@DamkerngT. hi

@Charlie hi

Oh, you're back

yes, hi again

How was it going?

@DamkerngT. His presence made a definite and compelling statement, but in an unintelligible language. compelling here means:an argument etc that makes you feel certain that something is true or that you must do something about it OR very interesting or exciting, so that you have to pay attention. which one is right?

@DamkerngT. good

Is this still the same story?

how about you?

yes

Actually, rather sleepy. :)

@IceGirl Both of them are okay.

But the first one is better.

oh, please answers i need you for helping

it's too long

I think your English is not bad.

oh really?

Yes. You are talking with me now, right?

:)

yes

I'm guessing... you have only two main problems.

what?

vocabulary (difficult words)

and how to understand long sentences.

What do you think? Am I right?

yes,because it's very hard to understand them but by practicing is ok

yes

Yes, that's what I think.

A good dictionary can help you with vocabulary.

But not always.

(I will tell you how to make it easier.)

but I'm not a native person

thank you so much

About reading difficult (long) sentence, it's a little tricky.

I'm not a native English speaker too, actually.

ok

@snailboat Yes. (I'm rather sleepy at the moment, so slipping must be more than usual.) But thank you. :)

@DamkerngT. what time is it there?

At the moment, I'm thinking about how to help @IceGirl to become an independent learner as much as possible.

@IceGirl 04:40 am

I usually go to bed around 4am to 5am.

I couldn't interpret him as readily as I could the books on the reading list.

@snailboat help me please

@DamkerngT. sorry

That's okay. If I am really sleepy, I will tell you and go to bed. Don't worry. Okay?

I couldn't interpret him. what does it mean?

@IceGirl ?

What is this "him"?

me?

@DamkerngT. Thanks a million

no it is my text

@IceGirl Ah, okay.

His presence made a definite and compelling statement, but in an unintelligible language.I couldn't interpret him as readily as I could the books on the reading list.

sorry

For example...

"His presence made a definite and compelling statement, but in an unintelligible language." I couldn't interpret him as readily as I could the books on the reading list.

ok

I couldn't interpret him?

I think your difficult words are presence, definite, compelling, statement, and unintelligible.

@DamkerngT. i know these words

@snailboat i didn't understand

snailboat just pointed out that you should ask in full sentences, not in fragments.

For example...

Instead of...

His presence made a definite and compelling statement, but in an unintelligible language.

^

ok

that's not good (because it's not a question, it's just a fragment)

you should ask: What does "His presence made a definite and compelling statement, but in an unintelligible language" mean?

@IceGirl Good :)

@IceGirl You know the words.

This must mean you cannot put them together.

ok,What does "I couldn't interpret him" mean?

"I couldn't interpret him" means "I cannot understand him".

yes, paraphrase is very very difficult for me

Okay here is a trick.

It will help your vocabulary too.

I believe that you know many words in English, correct?

yes,sure.

The trick is to reduce difficult words to easy words.

Easy words are words you understand.

can you paraphrase it for me:What does "His presence made a definite and compelling statement, but in an unintelligible language" mean?

^^

because literally meaning is important for me

Is it because they are your assignments?

yes

@snailboat Hmm... I think her assignments are quite difficult.

no, because i'm a translation student in the university

Can you tell us a bit more about your assignments?

I was hired in the spring of 1970.

ok

Huh?

wait

@snailboat What do translation students learn?

Translate L1 -> L2? or L2 -> L1?

So reading comprehension is more important than writing skill, perhaps?

we have a Patterns Book.We should read at home and find the new words and also paraphrase them because our teacher asked us about everything.

I think two of them are important

How big is this Pattern Book?

(in pages)

400

And how much time do you have?

(deadline)

@snailboat Ah, thanks. That's true.

2 days for each lesson

what?

How many pages are there in each lesson?

@IceGirl snailboat just said that you didn't say that you have to work on the whole book.

it is different for each lesson

Okay, for an example, how many pages in this lesson?

it is essay and it has 4 page

And umm... how many sentences?

For example, "His presence made a definite and compelling statement, but in an unintelligible language."

I DON'T KNOW

That's one.

one

@snailboat I'm trying to estimate the size of the problem.

:)

@snailboat Ah, I see. Thank for the link.

I was hired in the spring of 1970.what does it mean?

hired in means?

i know that oh come on

I don't know what does hired in mean

i mean i know It's the passive of hire

ok

@IceGirl It's hire in past participle (one word), and in just means in.

aha

Sorry I might be sleepier than I think. :)

@IceGirl Because we believe that you might already know both of the words, we are surprised that you are confused by hired in.

i'm tired and confused. really sorry

I think that two days for each lesson must be stressful.

@IceGirl The first time you read: I was hired in the spring of 1970, you know every word in the sentence, correct?

yes

And yet you can't interpret the whole sentence, am I correct?

I'm waiting... :)

and trying to help. Really.

When I went for my interview at Hunter College I had to walk past pickets into a building where black flags hung from the windows.

@DamkerngT. yes

Because I can still remember that I had the same problem where I was 15.

thank you

The main part of the solution is you need to know which word is the verb.

ok

pickets?

If you can find the verb in every sentence, you will reduce more than half of your problem.

Be patient with me okay?

okay

when a group of people stand or march in front of a shop, factory, government building etc to protest about something or to stop people from going in during a strike.

right?

for picket

But pickets is not the verb.

yes i know

okay

right?

I thought we're looking for the verb.

@IceGirl that is correct.

But do you understand them?

Let me ask this question.

oh, it's too long how can i learn it?ah

Huh?

Do you mean we are taking too long to go through your lesson?

how can i learn these words?it's too long

Oh, okay.

I think it might be better for you to have a dictionary that translates English words to your own language.

It might not be a good solution in the long term...

But I think it can help you to go through your lessons faster.

Ok, can i ask my questions later?now i'm really confused

Of course, you can take a break.

ok. goodnight

See you.