[lojban] Re: Intermediate English

["Matt Arnold" <lojban-out@lojban.org>]

On 8/20/06, Yanis Batura <ybatura@mail.ru> wrote:
> On 20.08.2006, 18:57, Wang Xuerui wrote:
> > Feel free to tell me if there's anything needs improvement.
>
> You're kidding!
>
> Should be "if there anything needs improvement" or "if there is anything in
> need of improvement".

"if there anything needs improvement" is incorrect. You want "if
anything needs improvement" or "if there is anything that needs
improvement."

> By the way, the native English speakers (who actually *should* extend
> helping hands to us in improving our English) prefer to leave it as it is.
> Maybe they think it is not very polite to correct mistakes of others :) Or
> maybe just tired of doing it before.

It's fine for you to correct each other's English on the list. I don't
think anyone will object. However, the reason many of us do not do so
is that we came to the list for the purpose of correcting each other's
Lojban instead. Almost no one speaks Lojban perfectly. We are happy
just to start by making ourselves understood, and then improve from
there. So why should we demand that English be spoken perfectly?

Yanis, Wang, you both speak English better than many native
English-speakers I know. Your few English mistakes do not cause any
problems in understanding or communication. That is the important
thing.

- epkat


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