English practice

[caparica007]

As this forum is in English, I don't know if this thread is adequate... Even so, many users as me might not be native speakers, so I hope some kind English native speaker soul could give us a hand here?

[LauraM]

I'm a native speaker of English, and I would be very happy to help out here.  The subforum is the place for English practice so your topic is perfect.

If you have questions or concerns about anything, ask away. Feel free to start a conversation on any topic of interest as you practice.  If you have any questions about grammar, vocabulary, etc. be sure to check out the other subforums devoted to these topics and feel free to ask your questions. 

If you like, please let us know when you started studying English and how it's going for you thus far.

[pxyc]

I'm a native English speaker as well, so if you need help with anything, or want to know if you're saying something correctly, let me know. I guess I'll start a conversation.

Do any of you like sports? What are your favorite sports to play? I like to play baseball and soccer (aka football).

[sayitwell]

OK.  Let's have a practice English conversation.  I know French, English and some Spanish though English is my native tongue.  Whoever is logged in at the time that they see your response will converse with you at that given moment.  Sound good?

[linguaholic]

Sounds great. We should probably create some more threads in this section here, so we could talk about all kind of things, like: Hobbies, Entertainment, Holidays and so on. Please also feel free to correct my English! Thank you!

[caparica007]

Yes, as I am not an English native I imagine my English structure is not perfect.

Creating some more threads would be a great idea, I'll give it a start.

[MyDigitalpoint]

I believe the great thing about this forum is that it open the opportunity to practice the different languages with native speakers, who may also correct us when we are making wrong use of grammar and spelling.

Yes! this is the goal of this forum and I really love it!

[caparica007]

True, I am just sorry that Spanish, Portuguese, French and German practice threads don't have much movement. Well, German thread has a little.

[zambothegreat]

I believe the great thing about this forum is that it opens up the opportunity to practice different languages with native speakers, who may also correct us when we are making wrong use of grammar and spelling.

Yes! This is the goal of this forum and I really love it!

Made a couple small fixes, but that's the goal of this thread, right?

[jcannon]

True, I am just sorry that Spanish, Portuguese, French and German practice threads don't have much movement. Well, German thread has a little.

To improve this post, I suggest the following fixes:

- "Well, the German thread has a little."

[NRiz]

I'm another native English speaker! If any non-native speakers want to practice having a conversation, just reply to this message! My name is Nick and I am from Baltimore, Maryland, which is in the United States. Where are you from?

[Firelily99]

I am a native speaker of English and would be glad to help out in anyway that I can.  Its commendable when someone is trying to learn another language and its not an easy thing to do.

[caparica007]

Thanks Nriz and Firelily, do correct my mistakes, I'm sure I'm making a few. I'm Portuguese and I've learned English since I was a child, but I know it's still far from perfect.

[Korsakoff]

I'm not a native speaker as well, so please bare with me. I'm learning it now for almost ten years but there are still a few things that I don't understand. I'm never sure when to use the words must and need because the word must is so similar to the German word musst and I always end up being confused. Every help is appreciated, and if you find any mistakes don't hesitate to correct me.

[linguaholic]

I am happy to see that native speakers are offering their help. This is exactly what the english lounge should be all about. Please correct as much as you can, because without people correcting mistakes, the english lounge does not make any sense, as the whole forum is in English anyway (and this part of the forum should not be mistaken as the off-topic forum :grin:)

[Firelily99]

I would never give someone a hard time for trying to learn English or any other language.  I would only hope that someone would do that for me too!

[Firelily99]

It is great that everyone wants to help the new speakers.  How else will they learn if we don't help them?  Immersion in a new language is the key to learning it.

[pandandesign]

True, never force someone or expect them to learn them language in which they don't like to learn. It is harder for them to learn it successfully. However, practice wise, the best way would be speak with those who speak the same language. Plus, reading books helps to improve your vocabulary words.

[charahome]

I'm not a native speaker as well, so please bare with me. I'm learning it now for almost ten years but there are still a few things that I don't understand. I'm never sure when to use the words must and need because the word must is so similar to the German word musst and I always end up being confused. Every help is appreciated, and if you find any mistakes don't hesitate to correct me.

Must and need have their own meaning.

Must - Verb —used to say that something is required by a rule or law

—used to say that someone should do something

—used to say that something is very likely

Need - 1need noun \ˈnēd\

: a situation in which someone or something must do or have something

: something that a person must have : something that is needed in order to live or succeed or be happy

: a strong feeling that you must have or do something

I hope this helps.

[shamzblueworld]

Is there a Britain English native here too? I'd like to practice  my english with them as I prefer that over US English. I can speak English fluently but I woud like to improve on my vocabulary and some grammer too.

[Peninha]

Nope, sorry, Portuguese, but now that you mention it, I thought that the differences between US and UK English were mainly at a spoken level. Are there many differences in the writing?

[Denis Hard]

Well. . .

There are several areas in which British and American spelling are different. The differences often come about because British English has tended to keep the spelling of words it has absorbed from other languages (e.g. French), while American English has adapted the spelling to reflect the way that the words actually sound when they're spoken.

From the same source:

British English words that end in -re  often end in -er in American English:

And

British English words ending in -our  usually end in -or in American English:

Finally

Verbs in British English that end in -yse  are always spelled -yze in American English:

But that's just the tip of the ice-berg. For more about differences [in spelling] between British English and American English read this Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences

[Litnax]

Hi all. Below is an excerpt of a book review that I intend to post in a site. I used present tense instead of past tense, so I'm hoping that native speaker members can look at it and tell me if it's good and free of grammar mistakes/awkward sentences.  :shy: (Oh and feel free to correct my post)

"I think Shaw successfully portrays Lily as more than your typical middle-aged wife in a life crisis, showing her to be a woman who is fighting her own demons mentally and physically. James, too, is not your typical charming man, as he comes across as a man who genuinely cares for Lily and seems to have a secret of his own."

[emilyrose93]

Hi Litnax,

I think the book review is perfect! I didn't notice any awkward sentences or incorrect grammar. The only thing in your overall post I would maybe change, is I think you would say "on a site", not "in a site". I hope this helps you. I plan to check back to this thread sometimes and try to help, so please feel free to post anything else you want to have checked over by a native speaker!

[Litnax]

Hi Litnax,

I think the book review is perfect! I didn't notice any awkward sentences or incorrect grammar. The only thing in your overall post I would maybe change, is I think you would say "on a site", not "in a site". I hope this helps you. I plan to check back to this thread sometimes and try to help, so please feel free to post anything else you want to have checked over by a native speaker!

Thank you so much  I'm glad that my first attempt to write a review in present tense is error-free.

"On a site" - got it. It was pretty confusing to me whether to use 'on' or 'in'.