Aug. 5, 2023
I have been learning English for almost four years. In the first year from September of 2019 to July of 2020, I learned English in a way I did when I was in school, but I think I wasted the first year, because what I did in the first year didn't help with my writing and speaking.
In July 2020, a female Canadian tutor on Italki who was in Japan then told me about the LangCorrect website, and I think that was when I really started learning English.
After I practiced writing in English for a year, I think I made a lot of progress. At least I could write short English paragraphs, which I couldn't do a year ago.
I still couldn't speak English although I could write English, which made me very uncomfortable, because my goal of learning English this time was to speak English fluently.
So I started to book online lessons to practice my speaking. The first English online school I attended was in the Philippines, and all the teachers in the school were almost all female. They were young and most of them were just graduating from university.
They were enthusiastic, energetic, positive and friendly, but some of them had strong accents, which made it difficult for me to understand.
Anyway, I learned English there for a year, and I finally could speak in English. When I realized that I couldn't get further improvement, I stopped learning there.
But, I just stopped learning in that school, and I didn't stop learning English. After that, I booked lessons on Italki a lesson per day until now.
So far I have paid about 50000 CNY for my online lessons, but I still don't think I can speak English fluently. I can only speak slowly, and often make mistakes. Of course, like other Chinese, I have a Chinese accent, and it is really difficult to get rid of.
I don't know when I should stop learning English, maybe in one more year. I know I can't speak English as fluently as a native English speaker does in my lifetime, but I want to speak English not too badly.
I have been learnactively learning / studying English for almost four years.
In most contexts, your original sentence means you first started learning English four years ago. You could fix it by saying “actively learning” instead of “learning,” but “studying” would be simpler.
In the first year, from September of 2019 to July of 2020, I learnstudied English (in a) the way I did when I was in school, but I think I wasted the first year, because what I did in the first year didn't help with my writing and speaking.
“I studied English in the way I did”
“I studied English the way I did”
“In” isn’t wrong, but the sentence sounds better without it.
In July 2020, a female Canadian tutor on Italki who was in Japan then told me about the LangCorrect website, and I think that was when I really started learning English.
“Learning” is fine here, and “studying” would be wrong.
After I practiced writing in English for a year, I think I made a lot of progress.
At least I could write short English paragraphs, which I couldn't do a year agoearlier/prior.
You could say “couldn’t have done” but “couldn’t do” is also correct and idiomatic.
So I started to book online lessons to practice (my) speaking.
“My” isn’t wrong, but it’s unnecessary and I doubt that any native English speaker would add it here.
The first online English online school I attended was in the Philippines, and (allmost all) the teachers in the school were (almost all) female.
“Almost all” fits naturally in either location, but not both.
They were young and most of them were just graduating from university.
Anyway, I learned/studied English there for a year, and I finally could speak in English.
Either “learned” or “studied” would make sense in this context. I prefer the latter.
When I realized that I couldn't get further improvement, I stopped learnstudying there.
“Learning” sounds wrong to me. It could mean you continued to attend lessons there, but your English stopped improving (you ceased to learn anything from the lessons). “Studying” is unambiguous: you stopped attending lessons there.
But, I just stopped learnstudying in that school, and I didn't stop learning English.
The first instance of “learning” in this sentence isn’t wrong, but studying is more natural. This sentence sentence illustrates some of the differences between studying and learning: studying is actively trying to learn, either on your own or by attending lessons; learning is what happens if your studying is successful (you gain knowledge—you learn), and it also refers to knowledge that you gain naturally, even when you aren’t studying (a child learns to talk, but they don’t study).
After that, I booked lessons on Italki, a lesson per day until / even now.
“Until now” is ambiguous in this context: it could mean you have now stopped booking a lesson a day, or it could mean you still book a lesson a day. For the latter meaning, “to this day” would be unambiguous, but repeating the word “day” like this (per day to this day”) wouldn’t sound good, so I’d use “even now.”
So far I have paid about 50000 CNY for my online lessons, but I still don't think I can speak English fluently.
I can only speak slowly, and often make mistakes.
Of course, like other Chinese, I have a Chinese accent, and it is really difficult to get rid of.
I don't know when I should stop learnstudying English, maybe in one more year.
Even if you stop actively studying English, you might still learn some English (when you see a new English word on a sign somewhere, for example).
I know I can't (I will never) speak English as fluently as a native English speaker does in my lifetime, but I want to speak English not too badly.
“I will never” sounds more natural to me.
Feedback
Good for you for sticking with it for this long. How much does each lesson cost, if you don’t mind me asking?
“Study,” “learn” and “imitate” can all be translated as “学” in Chinese, but they mean very different things in some contexts. I find linguistic differences like this very interesting. :-)
My Learning English Journey
I have been learning English for almost four years.
InDuring the first year, from September of 2019 to July of 2020, I learned English in athe same way I did when I wasback then in school, but I think I wasted the first year, because what I did in the first year didn't help with my writing and speaking.
In July 2020, a female Canadian tutor on Italki who was in Japan then told me about the LangCorrect website, and I think that was when I really started learning English.
After I practiced writing in English for a year, I think I had made a lot of progress.
At least I could write short English paragraphs in English, which I couldn't do a year agoprior.
I still couldn't speak English although I could write English, which made me very uncomfortable, because my goal of learning English this time was to speak English fluently.
So I started to book online lessons to practice my speaking.
The first English online school I attended was based in the Philippines, and allmost all of the teachers in the school were almost all female.
They were young and most of them werehad just graduatinged from university.
If you meant they hadn't graduated and was about to graduate, then you can say 'were just graduating'
They were enthusiastic, energetic, positive and friendly, but some of them had strong accents, which made it difficult for me to understand.
Anyway, I learned English there for a year, and I finally could speak in English.
When I realized that I couldn't get further improvementwasn't improving any further, I stopped learning there.
But, I justonly stopped learning in that school, and I didn't - not that I stopped learning English.
So far I have paid about 50000 CNY for my online lessons, but I still don't think I can speak English fluently.
I can only speak slowly, and often make mistakes.
Of course, like other Chinese, I have a Chinese accent, and it is really difficult to get rid of.
I don't know when I should stop learning English, maybe in one more year.
I know I can'twill not be able to speak English as fluently as a native English speaker does in my lifetime, but I wantat least I hope to speak English not too badlyrelatively well.
Feedback
Learning language takes time and practice. I don't think that you should ever stop learning it. Even for me, as I learn more languages, I started understanding more about my native language. And do not worry too much about having an accent. The truth is, English in this current era is spoken mostly by non-natives. Only 4% of conversations that take place involve natives. Hence, being able to understand how non-native speaks English is an added benefit.
When you have time, try reading the article below.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/04/25/989765565/tower-of-babble-non-native-speakers-navigate-the-world-of-good-and-bad-english
Learning English
I have been learning English for almost four years.
In the first year from September of 2019 to July of 2020, I learned English in athe way I did when I was in school, but I think I wasted the first year, because what I did in the first year didn't help with my writing and speaking.
It sounds like you learned many different ways of learning in school if you use "a."
In July 2020, a female Canadian tutor on Italki who was in Japan then told me about the LangCorrect website, and I think that was when I really started learning English.
After I practiced writing in English for a year, I think I made a lot of progress.
At least I could write short English paragraphs, which I couldn't do a year agoprior.
"A year ago," is only for comparing the present time to an earlier time. When comparing the past to the earlier past, use "prior."
I still couldn't speak English although I could write English, which made me very uncomfortable, because my goal of learning English this time was to speak English fluently.
So I started to book online lessons to practice my speaking.
The first English online school I attended was in the Philippines, and all the teachers in the school were almost all female.
They were young and most of them were just graduating from university.
They were enthusiastic, energetic, positive and friendly, but some of them had strong accents, which made it difficult for me to understand.
Anyway, I learned English there for a year, and I finally could speak in English.
When I realized that I couldn't get further improvement, I stopped learning there.
But, I justsimply stopped learning in that school, and I didn't stop learning English.
"Just" sounds pessimistic compared to "simply" in this case.
After that, I booked lessons on Italki a lesson per day until now.
So far, I have paid about 50000 CNY for my online lessons, but I still don't think I can speak English fluently.
I can only speak slowly, and often make mistakes.
I don't know when I should stop learning English, maybe in one more year.
I know I can't speak English as fluently as a native English speaker does in my lifetime, but I want to speak English not too badly.
Feedback
Very nice! Your writing sounds quite natural.
Learning English This sentence has been marked as perfect! My Learning English Journey |
I have been learning English for almost four years. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! I have been In most contexts, your original sentence means you first started learning English four years ago. You could fix it by saying “actively learning” instead of “learning,” but “studying” would be simpler. |
In the first year from September of 2019 to July of 2020, I learned English in a way I did when I was in school, but I think I wasted the first year, because what I did in the first year didn't help with my writing and speaking. In the first year from September of 2019 to July of 2020, I learned English in It sounds like you learned many different ways of learning in school if you use "a."
In the first year, from September of 2019 to July of 2020, I “I studied English in the way I did” “I studied English the way I did” “In” isn’t wrong, but the sentence sounds better without it. |
In July 2020, a female Canadian tutor on Italki who was in Japan then told me about the LangCorrect website, and I think that was when I really started learning English. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! In July 2020, a female Canadian tutor on Italki who was in Japan then told me about the LangCorrect website, and I think that was when I really started learning English. “Learning” is fine here, and “studying” would be wrong. |
After I practiced writing in English for a year, I think I made a lot of progress. This sentence has been marked as perfect! After I practiced writing in English for a year, I think I had made a lot of progress. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
At least I could write short English paragraphs, which I couldn't do a year ago. At least I could write short English paragraphs, which I couldn't do a year "A year ago," is only for comparing the present time to an earlier time. When comparing the past to the earlier past, use "prior." At least I could write short At least I could write short English paragraphs, which I couldn't do a year You could say “couldn’t have done” but “couldn’t do” is also correct and idiomatic. |
I still couldn't speak English although I could write English, which made me very uncomfortable, because my goal of learning English this time was to speak English fluently. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
So I started to book online lessons to practice my speaking. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! So I started to book online lessons to practice (my) speaking. “My” isn’t wrong, but it’s unnecessary and I doubt that any native English speaker would add it here. |
The first English online school I attended was in the Philippines, and all the teachers in the school were almost all female. The first English online school I attended was in the Philippines, and The first English online school I attended was based in the Philippines, and al The first online English “Almost all” fits naturally in either location, but not both. |
They were young and most of them were just graduating from university. This sentence has been marked as perfect! They were young and most of them If you meant they hadn't graduated and was about to graduate, then you can say 'were just graduating' This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
They were enthusiastic, energetic, positive and friendly, but some of them had strong accents, which made it difficult for me to understand. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
Anyway, I learned English there for a year, and I finally could speak in English. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! Anyway, I learned/studied English there for a year, and I finally could speak in English. Either “learned” or “studied” would make sense in this context. I prefer the latter. |
When I realized that I couldn't get further improvement, I stopped learning there. This sentence has been marked as perfect! When I realized that I When I realized that I couldn't get further improvement, I stopped “Learning” sounds wrong to me. It could mean you continued to attend lessons there, but your English stopped improving (you ceased to learn anything from the lessons). “Studying” is unambiguous: you stopped attending lessons there. |
But, I just stopped learning in that school, and I didn't stop learning English. But, I "Just" sounds pessimistic compared to "simply" in this case. But, I But, I just stopped The first instance of “learning” in this sentence isn’t wrong, but studying is more natural. This sentence sentence illustrates some of the differences between studying and learning: studying is actively trying to learn, either on your own or by attending lessons; learning is what happens if your studying is successful (you gain knowledge—you learn), and it also refers to knowledge that you gain naturally, even when you aren’t studying (a child learns to talk, but they don’t study). |
After that, I booked lessons on Italki a lesson per day until now. This sentence has been marked as perfect! After that, I booked lessons on Italki, a lesson per day until / even now. “Until now” is ambiguous in this context: it could mean you have now stopped booking a lesson a day, or it could mean you still book a lesson a day. For the latter meaning, “to this day” would be unambiguous, but repeating the word “day” like this (per day to this day”) wouldn’t sound good, so I’d use “even now.” |
So far I have paid about 50000 CNY for my online lessons, but I still don't think I can speak English fluently. So far, I have paid about 50000 CNY for my online lessons, but I still don't think I can speak English fluently. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
I can only speak slowly, and often make mistakes. I can only speak slowly This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
Of course, like other Chinese, I have a Chinese accent, and it is really difficult to get rid of. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
I don't know when I should stop learning English, maybe in one more year. This sentence has been marked as perfect! This sentence has been marked as perfect! I don't know when I should stop Even if you stop actively studying English, you might still learn some English (when you see a new English word on a sign somewhere, for example). |
I know I can't speak English as fluently as a native English speaker does in my lifetime, but I want to speak English not too badly. This sentence has been marked as perfect! I know I I know I can't (I will never) speak English as fluently as a native English speaker does in my lifetime, but I want to speak English not too badly. “I will never” sounds more natural to me. |
You need LangCorrect Premium to access this feature.
Go Premium