Community Discussions
Does my sentence sound natural?
"The opposition party spread a rumor about the president to take him down from office."
with which to make
Does the following work? The device filters the water **with which to make** the soup.
“The interest rate on/of/for my savings account is 3 %.” Which preposition is correct? Thanks.
https://www.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/comments/1hymyth/the_interest_rate_onoffor_my_savings_account_is_3/
What does "suggest" mean here?
*His own party leader is* ***suggesting*** *that he's been ousted.* Does this mean the leader stated that he's been ousted?
Anyone does help me to know of my mistakes !
I was given a classic fill-in-the-gap task for verb tenses (all of them). However, after i've submitted it done, it won't let me know which ones i didn't do well. Here's the text. Thirteen-year-old Kesz Valdez (1)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (smile) as he receives his award. Today is a big day as he (2)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (just / win) the International Children’s Peace Prize for helping street children in the Philippines. However, life (3)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (always / not be) kind to Kesz. When he was just two years old, his father (4)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (force) him to work in the Cavite City dump. Life was so bad that when he was four, he (5)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (run away) from home and began living on the streets. Then, a few years later, an accident happened. While he (6)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (look for) food in a rubbish dump one night, he (7)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (fall) into a pile of burning rubbish and severely injured his arm. Things couldn't get any worse for Kesz, but fortunately, his luck started to change. A community worker called Harnin Manalaysay (8)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ him \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_(take in), (9)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (look after) him and treated his wounds. Kesz (10) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (never / know) such kindness before, and the experience changed his life. He wanted to help other street children in the same way, so, with his guardian's help, Kesz (11)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (found) an organization called Championing Community Children. Kesz and his friends (12)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (visit) underprivileged communities and talking to children about their rights for eight years now. They (13)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (give out) ‘Hope Gifts' to more than 5,000 children, which include hygiene products, clothing and toys. Since 2006, Kesz (14)\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (become) a new voice for the voiceless. “I want children in the streets to get the same chance I had,' he says. ‘My motto is: we can change the world one heart at a time.' Here all my anwsers: 1) is smiling - 2) has just won - 3) wasn't (or hasn't always been) - 4) forced - 5) ran away - 6) was looking for - 7) fell - 8= took him in (i doubt if the right one actually was "***had taken him in***") - 9) looked after - 10) had never known - 11) founded (i have my doubts on this one too, might it have been "**had founded**"? - 12) have been visiting - 13) gave out - 14) became.
“He slack off his way through the course and still managed to pass.” “He slack off through the course…” which one is correct?
https://www.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/comments/1hxh1ti/he_slack_off_his_way_through_the_course_and_still/
Is “whisper off” a noun here? Does it mean the same as whisper?
https://streamable.com/yg6go6
Could you check me ?
What daily habit is most important to you and why? My important habit is read a book for more than 30 minutes a day. The reason why I think it’s most important is because i can checking myself. I’ve been trying to look back at myself after reading a book.
I can do shadowing, but understanding
One of my daily routine is doing shadowing listening to English podcast that the hosts talk naturally about many sort of topics. It's not like a textbook-ish talking that has short and organized sentences. I've been doing it over 5 years but my listening skills still suck. But my pronunciation got better so much than before. It's like I can do shadowing well but understanding what they say. The similar happens when I watch youtube videos. I can read the subtitles and do shadowing along with it, but can't get it as a story or explanation. I have no clue how to fix this issue. Any good advice? Thank you!
An important PSA regarding improving your accent in your non-native langauge:
I see a lot of people here with unrealistic expectations of the kind of accent they will be able to develop in their non-native language. After puberty, the way we speak tends to settle, and though it may evolve as our environments change, it will most likely always be rooted in the environment in which we spent most of our adolescence. There are a few exceptions to this - very talented actors can often imitate accents so well that they fool natives, but this is a performance that requires intense concentration. (Check out American John Lithgow's uncanny performance of Winston Churchill's RP accent in The Crown!) To top it off, these are cases where the performer is simply changing the accent of their native language! I can not think of a single example of a person who speaks in a native-level accent of a language they began speaking as an adult. Face it: You will always have a foreign accent. And that's okay! Your foreign-ness is a gift, not a curse. As a Japanese learner myself, I spend hours imitating the Japanese cadence and pronunciation, and although I think I can do it quite well, I know I will never fool a Japanese person into thinking that I'm native. And I'm fine with that! There are millions of native Japanese speakers, but very few ethnically Pakeha dudes who can speak it - it's a positive point of difference! You should absolutely work on your accent in your non-native language. As you improve your accent, your clarity improves, as does your ability to instantly build a rapport with native speakers. By having excellent pronunciation, you put them at ease and you open countless doors to opportunities for positive experiences. You will never sound like a native. And that's okay! In fact it's a wonderful thing - it's a marker of your willingness to put in the hard work to learn a second language. Be proud of your foreign accent!