I think this gentleman realised we didn't understand much, as his accent grew thicker and thicker. He probably thought it was great fun that we didn't dare to interrupt him ... We didn't mind as we were offered some 18years old single malt afterwards (which wasn't the standard dram on offer, of course
)I once visited the distillery in Oban with a group of Swedes. The very nice gentleman who guided us in the art of making whisky talked for ages. I didn't dare look at my colleague - it turned out later that neither of us had caught more than 10 per cent of what he said, so both of us had quickly lost the thread. Fortunately, he seemed to realise this, as he offered us an extra shot of whisky at the end of the tour.
) and got two bottles of 12 (or one bottle of 24) year old Chivas per month as the employees had. For Christmas he even got a bottle of a Chivas Liqueur that's so very rare that they have a waiting list of customers who wants to buy it and have to wait for years. 
I don't think I'll be able to remember exactly how they're spelled, I think I might stick with "quotes". Right now I'm too tired to even think. I'm so sleepy.Parantheses (plural)/paranthesis (singular), or you can simply say bracket(s).
What an excellent idea by the way, this thread! I might not write that much here as I don't really consider myself to need it (I already live in an English speaking country and work mostly in English), but it'll be an interesting read and I'm sure I'll learn lots of useful stuff!
I've never had alpaca before so I had to try, of course. It was very good ... and lean. The sweet potato fries, mayonnaise on the burger (I've never seen "American Hamburger Dressing" in America, only in Sweden) and gorgonzola dipping sauce for the fries may have negated the "leanness", but I take comfort in the thought that it was leaner than an ordinary burger.So amazingly handy
..
Yea, that I recognize all to well too. I was very good at German back in school, so good I got a scholarship, though now I can probably only say "hallo, Ich heisse Red und Ich bin achtundzwanzig Jahre alt." and that's probably all I remember, I recalled "kartoffel" as potatoe making a German person happy that I understood a word, but it's kinda sad what the language withers away when not in use, so to speak yea.It is sad how quickly a language dies when it is never used. I studied German for 6 years and while I understand everything and can make myself understood, most of the grammar and vocabulary is long gone and I know I make lots of mistakes (which I loathe). I still read quite a bit of German but it's not the same as having to construct sentences on my own.
Hence this is an excellent thread for everyone who rarely has an occasion to use English! Do try to speak as well as write though. Practice with your friends or just read something aloud, reading and writing won't help your pronunciation. Poems or plays are great for practicing because they are meant to be spoken and have a musical quality which will help you get the intonation and rythm right.
I have an English boyfriend and on average I use English more than any other language. Norwegian is second and Swedish third. I only use Swedish for buke, speaking to Swedes who don't understand Norwegian and writing papers or official letters. I definitely prefer Norwegian but my boyfriend's Norwegian skills are still very limited. He is trying though!
Although I speak both English and Swedish fluently, my English is better as I have never had a single Swedish lesson and am completely self taught from reading books and listening to people speaking.
I have not read further than this but am sadly unable to choose between British and American accent when I write. But is this really a problem when we are simply trying to use a language? (I have always aimed for something in between)Hahaha, no, that's not what I mean!
American and British English differ in both grammar and vocabulary, you can read more about it here for example if you're interested. Depending on which browser you're using you can set the spellcheck for the language you want to use, it makes it easier to see when you're making a spelling error. But then you need to decide which version of English you want to practice. British English is what's taught i Swedish schools, but American English is what we're mostly exposed to through popular culture. This tends to make "Swedish English" a bit of a mishmash.
I think you should probably also consider some sort of rules for the thread, do you for instance want to be corrected if someone spots a mistake? Or would that be discouraging?
Ok, great! (because I would not dare trying to use either)Read on, it's been further discussed.
I don't think so, as long as we understand each other I think it's fine. For now we're just discussing how the current day have been etc. If you have a more interesting topic to discuss feel free to bring it on.
