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nickmeister posted:I don't understand why so many people seem to think their english is better than a native speaker's or why they think they can argue grammar points with one who is specifically educated on the subject. I feel like this is something I've heard from other people too not just chinese. I tried teaching and I remember getting called to talk to the principle. A kid wrote "My mom cooks me many delicious foods" and I marked it right. I tried to defend that but lol beep boop "food" is an uncountable noun
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Dec 31, 2016 06:12
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| # ? May 14, 2024 10:42 |
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You cannot imagine, sitting here, where I came from. The floods, the famines, were so bad. China was fragmented. Society was crumbling. There was a day before the war... when I came upon a man with a dead baby. He was gonna cook it. He shouted, "It died. I did not kill it. It died." That is what it was like in China before Modest Mao.
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Dec 31, 2016 06:12
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Mao had some nice poems.
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Dec 31, 2016 06:15
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Haier posted:Act I I like the set up so far, but I'm really looking forward to where it goes
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Dec 31, 2016 06:16
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why do middle class chinese people love Deng Xiaoping so much he p. much robbed them of political reform
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Dec 31, 2016 06:18
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is it like americans liking ronald reagan and bill clinton
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Dec 31, 2016 06:18
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yes
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Dec 31, 2016 06:19
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The Great Autismo! posted:When people say China is a nation of literal children, this is the type of thing they are referring to seriously if you word-replace every instance of "teachers" in that story with "high school students" it feels like a typical classroom experience with teenagers. but knowing these people are ranging from late 20s to early 40s its just loving pathetic that they are allowed to influence children or receive a salary at all like really, a guy in class not giving a poo poo about an essay until hes told he will get a gift for it, and then just copying some internet bullshit so he can receive it. a loving grown man!
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Dec 31, 2016 06:28
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Modest Mao posted:I tried teaching and I remember getting called to talk to the principle. A kid wrote "My mom cooks me many delicious foods" and I marked it right. I tried to defend that but lol beep boop "food" is an uncountable noun Is this a dialect thing? I don't use food as a countable noun.
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Dec 31, 2016 06:48
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eh it sounds weird to me, I having food be plural. but if you changed foods to meals. then it sounds normal.
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Dec 31, 2016 06:50
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Dicky mouse posted:eh it sounds weird to me, I having food be plural. but if you changed foods to meals. then it sounds normal. Yeah, that's why I'm asking, but it could be right for someone else.
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Dec 31, 2016 06:54
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Magna Kaser posted:To be fair I know a non trivial amount of western people here who eat almost entirely at subway, McDonald's and Starbucks so I can see why it's a common misconception of what American food is. Though honestly with how many Americans eat it's probably pretty accurate. i sorta do this at work and have had teammates ask why im always buying lunch at the adjacent Lawsons rather than the office cafeteria. i tried explaining that im not interested anymore when my only choices are oily meat, oily vegetables, oily tofu, oily dumplings, oily soup, and white rice - the sandwiches and salads at the Lawsons are the only non-oily foods, but their takeaway is always "foreigners just prefer sandwiches to chinese food"
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Dec 31, 2016 07:00
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This is a lovely derail sorry but to me these all sound OK Salmon and pike are just two examples of fishes found on earth. Thai and Japanese are two of the world's oldest peoples. Milk and Peanuts are foods which I cannot eat. Don't post in the thread if this sounds good or bad. Just nod sagely that its possible to pluralize certain nouns that also have uncountable forms. Or nod sagely that I'm wrong as hell.
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Dec 31, 2016 07:00
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Pirate Radar posted:Is this a dialect thing? I don't use food as a countable noun. It's not perfect English but it makes total sense and is fine depending on the level. I'm guessing if that's what the students are producing we're talking relatively low level English classes, and the goal there is just to get the kids comfortable and communicating in an understandable way. You can work on perfect grammar later.
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Dec 31, 2016 07:00
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E: ^^ agreed, basically, it wouldn't be my first priority Modest Mao posted:This is a lovely derail sorry but to me these all sound OK Okay, yeah, just curious. There are probably some things I say or write that would get you marked down on a very strict test too.
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Dec 31, 2016 07:02
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1. it is perfect english. yeah my kids were like 8 and they didn't know why they were right but then again I have no idea why half of english grammar is 'right' except that it sounds right so I didn't want to mark it wrong. 2. I also wanna relate that we made the kids make valentine's cards for their moms. Weird enough. One kid wrote "Mom I love your chinky eyes" and I am still baffled by it
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Dec 31, 2016 07:04
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Grand Fromage posted:Probably the single most valuable thing we do is writing practice. Going into a US university with zero experience ever writing an essay would be killer, at least with our school they've gotten three years of us hammering it into them so they aren't completely unprepared. This is probably the one thing I feel bad about in my case. Over the course of working on the girl's admissions, her essays have gradually become my own, as her writing was really not up to par and my revisions often required completely rewriting a sentence. Later essays she would send me were essentially Frankenstein creations, made up of sections of essays I'd previously written. Additionally, I never once received an essay that was within the word limit; it wasn't uncommon to get a max 500 word essay that was actually 700-800 words. The response I got for asking that she try to write within the word limit, at least as a learning exercise, was always "she tries, but has so much to say! And it's not too hard to edit it down, right?" Needless to say she is not going to do well in her writing assignments, though the only saving grace is that she won't have to do as much of that as a biology major. Probably the worse loss of face I've been responsible happened a few weeks ago. My boss, the Tsinghua English-degree graduate, and I were going back and forth over how to conclude one of the essays. She felt that my writing was too vague and hard to follow, and continually asked me to revise a sentence so that it was clearer and easier to follow. This, over the course of several revisions, essentially became a very dumbed-down version of "see spot run", but I was tired of arguing with her. A day or two later we're having a big meeting with the VP to finalize the essays, and I notice that the sentence I'd been revising had been completely rewritten, with the girl basically saying she wanted to attend the university because she wanted to "broaden her horizons". I immediately started laughing despite myself, and when ask what was the matter I said without thinking "I hate that phrase, and don't remember that being in the essay. We need to cut that immediately" (as an aside, I'm on a personal crusade to stop any Chinese student saying that loving phrase ever again). The VP also laughed and agreed, saying she hated it too. Later though when I spoke to her she said that my boss had claimed I wrote it, but I replied that wasn't the case,and instead showed her the last version of the edited essay I'd sent my boss. Between belittling her writing in front of everyone and the later discussion with the VP I probably haven't endeared myself to my boss, but at the time I couldn't help myself.
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Dec 31, 2016 08:26
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ladron posted:I like the set up so far, but I'm really looking forward to where it goes In the two hours I have had four girls all ask me what I am doing tonight and if I want to hang out. I have not met any of them yet, so it would be a new experience. They are as follows: 1. 21 years old. She lives far away and wants to stay the night, and has sent me tons of naked photos. Her body is amazing and I wanna get jiggy. She would be a great pick, even though she doesn't speak English, but she has actually demanded I get her pregnant because she wants a hybrid and to be a single mom (or I marry her or something). Totally not feeling that. 100% chance of plunging, 0% of things turning out fine. 2. 21 years old. She lives nearby and doesn't want to stay the night. Her English is fine and pleasant to talk with using voice chat, so I guess IRL would be fine too. She's very pretty, and hates her family and relies on herself, which is great because it means they won't be breathing down her neck about anything. I would have to break my previously noted winning streak and pay for whatever we eat tonight. 0-30% of plunging, but lives so close to me and already said she'd like to eat a meal and watch a movie at my house another time, so she's willing to hang out more. 3. 33 years old. Is on vacation here for a while and doesn't know anyone here. Really wants to meet and hang out and doesn't want to be alone at midnight. Her English is really weird but somehow not ESL. It's hard to explain, but talking to her confuses me. 90% chance of plunging in her hotel, and 10% chance of me walking 15km back home afeter midnight if she is just looking for a white face to hang out with and practice English. 4. 27 or something. Obviously wants to practice English and make a foreign friend for friendship and English tips. She lives on the same street as me and seems very polite and nice, but I don't know what she looks like or what she wants. I could get a free dinner out of this. 0-5% chance of a midnight kiss, let alone a plunge, in my guesstimation. Doing my math, it might be possible to combine 2 and maybe 3/4 into one night. It would be a stretch, but I think I could make it. Option 1 is super sexy, but I don't think I could talk her into letting me wear a condom. Since I am me, expect me to screw all of this up. Reports later, or tomorrow, depending on the crisis that happens or is averted.
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Dec 31, 2016 09:42
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'foods' feels like a shortening of 'types of food'
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Dec 31, 2016 10:07
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Going back to the "food vs foods" debate, what you guys are really debating is "prescriptivism vs descriptivism". Foods is 100% incorrect if you ask a grammar book, but if a native speaker uses it and another native speaker understands and doesn't feel the need to correct it, it's now 100% correct as far as common usage goes. The problem with assessing language is that no one can seem to agree what we should be assessing on (this sentence alone violates "official grammar" but I doubt most people would catch the error I made without being told to look for the error). It's really easy to look at a list of grammar rules and tick a point off for every grammar mistake, but in my opinion that's pretty meaningless since the goal of language learning isn't to reproduce accurate grammar but to communicate ideas in a foreign tongue. The food/foods distinction, something that native speakers don't even always agree on, is the kind of bullshit thing that costs people points when it should usually be completely ignored. I was actually out to dinner with a handful of goons the other night and this debate came up. Unsurprisingly there was little consensus at the table.
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Dec 31, 2016 10:11
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Stay safe, Plunger Man, and god bless
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Dec 31, 2016 10:11
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Modest Mao posted:I tried teaching and I remember getting called to talk to the principle. A kid wrote "My mom cooks me many delicious foods" and I marked it right. I tried to defend that but lol beep boop "food" is an uncountable noun Accretionist posted:'foods' feels like a shortening of 'types of food' https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/food Examples of food in a sentence: a farmer who grows his own food drought victims who don't have enough food to eat She gave food and drink to the hungry travelers. What is your favorite food? fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods edit: Definition of food for English Language Learners: : the things that people and animals eat : a particular kind of food : substances taken in by plants and used for growth
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Dec 31, 2016 10:46
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Food is singular. You cannot pluralise it as 'foods'. What you can do is pluralise it as 'foodstuffs' (yes, seriously). However, if it's a Chinese ESL essay, I'd let it slide too. It's perfectly understandable and not writing that kind of thing takes near fluency to do, as it requires a knowledge of all the idiosyncratic parts of English grammar and the way irregular verbs and nouns can intersect.
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Dec 31, 2016 11:10
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Haier posted:Since I am me, expect me to screw all of this up. I think I speak for everyone when I say we really hope so
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Dec 31, 2016 11:36
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"No, Merriam-Webster is wrong. I am the expert." - Chinese person trying to save face.
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Dec 31, 2016 12:06
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Gargamel Gibson posted:"No, Merriam-Webster is wrong. I am the expert." Eh, a dictionary is just one authority, but certainly not THE authority on English usage. In fact, English doesn't have a central body governing the language. But descriptive use definitely informs prescriptive, which is how we end up with cromulent in the OED.
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Dec 31, 2016 12:48
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Gargamel Gibson posted:"No, Merriam-Webster is wrong. I am the expert." But this is literally right. If the dictionary said the opposite thing, a native speaker saying "foods" would still be right because a native speaker of a language trumps the dictionary.
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Dec 31, 2016 13:02
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Adam Vegas posted:Food is singular. You cannot pluralise it as 'foods'. What you can do is pluralise it as 'foodstuffs' (yes, seriously). White Men Can't Jump (and therefore Jeopardy!) asked for "Foods that start with the letter Q", and I'm not sure you can find a higher authority than that!
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Dec 31, 2016 13:11
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Pirate Radar posted:But this is literally right. If the dictionary said the opposite thing, a native speaker saying "foods" would still be right because a native speaker of a language trumps the dictionary. Assuming you are a descriptivist.
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Dec 31, 2016 13:19
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given it's chinar, it's safe to assume 110% prescriptivism
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Dec 31, 2016 13:42
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I CANNOT EJACULATE WITHOUT SEEING NATIVE AMERICANS BRUTALISED!
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LentThem posted:seriously if you word-replace every instance of "teachers" in that story with "high school students" it feels like a typical classroom experience with teenagers. but knowing these people are ranging from late 20s to early 40s its just loving pathetic that they are allowed to influence children or receive a salary at all lol KillingPablo posted:This is probably the one thing I feel bad about in my case. Over the course of working on the girl's admissions, her essays have gradually become my own, as her writing was really not up to par and my revisions often required completely rewriting a sentence. Later essays she would send me were essentially Frankenstein creations, made up of sections of essays I'd previously written. Additionally, I never once received an essay that was within the word limit; it wasn't uncommon to get a max 500 word essay that was actually 700-800 words. The response I got for asking that she try to write within the word limit, at least as a learning exercise, was always "she tries, but has so much to say! And it's not too hard to edit it down, right?" Needless to say she is not going to do well in her writing assignments, though the only saving grace is that she won't have to do as much of that as a biology major. a lot of universities will automatically throw out essays that are over the word limit so try to not do that, fwiw Also I see a lot of "I want to attend Boston college, because if I go here, I'll improve myself" and I tell the kid "you need to say why you specifically want to attend Boston college" and then they will write something like "it is number 23, that is ok" or "I don't know why I want to attend classes there" and I'm like "ok just get out" This is a large amount of my China.txt
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Dec 31, 2016 13:51
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Haier posted:Since I don't really care about holidays I never make any plans. I decided to ask about 30 people on my Wechat list what they were doing tonight, seeing if someone was willing to hang out, after deciding on who was thinking of doing something more interesting than playing phone. I was hoping for "Go to the hill and watch the fireworks" or something, anything, but instead: You've told us how they were still struggling with the Gregorian calendar, so it makes sense they'd attach less importance to this than to the Chinese New Year.
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Dec 31, 2016 13:57
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"Look, on this university application, you need the school to think they are special and they were your first and only genuine choice and you hope to make it the most memorable years of your life. Here....pretend it's a girl and you're trying to get her to sleep with you. " "Hm, okay. *ahem* Dear university, I own a house and my job is not bad, I will be manager in two years. Please consider me. Finished. " "Uhh okay let's try something else"
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Dec 31, 2016 14:25
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Foods is 100% correct grammar (at least in American English). English allows mass nouns, and those are pluralized with an s when speaking about multiple mass nouns. Fishes Deers Sheeps Foods
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Dec 31, 2016 15:39
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Why are you actually putting effort into doing your jobs here... Anyways, the building my company in has a couple of basement floors for parking, but only one of the elevators goes down there. I got in that elevator and pushed the bottom button forgetting it was for the basement and not the ground floor and you can't push the button again to cancel it in China for some reason. So I get to the ground floor, some old woman barges into me as I'm getting out and once she notices it's still going down she starts full on screaming as if she was being murdered, the doors hadn't even shut so she could have just got out again. Jimmy Little Balls fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Dec 31, 2016 |
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Dec 31, 2016 15:49
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UltraRed posted:Fishes Deers and sheeps sound wrong to me and I'm an American. Like I said earlier, maybe this is regional? Let's try something. Question 1) Is "foods" right? Question 2) What do you call the small grey insect that rolls into a ball when you poke it? My answers: No, and it's a roly-poly
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Dec 31, 2016 15:53
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I looked on wiktionary and food (countable) was there, so that settles it.
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Dec 31, 2016 16:02
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Pirate Radar posted:Deers and sheeps sound wrong to me and I'm an American. Like I said earlier, maybe this is regional? Not a regionalism. I checked, and it's everywhere. It may not sound right to you, but it is correct grammar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun
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Dec 31, 2016 16:09
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Pirate Radar posted:
correct can we just pretend Foods is short for Food Stuffs or something cause pluralizing that poo poo dont feel good most of the time, it makes my brain done itch deers? lol
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Dec 31, 2016 16:22
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Foods is fine, rolly-polly is fine but pillbug is also acceptable
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Dec 31, 2016 16:22
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