English language discussion room

• 2Ovo se svidja korisnicima: g0c47777, mcrule
  
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Well, it is not a pressure, on the contrary - I prefer reading e-books

I usually read Tech stuff in English, but I made an exception
@ ilovephp
Do you read e-books in English?


I am a rather slow reader because I like to be very thorough with the passages I read
I don't have favourite time for reading. Because I read e-books, every place is good for reading, but bed is the most comfortable one

Topics that I like to read are about religion, virtue, and topics regarding psychology.
E-book with the most pages I read would be The Brothers Karamazov. I read it on HTC Touch HD.

• 1Ovo se svidja korisniku: mcrule
  
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No, i am not good in english

• 4Ovo se svidja korisnicima: vasa.93, ThePhilosopher, DreamingStar, mcrule
  
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This topic came in disguise of a real challenge. But what to write about? When I first joined the Forum, I had a rather incomplete picture of what it was and what it presented. In my mind it should have been communication among people like talking in the real world. It came out things stood a bit more differently. You actually talked with yourself, showed yourself, said your opinion or expressed your feelings. So I learned this could be a valuable experience of getting to know myself better. It resulted in my popularity after the comeback. That’s why I get most likes presently. When I say something from the heart, without thinking should it be written.

Although the title says this is a discussion room, I will converse with myself. If anyone wants to join, it is all right. But I need a starting point and thus that will be the story about me. In case you care to ask any questions or make remarks, please be welcome to do so.

* * * * *

There are three things that arouse me intellectually: words, English language and stories about different cultures. In the beginning I was interested in translating books and television movies and serials. Those were nineties, times were charged with apprehension and burdens, marked by precipitous fall of accepted values. Abyss of obliteration opened its jaw wide and if you chose to stride the path that all would recognize as the right one, you had to compromise a great deal. I had a job for money and translating to feed the soul. To cut the story short, the most exciting programmes I translated proved to be different stories from National Geographic, Discovery and BBC World Service. My particular interest focused on any story about living in different cultures, whether in ancient or modern times. Some of them still hover in my remembrance.

Travelling by Indian railway is a very special treat, even if you only watch it. Winding rails that go up through mountains and lush landscapes, people on roofs of carriages in which passengers sit both on wooden benches and on the floor, eating their food from newspapers. Children carrying firmly for door posts and holders, looking amazed in front of them, smiles on their faces. The other one was on Japan’s national heritage and legal actions to preserve seven old trades among which were making silk, playing a traditional instrument, casting bells etc. BBC awarded documentary on beduins’ travels through Sahara was the story of forbearance, taciturnity and occasional human warmth on their road to camels’ market. Forty day travel throughout sand wasteland made all who saw it breathless. A must to mention here is the story about Egyptian pyramids which nowadays is kind of normal to hear during your visit to Egypt. But 16 years ago, in the second half of nineties, to say that the pyramids hadnot been built by Egyptians was sort of a blasphemy. And revolutionary, as well. The serial tried to give proof that these monuments had been erected in 11th millennium before Christ during Leo period. This had been disclosed by the body of Sphinx while the head was later replaced by a human one. The alignement of pyramids had followed Orion belt stars’ placement.

In later years I realized that I seem to have a genuine affinity for written word and now I am considering rather very serious professional engagements. I also have a very perceptive eye which combined with my writing abilities can produce interesting stories about places I visit.
Here I will try to give your short stories on sites I have already seen and some Serbian cities.

• 1Ovo se svidja korisniku: mcrule
  
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When I read this post, I was completely overwhelmed
If you are wondering what to write about, you may take a look at previous pages

I will also take an opportunity to talk in English with you about my dilemmas regarding this langauge. Corrections are welcomed

I see that you used form "learned" instead of "learnt", so do you prefer American English?

Citat:That’s why I get most likes presently.
Is there a case where you can omit a definite article here? I would say "get the most likes".


I also notice that this post is rich with words I haven't already known, e.g. "taciturnity"

• 2Ovo se svidja korisnicima: ThePhilosopher, mcrule
  
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Napisano: 07 Jun 2013 13:06

Thank you, Philosopher. I most certainly prefer British English. Learned is Past Simple Tense of to learn, while past participle can be both learned and learnt. Also, both forms are used as adjectives: learned person, learnt language.

In this case most is used as an adverb and they go without the article in the superlative.

...................................................................................

The Pristine in the Downtown

It is late afternoon, time for my stroll by the the river. I like to saunter this route and end it by waching the Ibar flow. After a long period of regular rains, some of them being very heavy, its shores are sturdy restraints but opulent, swift waters always look threatening. When I sit on stone steps my eyes are mesmerized by copious and strong water. It goes very rapidly while I try to catch the particular patch to observe. It actually talks to me, having passed the great winding where it dissipated and splashed the stones on floorbed. The shallow ripples are transparent and would hardly reach human ankle but only to regain volume right in front of me. The Ibar is extremely fast and powerful which sometimes is difficult to comprehend and certainly impossible to control during summer months when people swim or sail small canoes or big truck tires. I often think of it as a river with very strong personality that does not care about people it meets. Lush trees by its right shore, not curbed or trimmed by human hand, with dark green branches wavering loose do not calm down forceful river as they do me. When my eyes get accustomed to speed and my whole body is a friend with all the power, my look moves to placid green on the other side. The Ibar is not irritating in sounds and the whole scene is very serene after all. It will tell you interesting stories if you are a keen listener and show itself in stunning beauty although dominance is its primary feature. People are used to its command of scenery as it knows to give. In the course of summer the river is open arms bosom providing massages against stones, jacuzzi or only cooling your body heath while everything around you is almost melting . It captures the soul of the city only to nourish it.

This ardent river has become more friendly several years ago when it was gifted a promenade. Irregularly shaped but nicely cut stones in appealing colours joined by rather inconspicuous lamps beautified the town and have given it a flare of a seaside resort. It sometimes reminds me of a promenade in Palma de Mallorca, promenade by the Cathedral. The streets in the city do not resonate with clamour as people avoid to be outside. During working hours they frequently pass the alleys around Milutin, the monument of Serbian soldier, in order to have breakfast or do the errands. They spend thier breaks in cafees along the main street or around the central square where the sun clock surrounds the monument. In hot summer days this place is a nice picture as many like to sit on benches placed in a circle or have their children riding small cars. Apart from that they don’t move much. Closed country borders for about 15 years seemed to have more profound impact confining people to their own houses and buildings and the nearest surroundings. They have pursued paths within imposed boundaries and continued to devise new ones in their own inner worlds. The space they treaded was absolutly fortified never reaching the limits of human endurance. The walkway by the river opened them slightly. You cannot discern lackadaisical and leggard looks that otherwise you meet wherever you go. Indifferent or frowning faces reveal different education, sense or sensibility, constraint or embarrassed characters who talk about their everyday living, complain of local authorities and state employement. Some comment weather, ohers remember their childhood when the river had been so clear that you could have drunk its water. Rare distinct by smiling, young couples are kissing on the steps or by the water. The promenade is a guide to the inner man’s world, avenue to diversity of human nature.

Apart from this natural protector Kraljevo also has strong spiritual support. A few kilometres away is the monastery Žiča, known as red monastery or Seven Door Žiča. Founded in 13th century it served as a place to coronate the rulers. Every new sovereign would leave the church through a new door that was later sealed. Here the silence is more natural although the monastery is a living memory of human carnage being annihilated several times, surviving for 200 years without the roof. Desolate monastery buildings gladly have guests from the town as they welcome politicians, writers, actors, musicians, painters and common people. Probably the inhabitants of once one among five most beautiful cities in former Yugoslavia are ready to face glaring change.

• 4Ovo se svidja korisnicima: Dusan, vasa.93, ThePhilosopher, mcrule
  
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Veils of Mist and Mystery

It is past midnight and we are driving without lights. The city is glittering only to sharpen our senses. We can clearly see wide avenues, seemly ordered interchanges, balanced traffic levels. Grandeur of institutions, splendour of palacies, luxury of hotels dazzle us while we tune ourselves with comforting scenery. Nothing can prepare you for this encounter. You are immersed in beauty that only eyes can see and brain can’t imagine, as a poet said. The air is filled with excitement and mistery while we are entering the world of wonders and the unfathomable. The guide tells us there is no time here. He means that ten minutes in Egypt can expand to an hour in order to get us armed with patience. But often shall we think we are sharing the same roads with pharaos. All is contemporary around us but as if we are reversed in time and travel along paths that have stood still during millennia. Ancient and modern overlap here in the most natural way. Time doesn’t pass by.

Stout hand of a tradesman took vigorous hold of my arm persuading me to take a camel ride. I am reluctant, I want to know the cost first. He declines to say the price and talks of the beauty of the pyramids telling me that I simply have to capture the gist of the place. Curious camel is scanning us to see who will prevail. Huge sand plateau interspersed by highways is verving with tourists. The monuments that inspire awe and thrive for glory dwell in solitude most of time. When visitors occupy cryptic Giza they willingly pose in front of cameras. My resolve slackens and I indulge to hedonistic need to try everything new on a trip. A beam of sunlight penetrates the sleeve of the tradesman’s galabia and I embark on exploration of mere authenticity. Absorbed in quintessence of beauty I begin to realize the colossal Monument on my left side is the world’s wonder. Even without knowing that one would feel it in his gut. You can only stare and admire. This is the place to get married, it crosses my mind. They say the Pyramyd transforms all who see it and impacts a metamorphosis in people’s lives. A person should experience connection with his inner self and make a fresh start in the journey of his life. Due to climatic conditions mist is constant wrapping the site in the cloak of the mysterious, providing never ending protection of Beauty. I promise myself to return here and simply wander the roads for few days. To soak the body in the gorgeous and sit in silence.

However the daylight reveals another side of Al Cahira. It is Friday, the day of Great Prayer when many do not go to work and the streets are devoid of crowds, traffic jams and regular chaos. Through the window I behold The City of the Dead. Living in the cemetery is cheap, practical and possible. Several million people reside among graves using the tombs as shelves, tables and working surfaces. Electricity is being provided from the roofs of nearby mosques. Water supply is a major problem like elsewhere in the megalopolis. Nevertheless you can see laundry and clothing hanging from cords. In the other quarters residential buildings have been left unfinished in order to avoid paying bills. Windows are missing while flat roofs serve to keep goats and poultry or for garbage disposal. All of a sudden my lips smile. As if we are driving through a Yugoslav town. Skyscrapers built by our engineers come into view. The air is thick with spirit of non-alignment, respect for Tito and our builders is present everywhere. I can’t help feeling warmth in my heart remembering those days. Discord between Islamic dominant architecture and other ways of construction is eye-striking and somewhere irrestistible. It tells you of ingenuity of leaders who have always borne in mind they had to provide homes for ever increasing number of people. Nowadays Cairo is said to have over 25 million inhabitants. You get used to see poverty wherever you look. Shacks and palacies stand by one another in the most natural way without disturbing the scene. Emotions blend in confusion. Admiration, reverence and delight are pushed aside by disquiet and distress, grief and even pain. You are either speechless seeing all the beauty or struck dumb by indigence and woe.

Although it is Friday there are quarters teaming with people like a bee-hives. They resemble swarms humming loudly only to feature rustle and bustle of trade centres. The most tumultuous among them is Khan el-Khalili bursting with tourists in light dusk. Parking lot is crammed with buses from all over the world. Young man is proposing: “Will you marry me?” “No”, I answer with a smile. He continues to follow us: “Where do you come from?” We manage to escape while some girls find this amusing and enter conversation. The alleys are very narrow and every turn left or right leads to another maze of bystreets that look like corridors. After three turns you won’t be able to go back the same way. Labyrinth is actual giving you unpleasant feeling while it is getting dark and the only light comes from within the shops. We come across a tea-house and rest there to observe the crowd. Just like in Piazza del Marco in Venice this is the venue that captivates the essence of wholeness. Coming from throughout the globe people congregate in one place, smile at each other, talk, silently look around. Tranquility in the clamour in the most famous bazaar in Cairo, traditional shopping mall, whole world in one spot. The day ends quietly removing fatigue, we drink mint tea and head towards buses.

Late that night, I stroll among hotel gardens and pass by the gate of the hotel area. In front of me is thoroughfare, freeway that connects Cairo to Alexandria. Air is dry and full of oriental scent, the scene resembles pages from Alexandria Quartet. I think of the pyramids obscured by fog, jovial Egyptians and lively polichrony of Egypt’s capital. All is right and as it should be.

• 7Ovo se svidja korisnicima: mcrule, g0c47777, _Sale, ThePhilosopher, Neprimetna, bluewortex, srecko81
  
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I have been in London for a 7 days, so I would like to share my impression with you. Regardless what I don’t speak English enough good ( I'm shwam for foreign languages)I had good conversation and ....what is most important...everybody understood me...
My friends invited me to spend some time with them, and it was excellent chance to see everything what is interesting for me. I visited many places such as: London eye (I have driven on London eye), Big Ban, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham palace, Tower bridge,( I have cruised on Thames), Oxford street, Nothing Hill, Hyde park, Piccadilly circus, Trafalgar sguare, Covent garden...etc.
I visited museum Madam Tussauds and I was in the Novello theatre and saw Mamma Mia. In London I traveled usually by undergroudn and taxi.

I realized that there people are drinking too much and I couldn’t folow them in drinking. . It wasn’t possible. Also they mix different kind of drinks. And.... what is most interesting that usually thay didn’t drunk.
I tried different kind meals and drinks, and I have to tell that is London most of beautiful town that I ever seen.
I’m alive to ....that my English isn’t good, but I haven’t any complex from that and I would like to chat here, because it is excellent chance that I (and we) upgrade English language.

Now, I’m waiting for Fil or Bluewortex to correct mistake what I made in this text...

p.s. it wasn't easy to write after Silija who speak English fluently.

• 5Ovo se svidja korisnicima: ThePhilosopher, mcrule, Neprimetna, bluewortex, srecko81
  
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Thank you mcrule

I have already told, that I don’t mind what other mean. It doesn’t matter. Every suggestion is good. I will it accept.

Previous text I wrote without dictionary or any help. Some mistake... for example they or underground was ''random '' mistake, I was fast, but ''word order'' is really my problem, like as many others thinks ....

(I must remind you,.... everything on this topic must be on English )

I will waiting for more correction....(including this text)....

• 5Ovo se svidja korisnicima: mcrule, Sagacity, Dusan, bluewortex, srecko81
  
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I very much enjoyed the message written by Saga.
I have read and understood it, in one go, with comprehension, without doubt of word or sentence meaning.
It has been written according to Vuk, if not in the lettering, then in sentence construction. : -*

• 8Ovo se svidja korisnicima: Neprimetna, Gama, bluewortex, ThePhilosopher, Sagacity, srecko81, g0c47777, mcrule
  
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@mcrule you should have written in English as it has been suggested at the beginning of the topic. I agree with @Neprimetna that @Sagacity's post is undoubtedly understandable. I liked it as well because it was pretty well written and coherent in terms of the order of events. It is evident that the author has followed her own thoughts and managed to express them unambiguously in a written form. Even though there are grammar mistakes, I don't mind them if the message is clearly conveyed as is the case here. I won't correct @Sagacity's text word by word, but will rather give a rewritten version with corrections and in a way that would sound most natural in English:

Citat:I have been in London for a 7 days, so I would like to share my impression with you. Regardless what I don’t speak English enough good ( I'm shwam for foreign languages)I had good conversation and ....what is most important...everybody understood me...
My friends invited me to spend some time with them, and it was excellent chance to see everything what is interesting for me. I visited many places such as: London eye (I have driven on London eye), Big Ban, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham palace, Tower bridge,( I have cruised on Thames), Oxford street, Nothing Hill, Hyde park, Piccadilly circus, Trafalgar sguare, Covent garden...etc.
I visited museum Madam Tussauds and I was in the Novello theatre and saw Mamma Mia. In London I traveled usually by undergroudn and taxi.

I realized that there people are drinking too much and I couldn’t folow them in drinking. Laughing . It wasn’t possible. Also they mix different kind of drinks. And.... what is most interesting that usually thay didn’t drunk.
I tried different kind meals and drinks, and I have to tell that is London most of beautiful town that I ever seen.
I’m alive to ....that my English isn’t good, but I haven’t any complex from that and I would like to chat here, because it is excellent chance that I (and we) upgrade English language.

Now, I’m waiting for Fil or Bluewortex to correct mistake what I made in this text...

p.s. it wasn't easy to write after Silija who speak English fluently

I have been in London for 7 days, so I would like to share my impressions with you. Regardless of the fact that I don’t speak English well enough (I’m not good at foreign languages) I had good conversations and ....what was most important...everybody understood me...
My friends invited me to spend some time with them, and it was an excellent chance to see everything that was interesting to me. I visited many places such as: the London Eye (I took a ride on the London Eye), Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, (I cruised along the Thames), Oxford Street, Notting Hill, Hyde Park, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden...etc.
I visited Madam Tussauds museum and I was in the Novello Theatre and saw Mamma Mia. In London I usually traveled by underground or taxi.

I realized that people were drinking too much there and I couldn’t follow them in drinking. It wasn’t possible. Also they mixed different kinds of drinks. And.... what was most interesting, they wouldn’t get drunk.
I tried different kinds of meals and drinks, and I have to tell that London is the most beautiful city (that) I have ever seen.
I’m aware that .... my English isn’t good, but I don’t have any complex about that and I would like to chat here, because it is an excellent chance for me (and all of us) to improve English language.

Now, I’m waiting for Fil or Bluewortex to correct any mistakes I might have made in this text...

P. S. It wasn’t easy to write after Silija who speaks English fluently.


A couple of explanations:

1) shwam has a very negative connotation, even rude or swearing urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shwam&page=2 so I wouldn't use that word. If you have picked it up in England, ok then, the dictionary might be outdated.

2) I have changed tenses in some places, simply because they sound more natural in English. Present Perfect (e.g. I have been in London...) is used when you mention an event for the first time. The moment you introduce WHEN it happend, you go on with Past Simple (e.g. I had good conversations...)

3) There are some constructions that express the desired meaning better than the literal translation. E.g. usually thay didn't drunk sounds better with they usually WOULDN'T get drunk. Would/wouldn't used in the past, expresses past habit (so you can omit the word USUALLY).

4) When reporting past events (by describing some actions after verbs such as: realize, say, understand, ask, explain) the sequence of tenses is necessary. All you want to say goes one tense back, e.g. Present Simple becomes Past Simple, Past Simple becomes Past Perfect and so on.

P. S. I hope I haven't discouraged you with my comments. As I have already mentioned, if the message is clear to everyone, regardless of grammar mistakes, you've got to the point.

All in all, keep up the good work.