Sweetheart_X

Jeff , thank you for your reminding, ( Sorry SQmedia :eek!: ) . just got home to prepare dinner, I will call you soon

beyondspace

I don't think this man is a Canadian whose native language is English because his English is so bad. Nobody notes?

breakeven

Mr. Sweetheart_X, I am a Chinese. I have been learning English over 10 years. I have never heared an English speaker say " if you are interesting, ......" when they actually intended to say " if you are interested, .......". So, please do not mislead us , a group of enthusiastic English learners.

Sweetheart_X

Actually, if you would prefer an explanation regarding the details of the typographical error that you happened upon as you were perusing the message that I posted seeking a Mandarin teacher, I would be more than content to provide it to you. Given that I am a native Canadian, and that this website is predominantly Chinese, the logical course of action was for my wife to post the message for me. My wife is very talented in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English; however, since English is not her first language and she was in a rush to post this message, a small typographical error was made. If you are in doubt as to my abilities with either English or French, I would be more than happy to provide you with references to several academic journals in which my works have been published. This is relevant because these journals require perfect grammar and syntax.

Furthermore, I noticed that you made some grammatical errors in your message. As you are in Montreal, I am pleased to offer you a free correction. Hopefully, you can learn from this and your English will improve, thereby leading to a better life in Montreal.  Here are your mistakes and the relevant corrections:

For 2M:

1. “I think you should still keep learning your mother tongue no matter you are 25 or 35”.  Your meaning is not very clear here. I think that you are trying to tell me that I require another 10 years to master my mother tongue; however, the manner in which your message is conveyed is not using proper English. A better way to express your idea would be: I think that you still need another 10 years to master your mother tongue.

2. “Forget the Chinese in a few years”. This sentence is about as clear as muddy water. The literal interpretation of this sentence is that I should forget all Chinese people in a few years. I believe that your message is that I should only learn Chinese in a few years rather than now. If this is the case, here is an improved sentence conveying a similar message: You should forget learning Chinese for the moment, and perhaps try again in a few years.

For beyondspace:

1. “Nobody notes?” I believe that you are seeking validation from the other members of the board as to whether or not they notice my supposedly “poor English”. In this case, the correct sentence for you to use is “Did anyone else notice?” Good luck in Montreal.

For breakeven:

Well, I am pleased to see that you have made such a strong effort to learn English! You should really continue on this path, who knows, maybe someday you can even become a great English author! However, before that stage, let me offer you some grammatical and syntax advice:

1. “What kind of English speaker you are” While the meaning of your question is clear, you reversed the verb and the subject. The proper way to ask the question is: What kind of English speaker are you? You can apply this logic to all types of questions, for example: Are you Chinese? Are you sure that you really studied English for 10 years? What kind of person are you?

2. “I have been learning English over 10 years”. Again, the majority of your sentence is correct; however you neglected to add the word “for”; which in this case would be used to denote duration of time. In this case, your sentence should read: I have been learning English for 10 years.

Perhaps another 5 more years and you will be on your way to English authorship. If you need anyone to proofread your documents, I would be more than happy to arrange that service be provided to you.

Everyone understands that sometimes typographical errors are made, and this should not be deemed a reflection of linguistic ability.

cloudrain200

I think that my Chinese fellows are smart enough to detect your wife's English grammatical errors. They had some errors in writing since English is not their mother tongue, most of guys came here only months or a few years. Moreover, they don't have Anglophone wife or husband.

Of course, guys here are suspicious of your English language knowledge, while you were posting a language (English) exchange message. Who cares if you asked for a shopping idea? Do u think you wife  just made typographical errors? i don't think so.  Do you say " i am Canadian"? or "if i can read the Chinese newpaper" i will write" i  am a Canadian". i don't mind your wife made some errors, but she used your name to post a message for Englsih-Chinese language exchange. People like to learn good English language.  Many Anglophone are not well-educated, they  don't know how to write, do u think we should learn English from them?

Honestly, i won't learn English from you since you can't teach your wife well, even though you think your wife is very talented in English and Mandarin. If your wife is very talented in Mandarin as u said, why didn't you learn Mandarin from wife? Actually, it is none of my business. However, if you learnt Mandarin from your wife and not meet your wife's logic, you would get a hammer on your head " Do you have a brain or not"

toto_toto

Peace, peace, everyone. ..:p :p :p

It's just another opportunity to learn language and to make friends. Please don't turn it into a war ...

Airlancer

Ditto!

Cool down, guys! You guys just make this thing turn funny!

Hey Sweetheart_X, no matter if you are a native English speaker or not, you are Canadian, right?

So can you help me to improve my poor English? In exchange I can help you to speak Mandarin!

I hope we both can be good teachers! ^_^

BTW, I already sent the mail, go check out!

Sweetheart_X

There are individuals who decided to take it upon themselves to challenge my ability in English, and were interested to portray me as an individual who is interested in misleading. This is absolutely not the case. However, some people seem to be extremely closed-minded and judgmental...very quick to throw accusations of being misleading and dishonest. Is this the sign of educated individuals? Perhaps not.

Regarding your question "Do you say I am Canadian?": The answer is yes. Someone can say either "I am a Canadian" or "I am Canadian". Additionally, the fragment "If I can read the Chinese newspaper..." is also in and of itself grammatically correct. Therefore, given that you seem to have some kind of problem with these sentences, even though the English is correct, I suspect you have more a problem with me than with the syntax/grammar of my English. The balance of the errors that you seem to have issues with, as I said before, is typographical in nature. Some of the questions you asked me don't really make any sense, and therefore I cannot answer them. For example: "Who cares if you asked for a shopping idea?" Actually, I never made reference to shopping, stores, or buying anything. Please make it more clear what you are referring to. Perhaps you are trying to post something in another thread.

Furthermore, I also do not have an Anglophone wife, for if I did I would not be seeking to learn Mandarin, now would I? The term "Anglophone" refers to one who's native tongue is English, and since my wife's native tongue is Mandarin, she does not qualify as an Anglophone. I never claimed that my wife is perfectly fluent in English; however it is evident from her writings that her English is clearly better than yours. I suggest you continue to learn, and I would be more than happy to help you. Finally, in response to a question that is clearly none of your business ("why didn't you learn Mandarin from wife?"): several people (native Chinese) have agreed that for a foreigner to truly catch perfect Mandarin, two things should be followed:

1. The teacher should be from Beijing or Hubei or as close to Beijing as possible  
2. The teacher should be of the same gender as the student, to facilitate the proper pronunciation

I would suggest that you demonstrate your level of education and in the future refrain from insulting people on topics that you have a weak knowledge of. Moreover, I also suggest that you demonstrate your true character by engaging in civilized conversation, rather than childish attacks.

Learning English is an important event, as is learning Mandarin. That is why I am seeking to exchange with high-quality Mandarin speakers. In exchange, I provide high quality English. No one ever suggested that you learn English from people who cannot write or are not well-educated.

I have come here to offer a simple exchange of language; there are those who are more interested in creating disturbances or challenging me. Therefore, in order to successfully defend against challenges to my English ability, a demonstration was required.  Hopefully additional demonstrations will not be required and we can have more peaceful and civilized discussions.

Airlancer

Why Hubei?:confused:

Or you actually want to say Hebei!?

Sweetheart_X

Hmmm, I'm not sure the exact way to spell it...though generally (as far as I understand), Mandarin from closer to Beijing is more universally understood...what are your thoughts on the matter?