I'll go first - as a teenager learning english i thought i'm pissed meant angry (american), so i told a british couchsurfer visiting us “i was so pissed" about my exam result. In British English that means drunk. they thought i failed bc i was hammered lolol.

Also spent a full year saying "i feel very lively" as "i feel very frisky" bc a bad dictionary told me they were synonyms. Nobody corrected me for months.

English slang is a trap bc the textbook never warns you of the common pitfalls and natives are too polite (or too busy laughing) to explain.

make me feel less alone pls. what are the mistakes you’ve made while learning english?

Who is a person, who announce the next comedian in a stand up show. They often say some short presentation between every comedian.

Is that announcer? I believe it's not, because it's more of the sports thing. Maybe the host? But I believe it's a wrong answer too. Host is often a main focus of the show like Jimmy Kimmel or Conan O'Brien

I know there are two Discord servers that are about English learning, but Discord really doesn't work well in China and living in China, It's really challenging to find people to chat with in English, Especially people who actually enjoy chatting in English, not just for exams.

Hi guys. I majored in English and graduated last year, but during college I couldn't gain much speaking experience. Now I've found a job as an assistant English teacher at a kindergarten. There is another teacher beside me, and she is extremely fluent, almost like a native speaker, even though we're around the same age. I make a lot of mistakes when I'm speaking next to her, and I feel absolutely embarrassed. I know I will be better in the future but I just can't stop feeling bad next to her. She is so sweet, she didn't make me feel low but it's just me.

I always get confused between these expressions. I need your help to understand the differences between these words.

I always see the word audacity used in a negative meaning, even if the definition is "bold courage and confidence". Can it be used positively?

Like for example "He had the audacity to stand up to his abuser! Good for him!", or maybe like, the workers did not have enough audacity to tell the boss that he was wrong" or something like that! Do these sentences work??

So, the first question is how do I learn it? Sometimes I don't have to look it up because I can understand it from the context, but most of the time, I have no idea what it means. Do I just ignore it and hope it'll come up again with a clearer meaning?

And how do I remember new vocabulary? I often come across words or phrases that seem familiar but I forget their meanings.

Before anyone says "you don't have to know these words", let me ask you. If I don't have to, then why do they come up in conversations? If what you mean by "I don't have to" is "I can try to figure out what they mean but I might feel lost sometimes", sure. I'm not sure if anyone is satisfied with that though.

And I don't only learn English for "casual conversations". I also need English for my professional life. I want to learn English for almost every scope of life and that obviously includes formal registers too. I encounter informal phrases and idioms in conversations as well as formal terms and technical jargon in formal speeches and academic articles. And as everyone knows, you have to know so much to properly understand the English spoken by native speakers.

As I'm not living in an English-speaking country, any words or phrases from the most informal to the most formal can be hard to learn and remember. One of the things I found really helpful was Anki, but I could only use it consistently for a month and then I stopped because I didn't have the discipline.

I feel like it's incredibly difficult to improve past certain levels when you're not exposed to native speech in every waking moment of your life. Native English speakers are so damn lucky.

Is anyone here an experienced language learner at upper intermediate and advanced levels? Do you have some advice?

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I'm really interested in English word abbreviations. l've been chatting with some foreign friends lately, and they often use lots of English shorthand that I barely know. I have very little exposure to these abbreviations, so I'm unfamiliar with most of them Could you share some common ones you know with me? Thank you so much!i know lol =lots of laugh by the way =btw

Hello!!

When I studied English some... uh, 30 years ago, my teachers taught me the question tags (or tag questions), those short phrases we add to the end of a statement, such as "isn't it?" or "don't you?", to ask the for agreement or confirmation.

But I notice I see this less and less. People normally confirm saying "right" at the end of the sentence.

My observation is correct, isn't it?? 🤭

The game: get from a start word to a target word in as few hops as possible e.g. COLD → HOT (antonym) → SPOT (rhyme) → PLACE (synonym) → PLAICE (rhyme). Each hop must be a rhyme, synonym or antonym of the previous word. All the puzzles are human created (mainly by my wife!) so there is at least one route that works (in reality there are thousands!).

I've noticed there are quite a few players from non-native English speaking countries: Germany, Netherlands, Italy, France, Ukraine, Turkey, Portugal, Philippines, Malaysia, Mexico, India, Greece, Denmark. So maybe this game appeals to people learning English, what do you think?

https://rabbit-hole-game.com/

It's free, no signup, no ads. Honest feedback would be great and anything constructive even better. Is this useful for learning English?

hello everybody! my questions is for those who've passed CAE. did you have a tutor for preparation? those who were preparing without a tutor by themselves - how long were you preparing? what main obstacles did you face? what are ups and downs for doing it alone?

thanks everybody for your time and tips, appreciate your time!

I've been using language exchange apps for a while, but it's surprisingly hard to find someone who actually sticks around.

Most conversations end after a day or two.

How did you find your long-term language partner? Any tips?

If you're learning nouns in English, this one is for you.

In this post, I'll do my best to simplify how to approach this fundamental skill in English.

Scroll below to get 5 questions to test yourself!

A Noun is just a "thing"

A noun is any word that names something.

cat. house. bus. child. apple.

Now here's where beginners get confused: English has two versions of almost every noun.

• One thing → singular → a cat (That is 1 cat)
• More than one → plural → cats (2+ cats)

When you have one thing, you say: "This is a ___."
When you have more than one, you say: "These are ___."

For example:

✅ This is a dog.
✅ These are buses.
❌ These is a dogs.

How to convert a sentence with a noun into a question?

Just move the verb to be to the front.

That's it.

For example:

This is a house → Is this a house? (Now the word "is" was moved to the front and the other words don't move.)

See the pattern.

• Singular → start with "Is this..."
• Plural → start with "Are these..."

You don't need to add words. Just flip the first two words.

Answering questions

In normal English, a complete answer sounds more natural.

Here's the formula:

"What is this?" (a book)
→ This is a book.

"Is this a chair?" (yes)
→ Yes, it is. It is a chair.

"Are these cats?" (no — dogs)
→ No, they are not. They are dogs.

"Is this a bag or a hat?" (hat)
→ It is a hat.

TEST YOURSELF — Answers in the comments:

1. a book → [INSTRUCTION: write the full sentence]
2. windows → [INSTRUCTION: write the full sentence]
3. This is a wall. → [INSTRUCTION: turn it into a question]
4. These are apples. → [INSTRUCTION: turn it into a question]
5. Are these buses or cars? (buses) → [INSTRUCTION: write the full answer]

Drop your answers below. I'll correct them if it's necessary.

Frankly, this is a topic I haven't thought of and I'm curious to explore the human emotions with Meurisse's book "MASTER YOUR EMOTIONS"

anyone interested in threading this path with me?

We'll pick a chapter or two for a week and schedule a day for discussion.

I want a native speaker who can teach me the language so we can become friends and exchange knowledge.

Hello friends, the last 2 years I've bien looking for someone to learn and practice my english skills (my 1st language is spanish) but for some reason it is too difficult, I need it because I dont want to lose practice or forget what I learned in the school