heyyawn's avatar
heyyawn

March 12, 2021

0
Diary: March 11th (pt.2)

Yesterday was my first day to do my new part-time job. The job is to go to a elementary school every Thursday afternoon to teach children to play Go (a board game). Not after school, but during regular school hours. In addition to the Go class, there are also calligraphy classes, robotics classes, chess classes, baseball classes, and so on. To be honest I was quite surprised because when I was in elementary school, these hobbies classes were not available at school and we had to choose hobbies classes ourselves.
It was an unlucky afternoon. I left the university campus with the intention of taking the bus to that elementary school. In China, besides private cars, buses and subways are the best ways of commuting longer distances. The app on my phone allowed me to check the bus number and see when the bus was about to arrive. The app told me I was only 500 meters from the nearest station, but it was actually over 1500 meters! When I arrived at the bus stop out of breath, the bus just left! I was running late, so I had to take a taxi. Luckily there are many Uber-like apps and I booked a taxi in 1 minute and got on the taxi within 5 minutes, only it cost a lot of money compared to the bus.
Something else happened in class. When school computers shut down, they delete the program, so the program downloaded in advance at that school is gone! I needed to use that program in class! It took me a long time to prepare the lesson! The internet was slow there, and a 1.5G installer took 30 minutes to download, which meant it took almost a class period to download. So I had to improvise a lesson. In between classes, a first grade boy stabbed a fourth grade boy in the hand with a pen, and a boy got hit in the aisle and fell to the floor, bruising his back. What a mess!
Finally I could go back! Then I bused in the wrong direction...

diary
Corrections

Diary: March 11th (pt. 2)

The convention here is that "pt." is an abbrevation for "part", so you wrote "part 2" and then abbreviated it to "pt. 2".

Yesterday was my first day to don my new part-time job.

Not sure if this is grammar or just style, but it reads better.

The job is to go to an elementary school every Thursday afternoon to teach children to play Go (a board game).

The old "an" before a vowel thing.

Not after school, but during regular school hours.

In addition to the Go class, there are also calligraphy classes, robotics classes, chess classes, baseball classes, and so on.

To be honest I was quite surprised because when I was in elementary school, these hobbiesy classes were not available at school and we had to choose hobbiesy classes ourselves.

I don't think there's a rule that dictates this, it just sounds better to me. There may be a proper term in English for classes like these, but if so I don't know it.

"choose" is strange here. You might mean something like "we had to find hobby classes ourselves"?

It was an unlucky afternoon.

A fun word to use here if you wanted to be poetic: "ill-fated" :)

I left the university campus with the intention of taking the bus to thate elementary school.

I see why you've used "that", but "the" sounds more natural here. You've only mentioned one elementary school, and we have no reason to believe you might mean any other.

In China, besides private cars, buses and subways are the best ways of commuting longer distances.

The app on my phone allowed me to check the bus number and see when the bus was about to arrive.

The app told me I was only 500 meters from the nearest station, but it was actually over 1500 meters!

When I arrived at the bus stop out of breath, the bus had just left!

I think you mean "the bus left a few moments before I arrived", right?

"when I arrived, the bus just left" - this means that, immediately after you arrived, the bus simply left. It did not let you board, it did not acknowledge you or apologise, it just left. Leaving was the only thing it did. A very rude bus.

I was running late, so I had to take a taxi.

Luckily there are many Uber-like apps and I booked a taxi in 1 minute and got oin the taxi within 5 minutes, onlybut it cost a lot of money compared to the bus.

We get "in" cars and vans, but we get "on" buses and trains. I think the pattern might be that if you can simply walk straight onto the vehicle, it's "on", and if you have to duck or clamber or step over something, it's "in".

"only" is almost a pure synonym for "but" here, and it's clear what you mean, but it doesn't feel quite right.

Something else happened in class.

When the school computers shut down, they delete all the programs, so the program I downloaded in advance at that school iwas gone!

I think this is what you mean? It's not clear.

I needed to use that program in class!

It took me a long time to prepare the lesson!

The internet was slow there, and a 1.5G GB installer took 30 minutes to download, which meant it took almost a class period to download.

Generally we abbreviate "gigabytes" like that.

So I had to improvise a lesson.

In between classes, a first grade boy stabbed a fourth grade boy in the hand with a pen, and a boy got hit in the aisle and fell to the floor, bruising his back.

What a mess!

Eventually the day finished. Finally I could go back home!

This exclamation feels like it needs more context. Without anything to move time forward a little, it's kind of like "finally I could go back" is a reaction to the battle of the infants and what a mess it was.

Then I busedtook a bus going in the wrong direction...

We generally don't use "bus" as a verb to mean "the subject travels by bus". We do sometimes use it indirectly - "the children were bussed to school". English is a strange language and I apologise.

Feedback

Excellent writing. What a thoroughly awful first day at work!

heyyawn's avatar
heyyawn

March 14, 2021

0

Thanks :)

Diary: March 11th (pt.2)


Diary: March 11th (pt. 2)

The convention here is that "pt." is an abbrevation for "part", so you wrote "part 2" and then abbreviated it to "pt. 2".

Yesterday was my first day to do my new part-time job.


Yesterday was my first day to don my new part-time job.

Not sure if this is grammar or just style, but it reads better.

The job is to go to a elementary school every Thursday afternoon to teach children to play Go (a board game).


The job is to go to an elementary school every Thursday afternoon to teach children to play Go (a board game).

The old "an" before a vowel thing.

Not after school, but during regular school hours.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

In addition to the Go class, there are also calligraphy classes, robotics classes, chess classes, baseball classes, and so on.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

To be honest I was quite surprised because when I was in elementary school, these hobbies classes were not available at school and we had to choose hobbies classes ourselves.


To be honest I was quite surprised because when I was in elementary school, these hobbiesy classes were not available at school and we had to choose hobbiesy classes ourselves.

I don't think there's a rule that dictates this, it just sounds better to me. There may be a proper term in English for classes like these, but if so I don't know it. "choose" is strange here. You might mean something like "we had to find hobby classes ourselves"?

It was an unlucky afternoon.


It was an unlucky afternoon.

A fun word to use here if you wanted to be poetic: "ill-fated" :)

I left the university campus with the intention of taking the bus to that elementary school.


I left the university campus with the intention of taking the bus to thate elementary school.

I see why you've used "that", but "the" sounds more natural here. You've only mentioned one elementary school, and we have no reason to believe you might mean any other.

In China, besides private cars, buses and subways are the best ways of commuting longer distances.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

The app on my phone allowed me to check the bus number and see when the bus was about to arrive.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

The app told me I was only 500 meters from the nearest station, but it was actually over 1500 meters!


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

When I arrived at the bus stop out of breath, the bus just left!


When I arrived at the bus stop out of breath, the bus had just left!

I think you mean "the bus left a few moments before I arrived", right? "when I arrived, the bus just left" - this means that, immediately after you arrived, the bus simply left. It did not let you board, it did not acknowledge you or apologise, it just left. Leaving was the only thing it did. A very rude bus.

I was running late, so I had to take a taxi.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Luckily there are many Uber-like apps and I booked a taxi in 1 minute and got on the taxi within 5 minutes, only it cost a lot of money compared to the bus.


Luckily there are many Uber-like apps and I booked a taxi in 1 minute and got oin the taxi within 5 minutes, onlybut it cost a lot of money compared to the bus.

We get "in" cars and vans, but we get "on" buses and trains. I think the pattern might be that if you can simply walk straight onto the vehicle, it's "on", and if you have to duck or clamber or step over something, it's "in". "only" is almost a pure synonym for "but" here, and it's clear what you mean, but it doesn't feel quite right.

Something else happened in class.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

When school computers shut down, they delete the program, so the program downloaded in advance at that school is gone!


When the school computers shut down, they delete all the programs, so the program I downloaded in advance at that school iwas gone!

I think this is what you mean? It's not clear.

I needed to use that program in class!


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

It took me a long time to prepare the lesson!


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

The internet was slow there, and a 1.5G installer took 30 minutes to download, which meant it took almost a class period to download.


The internet was slow there, and a 1.5G GB installer took 30 minutes to download, which meant it took almost a class period to download.

Generally we abbreviate "gigabytes" like that.

So I had to improvise a lesson.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

In between classes, a first grade boy stabbed a fourth grade boy in the hand with a pen, and a boy got hit in the aisle and fell to the floor, bruising his back.


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

What a mess!


This sentence has been marked as perfect!

Finally I could go back!


Eventually the day finished. Finally I could go back home!

This exclamation feels like it needs more context. Without anything to move time forward a little, it's kind of like "finally I could go back" is a reaction to the battle of the infants and what a mess it was.

Then I bused in the wrong direction...


Then I busedtook a bus going in the wrong direction...

We generally don't use "bus" as a verb to mean "the subject travels by bus". We do sometimes use it indirectly - "the children were bussed to school". English is a strange language and I apologise.

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