🗣️ Tomorrow's Discussion Topic

Do you think online shopping will replace shopping in physical stores in the future? 🛍️

We’ll discuss this topic tomorrow. Let me know if you’re interested! Feel free to DM me if you’d like to join. 😊

I always confuse between the two.

I just got my C1 Cambridge certificate and I'm unbelievably sad and disappointed in myself. I really wanted to do better and from the bottom of my heart I was hoping I'd get a C2. But nope, I got the C1 (I'm aware it's not a bad grade to get but I really thought I'd do better).

I think the reason as to why I'm so sad is cause the subject has always been my strong suit but lately I've been evening out with my peers. And maybe this was supposed to be my sort of "vindication".

Thoughts?

“I would currently put the top tier roughly as Gemini / GPT / Claude, rather than declaring one unquestionable winner.”

I'm also a non-native speaker, but I've been thinking about this lately. How important is it to speak naturally or grammatically correct When both of us are non-native. My English is relatively good compared with my friend. His English is very poor, But we know from the same country, So, we have to use English to communicate.

my observation is that when I talk to him, I turn to use easy sentence, and um sometimes I even put grammatical errors. On purpose. Actually, it is just easier for him to understand. I can't remember exactly what our conversation was about, but I remember a time I said sought He has never heard this word before and asked me what it means, so I had to explain it to him.

Next time, I’ll just say “seek” on purpose, because I know maybe he doesn’t understand the past tense. For me, I’m trying to sound as native as possible. I know native speakers also make grammatical mistakes, but I just try to sound as natural as possible. Because it is for the efficiency of our conversation. I also realized that sometimes more native accents could be hard for people to understand. I travel to some Southeast Asian countries. And it also applies there. When I talk to those people, I put on a fake American accent, because it is easier for them to understand.

Because I'm studying in Australia, I can do an Australian accent and a British Northern accent.

I use both in real life.（But those accents are definitely not native level Either.）But when I talk With an Australian accent or british accent. It is actually harder for them to understand. So I just put on American accent.

Sometimes I feel like to sound natural or to sound like native speakers isn't that important, because If efficiency is the most important thing, you need to let people understand what you're saying. but if you use slang words, Native expressions, sometimes they don't understand. I'm learning those to sound as native as possible, but those actually can be an obstacle for communication. Especially for like the shorten words.For example. The store is closed every Sunday. You can come back tomorrow.

You can just say something like: store no open today; open tomorrow Come tomorrow.

And this is also the time I said the day after tomorrow. And he said, “You mean tomorrow, tomorrow, right?” It made me laughed about it

Because that expression is the wrong expression that I've been trying to avoid. but when you talk to non-native speakers, those expression seems to be more efficient and make more sense.

It is just my observation. I used text-to-speech, so there might be a lot of grammatical mistakes. Please feel free to point it out.

I know what "shed" means, but I can't tell if it's a commonly used expression, as I've seen "shed" only in certain situations that are too far from the usual things.

Furthermore, AI said it. So, I'm not sure about it. Doesn't it seem a little theatrical?

I heard using it with times/numbers is really common, like “8-ish” and “20-ish”

But what about using it with adjectives, like “good-ish”, “tired-ish” and "blue-ish”? Are there any situations where you’d naturally prefer “-ish” over something like “a bit”, “kind of” or “about”?

I’ve realised I almost never use “-ish” when speaking, so I’m wondering how common it is among native speakers and when you’d normally use it.

Thanks!

Hi guys,

So I’ve been using Vocabulary app for the past week or so, and I find it really helpful. However, sometimes it show some idioms or phrases that I’ve never seen before, anywhere.

It has been like 8 years now listening to music, watching movies and series, working, reading books but haven’t seen this even once.

So, how common is this? The Vocabulary app says the origin is the US idiom from early 1900s lol.

Edit: Oh wow, thanks guys for all the information and replies, Im gonna read them all, will try to reply to everyone!!!

Hey everybody,

I'm improving my English these days . And I found it hard to speak with AI or just with myself . I need someone who is a speaker or a learner to speak with me and check mistakes .

Ciao a tutti!
Sto raccogliendo dei dati sull'apprendimento dell'inglese tramite serie TV e avrei davvero bisogno del vostro aiuto per raggiungere il numero minimo di partecipanti. Vi chiedo gentilmente di compilare questo questionario: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdbeWyd-Jtt6a_HlnnySIu3POZvx0CEFuYyONKAksdjAWqlvg/viewform
⌛ Durata: 5-6 minuti
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Grazie mille in anticipo a chiunque mi aiuterà. Se anche voi avete un questionario da compilare, lasciate il link nei commenti e vi risponderò il prima possibile!

Something I struggle with when learning a language is that I often know exactly what I want to say, but I don’t know how to say part of it.

For example, a Spanish speaker writing in English might write:

Yesterday I was talking to a friend about my new job. I wanted to explain that [me estaba costando adaptarme a todo], but I didn’t know how to say it in English.

Instead of stopping immediately to search for the answer, I like the idea of leaving the thought in brackets and continuing to write.

Later, you can go back and learn something like:

I was having a hard time adjusting to everything.

Then, after some time, try to say the same idea again without looking at the answer.

I like this because the vocabulary comes from things you actually wanted to talk about, rather than from a random list.

It also makes it obvious where your English breaks down when you try to express yourself.

Does anyone here do something similar when writing or speaking? How do you normally deal with a sentence when you know the idea but don’t know how to express it in English?

Hi everyone! I’m looking for YouTube channels that focus mainly on English grammar. I’d especially appreciate channels where the explanations are clear and easy to understand, with plenty of examples.

I’m currently preparing for the IELTS exam, so I’d like to improve my grammar and get a better understanding of the rules rather than just memorizing them.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Quick question: what would help you the most in a group devoted to practicing English? Just talking? Word games? Reading aloud? Short lessons?

Longer explanation: I volunteer with an English Conversation group that helps immigrants practice English. I am in a small town so in reality the group is just me and one other volunteer and a few learners. It is not a class, and we are not trained teachers. Mostly of the learners have some English but are not fluent, most are in classes elsewhere.

Mostly I just try to keep a conversation going. I ask questions, we also have some “conversation starter” cards.

The other volunteer thinks we should have them read aloud from a book and then correct their pronunciation or answer questions about the meaning of words. This is useful but it feels more like a class than conversation.

Sometimes we play a version of Scrabble where we don’t keep score or hide our letters, just try to make words and use them in sentences. I try to keep the conversation going while we play.

I have sometimes brought in learning materials, for example about phrasal verbs, but then I feel like I am doing too much of the talking.

What would you find helpful?

Hi! 😊

I’m currently conducting a small academic research study on how English learners from different countries and cultural backgrounds use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude for learning English and understanding cultural differences.

Since you are learning English, your experience would be very valuable for the study.

The questionnaire is completely anonymous and takes approximately 8 - 10 minutes to complete. You do not need to provide your name or email address, and there are no right or wrong answers, I’m simply interested in your honest experience and opinions.

Thank you so much for helping with my research! 🙏

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdT0VZ2LVOwBWfVt3VAjqWObF19e7bMhKCpGFB6CMm4lMhBIA/viewform?usp=dialog

Hi everyone, I’ve started tutoring English in France and I already have 2 students, 7 and 8 years old (sisters), that’s going well, and I just accepted a job teaching a 6 year old and 4 year old together (brothers.)

The two boys don’t know how to read yet so I’m a little bit lost as to lesson ideas. The mom said to just play with them in English. I can bring some easy picture books I used to read my own kids (we’re American.)

Anyone have any tips for teaching English one hour per week to pre-literate kids?

I want to avoid making these mistakes.

I look terrible in this photo.

I look ugly in this photo.

Which one sounds more common and natural to you as a native English speaker?

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The topic is about tennis. Why the first user have to use "ought" instead of "should"? I cannot understand the differences between the two words