Re_Boot Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 how is going? my name is john and im new member at this site. I register to this site because i really love science and because i want to improve my english. Do you have some tips how i can improve my english? Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rajnish Kaushik Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 My tips are just forgot about the spellings since they can be done by pc also just take care about the placement and delivery of your words hope i helped -3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Welcome to SFN. You're doing very well, John. I made some corrections (in red) to your post; consider the following: How is it going? My name is John and I'm a new member at this site.I registered to at this site because I really love science and because i want to improve my English.Do you have some tips on how i can improve my English?Thanks in advance My tips are just forgot about the spellings since they can be done by pc also just take care about the placement and delivery of your words hope i helped Punctuation helps with understanding, too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danijel Gorupec Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Phi for All (or anyone)... can you elaborate why did you use "at" in the third line (why not "on" or "to")? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iNow Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 i want to improve my english. Do you have some tips how i can improve my english? Read, often and a lot. Read more, learn more, know more. Focus most of your energy on good authors and try to avoid poor ones. Also, write regularly and make it a priority to write correctly (in other words, ignore post #2 above) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Phi for All (or anyone)... can you elaborate why did you use "at" in the third line (why not "on" or "to")? Thanks. In this case, the verb (registered) relates to its noun (this site) as a location where you've arrived, so we use "at" as a preposition to express that relationship. We might use "to" if we wanted to express motion with regard to the noun (for instance, you could say, "I gravitated to this site because I love science"). Since you have to already be at this site to register, the motion of moving here is not implied, so "at" is a better choice. The preposition "on" is normally used to express a kind of physical contact, usually as part of a surface. However, we're using "on" to describe using certain modern tools, like being "on" your computer (without being physically on top of it, or even in contact with it), or "on" the internet, so using "on" in this context is not an incorrect choice ("I registered on this site because I really love science"). Btw, your sentence here (the one I quoted) is very well punctuated. Grammar is good, too. Another way of saying this is, "Can you elaborate on why you used 'at' in the third line?" or simply, "Why did you use 'at' in the third line?" Also, I agree with iNow, reading and writing immersion is a great way to learn a language. Being here will help because you get to read and write about something you love! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Externet Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 The spoken/hearing part is improved significantly by listening to radio and television news. Even music, with lyrics on hand. You will find English being crazy, lazy and often senseless, with no authority entity regulating/ruling it; but do not throw the towel too soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cuthber Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Just to illustrate Externet's point, I would say "I registered with this site" but, to some extent, it is a matter of choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dekan Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 And just to illustrate a further point about the dodginess of prepositions, we say: "I'm in the car" - but "I'm on the bus", or "I'm on the train". Why should that be so? In all 3 cases, the basic concept is travelling in an enclosed vehicle. So the reason for the prepositional distinction is obscure. It might be marginally possible to say "I'm in the bus", though that sounds very odd. But it would definitely not be possible to say "I'm on the car". That would convey the impression that you were sitting on the car's roof, clinging on to the roof-rack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danijel Gorupec Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 "I'm in the car" - but "I'm on the bus", or "I'm on the train". Interesting. I am just thinking out loud... maybe "on the bus/train" actually comes from "on the bus/train line". I also noticed following in the above discussion: - "why did you use 'at'..." (it sounds ok to me) - "why did you use the 'at'..." (sounds weird to me) - "why did you use the word 'at'..." (again sounds ok to me) But I actually can't understand why the word 'the' in the second example doesn't fit. Or does it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imatfaal Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Interesting. I am just thinking out loud... maybe "on the bus/train" actually comes from "on the bus/train line". Hmm - I am not sure you are right. We also would say getting into a car, but onto a bus; I think maybe it has to do with the perception of position within or upon the mode of transport, ie standing/sitting positions. The driver gets into the bus, opens the doors, and then the passengers get onto the bus I also noticed following in the above discussion: - "why did you use 'at'..." (it sounds ok to me) - "why did you use the 'at'..." (sounds weird to me) - "why did you use the word 'at'..." (again sounds ok to me) But I actually can't understand why the word 'the' in the second example doesn't fit. Or does it? Again this is more from a vague internal sense of meaning rather than strict rules; "the" as the definite article precedes nouns when there is a particular object which is being referred to and is thus being made identifiable to the reader. Unless there are two instances of a word in the sentence you are querying then there is no possibility of needing to specify a particular instance and the use of "the" sounds incorrect. The final example sounds correct because the construction "the word 'at' " makes it clear to the reader that this is a grammatical / linguistic query concerning the use of a particular word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Re_Boot Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 Thanks everyone for the help :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Sutton Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 I suggest that you look at concordances for interesting words. Here's one http://www.lextutor.ca/concordancers/concord_e.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kh112 Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 One of my coworkers learned to speak English by listening to Duran Duran! Music, TV Shows and movies (with subtitles) are all great ways to help you learn to speak English. The best way though is to speak one on one with someone willing to help you. The more you do it and have it explained to you, the better you will be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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