please, help me to improve my english.

lili

it will be a secret for nobody, i'm nulle in english.
so, if some of you could waste a little of their time to help me, would be great:)

my prob is that i think in french, so, my english grammar is horrible!
what would be nice, it's someone correct my sentences which are thought in french, like that, i would be able to see what's wrong in my way to formulate my mind.

thank you:)

Beruthiel

this is not a personal issue lili
I believe this thread would be better off in the English Languages section, so I'm moving it over there
B

lili

ok beruthiel:)

Beruthiel

also
if you live in Ireland perhaps you could find yourself an english speaking boyfriend/girlfriend, that's a very good way to learn a language
bon chance

lili

never been in ireland, but i will one day:)
as for live there, brrrrrrrrrrr, too cold, i need at least 30 degrees in summer;)

seamus

Many people who are not native english speakers, tend to speak english the way you do lili. Even Irish/Gaelic has a grammar structure similar to French. So don't be too self-conscious about it, as people will still understand you.

There are many ways to say what you said in your first post, and it doesn't require much correction, but I'll highlight a few corrections.

For the record, your vocabulary seems excellent.

Originally posted by lili
it will be a secret to nobody, that i'm poor with english.
so, if some of you could waste* a little of your time helping me, that would be great:)

my prob is that i think in french, so, my english grammar is horrible!
It would be nice, if someone could correct my sentences, which are thought of in french, like that**, then i would be able to see what's wrong with the way I formulate them in my mind.

thank you:)

*'waste' here implies that we would not enjoy helping you 'Spend' may be more apt here.
**This is correct, but a full stop may be useful after 'like that', to break up the sentence.

This is just my interpretation of what you were trying to say. Others may have corrected it diffrerently.

lili

well, i used the word "waste" cause i guess it might be already difficult to read me and more to correct me.
then, i shouldn't use "like that"?
hmm... will be difficult for me to not use it.

actually, i see i don't use enough those little 2 words letters stuck to the verbs, i think it's the most difficult for me to get.

seamus

Originally posted by lili

then, i shouldn't use "like that"?

"Like that" is fine to use. But if you had inserted a full stop (period) '.' after 'like that', the sentence would be more readable.

hedgetrimmer

I take it that you are you based in France, Lille. But if you are in Belgium, there are a huge amount of Irish people and other English speaking nationalities here (me included) that would be only too happy to help

lili

that's nice of you both guys:)
i'm sure i would be able to speak an acceptable english soon.
actualy, i read so often my own posts to be sure i didn't make too much mistakes, that my mind is completly formated by my bad english.
i think i gonna read your posts several times, you know, to get some automatisms.

Havelock

lili: To be honest your english is better than most Dubliner's. Thats not flattery, just a horrible fact. We can understand you well enought notre amie.

that's nice of you both guys
i'm sure i (would)* be able to speak an acceptable english soon.
actualy, i read (so often my own posts)** to be sure i didn't make too (much)*** mistakes, (that my mind is completly formated by my bad english.)****
i think i gonna read your posts several times, you know, to get some automatisms.

*will is the correct term here.
** sentence should read: I read my own posts so often
***many is the correct term here
**** I admit I have a problem with this sentence. Did you mean dominated by, instead of formatted by?

Sorry if i seem a little direct in my approach.

lili

i must admit i'm not complaining about the irish people, IMO they are more well educated than some americans.
i have been involved into politics topics with americans, not here, in another site and i think i might be aware of all of sort of english insults:D

i didn't know that english language was that differente than english language. i learnt that here:)

formated : i meant my perception of english was deform by the fact that i read and read again my own posts to be certain to not be wrong.
(there is a lot of "to" in this last sentence, i smell i'm not right, isn't it?:))

ColinM

I think that achieving fluency in a language is an asymptotic process. What I mean is that the better you get at a language, the smaller the improvements become as you progress further. You can get to a point where you can pass for a native speaker in something approaching 100% of the time, but never quite all the time. There will always be some subtle error that you make that will give you away.

I would say that you are at the stage where you can still make significant improvements while you remain in France, but soon you will need to immerse yourself in a situation where you would need to speak English all the time if you wish to progress further. Once you start to dream in English and begin to forget some basic French words, you will know that you can consider yourself to be fluent to some degree.

Here is a tip for you that you may not have noticed: I have found that there are a great many long words (of about 8 letters or more) in English and French that share the same stem or are identical apart from pronunciation - for example: conversation. I used to often impress French people with my large vocabulary by guessing at words using this method rather than fumbling with a dictionary!

seamus

A lot of Irish people have a very poor grasp of the english language, and some mistakes are so common that they are accepted as part of the local dialect, in some parts of the country. Such is the case for many dialects though I suppose.

Originally posted by lili
i must admit i'm not complaining about the irish people, IMO they are (more well)* educated than some americans.
i have been involved in politics topics with americans, not here, at another site and i think i might be aware of all of sorts of english insults:D

(i didn't know that english language was that differente than english language. i learnt that here:))**

formated : i meant my perception of english was (deform)*** by the fact that i read and read again my own posts to be certain (to not be wrong)****.
(there is a lot of "to" in this last sentence, i smell i'm not right, isn't it?:))

* A common mistake. This is where English's irregular nature gets confusing. 'better' is the word you are looking for here.
** I think I know what you're trying to say here, but I can't come up with another way to say it.
*** 'Deformed' could be used here, but 'distorted' is a more correct and common term.
**** This makes sense, but is gramatically incorrect. "that I was not wrong" or "that I was correct" would be more appropriate.

lili

hell! i have nomore time to answer. i spent to much time today on the net:eek:
i will try to come back this evening or tomorrow.
thank you to all of you, see you:)

lili

Originally posted by ColinM
I think that achieving fluency in a language is an asymptotic process. What I mean is that the better you get at a language, the smaller the improvements become as you progress further. You can get to a point where you can pass for a native speaker in something approaching 100% of the time, but never quite all the time. There will always be some subtle error that you make that will give you away.

I would say that you are at the stage where you can still make significant improvements while you remain in France, but soon you will need to immerse yourself in a situation where you would need to speak English all the time if you wish to progress further. Once you start to dream in English and begin to forget some basic French words, you will know that you can consider yourself to be fluent to some degree.

Here is a tip for you that you may not have noticed: I have found that there are a great many long words (of about 8 letters or more) in English and French that share the same stem or are identical apart from pronunciation - for example: conversation. I used to often impress French people with my large vocabulary by guessing at words using this method rather than fumbling with a dictionary!

happened to me to use english word instead french one when i speak french:eek:
(in this sentence, i'm not sure of the "to use" maybe it's "using". i think i need an explanation about it, do i have to use the infinitive form or the form with "ing"?)

you're right when you say that an english speaker, even if he can speak fluently french, would be caught cause little mistakes. for example the gender of names:)

i must admit that i don't watch often my dictionary, sometimes i use the french word, cause anytime i look at a word, it's often the same word.

you know what? i'm almost sure i didn't make mistakes in this post:)

lili

i have a serious doubt on what i wrote in the title now.
maybe it's : please, help me improving my english.

Praetorian

i have a serious doubt on what i wrote in the title now

Please, help me to improve my English is correct.

lili

what i would like to know is why i must say :
"help me to improve my english"
and not :
"some of you could spend a little of your time to help me...."

do you see my prob? i would like to know when i have to use the form with "ing".

lili

i think maybe a french speaker could explain it to me. cause in french, we use the infinitive in the both cases.

pickarooney

It's very hard to explain the difference, you kind of have to feel it, but it's probably a passive/active thing.

Help me to improve my English (active)
I want you to improve your English (active)
I see you washing your car (passive)
I helped you to clean the car (active)
Look at him eating his dinner (passive)
Tell him to eat his dinner (active)

lili

it's my prob with english, i can't feel it. i need rules like in french or german:)

picka, i know you don't have time to spend on the net, but if you could write french sentences to translate, i would see if i got your theory on this question.