Question

5 Dec 2020

Japanese

English (US)
English (UK)

Question about English (US)

"I think he should give up his dream. Actually, he has no talent."
"That's a shitty thing to say. I believe he'll eventually achieve his goal."
Does this sound natural?

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Answers

EXMNX

5 Dec 2020

English (US)

It sounds natural, but the order of the sentences doesn't feel right.
"He has no talent."
"I think he should give up his dream."
Then the rest.

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beanbandit

5 Dec 2020

English (US)

The only part I'd change is the "Actually, he has no talent.". The "Actually" with a comma after it to me implies that the speaker changed his mind from the first sentence. You could change it to "He really doesn't have any talent.". The rest was good though!

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Highly-rated answerer

esejacky

5 Dec 2020

Japanese

@EXMNX
Thank you for your advice.
Maybe I wrote the sentence in that order because I'm Japanese. I feel that people in the US or European countries tend to say conclusion first, and then add information.

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esejacky

5 Dec 2020

Japanese

@beanbandit
Thank you for your advice.
I need to use the word "actually" properly.

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EXMNX

5 Dec 2020

English (US)

@esejacky No problem, I'm glad I can help. Well when we are in school we learn to write the topic of a paragraph first, then the details of everything that supports the topic. And the conclusion needs to be reinstated every now and then. But the conclusion is very similar to the topic. So it's just embedded in us to write like that. But your english is great. So there is no need to worry about it.

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esejacky

5 Dec 2020

Japanese

@EXMNX
That's exactly part of the reason we are not good at writing, especially when writing an essay or some kind of English writing examinations. I need to think like you. I wish I had studied in the US, but there is no use saying that, hahaha. Thanks, anyway.

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EXMNX

5 Dec 2020

English (US)

@esejacky Noo, don't worry about it. You are better than me in many ways. Look how fluent your english is. I can barely speak english well and I'm american and better yet speak another or even write in another language. You should be glad you studied there. School systems here aren't that great to be honest.

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"I think he should give up his dream. Actually, he has no talent.""That's a shitty thing to say. I believe he'll eventually achieve his goal."Does this sound natural? See a translation

It sounds natural, but the order of the sentences doesn't feel right. "He has no talent.""I think he should give up his dream."Then the rest.

The only part I'd change is the "Actually, he has no talent.". The "Actually" with a comma after it to me implies that the speaker changed his mind from the first sentence. You could change it to "He really doesn't have any talent.". The rest was good though!

"I think he should give up his dream. Actually, he has no talent."
"That's a shitty thing to say. I believe he'll eventually achieve his goal."
Does this sound natural?

See a translation

It sounds natural, but the order of the sentences doesn't feel right.
"He has no talent."
"I think he should give up his dream."
Then the rest.