Community Discussions
(Native speaker here) A bit unsure about exactly when you can use “Long story short”
Ok so, I just explained a pretty long thing in an in-depth way to my mother. At the end of the explanation, I said “So long story short-“ then summarised everything I just explained into a brief one-sentence conclusion. She laughed and playfully said “You’ve just told me all that and *then* say ‘long story short’? You’ve already told me the long version!” And that actually got me thinking. Is she right? Are you only supposed to say “long story short” if someone asks for a story and you skip it all and just give the brief version? I know that is a way you can use it, eg “Hey tell me what happened at the party last night” “Well, long story short, my boyfriend got in a huge fight cuz another dude insulted me”. But can you also use it in the way I did? (Say I went into full detail about the party story then ended it with “so long story short, my boyfriend has a temper!”).
Is it possible to understand English movies perfectly being a non-native speaker?
I'm 17y and think my English has improved to a good level. I can hold entire conversations confidently, read English literature without translating 99% of the words used. But I've been struggling to understand the actors' speech, what surprises me because I'm able to listen clearly to the spoken English used by youtubers/podcasters/streamers. I've read a lot of accounts about that. Apparently, there are native speakers that complain about this too, they blame the audio mixing and the new trends to mumbling when it comes to acting. But, on the other hand, my friend, who is a non-native speaker like me, is able to understand perfectly without subtitles, even though he's never been to foreign countries (we're Brazilians). So I'm a little confused about who I should believe. Is it worth putting much effort into that or is it over for me? And I want to know if you (non-native speaker) are able to understand English movies perfectly or almost perfectly.
Will learning an European language help me learn English?
Hello. I'm a student learning English. Recently, I got curious about if learning any European language as my 3rd one might help me memorize advanced English vocabularies, and maybe gain useful insight to the grammer, word use, culture, etc. Of English since it has roots in European languages. I heard most English words are from French, German, or Latin words(and I think I'm pretty interested in Spanish, Italian, and French.) So, I googled what European language will be the most beneficial to learning English. But most results were just explaining general facts about the relationships between English and European languages. So if there's an English or European native here, I'd like to ask if learning an European language would likely help me improve my English. If so, I'd like to additionally ask what language would be the most beneficial for that. Thank you for reading this. Hope you have a good day!
“I’m singing the wrong pitch.” “I’m singing on the wrong pitch.” Which is correct?
https://www.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/comments/1k14rat/im_singing_the_wrong_pitch_im_singing_on_the/
'Elk' means 'moose' in British English, right?
https://www.reddit.com/r/EnglishLearning/comments/1jo1gdl/elk_means_moose_in_british_english_right/
Rolled vs Rode -- is the "l" in "rolled" noticeable for you?
Today I misheard "rolled" for "rode" -- I know it's supposed to be /roʊld/ vs /roʊd/, but I don't hear the /l/ in "rolled" all that much. Is it just me? Thanks!
Straight As?
When English speakers say they were a Straight A student, do they actually mean they got an A in every single subject or just most of them?
Is "Had you eaten before we had arrived?" grammatically incorrect?
Why or why not?
Any special words for those who's bad at working with their hands
Hi! Is there a special word or phrase for a person who is bad at working with hands or performing practcal jobs (e.g. mending things, cleaning, cooking, etc.). In my language we've got a special phrase which literally means 'one's hands grow from their ass' and a word which is a contamination of 'hands' and 'ass'. It's informal and might be offensive. Is there anything similar in English? Thanks
What's the opposite of cunchy when it comes to apples?
It may involve a food culture difference. Most apples are crunchy but in many Asian countries, non-crunchy apples are also popular. I can't find a word to describe how they taste like. What's the proper adjective here? Thank you in advance.