marshmallow
Senior Member
PM me! I can't privately message you.
thảo luận Practicing English with vOzers
- Người tạo chủ đề Air Lost
- Ngày bắt đầu
Tại Hạ Lệ Phy Vũ
Senior Member
my english is bad, so i just can write this
randomlyunnamed
Member
U mean that guy creating multiple accounts to spam the message board with countless silly questions just for the sake of it ? He was exposed recently. I once thought that guy really needed help with his study but his learning method struck me as unusually and needlessly complicated. He was always asking about some IELTS writing tasks and tried to analyze his writing with rather advanced grammar, which I think is overkill because a basic grasp of the English grammar is good enough to secure a decent score. Yet he kept asking about some seriously esoteric and specialized grammatical knowledge. Worse still, he never received the inputs of others, especially those from this member who had been nothing but helpful and respectful to him even when other people started to get fed up with his constant whining. I don't know what the last straw was but eventually that supportive member grew weary and made a thread to warn other members of his misconducts. The act of pursuing knowledge itself isn't wrong. The way he pestered others was. Anyway, now that everyone has been made aware of him, he won't be resurfacing any time soon.
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marshmallow
Senior Member
Hey, I don't think those two are the same.
randomlyunnamed
Member
I actually read it off of another thread by a member who suggested so. It wasn't hard evidence but he did provide some pretty good points about all those accounts potentially belonging to just one person. Maybe, maybe not. Whatever the case is, that guy needs to find a better approach and stop wasting his time and others'.
marshmallow
Senior Member
Oh, I thought you meant the account having the conversation with the one you quoted. My bad.
randomlyunnamed
Member
No prob. It can be a little bit confusing
. It's been a while since I last browsed this thread. It doesn't seem to change one bit. I've been preoccupied with so much work for the few recent months: getting my English cert, wrapping up my final year's curriculum and preparing for the graduation exam. That said, I've managed to weather that harsh period and emerged (mostly) none the worse for wear. Even though I'm a Pharmacy Major, I have no intention of working in the industry as the most common job available for a fresh graduate is medical representative. And in Vietnam, this line of work, for the most part, is involved with building a dense network of relationships with doctors, something that I'm not proficient nor intertested in. So I've decided to get a second Degree to work as an English teacher. But before I could enroll in the new course, I must complete all the required paperwork, which obviously includes my Pharmacy Degree. Since I won't be receiving my degree until August 3rd, I have some time to recover in the interim. I have even been working as an intern in a nearby English Center for 2 weeks. My students are not very enthusiastic, sadly. The owner of the center advised me against being too blunt but to be brutally honest, most of the students in my class shouldn't even think of taking the IELTS test, lol. Some of them are even those who have just graduated from high school and are now scrambling to get an IELTS cert with a decent score so they can get bonus points or study abroad. Somehow they thought entering a crash course that lasts one month just as they are running short of time was a good idea when their foundational knowledge of the language is rather tenuous. It's only halfway through the course, yet they are already so defeated. I'm also at a loss as to what I should even teach them next. I've covered all the necessary test-taking skills that I've acquired from experience and research. The solely lacking thing is their basic English skills, which I can't do anything to improve in a meaningful way. Not in the span of just another 2 weeks. And definitely not with their lackadaisical attitude. And they are to take the test on August 3rd, the very same day I'll attend my graduation ceremony (it's only a coincidence, really). I doubt they'll be able to get their desired scores at this rate. I was also wondering how the owner of the center will deal with this because this definitely isn't the first time she has encountered students like these. Also, my ielts score was surprisingly good. Especially the speaking portion, which exceeded my expectation. When I told people I only got a fortnight to prepare and I devoted almost all that time to improve my speaking skill, they were incredulous and believed I didn't want to disclose my secrets. They would have been hard-pressed to think otherwise because at the time, I myself couldn't believe it either and thought there must have been some mistakes, lol. Still, I know I've got a lot more room for improvement if I am to be a reasonably competent teacher. Sorry for the wall of text 
, I just haven't written anything for such a long time so I've got to exercise my brain muscles. Gotta make sure my English hasn't gotten too bad.marshmallow
Senior Member
Nah, you are so humble. Your English is amazing. I'm so glad that your speaking score was higher than you expected. I'm pretty sure the score reflects your real skill. The examiner can easily see how good your English is compared to other students. You just underestimate your real ability.No prob. It can be a little bit confusing
Have you ever thought of studying abroad? With your medical major and English background, there are likely many scholarships available for you. And perhaps working abroad as well? I don't think being a medical representative is the only option for you to start in this industry.
About your students, I get your concerns, but there's not much more you can do to help them. Let reality teach them. But who knows, they may get lucky.
randomlyunnamed
Member
Thanks ! I think my speech is still somewhat awkward but well, I've got plenty of time to work on it now. I don't think I could ever speak like a native speaker given that I don't live in an English-speaking environment but perhaps I could strive to get as close as possible to one. About studying abroad, I don't think this is the right option for me as I'm not very independent or adventurous. I could barely take care of myself in my own homeland, lol. Aside from that, I believe it'll be much easier for me to develop my career prospects in my home city (not Hanoi, which is overcrowded and full of traffic congestion) as my family works in the educational sector and we've got quite a lot of relations. This has already given me a good head start so there's no reason to squander such a chance. As for my students, they have actually been discussing a rumour recently. They told me the owner of the centre is going to China to get them practicing materials that are likely to be the actual upcoming tests. I'm skeptical but well, it's not like this has never happened before. I read somewhere on f33 that students in China are even more obsessed with Ielts than those in VN and the practice, or rather, malpractice of 'leaking' the content of the test before the exam is not unheard of. And because Chinese students will take the test before us, we can take advantage of that to get access to the test keys. All of this hasn't been verified but I reckon these rumours are not completely unfounded. After all, the results of the preliminary test that my students took upon entering the center were abysmal. How could she be so confident as to assure the parents that the outcomes will certainly meet their expectations with just a mere month of intensive training ? Also she has been in the business for years, so she's definitely got some tricks up her sleeve. Maybe the parents weren't just blindly registering their children for the course, they knew exactly what they were doing and it was I who was woefully unaware of the unspoken rule.
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Eet751
Senior Member
Just do it. Humans are tough and you will develop your own skill set for survival. At worst, you'll be like me and learn to cook and eat the same dinners (rice, fried eggs, boiled cabbages, and braised pork) for almost five consecutive years.
randomlyunnamed
Member
Are u referring to my posts or hers ? I see no problem with her comments.
marshmallow
Senior Member
I've had a couple of tough days...Yeah, learning is a lifelong journey. I never feel like it's enough. My husband (American) has a list of words that he updates whenever he finds ones intriguing.
Glad you understand yourself and know exactly what you need.
Your story about the IELTS examination in VN is sad but understandable if it's true.
randomlyunnamed
Member
Sorry to hear that, I hope things will get better for you soon. Knowledge is boundless, so there's just no way to get to the bottom of it all. I just gotta take it easy, since I have a lot more time now. A more proactive and systematic approach is what I need. Anyway, because the course will end on the last day of this month, I will only have to endure my students' listlessness for another 2 weeks. And I'm gonna see how events will transpire. Right now, the whole thing is in shambles
. I still have a great deal of reservation about the 'guaranteed result' policy but who knows, there're quite a lot of hidden variables at play. It could also be that the rumour is nothing more than an embellished story.
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dutchcourage
Senior Member
- "Those two" is perfectly acceptable.
- "The account having the conversation": "having the conversation" is a relative clause Types of Reduced Relative Clauses With Examples (https://www.thoughtco.com/reduced-relative-clauses-1211107)
- "How good ...": the use of adjective here is acceptable. We ask people how old they are, not how oldly they are.
DrPrank
Senior Member
I'll admit that I was being presumptuous, for that I apologize. However, my point still stands, it's about having a purpose.
Personally, I do not have to think about grammar while speaking English, and I acknowledge that not everyone can do the same. But we're talking from the perspective of non-native speakers, English grammar is obviously alien to them, more so for us Vietnamese. In the grand scheme of things, grammar is a non-issue for native speakers. There's no such thing as a "perfect grammar robot", they use it "perfectly" because that's the first thing they were taught, ergo it comes to them naturally. Please do not pull out examples of native speakers using wrong grammar as counter argument, because at that point you'd be cherry-picking. I assure you, if you grew up in say the USA and given proper education, you'd have full command of English, including grammar in this case. You will talk "naturally and smoothly", with perfect grammar. Whether you choose to do so is a completely different matter.
The bottom line is, English is a social construct, like any other language. You can certainly disregard rules and be able to communicate with people. The entire reason why I'm replying to you is because you have a rather naive way of thinking, that it has to be one way or the other, no in-between. I've always said that it comes down to your purpose, no one's forcing you to do it. It's you who's having issues with people trying to master the language, calling it an obsession. If one can do it, it's better for everyone, and it's not so bad that they won't be able to talk at all like you said.
I'll just pretend that you didn't bring up Vietnamese grammar. There's no chance you think that our grammar system is anywhere near as complex. It has no need for articles, genders, etc., and instead relies on contextual clues, making it overall super straightforward.
AlbertWesker3.0
Junior Member
You are wrong here. Vietnamese may look easy, but it is not. It used to be very complex but it evolved to simplify itself. However, the evolution is not complete and if you are not native, its quite difficult to understand this language, on a high grammar level lel
DrPrank
Senior Member
I never actually said Vietnamese as a language is easy. So yes, my mistake for not clarifying in the last sentence. I meant its grammar (disregarding other aspects) is more straightforward than English's. It also goes without saying that grammar is difficult in general when you're learning any language other than your native tongue. Depending on the shared similarities, time taken to fully grasp them varies.
AlbertWesker3.0
Junior Member
Wrong again. Vietnamese grammar is never straightforward. I know you never studied it throughoutly, so I will explain it to you. Vietnamese grammar is made easy by yourself, a native speaker. Foreigners, even with decades of living here, struggle to write even an easy sentence. How long did it take you to learn "You should paint the wall red" in English? Its a big problem to write anything correctly in Vietnamese to foreigners.
DrPrank
Senior Member
Funny that you're cherry-picking my words to prove your point, which might as well be a non-response. I'll play along. Have I studied Vietnamese thoroughly? No, I have not. I suck at Vietnamese and if you told me to write a dissertation in Vietnamese, I wouldn't be able to pull it off without a mountainous amount of external help. Did I say the grammar itself is straightforward? No. I corrected myself and said in comparison to English, it is more so, not that it is. You didn't explain anything, other than stating the obvious following that.
But I guess you did give an example in attempt to support your case:
Not sure what you want me to do with this. I could flip this around then proceed to say many struggle writing a certain sentence in English because there's just that many tenses, clauses, articles, phrases, etc., to take into consideration, then I stop right there and not elaborate further.
AlbertWesker3.0
Junior Member
I recommend senkkt to read "How to win friends and influence people". It seems that some part of your brain is malfunctioning. However, if you concern enough of your overall mental health, I suggest going to a mental institute, there you will learn how worthless some people are and how delusional they are in their mind. Best regards and condolences.
P/S: you will never be good at English, sorry to break your bubble. The only language you will be able to speak for the whole of your life would be Vietnamese, so learn to respect your mother tongue and stop being a disgrace to your family.
P/S: you will never be good at English, sorry to break your bubble. The only language you will be able to speak for the whole of your life would be Vietnamese, so learn to respect your mother tongue and stop being a disgrace to your family.
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