At last. It was about time! - English-Thread #1

[These]

Mornin' everyone!

I'm sorry if there was a Topic like this already. But seeing that the QFRAT is meant to be the new Lounge I guess some new Topics won't hurt. I'd like this to be a possibility for improving one's own English-skills, so don't be afraid to ask for useful phrases etc.

All we need now is something to discuss. Soooooo....the weather, huh? Don't get me started on the weather. Yeah, I'm really starting this with some kind of weather-talk, deal with it!

How did you enjoy the summer? Any life-changing journeys, parties, festivals, concerts or dates? Looking forward to this year's fall and winter or is the end of the summer also the end of happiness for you?

EDIT: No rules! If you want to help, do it. If not, you don't have to.

[fedprod]

Nice idea methinks

I got only one thing to say about this summer: BMT!
I'm looking eagerly forward to the meeting this winter, if I can attend that is...
Hopefully I can. Can't wait to meet all the people again
New Year's Eve Party, YAY!

[drunken monkey]

If you want to help someone improve his or her their English you can do that in German, too, if it is necessary

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(Singular they)

Looking forward to this year's fall and winter or is the end of the summer also the end of happiness for you?

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You're welcome.

Nice idea, though, the thread. ^^ Let's see what's gonna become of it.

The summer was … mixed. I was ill a lot (more than in winter o_O), but also had some great events. Generally I like spring best, but try not to get down to much in the other seasons. (Not even fall … :-/)

[Valada]

(Singular they)

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Thou shalt not correct people incorrectly. "Improve they English"... doesn't your stomache hurt while talking like this? oO

[Skar]

Brain hurts, eyes are melting

This thread is wrong on so many levels it's not even funny.

Well, will stay out of it. Hurts too much.

[Valada]

Brain hurts, eyes are melting

This thread is wrong on so many levels it's not even funny.

Well, will stay out of it. Hurts too much.

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You are no help, Sir.

[Skar]

You are no help, Sir.

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No use fighting for a lost cause.

[fedprod]

Thou shalt not correct people incorrectly. "Improve they English"... doesn't your stomache hurt while talking like this? oO

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And thou shall READ what stands in the appointed Source, not nitpicking at lone Words:

Singular they is the use of the pronoun they (or its inflected forms) when plurality is not required by the context.
Singular they indicates indeterminacy in regard to:

* number — "Anyone who thinks they have been affected should contact their doctor";
* gender — "One student failed their exam."

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[Valada]

And thou shall READ what stands in the appointed Source, not nitpicking at lone Words:

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Nitpicking like the question whether "his or her" or "their" is better und using a link that on first sight doesn't seem to have to do anything with the used words? Correcting, ok! But not schoolmarmish like that, ok? Besides: In the above context "his or her" is more polite considering mistakes maken by single persons. I am no "they".

Last but not least, I don't want people to read through linguistic instructions for reconsidering such vanities. If you have something to insist, do it directly and obvious. Don't just throw a non-saying link in and let people stay in the cold.

No use fighting for a lost cause.

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No use in pointing it out either. Why not let the whelps have a little trial and error? Where's the difference in raping one's mother language or another? My eyes already have been burned out looooong ago.

[Olman]

I'm with Skar.

Why?

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It's just weird to watch people who you've seen posting in German for years suddenly talk about the weather in English.

Well, there might actually be some merit to the idea of having an English OT-Thread just for the sake of letting people try out their English.
But a thread with the purpose of letting a load of non-native-speaking people try to correct each others' English doesn't make much sense to me. And there's nothing in it for me to point all the mistakes in (for example) Valada's post - it'll just make me come off as a smartass.

[These]

I'm with Skar.


It's just weird to watch people who you've seen posting in German for years suddenly talk about the weather in English.

Well, there might actually be some merit to the idea of having an English OT-Thread just for the sake of letting people try out their English.
But a thread with the purpose of letting a load of non-native-speaking people try to correct each others' English doesn't make much sense to me. And there's nothing in it for me to point all the mistakes in (for example) Valada's post - it'll just make me come off as a smartass.

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The purpose of this thread was not to correct each other. Basically it's just another OT-Thread (albeit an OT-Thread in English). I just wanted to say that it might help some people, when their spelling-/grammar-/whatever-mistakes are pointed out and corrected. Seeing that we aren't native speakers, there is a lot of room for improvement. Just to make that sure: no one has to correct anyone in here.

I'll better change the opening post.

[fedprod]

Sorry if my previous post sounded a bit harsh.
I for myself doesn't want to appear like a smartass either,
but sometimes it gets through as I happened to had a very stern english teacher.
No hard feelings.

[Glannaragh]

It's just weird to watch people who you've seen posting in German for years suddenly talk about the weather in English.

Well, there might actually be some merit to the idea of having an English OT-Thread just for the sake of letting people try out their English.
But a thread with the purpose of letting a load of non-native-speaking people try to correct each others' English doesn't make much sense to me. And there's nothing in it for me to point all the mistakes in (for example) Valada's post - it'll just make me come off as a smartass.

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Ok, now I can understand what you mean. But I just like the idea - because I like the language and simply don't have the chance to use it every day, so I gladly take up on the opportunity - even if it's just talking about the weather . And should there be any mistakes in grammar or vocabulary, I actually hope that someone will point them out to me. One doesn't have to be a native speaker to do so, does one? None of my English teachers was, as far as I remember.
And should this thread seem so weird to you, why bother instead of simply ignore it?

[Karl]

My english expression is really bad, but if you dont mind, I would also like to post here to improve it. At least I can understand it (and well, I can use random internet phrases, horray). Please correct my grammar, if it dont make a big effort to you. Ah, and I am glad These opened this thread. In a few months I have to write my english abitur and - as said - my phrasing is terrible, english grammar is something really strange and ugly ;__; (unless 'internet memes' is the topic of this years abitur)

Well my summer... it wasnt that cool. There was BMT and a short visit to the great and powerful ex-kingdom of saxonia, but I havent used the time I got well. Heck, I can barely remember, what I've even done. But well, the visits were nice, even though the sun was on vacation too. (Oh and I trashed my theoretic driver licence exam, shortly before my trip to saxonia. Next week I repeat it... the exam not the failure... I guess)

[Icetongue]

Well hello, chaps. I do say that friendly chit-chat does indeed strike my fancy rather mightily.

As for my summer; well, it was mostly uneventful. Like a handful of others I attended the BMT, met several excellent people, a few whom I had yearned to meet for some time and generally spent some of the most enjoyable days in years. So, yeah, the BMT was the highlight of my summer. I don't get out often, is what I'm trying to say.
The end of summer is nothing I worry about, since I believe that every season has its own beauty, be it brown leaves scattering in the wind during fall or the peaceful, snow-clad landscape of winter. Actually I tend to prefer the colder seasons, since they make staying indoors that much more enjoyable, like sitting in front of the fire, drinking a cup of whichever hot beverage is available and listening to the storms raging outside. It's the small things, you know?

Btw: Drunken Monkey's correction is absolutely correct and valid. If there is no specified gender, "they" may be used instead. So "improve their english" is the way to go.

[Valada]

Actually I meant rather the opposite... (but it's typical of you to see a flame behind every corner...). I thought that you're probably well aware of the fact that your English is in fact rather bad - and thought you might be offended if someone were to point out every little mistake in your post. I was saying that I don't want to (and that nobody should) embarrass people by correcting the mistakes in their posts because it can come over as nitpicky and rude - and, let's face it, some people just don't want to be told that they're wrong.
Plus, as you saw when drunken monkey corrected These's original post, it can quickly lead to a discussion over whether the correction itself was right or not - and if that happens every time somebody corrects someone else, that would just screw up the thread.

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In this case the discussion seems to be necessary. As you mentioned it causes trouble when someone starts to correct unasked. We need to have a rule here; an agreement in which manner people can or must not react to mistakes. This should be made crystal clear before we go on because -and you're right here once again- to much correction will crush the rest of the talk.

Btw: Drunken Monkey's correction is absolutely correct and valid. If there is no specified gender, "they" may be used instead. So "improve their english" is the way to go.

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The problem was (for me) that the link looked like "they" is the word to go. I'm repeating my self... but yeah: No one should be forced to read through such instruction to unterstand what the critic was about. Especially as the link is held in english itself. Really. Do you expect someone who made a mistake to get things together by giving him a source in that language she or he so obviously hasn't mastered yet?

[Glannaragh]

Actually I meant rather the opposite... (but it's typical of you to see a flame behind every corner...). I thought that you're probably well aware of the fact that your English is in fact rather bad - and thought you might be offended if someone were to point out every little mistake in your post.

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To be honest, I got the same impression as Valada. You know, someone opens a thread to give people the opportunity to play around with a foreign language a bit an then you come in and the only comment you leave is "that's so weird". My first thought was: "What? Am I really that bad? Or why don't you just say what's wrong with the text I posted here?" Had you just said it seems strange to you that german native speakers suddenly start using English, it had been fine. You could just have been a bit more... diplomatic, you know?

Please, let's not screw this thread by pissing off each other. Should this not be of interest to people, it will vanish in the wastelands of page 2 - x anyway. Until then, give it a chance. We've got enough feuding going on with the Schlund/ Lounge - thing already .

It's the small things, you know?

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Besides, it seems quite a lot of people have been to the BMT this summer. How many of you were there, and what did you do there? I'm still a bit surprised we managed to organize a meeting of a few TES-OT people and would like to hear more about the BMT, which was obviously much bigger .

[These]

Actually I tend to prefer the colder seasons, since they make staying indoors that much more enjoyable, like sitting in front of the fire, drinking a cup of whichever hot beverage is available and listening to the storms raging outside. It's the small things, you know?.

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Man, if I had a fireplace at home I wouldn't even mind if the winter lasted a whole year. So awesome!

As to this year's summer: the 2 weeks in France were great, even though we weren't lucky with the weather and therefore had to drive 500 more kilometres to get away from the rain. Apart from that, it was nothing really spectacular. But that's probably because last year was pretty much the most amazing summer I ever had (Abitur and every party that goes with it ).

[Icetongue]

Besides, it seems quite a lot of people have been to the BMT this summer. How many of you were there, and what did you do there? I'm still a bit surprised we managed to organize a meeting of a few TES-OT people and would like to hear more about the BMT, which was obviously much bigger .

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The BMT was quite large, at least I felt so. We were surely 60 people, crowded in the youth centre, literally sleeping in every corner available. As for the things we did, there was tons of stuff to do, nearly too much since it was impossible to be a part of every single game, role-play, event, tournament and what have you. The things I remember most fondly, in no particular order, were the pony-marathon, during which every single episode of My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic was shown, by projecting it on a wall, cinema-style. One night of trash-movies sponsored by Steel, followed by re-launches of Neon Genesis Evangelion and a live-action movie of the Manga Gantz (which was astonishing, to say the least, I loved it), both brought by csg, if I remember correctly. V-King managed a small but incredibly fun tournament of the game Pac-Man Championchip Edition Deluxe, which brought maybe the most intense sensations I have ever felt when it comes to Pac-Man. Besides that, there was swordmanship-lessons, many different roleplaying games, including werewolves and pokemon, Byder's 18th birthday, several sports were played and so on. So, yeah, it was so much fun! Sleeping on the floor was absolutely worth it. Just for waking up next to Karl every morning. :3
Even though Karl tried to steal some of my underwear.

Man, if I had a fireplace at home I wouldn't even mind if the winter lasted a whole year. So awesome!

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Well, to be honest, I no longer have this particular fireplace, or any for that matter. That's back when I still lived a bit further up to the north, before I moved in order to study. You know how they say that back then everything was better? That's how I feel when I think back to that time. We had a small house, a small bit of the adjacent forest included as property, two cats, a fireplace which was actually necessary to keep us from freezing to death during winter. Sure, sometimes it was quite a pain to go outside, wade through the knee-deep snow to haul some firewood inside, which often got wet in the process or simply because of the weather. But, the result, namely sitting in front of the fire, with a cat on your lap, always was more than worth it. God, I get so nostalgic thinking about it.

[Valada]

And there's nothing in it for me to point all the mistakes in (for example) Valada's post - it'll just make me come off as a smartass.

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I'd love to believe these words came from a deeper insight. But I fear it's just a flame, isn't it? I know exactly how good
-or rather bad- my english is. So, if you find me ignorant, enlighten me! Just do all of us the favor and do it for the sake of learning and knowledge instead of slaping your all-so-mighty-overskills in other people's faces.

Back in the good old days my best friend and I used to talk english (long before the internet was available to mere mortals) on the way to school and back. She was daughter to an english teacher und finally ended up studying this horryfing language. I didn't help me to get any better but it was fun. I'm so glad no Skar or Olman came by to embarrass the two off us. It would have made us very, very sad.