prendrelemick
Registered User

Please tell me about the reader after you read it. I saw the book in a bookstore and almost picked it up.

Discomfort in writing or speaking English would never go away, I think, although I no longer translate English into Korean in my head to understand. I am at a level people think I understand everything they say, but I do not. It is subtle with some phrases or expressions or even words.

Let me give you an example: In the middle of a conversation about books, some one said, "Johny come lately just arrived." I had to ask who is Johny. And they all laughed and explained to me.

This is a second example: I was ordering food and wanted to change my mind to order something else but instantly forgot how to phrase it and I said, "could you upgrade that to Latte freeze?" The word "upgrade" sounds awkward or misfit to the situation, my child told me.

In this Lit Net, after posting something, I often have to edit several times to feel right about what I am trying to say. I am sure what I write gives out some mood underneath that I don't catch.

And, of course, I speak with accent, less than other Asians, but I have accent and people sometimes ask me to repeat in which case I go embarrassed and speak it with stronger accent.

Magazines are mostly monthly and I read only a few articles from each.
Dalesman is about dairy farming? BBC History Magazine is not intellectual?! Anything about learning is intellectual, I think.

I picked up Cosmos by Carl Sagan and Sarum the novel of England by Edward Rutherfurd. I will read them alternatively. Cosmos would be too serious to read it through, though, it is beautifully written. I guess you know Sarum. What do you think of his books?

I finished Rhadopis of Nubia today! Yayee! It was such a short story yet it took me a long time because of some distractions. I knew it would have a tragic end. The end reveals not about the soul mates' love but about the ruins of any man, even the pharaoh himself, with lust caused by the beauty of a woman. Fate rules the story. Let me not be a spoiler in case you get to read the story yourself.

I never feel natural when writing in English.

Thank you, Mickyteky, for two messages. I was speculating whether your user name means a town where you live. Nothing came up in Google search.

I will look for the book Watching The English-The Hidden Rules of English Behavior by Kate Fox. We all need humor in this gloomy and depressing time. Sometimes I just go straight to comics in a newspaper. Nowadays, even comics are talking about our current economics.

I read somewhere that Edwin Drood was one of his bests. Was it his last book then?

Do you subscribe magazines? We subscribe Smithsonian and Scientific American, both of which are very good and cover different subjects. I guess you have different magazines. We also get to read sometimes Atlantic Monthly, Wilson Quarterly, New Yorker in the library nearby.

I like all the pictures you posted in your page here. Our next Europe trip will definitely include either Norway or England. We keep going to the same country, France, of Europe due to family ties.

You are online? What time is it there? I am curious about your user name: Prendre le mick - Take the mick? My question is then what is Mick?

You are hilarious! You are making my day. British people are wacky - excuse the term - funny sometimes, not referring to your message here but rather to the moive "The Holy Grail" by Monty Python which is one of my favorites. I do not get the other Monty Python movies, though.

French people are sometimes too outspoken, while British people seem a bit reserved to be polite, but they also keep their humor with plenty of sarcasm. We laugh a lot at home, but a bit too sarcastic for some Americans or Koreans. Too self-deprecating maybe? A long history may be the reason to take their lives with a grain of salt or sugar.

I am envious of your beautiful scenery and weather. I know and feel your appreciation because Korea was similar. Bitter winters bring the warmth and fresh greenery and flowers. What I woudn't give to sit in that sunlight of the spring bloom!

Here we go straight to summer with bountiful and colorful of wild flowers in the flat land. It is growing on me, though.


You are in a book club? I envy you for that, too. How is the book Mudbbound by Hillary Jorden?

You are my first friend in the forum after I joined it. Besides, I always enjoy chatting with you.

Your son's description of Koreans made me laugh. Koreans are private, competitive, and proud people. I am used to westerners since I married a French who is also a software engineer. I figured that people are all the same despite some characteristic differences. My husband does not belong to any nationality when it comes to characteristics. He is just himself, nor am I a typical Korean.

French people love discussions almost like arguments. I made two English friends: one was a true gentleman similar to the one in 80 Days Around the World and the other was a sweet young lady who believes in ghosts. If a person have lived in several-century old buildings, the person may understandably believe in ghosts. I do not personally believe in ghosts. They unfortunately transferred both back to Europe. I may have pleasantly biased images of English people.

I am reading Rhadopis of Nubia by Naguib Mahfouz. It is a great story so far. I am at a point where artists, poets, architects, governors, philosophers are gathered to discuss on the questions posed by a governor: "Some of us were wondering whether artists deserve the recognition and honor that the pharaohs and ministers bestow upon them."

Greetings to your family!

Hello sir! I do enjoy our little conversations in the Bloke's thread. May I please add you as a friend?

Anyong-hi kyeshipshio is correct, but it would be too formal between friends.
Anyong-hi kye-se-yo is slightly less formal and would fit better here.
What did your son do in Korea? What is his honest impression of Korean people?
Koreans can be overbearing but rural people are mostly innocent and kind, maybe a bit nosy without animus.

We do, too, take a walk sometimes, when we are less busy, around a well-groomed and artificial lake. We miss the complete dark nights where we can observe stars. The light pollution stretches far around here and it looms over the horizon. We can clearly see, though, the Orion the Hunter directly above our heads when it is clear.

How is the night sky there?

I read a long ago David Copperfield. Although I finished the book, it was too black and white in the characters and so I put the author away. Bleak House seems different from the BBC movie I saw and so I intend to read it soon.

Anyong Haseyo!

I guessed it right that you are a writer on top of what you do. But, I am not a writer and I just enjoy reading. Math is dissimilar to literature, but I recently noticed, while participating in one of the discussions here, that we argue over each subject just as much but in different ways. Math is my first passion and literature is my second. Someone set a rule: if you want one new item in, then one old item has to go. Maybe your wife is trying to set the same rule with you.

How are Angel and Tess moments? Do you have then those leisure moments and in between times? I would love to walk on the British ground.

Hello, how are you? It has been a while since I talked to you.
Bibliophile means you collect books or you just love books? Are you a writer as well?