[Kerin]

Hi @Mattia.Rosi

This is well done.

Please have a look at feedback

1) you could make this even more natural by saying sound quality:

Sorry, there’s a lot of background noise and the sound quality is poor, could you please speak up?

2) Brilliant! I too often find a lot of traffic from my sofa to my desk 😂

I suggest: Could someone run through what’s been discussed so far?

7) Sorry guys, there is a dog that IS barking and I can’t hear what you are talking about. Please, the dog’s owner has to mute the mic and TURN it on when the dog IS be quiet. Thank you.

8) the verb discuss doesn’t need a preposition

Let me know if you have any questions or need anything clarified 🙌 and if you have time, try to do the speaking task too

[Kerin]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

@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]

Hi Diego,

I couldn’t agree more! (The Britishness in me loves the focus, lack of of hassle and faff!) Having said that, I also agree that face-to-face meetings can be better, especially when you need to brainstorm or make key decisions.

Well written @Diego.Magionami your grammar structures are sound and I like the vocabulary you have used.

The only things I would like to highlight are:

> worrying (it’s probably just a typo though!)

> discuss (doesn’t take a preposition)

[Kerin]

Exactly! 😂

[Kerin]

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]

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