subtitles too but Here it is not so easy finding an english movie with an english subtitle,alot of movies are translated....

2 years ago I bought some simple novels like Sherlock Holmes and read them they helped me to improve my english they was interesting too but know I
have a lot of english papers im my PC that it will take one year or more to read all them.

Here is signature of "HiTech":
"Don't make me reach through this monitor to slap you a good one! "
I was not able to translate it! there is a problem with "reach" or "reach through" and with "to slap you a good one". Even I have no clue about it.

BeeBop · Jul 12, 2006

Epilot,
You are a good learner! You are already using the advice I have given you to make better sentences. I can notice a difference already, and it has only taken two posts.

The problem with grammar, is that many L1 English speakers learn this through context at a young age, and it is deeply integrated with their speech, while L2 English speakers have to study it as an adult. Grammar is not easy, but unfortunately, it is necessary. You will probably have to return to your book many times; you should use it like you would use an electronics reference.

Too bad about the movies there. Koreans are obsessed with learning English, so there are many movies here, designed for that purpose. Some are even packaged with information and study guides in Korean.

You could practice speaking by reading some of your material out loud to yourself. (You might want to make sure no other people are around, they might think you are funny talking to yourself in a strange language.) The problem with this is that there is no way to check your pronunciation and tone, so you will not be able to correct your mistakes.

Before I explain that signature, I will give you a point on punctuation, and one on grammar.

The word English is the name of a language, so it too, should begin with a capital. (This is true of the name of any language, or name of any country.)

The point on grammar, is to do with subject - verb agreement, and will probably take a lot of practice to get it right. It concerns the past form of that (nasty) verb 'to be.'

Code:
they was interesting
/

'They' is your subject, and it refers to a noun (the books you bought) which are plural - there are more than one. To make this agree with the verb, you should use were. Was is used for one thing. This verb is a common, and important one, so you would be best to memorize it. Here, I will give you a table to learn:

Code:

Present form Past form Future form I am I was I will be You are You were You will be He is He was He will be She is She was She will be They are They were They will be We are We were We will be It is It was It will be

Now, for that signature, of course it would be hard to translate. It is a humorous one, and quite informal.
To explain the expression 'reach through,' I must first define the way reach is used. It means to extend our hand and arm towards a remote object. It is common in English to say some thing like "Can you reach the light switch?" That means 'can you extend your hand far enough to turn on the switch?"
The 'through' part can be interpreted in the literal sense of something passing through something else.
Now when HiTech says 'reach through this monitor' he means stick his hand into his monitor, and have it reach you, sitting in front of your monitor. This is not really possible, but if you imagine a hand traveling through the wires which connect computers together and coming out the monitor of your computer, then you have the picture.
Now the last part is an idiomatic expression, so there is no wonder you couldn't translate it.
'Slap,' as I'm sure you are aware, it to hit someone with an open hand. (Your hand is not rolled into a fist, but flat, and you use the palm to strike with.)
What 'a good one' means is hard, as a 'good' slap is a hard one which makes a loud 'smack' sound when it connects. So to 'slap someone a good one,' means to slap them hard, probably on the face, so it makes a loud sound.
To translate the entire phrase then, would be something along the lines of 'Don't act like an idiot, or I will reach through my monitor and slap you hard on the face.'
Of course this could never happen, so the reader should get some sense of humor from it.
I hope I have explained it well enough to understand, but it is late and I am not full of energy. If you need more clarity, just ask.

Click to expand...

AllVol · Jul 12, 2006

BeeBop,

You are to be commended for sharing your quite complete knowledge of our difficult language with another. Thanks.

I still owe you lunch.

AllVol

BeeBop · Jul 12, 2006

Thanks AllVol!
You just might have a rude awakening one day, when I end up on your doorstep, looking for my 'free lunch.' I do love seeing different parts of this little planet.

Robert

HiTech · Jul 12, 2006

... and to think that we haven't even discussed "palindromes" yet!!
**broken link removed**

I'm a lasagna hog, go hang a salami.

BeeBop · Jul 12, 2006

Ha, thanks for that one! Hmmm

I'm a lasagna hog, go hang a salami.

Looks like good sig material to me.

HiTech · Jul 12, 2006

Truth of the matter is I don't really like lasagna nor salami. Some Italian I am!

BeeBop · Jul 12, 2006

Ha, ha, I was thinking for me... I like the slipping signifier in 'hang a salami.'

...but, I'll probably just procrastinate some more.

dknguyen · Jul 12, 2006

HiTech said:
Truth of the matter is I don't really like lasagna nor salami. Some Italian I am!

Are you crazy?!!! Salami is the tastiest sandwich meat there is! Seriously.

HiTech · Jul 13, 2006

dknguyen said:
Are you crazy?!!! Salami is the tastiest sandwich meat there is! Seriously.

I take it then that you've never eaten "Red Snapper"?

epilot · Jul 14, 2006

adaminc said:
Here's something to confuse you even more!

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

I know the meanings of wound when using as noun or verb so this sentence was easy to be understood.

adaminc said:
2) The farm was used to produce produce.

Like above: Manufacture , output.

adaminc said:
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

Refuse: reject, trash.

adaminc said:
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

Like sentence number 1.

adaminc said:
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

Oh I have to say this is hard to be understood due to "lead". Lead has lot of meanings and this sentence can be understood from its previous sentence while it has no previous sentence here.But I think "lead" means "directing

adaminc said:
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

I know that the soldier wanted to leave the army without permission but the only meaning for "dessert" is final course which is served after the main meal
and that word cause me to could not translate it.

adaminc said:
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was
time to present the present.

I know 3 meanings of "present" here: Now , offer , gift

adaminc said:
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

Bass means fish and bass drum means kind of drum.

adaminc said:
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

The only meaning I know for dove is kind of bird but you used it as a verb too?

adaminc said:
10) I did not object to the object.

Like the first sentence.

adaminc said:
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

Like above: Expired, sick

adaminc said:
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

Oh it is not so easy to understand that the next "row" means paddle.

adaminc said:
13) They were too close to the door to close it.

Like the first sentence.

adaminc said:
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

Yes English persons do funny things with "nouns" and "verbs"( this is a joke).
Thanks I did not know the meaning of "doe" but I learned it now.

adaminc said:
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

Sewer:Tailor , drainage pipe

adaminc said:
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

I think sow means: Seed & disperse.

adaminc said:
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

Like the first sentence: Gale & turn.

adaminc said:
18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.

Sorry no idea. Is this a saying or proverb?

1

adaminc said:
9) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

Romantic. Tear means droplet of fluid from the eye and & shed a tear means tear flow..

adaminc said:
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

Sorry , there are many meanings for subject.What about "expose"
for the first part(yes i am pretty sure it means expose because of a series of tests).The next subjuect means topic

adaminc said:
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Intimate: state & intimate friend: Dear friend

adaminc,
Thnaks alot for that sentences, they were very helpful.
Hope I could get a good number in this exam (lol)

epilot · Jul 15, 2006

BeeBop said:
Epilot,
You are a good learner! You are already using the advice I have given you to make better sentences. I can notice a difference already, and it has only taken two posts.

The problem with grammar, is that many L1 English speakers learn this through context at a young age, and it is deeply integrated with their speech, while L2 English speakers have to study it as an adult. Grammar is not easy, but unfortunately, it is necessary. You will probably have to return to your book many times; you should use it like you would use an electronics reference.

Too bad about the movies there. Koreans are obsessed with learning English, so there are many movies here, designed for that purpose. Some are even packaged with information and study guides in Korean.

You could practice speaking by reading some of your material out loud to yourself. (You might want to make sure no other people are around, they might think you are funny talking to yourself in a strange language.) The problem with this is that there is no way to check your pronunciation and tone, so you will not be able to correct your mistakes.

Before I explain that signature, I will give you a point on punctuation, and one on grammar.

The word English is the name of a language, so it too, should begin with a capital. (This is true of the name of any language, or name of any country.)

The point on grammar, is to do with subject - verb agreement, and will probably take a lot of practice to get it right. It concerns the past form of that (nasty) verb 'to be.'

they was interesting
/

'They' is your subject, and it refers to a noun (the books you bought) which are plural - there are more than one. To make this agree with the verb, you should use were. Was is used for one thing. This verb is a common, and important one, so you would be best to memorize it. Here, I will give you a table to learn:

Code:

Present form Past form Future form I am I was I will be You are You were You will be He is He was He will be She is She was She will be They are They were They will be We are We were We will be It is It was It will be

Now, for that signature, of course it would be hard to translate. It is a humorous one, and quite informal.
To explain the expression 'reach through,' I must first define the way reach is used. It means to extend our hand and arm towards a remote object. It is common in English to say some thing like "Can you reach the light switch?" That means 'can you extend your hand far enough to turn on the switch?"
The 'through' part can be interpreted in the literal sense of something passing through something else.
Now when HiTech says 'reach through this monitor' he means stick his hand into his monitor, and have it reach you, sitting in front of your monitor. This is not really possible, but if you imagine a hand traveling through the wires which connect computers together and coming out the monitor of your computer, then you have the picture.
Now the last part is an idiomatic expression, so there is no wonder you couldn't translate it.
'Slap,' as I'm sure you are aware, it to hit someone with an open hand. (Your hand is not rolled into a fist, but flat, and you use the palm to strike with.)
What 'a good one' means is hard, as a 'good' slap is a hard one which makes a loud 'smack' sound when it connects. So to 'slap someone a good one,' means to slap them hard, probably on the face, so it makes a loud sound.
To translate the entire phrase then, would be something along the lines of 'Don't act like an idiot, or I will reach through my monitor and slap you hard on the face.'
Of course this could never happen, so the reader should get some sense of humor from it.
I hope I have explained it well enough to understand, but it is late and I am not full of energy. If you need more clarity, just ask.

Click to expand...

Hello Robert,

I am grateful for all your helps to improve my English language.
No, I am not a good learner, you are a good trainer.

Oh it was a silly mistake with "was", yes you are right, I must use "where" rather than "was" with 'they' .
And yes I am familiar with "to be" family, that mistake was due to inattention to my sentence.

O yes I understand that signature now, I know that "reach" means "arrive" or "obtain" and know the meaning of "through" but the hard part was "a good one" that now I know what it means, I could understand the sentence if it was something like this "Don't make me reach through this monitor to slap you a good slap".
"HiTech" wants to have its BEST slaps for "simpleton" persons like me but as Nigel said, If the reaching hand gets broken?, that was me!(lol)

Robert, I think I heard you mentioned that English is your first language,can I ask where are you from really?
Are you trying to learn Korean too or you know it at the moment?

it is very good knowing more that 2 or 3 Foreign languages(capital?)
If English language is acceptable then English is the second language I am trying to learn after Arabic although I think that English is the most important
language in the world and if some one is familiar only with this language is able to solve its problems at all the world but I think every language is a door for being familiar with a culture and a civilization and when you learn it correctly and use it in the country it seems that you are born again,that is a sense I am sure I'll have when travel to an English country.

Click to expand...

AllVol · Jul 15, 2006

Pretty good, epilot.

Oh I have to say this is hard to be understood due to "lead". Lead has lot of meanings and this sentence can be understood from its previous sentence while it has no previous sentence here.But I think "lead" means "directing".
An Americanism... get the lead out means to hurry (lose the heavy weight holding one back).

The only meaning I know for dove is kind of bird but you used it as a verb too?
dove is past tense of dive, as in swimming

Oh it is not so easy to understand that the next "row" means paddle.
First row is a loud disagreement

I think sow means: Seed & disperse.
First sow is a female pig

BeeBop · Jul 15, 2006

I agree with AllVol, pretty good Epilot! Isn't English fun? You already write better than some who have English as a first language. Be careful with where and were, though. Also watch out for to too and two, and there, their and they're.

I'm from Canada, and yes English is my first language. We had to study French in school, and I wish I had kept up with it, rather than letting it slide for so many years.

I have been trying to learn Korean, but tend to 'give up' often. It is not at all like English, where the rules are loose, and pronunciations are many. In English, if you pronounce close, most will be able to understand you, or at least figure out what you are trying to say. In Korean, if you even get one word in the sentence wrong, most will not understand what you are trying to say. The culture is different, too, so I have been laughed at many times, for making even a very small mistake.

Korean uses an alphabet called Hangul, which was invented by King Sejong, just a couple of hundred years ago. It was easy to learn to read and write, and makes more phonetic sense than English. The hardest part has been listening. I still don't hear the subtlties well. The word order is different, too, with the verb at the end of the sentence. Also Korean uses honorifics, which make it very difficult.

It depends very much, on the age and social status of the people who are speaking, how they should speak to each other. If you use the wrong endings you can insult an older person, although Koreans are quite forgiving of foreigners who try to learn. Oh, and I didn't mention, that although I can read Hangul, it uses some Chinese Characters, and I only know a few of these, so at times I can't read everything.

Chinese has the same word order as English, and is easier for an English speaker to learn, but it has tones, which are tough to get. I think the Chinese Characters are one of the most beautiful written languages, but they must be learned by memory.

Japanese has a similar word order to Korean, and they use four different alphapbets. It is very hard to read Japanese.

It seems to me that the languages from South East Asia are a lot more musical and soft than the languages from the north, which tend to have a harsh sound. The cultures also seem much more open.

I learned more about Thai language and culture in a week, than I did about Korean culture in the first six months I was here. Although Thai uses tones, it has no tenses, and seems easier to listen to. Vietnamese is somewhat similar to Thai, in that it uses tones. Thai has it's own alphabet, which seems somewhat similar to Arabic, but it is written from right to left. I think Arabic is written left to right, as English is, isn't it?

I met a young boy from Mexico, here, who's father was a pilot. This young lad could speak Spanish, English, Korean and Arabic. He wrote my name in Arabic, and I thought it looked very nice.

You are so right about the language being a door to the culture. The culture also has ties to the geographic area, and it is all so interesting. When I first came here, I used chopsticks to eat rice. (Koreans also use stainless steel chopsticks, which are so much harder to use than Japanese or Chinese!) I found out, one day at lunch, that in Korea, unless you are in a Japanese or Chinese restaurant, this practice is rude. One should use a spoon to eat rice.

Another very interesting thing is Konglish. This is English, written in Hangul. Becuase there is only 'rieut' which is halfway between 'r' and 'l,' and no sound for 'f' or 'v' so they use a letter with a sound similar to 'p.' Words like pork and fork are indistinguishable. I tell Koreans they shouldn't try to say the word 'Venus' until they learn how to pronounce 'v.' (It would sound penus!)

Hope I haven't babbled on too much.

dknguyen · Jul 15, 2006

I've been told by my friends who learn Japanese that if you are a foreigner and misprounounce words in Japan, the girls laugh at you and it's a hit because they think it's cute.

HiTech · Jul 17, 2006

Only problem there is Japanese girls don't do anything for me. A blonde with a nice tan wearing a thong suit however, does!

phalanx · Jul 17, 2006

epilot said:
"the biggest problem for me when trying to write in english language is TO MAKE a correct sentence"
&
"the biggest problem for me when trying to write in english language is MAKING a correct sentence"

Here is where the English language can be very flexible. I'm not sure which sentence is technically correct but when I say them quickly in my head and think about similar sentences, I would use "making" instead of "to make". If you are speaking to someone who is fluent in English, either sentence would communicate your thoughts without any misinterpretation.

Had you not brought up the subject, you could have said either sentence and I wouldn't have thought twice about it.

-Bill

AllVol · Jul 17, 2006

According to most style books, the example "to make" would be considered awkward. The use of "making" in this context causes the sentence to flow better and promotes clearer communication.

The attachment describes that last sentence in diagrammatical fashion, showing the relationship of parts of speech and their order. This might be of use to epilot and others studying the language.

AllVol

Phasor · Jul 19, 2006

BeeBop said:
Thai has it's own alphabet, which seems somewhat similar to Arabic, but it is written from right to left. I think Arabic is written left to right, as English is, isn't it?

That is incorrect - Arabic is written right-to-left.

epilot · Jul 20, 2006

Hello friends,

Sorry for late answering,
I had to go to dentist for my teeth, I had 4 theeth for filling, there was a bit of pain with my teeth nerves too, By the way I was busy with the university, now I am getting more time again.

Ok, I am reading the last posts and try to answer them.

improving english language

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