Fancy a little chat in English?

[Daffodil]

The thread is a very good idea.
I'am bad in english. Last year i must return the class 11, because i can not english. Maybe mine english become better

Mind if I correct your sentence? I think this really could help you understand, where you make mistakes. Of course there's no guarantee that my version of your sentence is right, but I think my English is quite good.
Okay, so I would say:
"Last year I had to repeat the 11th grade, because my English is very bad. Maybe my English will get better"

I think you really have to get used to the language, your sentence looks as if you've just translated the german words into English which looks really weird because the senctence structure in English is different from the german one. Unfortunately I don't know exactly how it has to be because I never really learned the grammar. Okay, I admit I didn't really understand all the grammar rules when I was in school and I think I don't understand them now either. But after a time I just got used to the weird sentence structure and now I don't even have to think about it - I just write and most of the time it's right. My old teacher always said I had a really good feeling for languages

[Kleenehimbeere]

Mind if I correct your sentence? I think this really could help you understand, where you make mistakes. Of course there's no guarantee that my version of your sentence is right, but I think my English is quite good.
Okay, so I would say:
"Last year I had to repeat the 11th grade, because my English is very bad. Maybe my English will get better"

I think you really have to get used to the language, your sentence looks as if you've just translated the german words into English which looks really weird because the senctence structure in English is different from the german one. Unfortunately I don't know exactly how it has to be because I never really learned the grammar. Okay, I admit I didn't really understand all the grammar rules when I was in school and I think I don't understand them now either. But after a time I just got used to the weird sentence structure and now I don't even have to think about it - I just write and most of the time it's right. My old teacher always said I had a really good feeling for languages

Oh, i believe your sentence is better.
Yes! This is my problem. I can not the englisch grammer. I learn the gammer rules often. I can not realise the rules...

[Daffodil]

Yeah, I had the same problem in the beginning. I don't really know how I finally learned the grammar, but somehow I did.
Guess it helped a lot to read english books and to listen to english music. I always read the texts while listening to music and try to translate them into German.
In the bookshop there are a lot of books which are aligned to the reader's advancement in English - maybe you could try to read some of them. I also can recommend to repeat the exercises in your schoolbook. You sure have a workbook as well, I guess. Maybe your teacher can give you the right answers so you can check the exercises for yourself.
Or maybe you can take private lessons, where you can write texts in English and your teacher corrects them and explains you the mistakes afterwards.

[Nevis]

I use a fan-made new moon poster i´m looking forward to next january.

I guess you mean "november"! when we can read english books, then we are also able to watch the english original movie in november...for example on youtube

I hope you don't mind if I join you.

This morning I already finished the first one.

But I still don't know wether I should like it or only should be annoyed.
Of course the book was very gripping, but sometimes I think it was very slow-moving.

So I'm thinking about reading already the third one instead of the second one.

I'm afraid the topic of New Moon is too much... I don't know? Comprehensible?! Full of Bellas (really annoying) terrified thoughts that Edward left her.

I don't know if I can't get through this without throwing the book away.

So is the third book more.... thrilling? Or readable?

oh thats a pity, that you dont like the first book. i think this part is the best one from the saga . i didnt really like the third one thrilling? no not really, because the story is so predictable. i was a little bit bored with this part

@moonrise
i guess your favorite english word is "weird". isnt it?

[Basia]

Hi Mooni, that's not standard school Englisch, is it?
Have you spent some time abroad?

[Siliv]

oh thats a pity, that you dont like the first book. i think this part is the best one from the saga . i didnt really like the third one thrilling? no not really, because the story is so predictable. i was a little bit bored with this part

So, is the fourth one better?

Fact is I'm fed up with this "O my love is gone I'm so desperate"-Thing at the moment...

[Daffodil]

@moonrise
i guess your favorite english word is "weird". isnt it?

One of my favourites, yes

Hi Mooni, that's not standard school Englisch, is it?
Have you spent some time abroad?

No, I didn't spend time abroad. But it's not really standard school English, you're right. In school we learned British English, except for one year when we learned the differences between British and American English. I like American English much better than British English. Moreover I read many books and watch "Charmed" and a lot of films in English. Guess I thereby learned a lot of colloquial language. My english teacher sometimes was really annoyed because of that

[Nevis]

So, is the fourth one better?

Fact is I'm fed up with this "O my love is gone I'm so desperate"-Thing at the moment...

i didnt read the fourth one, but i will in the next month .
(by the way, what is the correct translation for "habe noch nicht gelesen, werde aber.." i still didnt read....? )

But when you dont like this "romantic" stuff, hmmm i guess you will have problems with all the books

[Daffodil]

I think I'd write "I haven't read it yet but I'll read it soon"

[Basia]

One of my favourites, yes



No, I didn't spend time abroad. But it's not really standard school English, you're right. In school we learned British English, except for one year when we learned the differences between British and American English. I like American English much better than British English. Moreover I read many books and watch "Charmed" and a lot of films in English. Guess I thereby learned a lot of colloquial language. My english teacher sometimes was really annoyed because of that :lol:

He should have been proud having such a committed pupil.
Yes, watching films is one thing, but you have to use the language as well. I mean, listening does not turn you into a good speaker out of a sudden.

I'd like to have a pen friend whose first language is English.

[Siliv]

i didnt read the fourth one, but i will in the next month .
(by the way, what is the correct translation for "habe noch nicht gelesen, werde aber.." i still didnt read....? )

But when you dont like this "romantic" stuff, hmmm i guess you will have problems with all the books

No, I'm not really addicted to this romantic thing.
I usualy read thrillers.

My cousin (13) forced me to go with her in the Twilight movie. And I sort of liked it. (Even I was with my 21 year the oldest by far.)
So I wanted to read the books to see what is "behind".

I read the partial draft of Midnightsun and was fascinatet, sometimes Edward bored me with his always the same thoughts, but it was quite good.

Unfortunatly the "usual" books are told in the perspective of Bella. And it seems as I don't like her very much.


About the translation:

I think you could say "I still didn't read..." or "I have not yet read...".
I would personally prefere the first one.

[Basia]

I'd also say: I haven't read yet
A grammatical explanation:
1. use simple past for actions in the past which are "finished".
2 use present perfect for actions in the past which are not finished and
have an impact on the present.

"I not read yet" sounds weird to me.

But natives do not stick to all grammatical rules.

[Daffodil]

He should have been proud having such a committed pupil.
Yes, watching films is one thing, but you have to use the language as well. I mean, listening does not turn you into a good speaker out of a sudden.

I'd like to have a pen friend whose first language is English.

I guess she just don't likes American English that much. But it was okay, I always got a good mark
Yeah well, speaking English is another thing. Unfortunately I don't speak English very often because there's no one I could speak English with. Although my parents understand me most of the time, they don't like it when I speak English But I often talk to my dog and my car in English - I even dreamed in English several times

[sleeping sun]

when we can read english books, then we are also able to watch the english original movie in november...for example on youtube

Oh i hope we can! Have you already watched the trailer?

I think you have to read the whole serie to understand the plot. You can´t skip the second book (but i didn´t liked the second one much, too. )

[Basia]

A lot of teachers don't like AE and other variations except BE because they were told to teach BE and were thaught BE.
But I feel that the "new generation" of English teachers is quite open minded.
After all most of us will always speak with an German accent mixed with whatever- and not BE or AE. Let's be honest. But it's never been my goal to sound like a native speaker. Beeing intellegible in English and beeing open minded is in my opinion more important than aiming to be perfect.

[Siliv]

"I not read yet" sounds weird to me.

Oh yes, I'm sorry, I forgot the "have". My fault.

[Jools]

I guess she just don't likes American English that much. But it was okay, I always got a good mark

If I may correct She doesn't like...

A lot of teachers don't like AE and other variations except BE because they were told to teach BE and were thaught BE.
But I feel that the "new generation" of English teachers is quite open minded.

I really think it's important to let the kids know there's more than just BE! I taught some 7th graders recently and we talked about snacks. They learned the word 'crisps' so I asked them if they knew the AE word for it. One pupil replied: "You don't have to tell us because our english teacher wants us to learn BE only" I was totally flabberghasted by this narrow-mindedness unglaublich:

[Daffodil]

If I may correct She doesn't like...

one of my favourite mistakes in english exams
I almost always write don't instead of doesn't even though I know it's wrong

[thunderheartwoman]

woah, since when we do have an english thread? nice.

i used to have wonderfully talented english teachers in my grammar school classes. perfect pronouncation, great accent. british english of course.

almost every teacher at my professional school can hardly speak proper english terrible german accent (a lot of "th"-mistakes) and sometimes even grammar mistakes a teacher (!) should not make.

that's sad, because i was so happy to have english lessons again ( i really like this language, though i am not perfect myself) and now i feel like i am back in 5th grade we all have a different level of english skills, but my teacher told me that the school expects us to have at least "realschul"-skills. pfff, two students never had english lessons in their lifes. some didn't had/have (? - one of the things i'll never get) lessons for almost 10 years.......

and some are just too stupid

that makes the lesson quite annoying, for the teacher and for the ones with better english. but we have to deal with that. there is no opportunity to have different classes for the ones who need some improvement.
i don't wanna sound snotty, but i sometimes i get headache by hearing several violations of the english language. esp. if people should know better.


about BE and AE: In grammar school we mostly learned BE. But the most important thing was that we stuck to one kind of english. AE was okay, as long as we didn't switch between the two.

(okay, that sentence was totally wrong. i feel it my head is confused.)

[Kleenehimbeere]

Yeah, I had the same problem in the beginning. I don't really know how I finally learned the grammar, but somehow I did.
Guess it helped a lot to read english books and to listen to english music. I always read the texts while listening to music and try to translate them into German.
In the bookshop there are a lot of books which are aligned to the reader's advancement in English - maybe you could try to read some of them. I also can recommend to repeat the exercises in your schoolbook. You sure have a workbook as well, I guess. Maybe your teacher can give you the right answers so you can check the exercises for yourself.
Or maybe you can take private lessons, where you can write texts in English and your teacher corrects them and explains you the mistakes afterwards.

Hear i habe two books in english.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher´s Stone I understand the text (kaum)
and tropical kiss von Jan coffey. I have been read few pages.
dann hatte ich keine lust mehr.(ich kann mich nicht ausdrücken

[Siliv]

Kleenehimbeere, if your English isn't that good that you can read a book fluently, just stick on it and try on! Take a dictionary (english/english would be the best) and start to read. You see it'll help.
I prognose after the half of the book it'll get easier.

[Daffodil]

I think you'll need lots of practice. Maybe it'll help to learn the vocabulary. We had a great vocabulary book in school - the "Thematischer Wortschatz" by Cornelsen.
I'm still learning new vocabulary with it

If you have a good basic vocabulary it'll be easier to understand english books. When I started learning English I barely understood the texts in the book or what my teacher was saying.

You really have to learn the vocabulary in order to understand texts. You don't need to understand everything, there are a lot of things you'll understand because of the context.
And in the beginning it can help to look unknown words up in a dictionnary.
After some time it'll get easier understanding english books.

And if you have a good basic vocabulary it'll be much easier to write in English and to be articulate.

[Kleenehimbeere]

Thank you for the hint.
I will buy this book "Thematischer Wortschatz".
At the moment i am reading "bis(s) zum Morgengrauen" after this i read the english book tropical kiss again.
I hope my english get better.

[Nevis]

I think I'd write "I haven't read it yet but I'll read it soon"

this translation sounds good. thanks!

No, I'm not really addicted to this romantic thing.
I usualy read thrillers.

My cousin (13) forced me to go with her in the Twilight movie. And I sort of liked it. (Even I was with my 21 year the oldest by far.)
So I wanted to read the books to see what is "behind".

I read the partial draft of Midnightsun and was fascinatet, sometimes Edward bored me with his always the same thoughts, but it was quite good.

Unfortunatly the "usual" books are told in the perspective of Bella. And it seems as I don't like her very much.

About the translation:

I think you could say "I still didn't read..." or "I have not yet read...".
I would personally prefere the first one.

if i am not wrong the last book is written in different perspectives, one perspective of(?) Edward, one of Bella and one of Jacob. But i am not quite sure...Maybe this book is something for you . But the romantic factor is surely in

Oh i hope we can! Have you already watched the trailer?

I think you have to read the whole serie to understand the plot. You can´t skip the second book (but i didn´t liked the second one much, too. )

Yeah of course , the trailer is cool, especially Jacob is so hot . When you want to have more information about the movie, then visit this website, there are more cool pictures about the cast....i am so crazy about that right now

I do like the second book.

[Siliv]

this translation sounds good. thanks!



if i am not wrong the last book is written in different perspectives, one perspective of(?) Edward, one of Bella and one of Jacob. But i am not quite sure...Maybe this book is something for you . But the romantic factor is surely in

In the age of, hmmm 12-15, I liked those "Freche Mädchen - Freche Bücher" very much.
They were a bit like this vampire-saga.
Romantic with lot of unnessecary monologues.

But I noticed the older I get the less I like this romatic things... maybe I'm too over the top to enjoy it without thinking that this whole thing never could be possible.

I'll try New Moon, I think I'll read through the capitels, maybe skipping a few, the same with the other two books.

Maybe I want to read them more when I actually watched the movie.

[Nevis]

In the age of, hmmm 12-15, I liked those "Freche Mädchen - Freche Bücher" very much.
They were a bit like this vampire-saga.
Romantic with lot of unnessecary monologues.

But I noticed the older I get the less I like this romatic things... maybe I'm too over the top to enjoy it without thinking that this whole thing never could be possible.

I'll try New Moon, I think I'll read through the capitels, maybe skipping a few, the same with the other two books.

Maybe I want to read them more when I actually watched the movie.

Yeah but the story is fantasy stuff and therefore its clear that its not real.
But this is exactly what i like. i know that these romantic things can hardly be possible in real life, but the dream of it, is very comforting . someone with unbelievably strength cares so much about you, what a nice imagination

[Gloriaviktoria]

I just read the last Harry Potter book again. It will probably take a while until we can manage to see the current film in cinema but somehow I had an "urge for Potter"
As the movies never can live up to the books I avoided to read "The Halfblood Prince" because I thought I might be disappointed because the movie does not resemble the book in certain scenes And I don't like "The Halfblood Prince" very much, I must admit. It is just the missing link between the other two books and not a book for itself. At least I feel like this...

I am just trying to improve my Spanish but I don't have the possibility of talking very much. So I stick to DVDs, Songs and "Ecos". There is an English version of that magazine as well, so perhaps that could be a good way of improving your skills, Kleenehimbeere? The more you practise the more you get used to the language.

[Siliv]

Yesterday evening I saw Harry Potter VI.
It was quite okay. It's been a while since I've read the book so I only remembered the really scary or significant things.
Quite a lot was changed, so it was almost a film based on its own.

I think you'll unterstand it better, if you didn't read the books, so you aren't wondering or upset about things they changed or left out.

It was same as it was in Illuminati, I liked the book really much (my kind of book ) and was slightly disappointed by the movie.
But in the other hand it was quite a good thriller.


Maybe if you go to cinema without the thought of a literature-based movie, I think you'll enjoy it.

[Kleenehimbeere]

I just read the last Harry Potter book again. It will probably take a while until we can manage to see the current film in cinema but somehow I had an "urge for Potter"
As the movies never can live up to the books I avoided to read "The Halfblood Prince" because I thought I might be disappointed because the movie does not resemble the book in certain scenes And I don't like "The Halfblood Prince" very much, I must admit. It is just the missing link between the other two books and not a book for itself. At least I feel like this...

I am just trying to improve my Spanish but I don't have the possibility of talking very much. So I stick to DVDs, Songs and "Ecos". There is an English version of that magazine as well, so perhaps that could be a good way of improving your skills, Kleenehimbeere? The more you practise the more you get used to the language.

I go in the city and then i look for the magazine by "Ecos" today. ich glaube dass "in the city" irgendwo ander hin muss...zeit vor ort...
Yesterday i bought the book "Thematischer Wortschatz Englisch".
Now i can start learning.

[Gloriaviktoria]

The english magazine is called "Spotlight"

[Basia]

the easier one is Spot on. But I don't think you should read that one. My seven graders read Spot on.
I

[Cactus]

@Kleenehimbeere: In my humble opinion one doesn't learn much by swotting grammar rules over and over. The only possibility to learn a language is to practice it in, eh, the kind of real life Such as reading books (my favorite), watching movies, listening to songs, so far for the passive skills. The more you read and hear, the more you get accustomed to it. Sometimes, after reading for several hours, I even catch myself thinking in english (even though its pretty clumsy, but i don't care, the mind is free according to that famous german song ).
And, for the reading, I wouldn't stuck to that dry stuff, reading grammar and school books. If stuff like the twilight-books is to difficult, start with something easier. I for myself started with readind Asterix comic books in english As I grew a little more confident I read a book I had already read in german before (pillars of the earth - Die Saeulen der Erde von Ken Follett). Today i read all of my books in english, cause most of the books i like are written by american or british authors and the german translations read like crap compared to the originals.
So i can also advise you to keep trying, it's worth it!! If you read the originals you will never want to touch the german editions any more, i swear!

[Nadja]

Hi beauties,
I'd like to join you as well. Where I live there aren't that many English-speaking people to chat with so this could be some kind of substitute . I hardly ever read books in German these days (except for Jacques Berndorf). I used to be with an Irish musician for several years. I think he helped me improve my English but I probably didn't learn that many new things that would help me with scientific communication . At university I obtained certificates that say I've got level C1.

[beauty007]

Some days ago, I started to watch english films. I hope my english will be better
So I am also going to wirte here in this thread every day and more times a day.

[anjuli]

I agree with Cactus. That's the same way, how I practise English.
Another way (and for me the best one) is to have the chance to live in an english-speaking country for a while.

[beauty007]

Hello!

At the moment it's a very sunny day here. How is the weather at your home?

[Trivia]

The weather is very annoying at the moment ... it is hot when the sun comes out but the wind is also blowing and it is raining every now and then and so you sweat then cool off ...

To be honest, it sucks. :leiderja:

[23306]

Here - in a village near Hannover - the sky is cloudy, but it is soo hot! I've rode bike with a friend and we sweated even if we rode in a fourd of my normal pace. The wind here is calm. The weather is very capricious this year, i think. Yesterdaay evening it was raining in buckets, 5 minutes later the sun came out and the sky went blue.

[Rosenstolz]

I go in the city and then i look for the magazine by "Ecos" today. ich glaube dass "in the city" irgendwo ander hin muss...zeit vor ort...
Yesterday i bought the book "Thematischer Wortschatz Englisch".
Now i can start learning.

Good luck! I hope you had a good start with the new book.

The english magazine is called "Spotlight"

This magazine is very good. You can nearly find it in each public library.

the easier one is Spot on. But I don't think you should read that one. My seven graders read Spot on.
I

Interesting, but this is unknown for me.

I agree with Cactus. That's the same way, how I practise English.
Another way (and for me the best one) is to have the chance to live in an english-speaking country for a while.

Anjuli, I agree with you. When it is not possible, you can watch CNN, BBC, Sky News etc. or listen BFBS etc.