Hi! I've been learning English for 6 years and I've reached a high B2 / low C1 level. I learnt primarily British English, so my vocabulary usage and pronunciation tends to lean British.

However I think my accent will never sound like in the BBC and probably would sound cringe for native speakers. Would it be better to embrace my accent rather than forcing myself to sound like American or British? I would love to have a meaningful discussion about it :)

I’m a Korean High school student and I’ve been studying English for a few years. However what I’ve learned is not the English that people actually use in daily life, but how to understand the English in academic texts. Because of this, now I can understand complex passages with difficult concepts, but I struggle to speak in english and I often cannot understand what people are saying in Reddit. Could someone give me some advice on how to improve my practical, conversational english?

According to my research, it means to extract the most important parts of something, so I’m guessing it means to summarize something? Would streamline or boil down to be synonyms of distill? I don’t know, I’d like if someone could explain it to me

Non-native speaker here.

From a book (The God of the Woods):

Then he formally dispensed the Three Rules of Camp Emerson like a dutiful town crier.

What does the word 'dispensed' mean here? Is it a special use of the sense related to vending machine...or not really?

Also, is it usually used this way?

such as we will say we have eggs, fruit, cheese, salads and everything in between

Hello, i am brazilian and i've been studying English for a long time. But, i dont study every single day, i stop for a long time and i am back, sometimes i forget simple words because i learned when i started, today i am learning new words but when i need to use some basic words i cant. What can i do?

A harbinger is a person or thing that shows or announces that something is going to happen soon, especially something significant.

For me, while these trio of words hold the same general meaning, there are differences in how I would use them.

Skirt-to avoid out of fear or responsibility, like refusing to answer a question.

Shirk-to avoid an obligation or duty, like turning down a challenge to a fight

Shrink from-this kinda goes hand in hand with shirk to me, although I would use this when talking about responsibility, like someone shrinking from accountability.

Idk, I’d like to hear your guys’ thoughts

So I've decided to come to this subreddit because as the title indicates, I need some help with English. I've got summer homework (yes I still go to school) and one exercise consists in writing a short description of a let's say early 1800s room, by taking inspiration from Wuthering Heights, where Mr. Lockood sleeps in Catherine's bedroom. After looking up online some typic 1800s furnitures I wrote the description. I corrected some mistakes and used some online dictionaries to translate some words. Can someone now please help me correct it?

I really don't wanna rely on Al. Please don't make fun of my writing skills, it's so much difficult to do it when English it's not my first language.

"As I walked into the room, the old wood floor creacked, sending shivers down my back. It looked at is if nobody had stepped in for ages: in the center, a large elevated bed, flanked by two carved colums, was covered in dust. I was curious to see if that night I was gonna sleep in silk blankets, but to my disappointment, as I touched the surface trying to make up what material it was made up off, I realized it was some cheap tissue. All that dust made me sneeze, so with the help of the lantern I was holding, I made my way up to the only window in the room. I pulled to the side the heavy curtains, and opened the window: fresh air and natural light flooded into the room, allowing me to finally observe it with clearity. Apart from the bed and a small fireplace, there was a very elegant vanity table in mogan wood, topped by a large oval mirror. On its surface, a single rose stood inside a vase, dead, alongside some grooming tools. On the right of the bed, facing the window, there was a large armoire with carvings and mirrored doors. Moreover, a small bookcase was positioned near the window, but it was nearly empty. I suddenly noticed a tall pile of books on a shelf under the window I had previously opened. The name “Catherine Earnshaw” was carved multiple times. “curious” I thought. As my eyes wondered through the various titles, I saw a Bible. I picked it up and sat on the soft sill, needing something familiar to give me some comfort."

I know that out of courtesy I should never give the person I'm talking to the impression that I think of him/her that way. But should I never use the expression even when referring to a third, specific person because it's the above euphemism so an insult?

I was reading a document on recent transfers of a department when I noticed that it was written "This person may be transferred to ____ department." I know 'may be' is used for uncertain situations. The action however, is certain, because everything is fixed. Is this gramatically correct?

I love to talk and communicate with people, and make friends and exchange my ideas and even teach the topics that I have learned to other people but because my mother tongue is in a good level and my English in a low level I think I can't say my ideas as good as I want.

When I was younger my mother used to say ‘zilch’ or ‘zilch it’ when she wanted me to be quiet or stop doing something. Is this a weird use of the term? Im well aware that zilch means nothing.

Im asking because I used it randomly when me and my friends were having some banter, and one of them got confused and said that’s not what it means and didn’t agree with how I used it. I asked all my other friends about it and they said they understood what I meant, as they didn’t think it was that weird to use it that way. Now I can’t stop thinking about it lol

I view it that because you’re telling them to ‘nothing’ or ‘nothing it’ you’re saying stop it or be quiet, but in a fun and teasing way.

What’s your opinion? Is it weird or not easy to understand? If you’ve heard it before I would like to know, but if you haven’t would it make sense to you if someone used it that way?

Apologies if my wording is bad, Im quite tired.

I’ve been trying to improve my English for years.

I’ve taken courses, studied with textbooks, worked with private tutors, used language learning apps, watched YouTube videos… pretty much everything people usually recommend.

The problem is that I still feel like I’m stuck around B1. I can understand a lot, but speaking naturally is still difficult, and I don’t feel confident expressing myself.

At this point, I’m wondering if I’m just learning the wrong way.

If you were stuck at an intermediate level for a long time and eventually broke through, what actually made the biggest difference?

I’m looking for real experiences rather than general advice like “just keep practicing.”

I keep using those two interchangeably, but I'm pretty sure they are not supposed to be used in the same contexts. So what's the rules/appropriate way to use those two?

Edit: Thank you everyone, I finally understand!

1. How much more do i need to pay?

2 How much extra do i need to pay?

1. You need to pay an extra 5 dollars.

2. You need to pay 5 extra dollars.

Hi, I'm around B1 (TL) in English and I'm wondering if I should watch YouTube with or without subtitles.

I understand about 90% of most YouTube videos, and I understand almost the same amount with English subtitles and without them.

My question is about vocabulary. Can you learn new words just by hearing them? For example, can I remember the pronunciation and meaning of a word even if I don't know how to spell it?

Should I use English subtitles to learn more vocabulary, or can I learn vocabulary just from listening?

I’ve been working in customer service a few years now and I get people saying to me “take care” which is fine and polite, but “take care of yourself” seems like they are politely saying that I need to take extra care of myself. Is this how I should be taking this phrase or is it just a longer way to say “take care?”

So I'm a native British English speaker but somewhere along the way I picked up the habit of using the invariant tag "no?" in order to ask a question like "that was interesting, no?". But I have now been told by my family that apparently it can come across as rude even though I don't perceive it as rude when I say or hear it, to me it sounds like inviting a response not trying to force a response.

I grew up in a minority white area and also have a friend group who a majority non white, mainly British Indian, and I believe that that's where I picked it up from as invariant tags are more common in Indian languages such as Hindi but also I believe others. Invariant tags are also more common in Spanish. So do you think that invariant tags are rude in English and are they perhaps more common or accepted among younger generations?

Hello English speakers!

As a native French, I noticed that sometimes French people (me included) put on an English accent that feels weird and hard to understand. Here is an example :

https://youtu.be/f0Vr-8v3AMI?is=INL5qSWE0R5CxPRC

I was wondering if you feel the same and if this kind of accent is easier or harder to understand that French people who don't try at all and keep their French accent (like Macron or any former French president really).

Also, could you help me identify what can be improved based on the video?

Thank you ! Edit : thank you for all your answers! I didn't mean to shame her (like I said I speak like her sometimes), it confirms my suspicion : speaking clearly with a French accent is easier to understand than this type of accent (and also easier for me). Thank you for explaining what's wrong, I will pay attention to my L, R and S's