Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[MinK]

I'm going to send emails to the professors of my university to ask them to find a native speaker to chat with me. (by the way, can I use "fix me up with" instead of "find"?)
And I'm a little worried if my email might have errors or sound rude, so I'd like you to check it. And I hope it sounds natural. (can I use "sound" on Internet? or I shoud use "read"?)


My name is Min-kyeong Kim and I'm majoring in Communications. I'm having hard time to improve my English and I'm really eager to learn it. So, I'm just wondering if you could help me find some native speakers to chat with.

sincerely,
Min-kyeong Kim

How about this?

[LucentShade]

MinK:
Here are a few corrections you could make:

My name is Min-kyeong Kim and I'm majoring in Communications. I'm having -a- hard time -improving- my English, -but- I'm really eager to learn it. So, I'm just wondering if you could help me find some native speakers to chat with.

sincerely,
Min-kyeong Kim

You could use "fix me up with" here: ". . .if you could fix me up with some native speakers to chat with." However, it seems awkward to say it this way, perhaps because it repeats the word "with." Also, the phrase "fix me up with," while it is a good English idiom to use, does have an informal tone to it, so it may be better to use "help me find some" as you originally had it.

As far as the "sounds" and "reads" thing goes: From a technical, purist point of view, it would be more correct to say "I hope it reads naturally." However, as far as Internet language goes, most people would say "I hope it sounds natural."

Let me know if you have more questions about the corrections.

[MinK]

Thank you for your help! I appreciate it.

It's so difficult to find right English words to me.

MinK