Official thread to practise English (whine = punish)

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MaikelNait

#2610 hahahahaha wtf you did?

Sylph

#2609 You're right, thanks :P

#2610 What the...?! XDD

Gravewolf

#2610 I did read this letter a long while ago, however, it still makes me laugh so hard. Apparently it appears that they take such stuff way seriously. Also it reminds me of another one I found within an exam I did when I was studying in high school on my teenage years.

The mail was written in a dialect rather tough to understand for a few foreign communities in here (Spain). They sent that letter to the Barcelona's town hall (or Catalonia, I really don't remember that clearly) due to a previous post that that they wrote in Catalan for them, so it's assumable they did this one as a kind of vengeance in response.

To be honest, it was really funny to read for dudes like me who live in Andalucía.

1 respuesta
cristofolmc

Do they actually so many spare time to reply letters like this one? What a waste of public money. xD
Very funny though.

B

#2610 Master troll inside.

Top o' the morning, fellow living forms!

I happen to be sort of wasted (it's 0:23 in here, and a lucky stripling such as myself finds himself in a peculiar situation, considering I had to interrupt my degree, and now I'm fiddling... Well... can't say I'm actually loitering, but that's not our business, right? It's a long story, we'll just keep it short, mind you?), so I was considering the distinct possibility of posting here. I might as well find someone interested in my ranting and declaiming in here, or perhaps it's all a delusion powered by the effects of alcohol flowing upstream (all straight to my brain. By now it's completely soaked in this ambrosia. These fools name it "beer".). I reckon my merryandrew mien might shock several of you: that's part of the trick (or treat, I'm hearing offers). I have no heinous purpose underlying what-so-e-ve-r. I can be of some help for those who are pursuing the mastering of the delicacies of Shakespeare's tongue.

Just my own piece of advice for some of you: many of you seem to be entangled in the misty ranges of internet slang. You needn't abuse of certain forms, i.e., "lol", "wtf" or similar atrocities. It's completely counterproductive for youse, assuming you're pursuing the improvement of your English. Both listening to English language AND reading can help you in your purpose much more than writing a couple of lines-a-day in here, yet it can nevertheless help some with some "sticky" situation (so are the dreadful doubts, they "stick" to you until the Apocalypse's uprise... okay, sorry for the cheesy pun!). ALSO, discussing certain topics (even things inside the unbeknown area) forces you to improve your communicative skills. And most of the times it's not only learning new words, or reaching buddhi, but understanding how to communicate with your fellow actually.

In 'murica they have this slang use of own for a certain event, literally "to own a situation". Much more than dealing with it, since it entails the overcoming of oneself's limitations. There's no conformism intended in this, so, you must "own" the language itself. That's the only way

Just to keep my story short, and, since I commited myself already to this project... I'm currently in an outlandish outland called Aussieland (oookay, I'll cut down the puns, promised). A toppling hovel filled with [pleonasm warning] fascists and policemen (oh, and customs! Never forget those pricks... did I already say "pleonasm"?).

Have a most pleasant day the rest of you. 'Tis a good moment to hit the straw, I'm already dozing off. Hopefully I made someone in here grin, JUST a tiny bit. Just gimme that one :(

PD: I sincerely abhor English. And guess what! I'm not even speaking of the language...

PDD: Did you even know "literally" is used nowadays as a synonym of "figurative"? Think of the expression: "I literally shat my pants". You're welcome for the diarrheical image.

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B

#2615 Okay, I've just fallen in love with your written English.

Intriga

Does anybody know the meaning of "Time to head home to Winton Drive" ?

1 respuesta
B

#2617 It means "Hora de volver a mi casa en Winton Drive" (o en la avenida Winton, si lo prefieres).
"To head to" means "dirigirse hacia". Just a couple of things, if you want to be even classier (that might be out of the bush for some of you, but don't disregard learning new formulas for your personal enrichment):
You can also say "I'm heading homeward", which means "Voy de camino a casa". In English, the "-ward" component usually indicates direction, the same as in German "vorwärts" (yep, it means "forward" ). If you want to be even classier, you can say "Homeward bound" (which is also a song by Simon & Garfunkel). It means "Volviendo a casa"... that might not be proper to this context nonetheless.
Just a remark as to why "to face to" means metaphorically speaking "go to", remember that in Chinese and Japanese, the combination of the characters for "direction" and "face" indicate the destination, for instance, in a train, "in which direction is the train heading".

方 (hoo), "direction", and
面 (men), which usually means "face", or even "mask".

方面 (hoomen), "direction".

I can't think of any example in Spanish, but in Galician, the preposition "hacia" is actually "cara". See where this all is "heading"?

Hope I was of any help to you.

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cp3

#2610 lol´ed is like burst of laughing ?

Intriga

#2618 It was really useful, thanks for your multiples examples.

Where have you learnt all that expressions?

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B

#2620 By means of reading and listening to music. I don't watch TV, but it might enlighten those who are looking for something more accessible.
The more you learn about different languages, the more you learn about the languages you already speak.

#2622 I'm most grateful, yet, I beg to differ. One must keep his nose to the grindstone... Well, that's for certain. But it only takes to do as aforementioned. You start with maybe some uncomplicated books, and you'll eventually improve up to the point of reading increasingly challenging books.
Music helps you to improve if you also try to understand the meaning. Same as before, it's not the same listening to the lyrics of The Go-Betweens than perhaps, the pox-inducing utterance of Rebecca Black, 'aight? :P

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menolikeyou

#2621 With all due respect, I think it takes more than reading or listening to music to achieve such perfection in written English. And please take this as a compliment!

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garlor

#2613 "I did read" <- I read

"long while ago" <- long time ago

"Apparently" <- sobra

"way seriously" <- way too seriously

"Also it" <- it also

"as a kind of vengeance" <- as kind of a vengeance, not even sure if "a" should be used

"it was really funny to read for dudes like me" <- for dudes like me it was ... or, for the likes of me maybe,

B

how would i express "el alma nunca se empeña" im not pretty sure what would be the correct form

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D3S1GN3R

Hi, i´d like to Know which web page do you recommend to do online grammar exercises?

1 respuesta
rockfuck666

#2625 That depends on what kind of exercises are you searching for. Anyway, the best web page for me, in order to practise both grammar and communicative skills is mansioningles.com.

JuanAnthony

I´m living in Manchester since September and I think my english has improved until unsuspected limits. On the other hand, I´m really looking forward to going back to Spain.

B

Hi guys, I have a little doubt and I didn't know any other place were I can ask this. Could someone tell me what this means in spanish?

"the thiner veneer of situational casuality that underlies porn"

2 respuestas
werty

#2628 try looking up "situational casuality" in google.

My english is not that good to understand the meaning of that sentence.

B

#2628 La fina pincelada de azarosa casualidad que subyace a toda [obra] pornográfica."

"Situational casuality" implies (in a ironic sense) that all the sexual encounters in porn are produced in an unimprovised fashion. The writer is just mocking how artificial porn resembles to be, because of the way in which they interact in front of the camera (bad acting, amateurish direction, laughable scripts, squinting dorks wattering at the sight of some massive-boobed bimbos...).

(Ortography correction: it should be ·"thinner". The sentence seems incomplete too, otherwise "thinner" would make no sense there, I would go for the "thin" instead).

#2624 There's no literal translation for that. You'll have to stick to "You mustn't sell your (own) soul." Popular sayings are like in #2628 example (yeah, like sex). Judgemental statements that have been glued to a certain group's psyche and have become part of their collective perspective towards certain things (in the drive of internet slang, and as more modern example, T_D_S P_T_S. Biased ideas condensed in a... oh, so poetical way that have become part of most of us).

Note: this user does not approve T_D_S P_T_S!

I'm off, have fun!

2
MiembroPaco

Hello there! i need a little help with a video:

The left cop with a mustache and his southern speech kills me off trying to figure what does he say specifically at:

0:07: ??? vandalism, perp says it ain't him

0:40: busting you out of this joint (clear)

0:56: spray paint a wall (clear)

1:02: the ham is in the sandvich (clear)

Can you know what does he exactly says? Thanks!

#2632 yeah thanks for that, the ham is in the sandvich now makes sense xD (I've never heard "ham" before lol)

About the "robbing" i think the robber stole some stuff and finally confesses his crime by the pressure of the situation xD. I still do not understand what does he says exactly.

#2633 "writing a wall" hahaha NOW i really understand the joke of the video! All the police plan for only make a dude confess he wrote on a wall xDDD

About the first one it sounds more like "perhaps it ain't him" don't you think?

4 respuestas
cristofolmc

#2631 I think he says the ham is in the sandvich (el jamón está en el bocadillo)

WHat I don't get is that "robbing a ???" in:056 Not even the words "robbing a" Nothing xDDD

#2631 Lol how could you not have heared the word "ham" being such a basic word and having you so good english level? Curious :P

2 respuestas
K

#2631
"perhaps it wasnt him"
"busting you out of this joint"
"writing a wall"

2 respuestas
DiAbLo0o

#2631 #2632 #2633 os equivocáis en un par de cosas :P

lo que dicen es:

"perp says it ain't him" (perp = abreviación de perpetrator)

"all I did was spray paint a wall"

#2636 nope, I don't understand that part either :/

1 1 respuesta
Abby

I don't know whether someone has put this blog or not: http://elblogdelingles.blogspot.co.uk/
In my opinion is one of the best websites to learn english. Even you can find free courses of FCE, CAE...

There is also a part in the blog where people ask things like: I am living abroad and my english is not improving enough... The woman who owns the website (is english teacher) always answers analyzing individually the situation and gives useful advises.

MiembroPaco

#2634 You're right! much sense now. Just the last word, before he says vandalism it sounds to me like "montana" or something like that. Can you understand what he says?

1 respuesta
8 días después
Devilpower

Hi guys, again xDD

I'm looking to improve a little more my english, but I'm tired about the webpages like interpals and similars.

What do you recommend me?

1 respuesta
B

#2637 I would registrer in a pen-pal web and look for contacts there.

A penpal is a person who lives in another country and speaks another language (not English). The purpouse is to write letters to each other in English so you both could improve it. Also you will probably know interesting people (it's always interesting to get to know foreign people ;p)

1 respuesta
Devilpower

#2638 I know I know, interpals is a penpal webpage, but I want another webpage with the link hahah

Thank you anyway ^^

1 respuesta
B

#2639 Oh. Well I would recommend you what everyone recommend: watching shows in VO. It works quite well.

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