--- Alina Karieva wrote:
> HELLO BIG MAC! HELLO EVERYBODY!
> TODAY I'M WRITING WITH BIG LETTERS. :))

Hello Alina. Today I'm writing with a keyboard! ;-)

Sorry for the delay. I can't always get online.

> b> --- alinchik@f... wrote:
> >> Dear Corrector Big Mac!
> >> Thanks a lot for your constructive message.
>
> b> You're welcome Alina.
>
> >> Especially thank for correction, because sometimes
> >> people around me afraid to hurt me...
>
> b> Here is another two:
>
> b> First you should write something like "...thanks for the
> b> correction..." or if you want to be more formal "...thank you
for the
> b> correction...". Secondly you should have finished
with "...people
> b> around me are afraid to hurt me."
> OK, NOTED.

Doe, ray, me, far...

...just joining in with the notes! ;-)

> b> I know what you mean there. In the long run, people that tell
you
> b> about your mistakes can be helping you. It really depends on
your
> b> their motive and how you take critisism.
> I TAKE CRITICISM NORMALLY, ESPECIALLY WHEN I KNOW THAT IT'S REALLY
> HELP FOR ME.

Sounds like your head is screwed on the right way.

> b> If someone tells you about your mistakes to help you fix them,
then
> b> that is a kind thing. But if they tell you about your mistakes
to
> b> embarrass you in front of your friends, that is a cruel thing.
> RIGHT!! BUT CRITICISM IS DIFFERENT, I LIKE DISCUSSING OF ANY LIFE
> SITUATIONS, ESPECIALLY WHEN I SEE THAT WORDS BRING POSITIVE EFFECTS.
> BY THE WAY, YOU KNOW TODAY ONE OF MY FRIEND SAID ME THAT SHE FEELS
> BETTER AFTER TALKING WITH ME. I WAS SO GLAD TO HEAR THIS, IT'S
> PLEASANT WHEN YOU CAN HELP PEOPLE BY ANY WAY.
> NATURALLY OFTEN WE'RE CRITIC EACH OTHER,
> BUT IT'S FRIENDLY RELATIONS.

You can't be critical all of the time can you. Most of the time you
need to relax and let your hair down. All work and no play makes Jack
a dull boy (or Jill a dull girl).

BTW, I'd have written that last sentence as "Naturally we're often
critical of each other, but it's friendly." or "...it's a friendly
relationship."

> b> From the other end, if you take critisism as an opertunity to
> b> improve, then more people will try to help you. But if you take
> b> critisism as an attack, then people will never want to tell you
about
> b> your mistakes.
> OF COURSE I'M AGREE. WHEN I SAID ABOUT MY MISTAKES IN ENGLISH, I
MEANT
> THOSE PEOPLE WHO CAN SPEAK ENGLISH AND EVEN BETTER THAN I DO,
> BUT ENGLISH IS NOT THEIRS NATIVE LANGUAGE.

Don't worry too much if someone else you know has better English than
you do. Life is not a competition. We should all try to be the best
person that we can be rather than try to be better than our friends.
If you ever meet someone who shows off because they have better
English than you, then they are probably a bit immature.

BTW that should be "I agree."

> b> It looks to me that you are a person that likes to be given
> b> critisism, so that you can learn from your mistakes.
> APPROVING NOD...

Approving wink... ;-)

> b> I am a person that *tries* to give *constructive* critisism and
tries
> b> to avoid giving negative critisism. I'm not perfect, but I think
I
> b> manage to do it more than most people.
> I THINK IT'S OUR SIMILAR BEHAVING.

I think we have similar behaviour on this subject. Lets find some
other things to talk about to see if we have any interesting
differences!

> >> Please see below.
> >>
> >> big_mac_tmmm <no_reply@...>:
> >>
> >> > --- Alina Karieva <alinchik@f...> wrote:
> >> > > Hello! Are you still sleeplessly?
> >> >
> >> > I guess I must be as it is 4.46am here!
>
> >> Guess you have really interesting chat or something else
> >> if you're sitting there with red eyes,
> >> possible smoking and drink coffee...
> >> Or maybe you was so frenzied with my message and decided
> >> to correct every my letter before going to sleep? :)))
>
> b> I was awake late so I checked my email and noticed that you had
> b> written.
>
> b> I don't drink coffee or smoke (that should have been "drinking
> b> coffee" by the way).
> I'VE NOTICED IT BUT MY MESSAGE WAS SENT ALREADY :)

I do that a *lot*. I post a reply to one message and then read
something in the next one that makes my reply look wrong.

> b> But I suppose most people up this late do!
>
> b> "Or maybe you was" should have been "Or maybe you were". Maybe I
was
> b> frenzied! I was frenzied in the 1980s!
> WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

I used to know a woman in the 1980s who had the nickname Frenzy. We
all have nicknames around here.

> >> > > I had a beautiful dinner today... :))
> >> >
> >> > Did you? I'm glad to hear that. What was beautiful about it?
> >> First of all it was dinner made by my Mom.
> >> Then it was chicken with fried potato covered with nice sause,
> >> then vegetable salad and bergamot tea.
>
> b> "Mom"? You have learned American English! British English uses
the
> b> word "Mum". In my opinion British English beats American English
> b> because Britain *owns* England! If you own England then surely
you
> b> own English as well! What do you think? LOL
> LOOK, TO TELL THE TRUTH, I KNOW THAT I'VE LEARNED BRITISH ENGLISH,
> ALL MY TEACHERS SAID THAT. BUT SOME TIME LATER, I'VE LEARNED A LOT
OF
> WORDS FROM EVERYWHERE: SONGS, TV, GUESTS AT OUR OFFICE, INTERNET,
> CHATS AND SO ON... NOW I THINK THAT I KNOW MIXED ENGLISH.....
> YOU MADE ME TO THINK ABOUT IT...
> REGARDING "MOM" OR "MUM" I EVEN DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WORD IS BRITISH,
AND
> WHAT IS AMERICAN ONE, HONESTY!

That is a good way to learn. People will understand you even if you
do use mixed English. Slang is a bigger problem than regional
spelling variations.

"Mother" is the formal way to say this, "mum" is the (British)
English way and "mom" is the American Engish version. I'm not sure
what the Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans
say.

> b> By the way "sause" should be "sauce". Mine was made by my mum as
> b> well. What is bergamot tea? I'm not really a tea expert. The
only one
> b> I can remember the name of is Earl Grey.
> IT'S THE SAME.

Sounds like tea is not our special subject! :-)

> >> > > And you? Are you at diet? Oh, it's so hard.
> IT WAS JUST JOKE!

I was joking as well. I play along with jokes if I see them.

> >> > I tucked into a lovely pair of jacket potatoes that were
> b> accompanied
> >> > by a selection of vegatables, some veggie fingers and
something
> >> > mysterious that was the shape of a sausage roll.
> >> Not so bad.
>
> b> You should try a roast dinner sometime. Mmmmm!
> NOTED, WILL TRY.

So what is your favorite dinner?

> b> <snip>
>
> >> > No, I'm not on a diet. I wouldn't be called "Big" Mac if I
was!
> b> LOL
> >> I guessed :))
>
> b> Hey! Grrr. You mean you guessed I was a fat person! LOL
> NO! OF COURSE NOT! I DIDN'T WANT TO HURT YOU!

I wasn't really mad. I was just pretending to be. That is why I put
the LOL at the end.

> >> > Actually the name "Big Mac" has nothing to do with being big,
but
> >> > *that* is another story.
> >> It would be so interesting to know it...
>
> b> When the first computers came out I had a Commodore 16 and "Big
Mac,
> b> The Mad Maintenance Man" was my favorite computer game.
> UNDERSTAND

"I understand." is a better way to say this.

> >> > > To be serious, I entered this list in order to improve
> >> > > my English. I've studied it for about 8 years,
> >> > > and now my work is in English. I like it.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks for joining the Public Mouth community. We are a bunch
of
> b> zany
> >> > people so you will learn a bit of slang *as well as* everyday
> b> English
> >> > if you talk to us.
> BUT I THINK THAT WE'RE BOTH IN THIS GROUP - YOU AND ME,
> I HAVEN'T ANY CORRESPONDENCE FROM OTHER MEMBERS.

Do you mean "But I think that we're the only people in this group?"

There are other people here, but sometimes we get quite or sometimes
we are busy doing other things and forget to log in.

We originally started off writing in a newspaper and our community
changed between 6 messages a week and over 200 messages a week. At
one point there were over 50 of us!

Hopefully more people will come back when they see that we have a new
person to play with! ;-)

> >> It's true!!! I see so much slang that sometimes I think I will
> b> never know
> >> English like you.:(((
>
> b> Don't worry about slang *too* much. You can often work out what
words
> b> mean from the context they are used in. And if you get stuck you
can
> b> always ask someone.
> YES, I DO SO.

> b> Most people that speak English are able to switch back to using
plain
> b> English. People use slang and jargon as a short cut. But people
> b> *usually* want other people to understand what they say.
> I THINK IT'S NORMALLY IN ANY LANGUAGE.

Some inconsiderate people don't make an effort to be understood.

> b> There are a few people that don't want people to understand
them.
> b> Look up "Cockney Ryming Slang" in a search engine. This was used
by
> b> poor people that didn't want rich people to understand them.
> WILL LOOK...

Did you look yet, my old china?

If you did you will understand what I just said!!!

> >> > So what is your native language? I speak a bit of Spanish and
a
> b> bit
> >> > of Klingon! I haven't decided which will be most useful yet!
> >> >
> >> > ;-)
> >> >
> >> > Are you a Klingon, by any chance?
> >> I'm not Klingon. I'm from Uzbekistan, my native language is
Russian.
> >> By the way, I've learned Spanish at the University, but forgot
it
> b> already,
> >> as I hadn't any practice at all.
>
> b> If you are on the Internet, then you can probably find lots of
places
> b> to practise your Spanish as well.
> YES, I KNOW, BUT I WON'T BE ABLE TO USE SPANISH IN MY LIFE,
> BESIDE THAT IT WILL NEED MUCH TIME, BUT UNFORTUNATELY TIME
> IS ALWAYS LITTLE... :)

There are plenty of places in the world where people don't speak
English. Spanish is a language that is spoken in many of these
countries. If you ever went anywhere in America except the USA or
Canada, you would find Spanish very useful.

However, if you only have time to learn one language you are probably
better off learning more English and doing another language when you
get time.

> >> I think more useful for you will be that language which you will
> b> use somewhere.
> >> Spanish is the second language in the US, as far as I know, so
you
> b> need it.
> >> Or am I wrong?
>
> b> I don't need Spanish as I am not in the US. However, I do want
to
> b> learn more.
> SPANISH IS QUITE EASY FOR LEARNING, AND IF YOU HAVE WISH, IT WILL
HELP
> YOU VERY MUCH.

Spanish is quite easy to learn...and unfortunately quite easy to
forget!!!

I keep relearning the same things!

Maybe I will go to Spain at some point to immerse myself in the
language.

> b> I'm actually in the UK. (The home of the English language! LOL)
> WONDERFUL! (I SHOULD GUESS FROM YOUR E-MAIL).
> I WILL TAKE YOUR CRITICISM MORE CAREFULLY NOW. LOL

LOL

Actually, just because I come from the UK, it doesn't mean I am an
expert. You will find a lot of people here that use slang or say
things incorrectly.

We (British people) have also changed the meaning of many words and
they now mean the opposite of the original meaning.

The word "terrific" for example is taken as meaning "very very good"
but it used to mean "very very bad" as in the word "terrible" (awful)
or "terrifying" (scarey).

If you ever get to watch a news clip of the Hindenberg disaster you
hear the man reporting it using the word with its original meaning.
He says: "This is really terrific." and when they show it on the TV
now, they have to explain what "terrific" used to mean so that people
don't get the wrong idea. If they didn't explain it people would
think he was saying that it was good that the Hindenberg was crashing!

> b> Spanish is very useful in the USA and even more useful in South
> b> America. I want to go to a place called Machu Pichu. It is a
deserted
> b> town on the top of a mountain build thousands of years ago,
before
> b> any westeners invaded America.
> IT WILL BE GREAT TRIP!

I just have to be careful to not get kidnapped. There are people in
South America (mostly in Colombia) that do that sort of thing.

> b> There are so many places in the world that now look identical. I
> b> think it is really cool that some of these special places still
exist.
> MAYBE, IT'S GREAT THING - TRAVELLING.

And TV documentaries are great when you don't have enough time or
money to travel. They also let you avoid airport delays, loosing your
luggage and other problems! :-)

> >> > By the way when you say that your "work is in English" do you
> b> mean
> >> > that you talk and write the English language as part of your
job
> b> or
> >> > did you actually meean that your "job is in England" (the
> b> country)?
> >> Of course I'm talk and write in English as part of my job.
> >> I'm not in England, I'm in Uzbekistan. Have you heard about our
> b> Country?
>
> b> I have heard about Uzbekistan, but I didn't know much about it.
I
> b> know that you are one of the countries that recently became
> b> independent from the USSR.
> RIGHT. WE'RE INDEPENDENT COUNTRY NOW.

How is your relationship with the rest of what was the USSR? Are you
part of the CIS? Are you still in the Warsaw Pact? Do have any other
special organisations?

> b> When I was young I used to see maps with a big pink blob that
only
> b> said USSR. The individual regions didn't have names on them.
After
> b> the break up of the USSR, we have all been learning tiny bits
about
> b> many new countries.
> QUITE RIGHT, THERE WERE 16 REPUBLICS IN THE USSR AND IN 1991 ALL OF
> THEM ARE BECAME INDEPENDENT REPUBLICS/COUNTRIES.

Wow! I remember reading that there were some arguments about flags at
this time. It was either in the new countries made from the USSR or
some of the new countries that appeared in Eastern Europe at the same
time. Did you have any disagreements over your new flag?

> b> I just looked your country up in book and I see that you are
east of
> b> the Caspian Sea. I don't really know that part of the world very
well.
> b> I don't even know what colour eyes, hair and skin you have over
there.
> YOU KNOW, IN UZBEKISTAN THE MAIN NATION IS UZBEK. UZBEK PEOPLE ARE
> SWARTHY, DARK-HAIRED AND DARK-EYEED. THE ANCIENTS UZBEK WERE
OPPOSITE
> - LIGHT SKIN AND EYES, BUT HAIRS SOMETIMES WERE RED.
> AT THE PRESENT TIME IN UZBEKISTAN A LOT OF NATIONS, A LOT OF
DIFFERENT
> PEOPLE. ONE FOREIGN MAN SAID ME THAT PEOPLE IN OUR CITY ARE SO
> DIFFERENT! ABSOLUTELY DIFFERENT TYPES!

We are like that. There isn't really a typical British person,
because we have been invaded a lot. In Scotland some people have red
hair (from the Vikings) and in England some people have blond hair
(from Northen Europe) and other people have brown hair (from the
Normans). In fact a lot of Scotish, Welsh and Irish people *still*
think English people are foreign people (despite the fact that they
have been here for over 1000 years and are partially Celtic).

> b> As you probably already know, American culture is much more
dominant
> b> than other countries. We see a lot of American television in the
UK.
> b> We get much less stuff from Australia and Canada. We do get some
> b> films and TV from other places, but stuff that isn't in English
is a
> b> small minority of the stuff we see.
> I KNOW.

What other countries do you get your TV from?

> b> So even though Russia is actually part of Europe and a lot of
the
> b> western parts of the USSR have a lot in common with us, I am
quite
> b> ignorant about your country. Perhaps you can tell us some
interesting
> b> things about Uzbekistan.
> OF COURSE I'M READY TO TELL YOU ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. WHAT WOULD YOU
LIKE
> TO KNOW?

I don't know enough about you to know what to ask. Why not tell me
how the break up of the USSR changed Uzbekistan.

Did people want it before it happened? Did people worry that there
would be a war? Or was it just a big suprise that nobody knew about
until it happend?

Has your independece made you change all of your money, signs, army
and police uniforms and other things?

Does it feel as if your country has changed now?

> IN MY TURN I KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT UK, IT'S UNUSUAL COUNTRY.
> WE EVEN LEARNED AT SCHOOL AND AT THE UNIVERSITY ABOUT SIGHTS IN UK -
> BIG BEN, THE THAMES. ALSO ABOUT RAINS AND FOGS :)))

Here are some facts about Big Ben. Big Ben is actually the name of
the largest bell in the Westminister Clock Tower. You can hear it,
but you can't actually see it unless you have some friends inside
parliament. Big Ben has a crack in it and that makes it sound
different to other clock bells.

It is nice to walk alongside The Thames, but make sure you bring a
coat because it can make the air cold sometimes. We have a Thames
walkway that goes from the source of the river to The Thames Barrier.
So you can walk along most of it.

The stuff about rain is true, but the stuff about fog isn't. Our
famous London fogs were actually caused by polution rather than
weather. We have a special word for that now: smog. Smog is smokey
fog and can kill people with breathing problems.

Back in the days of Jack the Ripper East London used to get all the
chimney smoke from West London (becase the winds blow from west to
east). The East End of London also used to get the sewerage water
from the west, so it used to smell much worse than the West End. That
has all changed now.

However, the East End of London originally was the place where poor
people lived, because the rich people all wanted to be in the West
End. The old buildings in these places are very different. The
suburbs of London also have different characters. You can see some
very strange buildings in certain places.

> b> I have been a bit interested in the USSR, because I like space
and
> b> the USSR has done a lot of important work in space. You were
probably
> b> still part of the USSR when your space agency put the first
British
> b> person into space.
> YES, I KNOW IT.

I actually thought that was a really cool thing for the USSR to do. I
was very surprised that the British Prime miniter didn't talk about
it at the time. Some people seemed to want to ignore this friendship.

> b> I was so sad when I found out that the USSR's
> b> space shuttle Buran was being used as an ice cream shop in a
park.
> I HADN'T HEARD ABOUT THIS FACT... :(((

I think it is in Moscow. I don't remember the name of the park, but
it might be Gorky Park.

> b> I'm very glad that the iron curtain has gone. It is sad that so
much
> b> money got spent on all those stupid bombs. Still I'm very very
happy
> b> neither of us used any of them!
> YES, IT'S VERY, VERY IMPORTANT THING!

So how are you getting along with the countries near you that used to
be on the other side of the Iron Curtain? Do people go on holiday to
places outside the former USSR much?

> b> I hope that the Internet can make people from every country
friends
> b> so that in the future no country wants to point bombs at another
one.
> I'M ALSO WANT TO BELIEVE IN THIS SO MUCH.

(That should be "I also" not "I'm also".) I think that if we all make
friends it is harder for our governments to demonise people when they
want an excuse to start a war.

> >> > If you are actually over here, perhaps you can come to one of
our
> b> get
> >> > togethers (if the rest of us can agree on a date).
> >> I think it will be cool party!!!
> >> I would join all of you, but it's quite difficult.
>
> b> I bet it would be difficult! You would probably need about six
trains
> b> and three planes to get here. Assuming you could get a visa.
> LOL! WHAT TRAINS? DIRECT FLIGHT AND I'M IN UK AFTER 5 HOURS!
> REGARDING VISA, IT'S VERY DIFFICULT BUT POSSIBLE!
> THE ONE THING IS THAT IT'S QUITE EXPENSIVE FOR OUR COUNTRY TO HAVE A
> REST IN THE EUROPE...

I didn't know it was so easy to fly here. Visa's can be a problem
because everyone is scared that poor people will all want to come and
live here. They had a couple of TV documentaries that were saying
lots of Russian women were advertising on the Internet to get married
so that they could get into other countries.

I think the money thing is a big problem waiting to happen. We now
have a situation where some houses in London are worth more than a
million pounds! A lot of people can not afford to buy a house. The
rise in prices has been spreading out to other parts of England and
is now making holiday homes in the European Community go up in price
as well. I think that at some point property speculators will try to
push up the prices in your country. Maybe in 5-15 years, but I think
it will get to you at some point.

<snip>

> >> Wish you good day.
> >> And wish to everybody who have read this correspondence all the
> b> best!!!
>
> b> That should have been "I wish you a good day." and something
> b> like "And wish everybody who has read this correspondence all
the
> b> best!!!" (I say something like, because you can sometimes say
> b> something several different ways in English. I tried to write it
as
> b> similar to your way as possible.)
> WOW!!!! EVEN AN ARTICLE!!!!

:-)

I think that is a complement, so thanks.

> b> By the way, you may someday meet somebody that tells you it is a
> b> mistake to start a sentence with the word "and". That is not
true,
> b> but some people think it is true, because it is quite unusual to
> b> start sentences with "and". The word is normally used to join
two
> b> smaller bits and make one big sentence. However, all the times
you
> b> have used it you *have* been correct.
> NOTED, KISS YOU!

Kiss me, huh? With or without tongues?

LOL

:-P

> b> Thanks for the reply. I look forward to finding out more stuff
about
> b> your homeland.
> YOU WILL KNOW A LOT OF INTERESTING THINGS, MY HOMELAND IS VERY
> INTERESTING PLACE. SAY ANY QUESTIONS.

I don't even know your capital city. Is Uzbekistan divided into
smaller administrative areas? If so do these have capitals as well?

The UK is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northen Ireland".
Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales. England, Scotland,
Wales and Northen Ireland are countries. However, sometimes people
call the UK or Great Britain a country. All of the four countries are
divided into several counties. A county has an administrative
capital. London is a bit of an exception to the county system as it
is acutally built on the land from several counties.

So how is your country put together?

I can call myself English (although technically I am not English),
British or a Londoner. How many things can someone from where you
live call themselves?

> b> By the way, what does the name Alina mean?
> I'M ASHAMED BUT I DON'T KNOW. I COULDN'T FIND MY NAME IN GUIDES...
> I MYSELF WANT TO KNOW.

The Internet is a wonderful place. I've seen that you already have an
answer.

Yours capitallessly,
Big Mac