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  • Kerin

    Administrator
    May 24, 2021 at 10:17 am in reply to: Online meetings: what do you think?

    Hi Jacopo,

    I think it’s useful to see it in this balanced way; like anything I suppose there are pros and cons. I would have to agree that I like the freedom online meetings give us, but of course, we lose something online. They are great for day-to-day stuff but perhaps less effective for brainstorming or sensitive decision making… I can imagine it’s painful for Italians 😂

    @j.artini this is well-written and expressed quite clearly. There are a few things you need to watch: please have a look at these corrections and let me know if you need anything clarified

    > ❌ my daily routine has been significantely changed with the start of the Covid pandemic (this is the passive voice, which is incorrect)

    > ✅ my daily routine has significantly changed with the start of the Covid pandemic

    *see advanced section: the passive in the grammar course Tense Buster to review this

    > ❌ I was used to do

    >✅ I was used to DOING or I used to do (see this video for info on this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Gxa23-I7Y))

    > for my experience replace ‘for’ with ‘in’ > in my experience

    > watch your plurals and articles!

    and now I’m doing like 2/3 remote meetingS on A daily bases (basis)

    I don’t really dislike doing remote meetingS instead of face-to-face since the time call for social distancing, obviously there are some proS and cons on doing meetingS remotely.

    If you have time Jacopo, please try and re-write this with the corrections – it’ll help you consolidate 👍

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    May 17, 2021 at 10:32 am in reply to: AP 7

    Wonderful @Lu_Corde 🙌. this is really well done.

    I’m very happy to see think + about (and no think + to! Yes!!!)

    Also….you are most definitely NOT alone! Unfortunately I am with you 💯 …. my friend’s call me the doom!

    N.b stuck – stuck – stuck

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    May 17, 2021 at 10:28 am in reply to: Into the future, a comment

    Oh I like this perspective @Lu_Corde – it is a “mixed bag” indeed and I feel that the article is perhaps already outdated 🙄 … technology moves so fast!

    I’ve sent you a google doc. If you have time, try to edit it with the correction code 👍

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    May 17, 2021 at 10:15 am in reply to: 5 facts about me

    Hello @Riccardo.Gai ,

    Nice to meet you. Good job here, well done!

    I’ve never been to Sansepolcro, I’ll add it to my list!

    I couldn’t agree with you more on point 4 and I wish you lots of luck achieving your marathon goal next year 💪

    Here are some notes:

    > “i” should always be spelled with a capital letter; I love, I’m working, I’m form etc

    > Sansepolcro is pretty famous because is the home town of Piero della Francesca

    the word it is missing in this sentence. Can you decide where to put it?! 🤗

    > I’m working AS a freelance software developer

    > what i love more is the countinous innovation which provoke me to keep up to date. I suggest: What I love more is the continuous innovation which INSPIRES me to keep up to date.

    > I really like challenge myself and my goal for the next year is to complete a marathon!

    the word to is missing in this sentence. Can you decide where to put it?! 🤗

    On my free time > ✅. IN my free time

    Good job Riccardo. See if you can fix these 2 phrases above and let me know if you need anything clarified 👍

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    May 6, 2021 at 1:19 pm in reply to: Online meetings: what do you think?

    Hi @Michele.Barbagli

    Oh my goodness, that is a big change indeed. What are the implications of the increase in online meetings for you? I’m curious if you feel more or less productive?!

    Notes:

    Have a look at the corrections below:

    1. you need to use the article here; the pandemic, a physical meeting, an online meeting

    Alternatively, you could make meetings plural: From my experience, physical meetings are …. / online meetings are definitely ….

    (I recommend you do the section called ‘Articles’ in the advanced unit in the grammar course. I’ll be sending out the access to this course later today)

    2. This is a tricky phrase. We should make “disrupting event” a noun: disruption and we can make the sentence less wordy (remember in English, less is more 😅)

    so: The pandemic has been a disruption to/on our daily routine.

    3. Here you need to use the present perfect: I’ve switched from … (The present perfect continuous focuses on the duration of something, so we don’t tend to use it with verbs (like switch, fix etc) that don’t have a continuous state.

    (There is a present perfect section in the upper intermediate unit that you’ll find useful)

    👍

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    April 30, 2021 at 3:00 pm in reply to: Online meetings: what do you think?

    Ok got you @eleonora.rossi 😜

    You can say this: Moreover, you can get on with your own your business / get on with other stuff if the meeting is boring 😂

    👍

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    April 29, 2021 at 1:15 pm in reply to: Online meetings: what do you think?

    Glad that you’re finding remote meetings a mostly positive experience and an effective use of time @eleonora.rossi

    I think you make a good point there; they can certainly feel more structured. I do find I lose less time than meetings in person.

    I would also have to agree with about the ‘cold’ aspect. I’m currently doing an Italian course by Zoom and I sometimes find it embarrassing because we are all fairly shy and there can be many awkward silences!

    Note:

    Strong grammar structures and nice vocabulary Eleonora, well done. Just a question: in this phrase: Moreover, you can take forward your business if the meeting is boring what do you mean exactly? Do you mean skip something? Or go quicker? Thanks!

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    April 28, 2021 at 11:22 am in reply to: Slang

    Quite true. My neighbour (British, around 18) used the word ‘yeet’ the other day and I had to ask her what it meant. She just laughed at me and said I was so old! Charming.

    Note: stake > stick

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    April 28, 2021 at 11:19 am in reply to: Football match

    Fabulous use of these British slang terms. Well done @tatiana.aguilar

    > It will sound more natural if you use ‘go in’ instead of ‘entered’ > we went in and we said Alright?

    > arrived at: Some mates arrived at the restaurant ….

    > ask for some nosh

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    April 28, 2021 at 11:15 am in reply to: How we perceive accents

    @olatz thank you so much for sharing this with us. I read it a few times (one, because your English is impeccable and I’m so impressed by how you can express yourself and two, because your story about what happened at uni resonates so much with me and I feel fury towards people with this attitude, especially from educators who should know better!) I agree that if this were to happen to you now, you wouldn’t stand for it.

    I’m also fascinated by what you told us about that period of history. I admit, I don’t know so much about it, but it reminds me of what happened in Scotland (a lot longer ago!) when they banned Gaelic and also wearing tartan and such things.

    Poor Emma! Unfortunately, I guess your summation is fairly accurate: People who complain about accents will probably also complain about the amount of foreigners in their cities or villages What a world we live in!

    ps.

    > the verb research: to research ‘something’. We don’t need a preposition after the verb: I had spent so many hours researching about the book > I had spent so many hours researching the book

    You can use it as a noun as well and in this case, we can use a preposition:

    I had spent so many hours doing research about/on/into the book

    > hang – hung

    Hung is the past tense of to hang when it means “to suspend or be suspended.”

    Hanged is the past tense of to hang when it means “to kill someone by tying a rope attached from above and removing the support from beneath.”

    …. there was an unbelievably rude man who rang her and hung up on her while she tried to help him.

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    April 23, 2021 at 2:58 pm in reply to: A Typical English Saturday

    Woop woop!!!! @tatiana.aguilar

    100% correct 💪

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    April 21, 2021 at 12:18 pm in reply to: Writing task – Diplomatic English – Feedback

    Thank you for this task @najara.carvalho I can see you studied a lot!

    Let’s have a look-

    1. This is a good opener. However it is slightly wordy (we mostly want to be as brief as possible in email) Here are some suggestions you can use:

    Hope this email finds you well.
    I hope you enjoyed your weekend.
    I hope you’re doing well.

    2. This is correct! I want to give you some alternatives

    Seeing as the deadline is tomorrow,

    Given that the deadline is tomorrow / Given that we are meeting the deadline tomorrow

    3. (RW= rewrite) suggestion: I’m afraid I won’t have enough time ….

    4. This is too wordy. I suggest: I would like to propose a meeting on Zoom …..

    If you want to be a bit more forceful you can replace ‘propose’ with ‘set’ (because propose gives the other person more chance to say no to you!)

    5. vocabulary error – no preposition after the verb ‘discuss’

    I hope this is useful. Please let me know if you need any clarification on these points. 🙌

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    May 17, 2021 at 11:46 am in reply to: AP 7

    Exactly! 😂

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    May 17, 2021 at 9:52 am in reply to: Online meetings: what do you think?

    Hi @Michele.Baldi thanks for sharing your ideas.

    Is it group meetings that you don’t like very much or also one-to-one meetings? Just a curiosity!

    Have a look at my notes here:

    > Before the pandemic I usually did one or two online meetings per week and NOW I do at least one online meeting every day. By adding the word ‘now’ this phrase has much more impact.

    > I think that THEY are more effective than a message or email, (comma here!) but I prefer a face-to-face meeting because you can see if people are focusED (to be focused) on the topic of the meeting or IF they ARE thinkING ABOUT something else

    ⚠️ take a look at this post for the verb think

    https://hub.englishdigitalacademy.com/forums/topic/prepositions-after-the-verb-think/

    Prepositions after the verb: THINK

  • Kerin

    Administrator
    May 11, 2021 at 9:56 am in reply to: Online meetings: what do you think?

    @Manuela.Lelli Are there any times where you find online meetings to be more productive than face to face?

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