Are they the same? Please, could someone tell me if these expressions have the same meaning and which one is more common? a) He used to work as an engineer but now he *turned* a doctor. b) He used to work as an engineer but now he *became* a doctor. Thanks in advance!

Reposting my last notebook (with paragraphs) I would like to tell in this text a little bit about me and my life story and how I started studying English as a second language. My graduation started in 2009 and I was proud of studying in a public university. I studied hard for many years and at that time I knew how important was English in my career. In 2010 I visited a new English school in my hometown and I liked it. The environment was amazing and the teacher was intelligent and funny. I can’t remember quite well how many years I had studied English before leaving the university and the truth was, I didn’t know English even though I had studied it. My first job was an ordinary one and English wasn’t necessary at all. In the second one I was supposed to use it but I needed just once or twice during nine months. In the third one (and the last) I also was supposed to know English, and when I was being interviewed I told my level would be around intermediate and I was building it up (which was a lie). Just the first week working I realized that it would be mandatory to speak and write quite well and of course my skill was not good enough. I decided to begin an English course again but in the meanwhile, I tried to understand why my level was so bad if I had studied for many years before. In 2014 I began a new course and I thought I was making progress and then I had an opportunity to meet a native speaker who did not speak anything in Portuguese so I tried to do my best but it wasn’t enough. After this episode, I understood that learning a new language is not just to have regular classes but it is also to make a huge effort. What do I mean when I say “to make a huge effort”? It’s just about read, write, listen and practice a lot. As a non-native speaker and a person who doesn’t live in a city that English is the mother tongue, everything becomes more difficult. There’s a phrase which I like and it suits to the context of this text “practice makes perfect” in other words, you need to practice as much as you can and do not be afraid of being wrong or to make mistakes because they are not a problem they are the purpose of learning. I have been trying to speak English since I left university but now I feel that I am in the right way.

It just to practice, please help me =) I would like to tell in this text a little bit about me and my life story and how I started studying English as a second language. My graduation started in 2009 and I was proud of studying in a public university. I studied hard for many years and at that time I knew how important was English in my career. In 2010 I visited a new English school in my hometown and I liked it. The environment was amazing and the teacher was intelligent and funny. I can’t remember quite well how many years I had studied English before leaving the university and the truth was, I didn’t know English even though I had studied it. My first job was an ordinary one and English wasn’t necessary at all. In the second one I was supposed to use it but I needed just once or twice during nine months. In the third one (and the last) I also was supposed to know English, and when I was being interviewed I told my level would be around intermediate and I was building it up (which was a lie). Just the first week working I realized that it would be mandatory to speak and write quite well and of course my skill was not good enough. I decided to begin an English course again but in the meanwhile, I tried to understand why my level was so bad if I had studied for many years before. In 2014 I began a new course and I thought I was making progress and then I had an opportunity to meet a native speaker who did not speak anything in Portuguese so I tried to do my best but it wasn’t enough. After this episode, I understood that learning a new language is not just to have regular classes but it is also to make a huge effort. What do I mean when I say “to make a huge effort”? It’s just about read, write, listen and practice a lot. As a non-native speaker and a person who doesn’t live in a city that English is the mother tongue, everything becomes more difficult. There’s a phrase which I like and it suits to the context of this text “practice makes perfect” in other words, you need to practice as much as you can and do not be afraid of being wrong or to make mistakes because they are not a problem they are the purpose of learning. I have been trying to speak English since I left university but now I feel that I am in the right way.

I wrote some phrases in English, please have a look at it! They are: 1) Inversion • Not only is it necessary to pay all fees but also the debts. • Hardly had I arrived at the airport and I realized that my flight was delayed. • Seldom had the coach seen such a talented football player. • Little did he know that his car would break down. 2) Whatever/However/Whenever and so on. • A friend of mine asked me when he could visit me and my answer was: “Come here whenever you want, you’re always welcome.” • However you choose you must pay for it! 3) Modal verb (may/might/be allowed to) • May I ask for information when I arrived in the subway station? • Mike can cook while he speaks on the mobile. • I was late because I couldn’t find any bus coming to this side of the city. • The company wasn’t allowed to build its building in that area so they had to demolish it. 4) Random vocabulary • He tweaked the computer in order to work well. • They have to put off the wedding because their house is not finished yet. • Those guys were fighting and one of them grasped a guy by the neck. • It’s said that Apple overtook Microsoft a long time ago. • My friend has a quirky taste, he drinks milk with salt. • Brazil has Natural beauties plentifully. Thanks a lot for helping me! I restarted studying English last month and I've been struggling a lot to remember all grammar rules. I made a pause in my studies and now I'm back. Feel free to make any comment and correct my mistakes! See you!

Feel free to correct me Learning a new language is a kind of challenge and why am I writing that? Because it is not easy to learn a new language and do not live in a native country. As a learner, the most difficult point for me is to remember all new vocabulary which I get during the week and also keep my speaking in a good level. I need to be fair, I haven’t been practicing English since 2018 and now I decided to start again. It’s obvious that my level is worse than used to be but I’m sure I need some time to achieve a better level of the language. If you want to practice English so send me a message and we can have a conversation.

Comfort Zone I strongly believe that to be in a comfort zone is the easiest way to live –but not the best- and if we were chased by someone to change it could bring us a kind of discomfort. If you take a look at the dictionary, the meaning of comfort zone is: “a situation, place, or temperature that you feel relaxed in”. In my opinion, it means that someone is accommodated or always prefers to keep himself at the same condition with no improvements. It is very tedious and I can barely understand why people think like that. I am going to give a succinct example about comfort zone, I know it is not the best one but it will help me to show how life can be changed. Raymond Alexander Kroc was an ordinary mixer seller who had tried different ways to earn money but he had been failing in all of them. At the age of 55, he had a deal with two brothers who were the McDonald’s owners. Ray Kroc, as he was known, started bringing new and valuable ideas to the restaurant and for this reason, the company increased a lot and Ray became billionaire in a couple of years. Sometimes we as a human-being do not realize that the opportunities are in everywhere and they can change our lives. To go out of the comfort zone does not mean that you are going to become rich but it means that you will be better than you are right now. There is an expression which made me think about everything in my life: “You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change”. It is incredible, isn’t it? And what is my choice? My choice is quit my job and move away in order to breathe some fresh air and learn about different things. Nobody knows if it is the best choice but it is time to try and to live out of my comfort zone.

Learning I strongly believe that learning a new language is something that everyone should try at least once. When someone tries to learn a new language, not only the language but culture and habits will be learned. One point that is extremely important is to know how deep is a word in the target language and how to use it in the right way otherwise you can be misunderstood by a native speaker. Just to finalize, I have been learning English as a second language and of course struggling a lot. Sometimes I get down because I think I haven’t been developing my skills as I would like to do but when it happens, I try to think about how difficult is to learn without living immersed in the language and how much I have improved since August 2015 so it makes me to feel better and follow the long way towards the fluency. Please feel free to correct me! It helps me to improve my writing, Thanks a lot

Question about prepositions. Hello everyone. I've seen a phrase that there were two prepositions one beside another. "If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been..." Is it okay to use "in" followed by "on"? I have never seen this kind of structure, I think. Please, feel free to correct any mistakes in my composition. Thanks a lot. Matheus

Please, help me with this topic Hello everyone I´ve been reading "Harry Potter and the Philosopher´s Stone" and I´m not sure if this structure is right: "However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth." Is it possible to use [neither] + [or] ? I´ve looked for this structure and I couldn´t find anything. In my point of view, the structure should be: "However, this mirror won´t give us either knowledge or truth" or "However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge nor truth." Please, help me with this doubt and feel free to correct any mistake in this text. Thanks a lot Matheus