Helping lads learn English

>>70348727
Very nice channel, Subscribed :)

>>70348837

Cheers mate!

If you have any content you'd like to see/be interested in let me know.

Or any questions right now regarding English.

File: Boruta.jpg (608KB, 768x998px) Image search: [Google]

608KB, 768x998px

&^(^&UYUUT^&*^&????

File: 1456923482742.jpg (40KB, 657x527px) Image search: [Google]

40KB, 657x527px

What can I do daily to improve my English? I want to go from B1 to C1.

I've been reading books but I'm stagnated; I may learn new words everyday but that's it. pls help

I have a Masters degree in English Language and Literature from Oxford Univerty.

I now work in gaming.

>>70349008
Watch movies and read books.

>>70349008

Listen to audiobooks and follow along while reading the ebook version of the same book at the same time.

>>70349008

italki.com - Find a cheap English tutor if you can. If you do not have money for a tutor there are many people who will be happy to language exchange.

For example offer someone 30mins Portuguese for 30mins English. Find 2 or 3 partners and try speak for one hour to someone every day.

Attempt to pick subjects which are difficult to talk about. Such as politics, culture and philosophy. It will be very very difficult at first but after about 2-4 weeks your English ability will improve. Regular speaking practice is pretty much the most important thing when it comes to learning a language.

Your video needs to be louder you faggy quid.

>>70349076
>plsnobully

>>70349223

Will increase volume in future Obewembe

>>70349171

This method is decent however I seriously think it would be a lot more productive to just find a language exchange partner. People really underestimate how powerful it is just to speak 3-4 times a week.

File: me_on_the_left.jpg (43KB, 911x569px) Image search: [Google]

43KB, 911x569px

>lisp

>>70348727
Peng ting

>>70351680
cheeky

File: 1468626977640.jpg (61KB, 1000x800px)

61KB, 1000x800px

>>70348727
I'm not planning on visiting the UK soon and couldn't care less about ever going there, but this is a very interesting thread OP. Nice vids btw

>>70348727
i like when you guys say cheeky

>>70351842
I like it when you guys honor your free trade agreements and don't fall for populist agriculture protectionism

>>70351680

bless senpai
she is calm still

>>70351837

Cheers mate! I know it isn't for everyone but was hoping at least a few people would be able to learn a thing or two.

teach me how to get excepted in /brit/

>>70352108
*accepted

>>70348727
You should get a louder mic or speak louder.

>>70352108

Convert to islam or spend your days complaining about how Maggie Thatcher ruined the North

>>70352179
Thanks I'm sorry about that. I actually have a really good mic but I must have kept the volume down while recording. I'll keep that in mind as it's something a few people have mentioned.

>>70351957

I like it when I get to live through a global reactionary movement and am still relatively assured we will emerge on the other side STILL not talking about labor rights

Don't know if you're still around, but soon I'll be sitting my Cambridge proficiency exam and right now my main worry is that my vocabulary is lackluster at best for such a task, although I got praised even by my teacher for having a very diverse...vocabulary.

I really don't know if it's really all in my head and my issue lies in the amount of confidence I don't actually possess, or I really have a lackluster lexicon; what do you think I am supposed to do? I mean I've tried to do previous subjects and I were doing just fine, it's just that I don't see myself prepared for this exam.

Thanks in advance to whoever may answer.

>>70348727
Are there any complete guides on:
1. Tenses and verbal forms
2. Sentence structure and punctuation
3. Articles

>>70352468

I am still here. First of all good luck with your exam. I have coached almost a hundred students through IETLS or similar exams and the number one issue is confidence (similar to what you are suffering from a lack of now).

Do you language exchange with strangers and practice speaking daily? If you're sitting such a difficult exam I recommend you do. People really do underestimate how important it is to keep speaking every single day if you have an exam coming soon. It helps you build confidence and become comfortable with the language. Go on italki or a similar exchange website and find someone interested in having difficult conversations in English. It doesn't have to be a native but that does help.

Aside from that try Memrise for flash cards. There are hundreds of great vocab flash card programs.

Even if you're planning on taking a written exam I would still recommend finding a language buddy and speaking/listening with them. You can even practice writing essays with them.

9/10 it is all in your mind and you will be fine. However if you think you will slip up, or are doubting your abilities utilise the internet and the millions of people willing to practice (instead of fapping to trap threads all day).

Hope this helped mate

>>70352980
Not right now as my specific focus was on the less grammar specific sides to English. More colloquialisms and what not.

However if that is something you would like to see I can write it down on my list of videos to make. I'm planning on producing between 3-4 a week so I'd get round to it soon.

File: 1474205617040.jpg (4MB, 4352x4352px) Image search: [Google]

4MB, 4352x4352px

>>70349189
Fuck the paid tutors.

Any cool people out there that want to improve their spoken English can feel free to add me on Skype at no cost. All I ask is that you keep me entertained and tell me about your country and lifestyle :^) I'm interested in meeting new people from around the world.

Any takers out there can respond to this post for more info I guess

>>70353009
I don't really talk to any natives whatsoever. I think this is where my misguided bad confidence shines through, as I am pretty sure I have a rather fluent command of the language while speaking. I do however talk a lot in English and try to immerse myself in as much material as possible, literally devouring any media I come across.

I think this is all due to my shyness and being really afraid not to slip up in front of a native...or I might as well be an overconfident little brat, I'm not sure.

Another thing I do on a regular basis is read English authors in, well, English. Hopefully this might help as well.

All in all, thank you very much, I too hope I'll do well. Another thing, excuse my stifness and my rigid writing style, I guess mimicking formal style isn't as easy as it seems at first glance.

If people say ''one billion'' how can I tell if wether they mean 1 000 000 000 or 1 000 000 000 000 if I don't know the context and the nationality of the guy who said it is, say, Georgian?

>>70353557
No problem mate you sound like a very articulate bloke. I'm sure you'll smash your exam.

One thing though...get that speaking practice in! I know you hate the prospect of speaking to a native now, but trust me when I say you seriously need to fuck up with a random dude on the internet before your exam. It's similar to dating. Once you get rejected a few times you're sort of immune to that anxiety you get before you speak to a woman. It works like that with languages too. Once you get over the initial mess of your first few conversations you'll be confident and at easy talking about anything.

Btw I'm in Cluj in two weeks. Can you recommend anywhere good to eat and drink for a bunch of young Brits? (not typical loud Brits)

>>70353688
In English billion means 1,000,000,000

We don't say milliard or billiard, etc

>>70353762
I see, thanks for your kind remarks!

To be quite honest, I'm not from Cluj and don't study there either so I really can't. I might ask some friends if you really need to, but tomorrow morning. That is if this thread will be alive up until then and you will still be interested.

>>70354048

It's OK mate I've got google so all good. Thanks for the offer anyways.

>>70353688
>Georgian
Considering that both Georgia and the anglo coutries use the short scale (except there's no "billion" in the Soviet system) and that numbers over 10^11 are rarely used, it's very likely he doesn't even know that such thing as "the long scale" exists.

>>70353314
Hello there friend! How's the serial killing going? :)

>>70353990
So how much is trillion? What about billion?

>>70354211
Ok, replace ''Georgian'' with ''Indonesian''. What about now?

>>70354221
Hi there :) It's going great, thanks for asking.

I've actually met a lot of people from /int/ over the years and still keep up with them to this day. I just thoroughly enjoy learning about the world and having international contacts. Usually for other reasons but I've decided to give this a try.

I don't yet know anyone from Azerbaijan so you could always be my first ;^^^)

>>70348909
Explain me perfect tenses. I asked this probably a dozen persons but it's still very difficult topic for me. WHen you speak, how do you understand that you have to or can use perfect tense instead of simple or etc?
Is there some logic or trick that would help?

>>70354356
One 1
Ten 10
Hundred 100
Thousand 1,000
Ten thousand 10,000
Hundred thousand 100,000
Million 1,000,000
Ten million 10,000,000
Hundred Million 100,000,000
Billion 1,000,000,000
Ten billion 10,000,000,000
Hundred billion 100,000,000,000
Trillion 1,000,000,000,000
Ten trillion 10,000,000,000,000
Hundred trillion 100,000,000,000,000
Quadrillion 1,000,000,000,000,000
Etc...

File: EScalas_corta_y_larga.svg.png (117KB, 863x443px) Image search: [Google]

117KB, 863x443px

>>70354427
Indonesia uses the short scale too , so the answer is the same :^)

>>70354470
:(

>>70354470
Perfect tenses are mainly used for expressing that an action is taking place from a specified point in the past up to the now of the tense. Example: the difference between "I have taken lessons" and it's present counterpart "I take lessons" is that the former implies I started to take lessons and still haven't finished doing it yet, all the while the latter implies a general truth. On the other hand, "I took lessons" implies that it happened in the past and now it is no longer going on. Compared to past perfect which implies the same thing but, from what I can recall, during a specified interval or at least known one.

On a temporal axis perfect tenses are between their corresponding simple tenses.

Past simple - past perfect - present perfect - present simple
with the continuous tenses added to the mix.

Hope I was of any help, anon.

>>70354589
>>70354586
Why is this a question?

I thought 1 billion was 1,000,000,000 everywhere

>>70355765
Still, take what I said with a grain of salt anon because the use of the right tense kinda got into my habits and I mostly forgot about most grammar rules. Plus, there are other uses to the perfect tenses which I haven't mentioned.

>he had to "learn" English

Lol

>>70355777
Funny, not even in Romania is a billion the same as in Britain. Here we call it a "miliard" and it corresponds to 1 000 000 000. We don't actually have the word "bilion", but from what I can recall there is in English a word "milliard" designated for a much higher number though.

>>70354470
If you've completed an action/will complete it, use the perfect tense

>>70355777
Because many countries and languages use milliard and billiard to progress numbers. Some countries such as Pakistan or India also number their numbers differently.

I know in German it goes million, milliard, billion, billiard, and so on. Because of this, many Germans would tend to say milliard when meaning billion and would say billion when meaning trillion. This applies to many other languages too.

>>70355765
I see, it makes sense I'll try to reflect on that. Thank you!
Also what's temporal axis?

>>70356073
An axis of the tenses in chronological order, duh.
Starting from the furthest in the past to the furthest in the future. I had this drawn all the time when I was in general school in the English class.

>>70355777
If you use short scale:
10^6 = million
10^9 = billion
10^12 = trillion
10^15 = quadrillion

If you use long scale:
10^6 = million
10^9 = milliard*
10^12 = billion
10^15 = billiard

*unless you go full potato and call it "thousand millions".

>>70355777
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-52AI_ojyQ

>>70356006
I went to the grocery
I had gone to the grocery

Both are correct but they're not interchangeable right? Their difference would be, I don't know honestly. Like i completed it i went to the place in both sentence but the one with perfect will imply I did it on specific time, I guess?
I imagine even asking this sounds very starnge to native speakers but I just can't grasp on the concept behind it.

>>70356188
Ooh very interesting I heard about it but we never used it. Not even when I took lessons from private teacher.

>>70348727
>That lisp though

>>70356248
"Had gone" is the pluperfect. It implies something happened on the past and influenced past events, kinda like "the past of the past".

>>70356293
Well I guess it's not all that popular, in highschool our teacher didn't use it like ever, although she at one point mentioned it. It's not all that interesting though... Plus, I don't really know if it's called "temporal axis", I just made up this terminology in order for the example to be as obvious as possible.

>>70356293
Oh, btw, I messed up my "temporal axis", it starts with past perfect and continues up from there. My bad anon.

>>70356337
>the past of the past
Aaah this sounds very interesting

So all in all it looks like "I had gone to the grocery" is not complete thought, there should be more to it, it implies that it happened even before some event.
I think it gets clearer to me.

>>70356529
No worries mate

>>70356545
Yup. Stating simply "I went to the grocery" works fine, but for the pluperfect you'd need something like "I had gone to the grocery, that's why I wasn't home". Note how it "chained" another past event.

But this is something the native speakers rarely notice.

>>70356545
I had gone to the grocery and bought a handful of potatoes.

I first went to the grocery and only after that action was completed I bought a handful of potatoes.

>>70348727
Which one is you?
https://youtu.be/Rsq1Z5sprRk

>>70356675
Well if you plan on writing stories in English this small but essential difference is pretty important, since it links past events in a chronological order rather than just spewing actions at the reader.

>>70356675
Good Lord this is like the moment of illumination, I havent had it for like several years. Cheers for helping mate!

>>70348727
I am planning to move London one day. Could you please teach me some quick conversation sentences in Urdu language?

>>70356909
Conversational Urdu is pretty much the same thing as Hindi.

>>70356689
Yeah, the concept is getting more clearer to me thanks for help mate!

>>70356973
Actually this is a question of my own. Is "more clearer" viable informal talk or is it just a mistake? I've actually encountered it a few times in songs and it just sounds off...

>>70357152

technically it's either "more clear" or "clearer." If someone said "more clearer" to me I wouldn't think twice, although I would correct myself if I said it accidentally, so take that for what you will.

I'm a native english speaker btw

File: pastcontinuous.gif (907B, 258x50px)

907B, 258x50px

>>70356820
You're welcome. Also, the temporal axis >>70355765 mentioned is incredibly helpful to visualize this stuff; if you have trouble with tenses, I do suggest you make one for the tenses you find difficult.

It should look something like this, pic related.

>>70356780
It also helps a lot with the style - you can use cleaner sentences, without so many connectors, but with the sequence of events still quite clear.

>>70357152
"More clearer" sounds like baby talk.

I can't think of any situation where it wouldn't be better to say either "more clear" or just "clearer."

>>70357152
Both "more clear" and "clearer" are acceptable
Clearer is twice as common as more clear

More clearer is wrong I made a mistake.

>>70357477
Funny, in English class we were taught if the adjective in question is more than bisyllabic you can't use "-er", but if it is shorter you can't use "more", and now I find out you can use "more clear"...hmm, breakthrough.

>>70348727

fair play lad

btw did your mum get blacked lmao

>>70357447
I see, well, didn't know you could use "more clear"...guess this is a novelty for me. Thanks anon!

>>70357697
>>70357632
I think "more clear" is an exception to the rule. For example "more happy" doesn't sound as good as "happier".
I'd use "clearer" to avoid people whining though.

>>70357786
Indeed, I guess you are right, especially with my luck in English teachers I'd rather stick to whatever they say when talking to them. On a sidenote, "it is of no importance" does make sense right? And "it's no use" and "it's of no use" are the same, right?

Oh, btw, thanks!

>>70357693

ofc mate

Church set them up

>eventhechurchistakingpartinwhitegenocide

>>70357697
It's more fun. You see? Another exception.

File: 123.jpg (39KB, 1096x428px)

39KB, 1096x428px

m8

>>70358054
Indeed, but here isn't "fun" a noun? In which case it is implied you have to use "more fun". On the other hand if you say "it's funnier to eat alone" funnier determines the artificial noun-like structure "to eat alone". While if you say "it's more fun to eat alone" fun is the noun. I guess...

>>70357983
"It's no use" sounds strange for me. I'd rather use "it's of no use", but I can't explain why.
Ditto for "it's of no importance", it looks correct for me.

>>70358164
eyyyyyy

First time I've seen that

Let me have a look at it though thanks

>>70358188
"It's no use trying to escape, hahahaha!". My highschool teacher scolded me for telling her "of no use" means the same as "no use" and that "it's of no importance" acrually exists. When I showed her the dictionary she played the teacher card telling me the dictionary is wrong and I should stop interrupting the class. I'm still pissed off about that. And it wasn't even the first argument the likes of which we've gotten into... once she told me draught and draft are not the same word but different spellings till I showed her the dictionary.

>>70357632
>if the adjective in question is more than bisyllabic you can't use "-er"
This isn't really a rule, it's more like a note on common usage. Polysyllabic adjectives tend to have endings that don't naturally change into "-er." But you'd never say "famouser" even though "famous" has two syllables! You'd always say "more famous." Similarly you can construct polysyllabic comparatives like "unwieldier." It's interesting that that is the first example that came to mind, because it gets its extra syllable from the prefix "un-," despite "wieldy" alone not being a word in standard usage.

A lot of learning English as a second (or third, fourth, etc.) language is about learning to avoid constructions that mark you as a non-native speaker. With that in mind, I'd disagree with
>>70357786
I don't think anyone would ever complain about "more clear" not being optimal usage. "More happy" doesn't sound like anything anyone would say, but with the exception of certain constructions that you need to avoid because the sound unnatural ("more happy" or "funner" being examples), you usually have a choice. Using the word "more" can be useful when you want to emphasize the increase itself rather than the quality being increased. I might say something like "this conversation is making me feel even more sad" if I wanted to emphasize the change.

>>70358166
Funnier is a completely different word. You would definitely never say "it is funner to eat alone" (you would say "more fun"), although "funner" is actually a recognized word. The only example I can think of where someone would use the word "funner" would be to describe making something more fun, like "I wanted the song to be...funner, somehow."

>>70358346
This is actually really interesting. I swear I've never seen or hear the word "funner" used. It's so...bizarre. Well, thanks for taking the time to respond.

Now that I think of it I can actually see "more clear" being used...although it still sounds a tad off at first glance.

>>70358188
>it's of no importance
Always correct. You'd never say "it's no importance." That doesn't even make sense.

>It's no use
This one is a bit of an Americanism I think. People say it because "no use" has become a fixed phrase meaning hopeless. "It's of no use" would be the more grammatically correct and consistent way to phrase it. In writing where a formal voice is expected, you would always want to phrase it that way.

>>70358322
I know that feeling. It's happened to me so many times. But it is worth realizing that sometimes the dictionary can't help you, especially if your goal is to talk like a native speaker.

"Draught" and "draft" are pronounced the same way, and when it comes to describing beer that comes out of a tap or cold air that comes into a room, either is more or less equally appropriate. But you'd never write "this is the first draught of my paper," or describe the desk an architect uses to draw as a "draughting table."

>>70358566
Basically a native speaker would say "more clear" in a sentence where the word "clear" could have been replaced with another word. If you are speaking the sentence but still holding both "clear" and "understandable" (or something) in your head, you might say "more" before you settle on using the word clear. It could also come up as a parallel structure if you were listing a bunch of attributes that there are "more" of. For instance "you might find this example a little more clear, a little more helpful." Note that example can't be formal usage because it includes a comma splice.

The appropriate usage of "funner" is similar. You could say "I designed the game to be faster, funner, and happier" if using "more fun" would've broken the flow of your sentence or made it sound awkward.

>>70358617
Presumption and assumption,
Nonetheless, in spite of, despite of, notwithstanding
Assuming, presuming

Can you give explanation and elaborate on these ones if you have a time, please?

>>70358617
Yeah, I knew that bit about draught and draft, I was solely talking about draught and draft as a current of air.

You'd think that as a teacher you'd be inclined to learn things yourself too, but some teachers nowadays are so proud and all in all egocentrical persons it makes me wanna learn everything by myself.

>>70358850
Yeah it's teachers' illness, it happens. One should be careful to not fall into that trap.

File: Screenshot_2017-01-25-01-21-45.png (187KB, 720x1280px) Image search: [Google]

187KB, 720x1280px

>>70358842
Wanted to write myself but found this.

>>70358842
>in spite of
One guy told me that "in spite of" is a gay version of "despite of" and if you'll use it you may be consedered a gay. Dunno if that's true.

>>70358971
Awesome thanks, think I got it.

>>70358842
You don't say despite of, you either say in spite of or despite, they're interchangeable. Nonetheless means the same as nevertheless. I've never encountered the word notwithstanding though...it seems pretty clear I think...

File: 1474960407093.png (207KB, 425x522px) Image search: [Google]

207KB, 425x522px

>>70359007
Interesting, anon.

>>70359044
agh, made a common mistake.

>>70351466
>>70356301
ctrl+f 'lisp'
feel like a cunt because int is such a friendly board, kek
fair play to you though op, it's a nicely put together video, even if you are a disgusting shill who should fuck off back to rdt

>>70359118
You mean I made one or you made one? Sorry anon, I'm really tired, it's 2 in the morning here and tomorrow I have school.

>>70359241
No, I made, not you.

File: 1468620606688.jpg (34KB, 372x527px) Image search: [Google]

34KB, 372x527px

>>70359225

Guess I'll be heading to sleep now, good night anons and thank you for all the useful advices you've posted. Stay safe!

File: dumbshithelper.png (64KB, 658x901px)

64KB, 658x901px

>It's that thread where non native speakers talk about language concepts you use but don't understand

>>70359007
no that is not true at all. "despite of" is not a real thing

>>70358842
>Presumption and assumption,
I "assume" you familiar with the words "presume" and "assume." Usage differences between these words are...subtle. "Assumptions" are more associated with off the cuff or poorly considered beliefs, while a "presumption" is a higher-register word that is less frequently used but sounds somewhat more dignified. You "make assumptions" but you usually wouldn't say you "make a presumption." You can "presume to do" something, meaning that you see taking that action as your prerogative, but you can't use "assume" in the same way.

>Nonetheless, in spite of, despite of, notwithstanding
"Despite" doesn't require a preposition as has already been pointed out. It means the same thing as "in spite of" and neither is "gay."
Nonetheless is a "conjunctive adverb" and its usage is generally restricted to being the first word in a sentence or independent clause (with a similar meaning to "yet" or "but"). "Nevertheless" is another construction that is used identically.
"Notwithstanding" is more similar to "in spite of" than "nevertheless" because like "in spite of" it requires another word or concept to modify. You could say "The king had arranged the marriage, the prince's argument against notwithstanding." I can't think of any examples where you couldn't substitute "despite" or "in spite of," but as I've exemplified "notwithstanding" can appear after the thing it modifies in addition to before it (like "despite" and "in spite of" do).

These are some tough ones! Subtle stuff going on with all these words, but if you can learn to use them well, you will sound very fluent!

>>70359563
I meant "despite", sorry not fluent in English. But "in spite of" doesn't sound gay at all? Why would afriend of mine tell me that?

>>70359621
Your friend is gay

>>70359533
That's just how the human brain works. A language you speak is like a series of patterns your brain has become used to executing. If you want to learn a new language, you have to teach your brain to execute unfamiliar patterns. You don't know what "sounds right" so you need many more rules that you can use logic to employ, rather than relying on your brain's familiar patterns.

>>70359621
no it does not sound gay at all and i don't know why he would say that. perhaps just to mess with you.

>>70359621
Maybe your friend is a huge fucking faggot who calls things "gay" because he doesn't like them?

Gay-coding signals are almost always specific words used in specific ways, and generally have to do with aesthetics. For instance using words like "fabulous" or "festive" in certain ways.

>>70348727

Why should I learn English slang instead of American?

>>70359796
do you know how i know you're a faggot

t. linguist

>>70359952
I may be a faggot but at least I'm not gay

Try with him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkO4uzacZw

>>70348727
can you explain to me the ITP scoring system?

>tfw i help run a government-subsidised ESL class and i deliberately give non-whites bad advice so they have a harder time integrating

>>70359606
Thank you very much anon I'll have to reflect on today's thread in general. Thanks a lot for helping!

>>70362538
isnt it counter productive to the society to have people that dont integrate?

>>70362803
yes

>>70362927
doesnt it affect you negatively too?
whats your endgame, besides banter?

>>70348727
>and other stuff that helps people integrate.
ISIS SCUM!
>>70362803
Who gives a shit, no one here speaks the language.

>>70363055
Some people don't see outcomes, they just live their lives driven entirely by "feelings." Of course, their feelings are much more primitive than the complex emotions experienced by thinking people like us.

That man's ancestors were sent to a shitty island because they couldn't integrate with society. They probably just aren't biologically capable of understanding how to achieve good social order even today.