Why is this the past tense? In the following video, a girl is making a call to a hair salon. She used the past tense even though she could use the present tense as well so I'm a little confused about it. https://youtu.be/TjxLX46ung4?t=2m34s She said, "I wanted to make an appointment to get my haircut. I was actually wondering I have dark brown hair bla bla bla.... Did you have any openings tomorrow?" At this point, she WANTS to get her haircut. She IS wondering something. She is asking whether the hair salon HAS openings or not. She wasn't talking about the past, but why did she need to use the past tense? Some people commented on this, and someone answered that it was because she tried to sound more polite. Does this make sense? She grew up in America and usually speaks perfect English. I think she used the past tense on purpose to mean something because she makes videos for English learners. I would appreciate it if you could tell me why and when that happen.

What is the best compliment you've ever received? You don't need to hesitate to make a boast of yourself here! Nobody cares whether it's true or not. :) I just would like to know interesting, witty or astonished one. If you have ever received something like unusual compliment, could you tell me?

Doubted What I Saw I took care of my friend's two boys while my friend was away the other day. When the two boys were eating chocolate that were individually wrapped, one of them said, "I can't open this" and threw away the wrapped chocolate into trash. I couldn't believe what I saw and lost for words for a moment. Right after that, I opened it for him. I don't know whether this is the today's children’s thing or not, but I think doing like this is only him. I'll appreciate if you could make this note more sophisticated like native people write. Like you can see, I use only easy grammar so that I'm bored with my vocabulary and would like to know more different expression.

Is this sentence correct? I found this sentence in a dictionary. "I'm going mad thinking about the if onlys." Does this make sense? The dictionary says, "if onlys" = "If only I had done this. If only I hadn't done that. If only I had used more wisdom . . . If only I had been stronger . . . If . . . if . . . if . . . Do you say "if onlys" in everyday conversation? If not, where is it used, in writing or movies? Thanks in advance! :)

Could you teach me the usage of this phrase? I saw this phrase “je ne sais quoi” was used in an English movie. Do you say that in everyday conversation or is it used only in dramas, movies or writing? If it’s commonly used, do you use this phrase alone or use it as one word in a sentence like "cliche"? If you could show me an example, it'll be really helpful. :)

What do you think this way of talking? Is clicking tongue not so bad manners? Please take a look at this video. It was at 0:50. "It's ... (here) it's beautiful" I'm glad if you give me your opinion. https://youtu.be/wVBJJySWfoA?t=45s I sometimes see native English speakers clicking their tongue in conversation like this video. If someone does this during talking with me, I tend to focus on their way of speaking more than topics. It's not only me feeling that because I found out that many Japanese people asked the same question on a Japanese website, but answers were only from Japanese so it still remains a matter of speculation. I guess the Japanese way of using tongue is quite different from English one so I don't see Japanese people do that. In Japan, it's considered bad manners so I hope Japanese learners know this.

Why do you use the present tense in this case? Hi there! I'll appreciate if anyone could teach me about this grammar. This is a headline from BBC. "China's first female J-10 pilot dies in training." I don't understand why the present tense was used in it. I sometimes see like this on news headlines. When do you say like this for the past topic?

Resolution For This Year There are ONLY two months left this year. I feel like that I celebrated a new year for 2016 two months ago. What's going on!! As I get old, time runs on faster year after year. I had not made my new year's resolution yet so I made it. I study my specialty hard and won't waste of my time! It seems not difficult to stick to my resolution. :)

Can't See Wood For The Trees This English sentence is from an English test at high school. “Whale is no more mammal than snake is mammal.” What on earth is the matter with this teacher who made this test? No wonder my English didn’t improve at school.