English conversation

[jp60]

I forgot to answer your question Elena. I'm originally from London, but my family now live in Stansted. Very convenient for the airport.

 

[Harma]

Hi Elena,I did't know the meaning of "namaste",which you put with your signature,I know it because we finish the yoga-lesson with it.....Nice !
Here it's snowing too,but there is also a little bit sun-shining..I love the sun especially in this moment(my central-heating is still broken)
I have a collection of suns,I'll send a picture...

 

[Harma]

Can somebody explain to me how to post a picture in the same place after I wrote something? Because when I leave the page to look for the foto,I loose everything I'd written....

 

[jp60]

You seem to have done it as I can see your collection of suns. They're beautiful! How long have you been collecting them for?
Does anyone else collect things?

 

[LucaXY]

What a lovely idea! I've just found this thread & I'd love to join you! Some of you have a very good level of English & I'm very impressed. I've only read the first 10 pages of the thread & my daughter is now going to kick me off the computer as she needs it to study with. But, I'll be back!

Perhaps the people who want to be corrected could say so. I don't think it's necessary to correct every little mistake, some of them are lovely & the majority of mistakes are easily understood!

Well welcome on this thread! I'm very happy you've joined us.
I thought it was a good idea to start a thread completely in English, because there have already been others thread like this but they were not ALL in English, but only generically based on school subjects.
I even think that to learn English well there is no need to correct every error you encounter, but only if you decide to undertake a thorough study.
Sometimes I make some corrections, but only for the interest of the writer and try not to repeat the mistakes.

wow..... so now we have 3 teachers!!! Great!!!
I'm Dutch and studied English at school .I've been in Italy for 37 years...and I still make a lot of mistakes, especially "tra" male and female,and that is very embarrassing sometimes..

Luca....I asked my sister about Sopa and Pipa,but she never heard about that...sorry

Luckily, I was very much against.
Sorry for the ignorance, or maybe I haven't read all the posts.
Who are the three teachers?

 

[Harma]

The three teachers are Elena,you(Luca) and now we have also jp60(native speaker) wow......

 

[LucaXY]

The three teachers are Elena,you(Luca) and now we have also jp60(native speaker) wow......

Wow! What a wonderful people! :ciglione:

 

[jp60]

Hello Luca, your English is excellent! If people continuously corrected my Italian I would never be able to say anything! However, I will give you a clue to a small mistake you have made and you can correct yourself - people is a countable noun in its plural form so where is your mistake in the sentence with people?

I'm curious to know what everyone finds difficult about learning English! A lot of people find it difficult to choose between present simple and present continuous or past simple and past continuous. Prepositions also cause a lot of trouble and so do the perfect tenses. What is your 'favourite' problem?

 

[elena_11293]

Hello Elena, nitpick originally meant to remove the eggs of lice from people's hair! A job that needed a lot of care and attention. We use it to describe someone who notices every small mistake & criticizes a lot.

Thanks for the further explanation, just interesting.

Is it snowing where you live? We woke up with more snow this morning, but it has stopped now & I hope we have seen the last of it!

I bet!
Here, we have seen only a few flakes so far, once last week and then yesterday in the evening. By morning it was all gone. I don't know why this area has been spared (so weird), but I won't complain. The problem is that also up in the mountains it didn't snow that much, this year, then the season is not going well..
However, what we'd really need here, now, is some rain. I don't even remember when it rained, last time, perhaps at the beginning of January. If you think that once Udine was known as the town where it rained the most in Italy...

I hope everyone is feeding the birds. Every morning I leave food for them outside and there are so many that come to eat.

Same in my garden, lately there're 'troops' of birds that come and go and fight for the food and the water! By the way, that's just something to remember: they need also some fresh water. These days, being so dry (and cold, then where there's water it's frozen), the first thing they do when I bring out food and water is drinking, not eating... Probably they are really thirsty.

On the topic (birds in Winter), have you seen this thread? http://forum.giardinaggio.it/animali/141457-uccellini-inverno.html

I forgot to answer your question Elena. I'm originally from London, but my family now live in Stansted. Very convenient for the airport.

Thanks for answering What brought you in Italy, JP? (again, if you feel like telling us)

Harma, I wanted to ask you that, too. Moving to another Country means a big change and not many would choose to do so, I think..

Have to go now, but will write more later

 

[elena_11293]

Hi Elena,I did't know the meaning of "namaste",which you put with your signature,I know it because we finish the yoga-lesson with it.....Nice !

glad you like it! I find it beautiful, and a powerful reminder of a deep truth. The same concept is present also in other cultures' greetings, for example in the African (Zulu) 'sawubona', 'I see you'. The author of the article I just linked about it says: "When you look into someone’s eyes and say 'I see you' that connection brings another dimension into your conversations", and I totally agree.

Here it's snowing too,but there is also a little bit sun-shining..I love the sun especially in this moment(my central-heating is still broken)
I have a collection of suns,I'll send a picture...

I also love the sun, perhaps because one of my name's roots is 'helios' ('sun' in Greek), who knows..

Your collection of suns is amazing!

Can somebody explain to me how to post a picture in the same place after I wrote something? Because when I leave the page to look for the foto,I loose everything I'd written....

As JP, I'm not sure to understand what you mean, since it seems that you managed to post a picture, then...
But if you still need some help with that, just ask us (or send a message to the moderators)

You seem to have done it as I can see your collection of suns. They're beautiful! How long have you been collecting them for?
Does anyone else collect things?

My last collection was of David Bowie's records on vinile... when the CDs era began, I quit. And have no intention to start a new one, collecting things can be pretty addicting/addictive [while writing this I had a doubt about which was the right word to use here, and found that page just about them ], so now I prefer to enjoy others' collections!

Hello Luca, your English is excellent! If people continuously corrected my Italian I would never be able to say anything! However, I will give you a clue to a small mistake you have made and you can correct yourself - people is a countable noun in its plural form so where is your mistake in the sentence with people?

When I read that line I could get it wasn't correct, but sincerely I wasn't sure how to say that... Then I searched, and found the answer (I won't post it in case Luca wanted to reply), so thank you for pointing that out, I could learn something new thanks to it

I'm curious to know what everyone finds difficult about learning English! A lot of people find it difficult to choose between present simple and present continuous or past simple and past continuous. Prepositions also cause a lot of trouble and so do the perfect tenses. What is your 'favourite' problem?

Great question, JP!
Well, I have to admit that usually I play safe, meaning that when I write I tend to use constructions/verbs/tenses that I know, but it's true that in class, when new grammar was added, there's always been some trouble... At the moment, I'd say continuous forms are difficult to me especially when I have to translate them into Italian, since there's no real equivalent for them. But prepositions, oh my, they are just challenging, yes! Phrasal verbs too. Collocation..
However, my fav problem with English is pronunciation, of words and whole sentences.. "Should I stress this syllable or not?", that's amazingly difficult, to me, but also fascinating.

 

[jp60]

I wanted to work in different countries around the world, but I met my husband in Italy... How could I leave such a great place. I miss England and my family & thanks to Ryan Air I can return every year fairly cheaply.

I agree about collections! I collect plants for the garden (I try to 'collect' (save) money, but it's very difficult!

In, at and on are perhaps the most difficult prepositions! There is often nothing to help you understand where each one is used. The good news is that even if you get them wrong, people will still understand you.
English pronuciation is impossible! 'I live in a house and I enjoy listening to live music'. If you need to check a word, you can look in a dictionary. There should be an accent before the accented syllable.

English people are often embarassed if someone makes mistakes when they are speaking English to them and don't correct them. They are embarassed because they know you have made a mistake and don't want to upset you by telling you. Of course there are a lot of stupid people who have 'no time' to help anyone, but that is becoming a worldwide problem now!

 

[LucaXY]

... I wish you an awesome San Valantine's Day!

 

[elena_11293]

... I wish you an awesome San Valantine's Day!

Thanks Luca! Happy V-Day to you too

I wanted to work in different countries around the world, but I met my husband in Italy...

I think that's just a very good reason to move abroad

I agree about collections! I collect plants for the garden (I try to 'collect' (save) money, but it's very difficult!

Ahh, so true!!

In, at and on are perhaps the most difficult prepositions!

Believe me, also 'off', 'up' and all of their siblings are not that easy to get along with...

English people are often embarassed if someone makes mistakes when they are speaking English to them and don't correct them. They are embarassed because they know you have made a mistake and don't want to upset you by telling you. Of course there are a lot of stupid people who have 'no time' to help anyone, but that is becoming a worldwide problem now!

Feel free to correct me whenever you want, I promise I won't get upset

What are your favorite plants, JP?
As for me, I do like bulbs a lot, and flowers in general, I find that those of the succulents are amazingly beautiful...

 

[Harma]

I don't have a "favourite " problem,I have a lot of problems

Hello Luca, your English is excellent! If people continuously corrected my Italian I would never be able to say anything! However, I will give you a clue to a small mistake you have made and you can correct yourself - people is a countable noun in its plural form so where is your mistake in the sentence with people?

I'm curious to know what everyone finds difficult about learning English! A lot of people find it difficult to choose between present simple and present continuous or past simple and past continuous. Prepositions also cause a lot of trouble and so do the perfect tenses. What is your 'favourite' problem?

 

[Harma]

Good night everybody.....I am so sleepy,tomorrow I will answer some of your questions..

 

[jp60]

Thanks Luca. How many roses did you give yesterday? Just one I hope k07:

Bulbs are great Elena. Little surprise packages!

I love plants with attractive leaves and giant leaves. Leaves last longer than flowers.

I love hemerocallis - day lily, geum, lilies, agapanthus and the list goes on and on.

I like 'strange' plants as well! Things like Fockea Edulis and cacti and succulents.

I try to avoid plants that need a lot of water because it's so dry here, but I fail miserably. I have plants such as Hydrangea, Alocasia and hosta in giant pots with big saucers underneath to keep them damp.

 

[belvedere]

I don't have a "favourite " problem,I have a lot of problems

Harma, me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
every things seems a big trouble for me...:muro: i should write and read every day... or however more frequently than i do it...
my first problem is i'm a perfectionist so when i've some doubt... i prefer to say nothing.... i stop myself....:storto:

about collection......
my home is a big collection: i have some sea stones and many little hand-made boxes
(my holiday memories), many paintings (my husband loves painting and he paints), and especially plants.

 

[LucaXY]

Good evening everybody!

 

[Harma]

Me too I love Hemerocallis,you know that in Florence is a gardencentre with a great collection of Hemerocallis?? Innocenti...I tried a lot of times with Hosta,but it is not so easy to grow them.I don't like too much pots but in the spring I'll try to put them in a pot...and I love erbs,and like you said the list goes on and on.....

p.s don't forget to correct me please,I'll be glad.

Thanks Luca. How many roses did you give yesterday? Just one I hope k07:

Bulbs are great Elena. Little surprise packages!

I love plants with attractive leaves and giant leaves. Leaves last longer than flowers.

I love hemerocallis - day lily, geum, lilies, agapanthus and the list goes on and on.

I like 'strange' plants as well! Things like Fockea Edulis and cacti and succulents.

I try to avoid plants that need a lot of water because it's so dry here, but I fail miserably. I have plants such as Hydrangea, Alocasia and hosta in giant pots with big saucers underneath to keep them damp.

 

[Harma]

BELVEDERE!!!!!!!!!!! We are not at school,or on the university,if we make mistakes it doesn't matter,we have 3 teachers now.....don't worry...be happy....Can you show us some painting of your husband,that will be nice!!!!

Harma, me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
every things seems a big trouble for me...:muro: i should write and read every day... or however more frequently than i do it...
my first problem is i'm a perfectionist so when i've some doubt... i prefer to say nothing.... i stop myself....:storto:

about collection......
my home is a big collection: i have some sea stones and many little hand-made boxes
(my holiday memories), many paintings (my husband loves painting and he paints), and especially plants.