Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[skyandbada]

Call me bada. I am a college student. I enjoy my life every day. Do you? And how is your university life? I am learning America Literature. Now I want to read Mark Twain`s literary works. I think American literature teaches us about American culture, customs and way of thinking. But my English is very poor. So I have difficulty learning English. What about you? Are you in college or high school?

[CP]

It is great to hear that you want to read Mark Twain, a wonderful writer of humorous and thoughtful works. You may find some of his writing difficult, however, because he often wrote in local Southern dialects that are hard to understand. For instance, his famous novels, Huckleberry Finn and Life on the Mississippi have lots of slang. If you have problems understanding some parts, you can post questions in the Help Center forum. Have fun and good luck!
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Snake777]

Hi bada,

I'm in college too I love learning English , but not reading books in English I'm a big slacker Short stories are fine, but it seems to take me forever to finish a 300 page book @.@ I get sleepy right after reading 10 first pages haha but hey, it does not mean I have no idea about English literature I know who Mark Twain is and I love Tom Sawyer That kid is so funnie =]

But reading books is not the only way to improve English my dear^^ I have another option hehe I watch American movies or any movies that people speak English in there ,and of course with the English captions We can learn about their intonation, accent, slang and so on

Good luck =]

[skyandbada]

I am very happy and feel lucky to get your reply.I like to watch American movies very much and talk to my seminar professor. I like to talk to him, and worried about my English. But he always tells me, "Don't be shy."I think I am lucky girl.
Thank you

[Snake777]

Hehehe I guess all the English teachers tell their students so but we,students, find it hard to feel that way haha

We are so afraid that the listeners might laugh at us for our poor English/bad pronunciation or they keep saying something like Excuse me? or Pardon me? when they can't understand what we are talking about hahha it totally kills my mood when I try to speak English. It also makes me embarrassed >.< Anyway I'm not a patient person to repeat the same thing over and over again

Some English teachers of mine also encouraged the students to go to backpackers area and practice speaking with these travelers or with any foreigners you meet on the street O.o . Blah, it sounded good and exciting at first. But, life is not that beautiful with many nice people like we imagined. Some friends of mine tried those things, but just a few of the foreigners were willing enough to talk to them. Some did not bother to say anything back, and they left with a very "polite" smile and polite excuses .They were too cautious when talking to strangers hahaha they must have thought it could be a scam Hmmnnn or it could be my friends' faults. They probably failed at starting the conversation haha and this made these people freaked out and run away

Hmmn and I used to be very shy when I opened my mouth and speak English haha. But things have changed since I started working part time in a Mediterranean restaurant downtown. Most of the customers are foreigners, so I got chances to practice speaking English and improve my knowledge about Mediterranean cuisine This is my best experience ever !

It was such a nightmare at first. I kept stuttering when I talked to the customers and my voice was too soft that they could barely listen to what I was saying.Some even asked me something like Are you nervous? You look frightened, what happened? It was hilarious .

Well, but now my speaking is a bit better now. At least I'm not as shy as I was Practice makes perfect.It's an old proverb, and it WORKS

I think you should try to work part time at these places, it's much easier to approach the foreigners and practice speaking English.You can have more foreign friends as well. This is way better than showing up out of nowhere and start the conversation like my friends did

Good luck, bada BTW, what is your major?

[F9750021]

Yes, I enjoy my life every day. Whatever sometimes I have the bad mood. I still think I am very enjoyable.