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Polyglossia : working on English!!! | ||
Tags: Romanian | Greek | Writing | Portuguese | Total Annihilation Challenge (TAC) | Italian | English | German | Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Jon1991 Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5358 days ago 98 posts - 126 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French, Russian | Message 9 of 61 09 January 2011 at 5:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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Polyglossia, your English seems very good. I cannot correct you on anything. You stated that your English is not improving much, could I ask you why? Maybe you need to try new methods or immerse yourself more into an English-speaking environment (I know there are many British tourists in France, especially near La Manche and Paris).
I find it fascinating how you can study so many languages as I have difficulty with learing just three - French, Spanish and Russian. Good luck to you, I know that it's a big task. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| polyglossia Senior Member FranceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5397 days ago 205 posts - 255 votes Speaks: French* | Message 10 of 61 09 January 2011 at 6:46pm | IP Logged | ||
Well... it's not easy to answer!!! Let's say that I'm using the same amount of vocabulary again and again and again... I dont read novels in English... I used to read short-stories but that's all... I have less problems with Italian or Spanish novels!! I guess that once you reached a certain level, you may feel comfortable enough to deal with everything colloquial or trivial in a language... I mean, since I can communicate in English, I'm not trying to improve my ability to write it (always simple sentences!!) and so I feel my language ability is , maybe not stepping down, but at least not what it should be right now (f.e. am I able to write in English what I wrote in french about the french language between 1800-1918??)... For the most part of it, I would say that it's basically a lack of vocabulary... and a lack of typical "english" expressions I still didnt succeed in carving in my brain, though I do understand them!! Edited by polyglossia on 09 January 2011 at 7:17pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Tournesol Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 5354 days ago 119 posts - 132 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchC1 Studies: German | Message 11 of 61 11 January 2011 at 10:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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I understand what you mean about your knowledge of English reaching a plateau once you can manage to
communicate. Like you, my big problem (in French) is writing. I only write simple sentences to keep mistakes to a minimum. I guess it's better to take the risk, make the mistake and learn from the mistake. One correction: less problems* => fewer problems This grammar point has been the subject of public debate. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2659948/Tesco-to-ditc h-ten-items-or-less-sign-after-good- grammar-campaign.html 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| polyglossia Senior Member FranceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5397 days ago 205 posts - 255 votes Speaks: French* | Message 12 of 61 12 January 2011 at 9:47am | IP Logged | ||
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Tournesol, thanks a lot for the correction!!! As a matter of fact, using "few/less" is really a problem for me... It's very difficult to cope up with this kind of "grammatical subtility"...
f.ex. : 1/I spent few hours watching this film In this case, you cant use "less" since it's nonsense... 2/ I made few errors writing this text 3/ I made less errors writing this text than last time I wrote it So, in my opinion, you should use "few" when stating an absolute statement, whereas "less" should be used while doing a comparison. What do you think ? By the way, there's also this kind of sentence: 4/ I made it in less than an hour / * I made it in few than an hour * = non grammatical sentence 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6078 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 13 of 61 12 January 2011 at 10:24am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi ployglossia!
There's a rule for that. It's not so much about the comparison as it is about the noun you're using. "less" is used for things we can't count ("non-countable nouns") less time, less money, less air, less anger, less water, less sand "few" is used for things we can count. ("countable nouns") few hours, few problems, few people, few centimeters, few kilometers When you say "I made it in less than an hour", you're making the not-so-much comparison. We don't know exactly how much time it is but we know it's less than 1 hour. If you wanted to use "few" you can say "I made it a few minutes within the hour", or "I made it in a few hours" but few has to be used for measurable time. A word on comparisons: if you use "few" with "than" then you have to use the comparative form from few, fewer, fewest --) fewer errors than last time Hope you don't mind the grammar lesson! :) EDIT: Thanks Tournesol, that's an interesting article! Edited by Sunja on 12 January 2011 at 10:55am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| polyglossia Senior Member FranceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5397 days ago 205 posts - 255 votes Speaks: French* | Message 14 of 61 12 January 2011 at 5:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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Il semble que même dans cet article, les anglais ne soient pas d'accord entre eux !! Où va t-on? :D
En tout cas, très bon article !! Merci Tournesol! Et merci à Sunja pour ses éclaircissements!! (nice paintings btw!) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6078 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 15 of 61 12 January 2011 at 6:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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que c'est beau que tu vois mes peintures ! :) Is that right for "how nice"? Au fait, qu'est ce que la différence entre peinture et tableau ?
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| polyglossia Senior Member FranceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5397 days ago 205 posts - 255 votes Speaks: French* | Message 16 of 61 12 January 2011 at 9:29pm | IP Logged | ||
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how nice : je traduirais ça par "super !" ;)
1/il a peint un tableau, il a acheté un tableau 2/sa peinture est magnifique en 2/ "peinture" est compris au sens général ("sa façon de peindre") en 1/ "tableau" est compris comme un objet en soi mais aussi: 3/j'ai acheté de la peinture pour peindre le (les murs du) salon 4/j'ai acheté des tableaux pour décorer le (les murs du) salon 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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