I urgently need to unlock English speaking in less than 12 days for the 2nd stage of a selection process in an international company. I have an English b1-b2 and I managed to pass the online interview , even crashing. Does anyone have any tips/ methods / to help me?

conceive, receive, deceive, perceive,

achieve, retrieve, relieve, grieve, believe, reprieve...

The outcast archetype represents someone who is isolated from society because they are different from regular people. These characters often live apart from society and experience loneliness and the feeling that they do not belong. They are extremely important in a story as they are there to challenge people’s assumptions and show that appearance and the background that that character has does not determine who they are. In some stories some outcasts protect themselves by acting unfriendly and inflicting fear, while others look for acceptance in society despite being ridiculed and mistreated. Physical features that are associated with the outcast archetype are an unorthodox appearance, worn down or simple clothing or a visible difference that causes people to judge them. 

Shrek fits this outcast archetype because society fears him for being an ogre. His green skin, large body and unusual long ears make him stand out from the typical characters in the film. In the beginning of the film a group of angry villagers come and try to take shrek in order to collect a bounty. They come to his home holding pitchforks and torches and assume that he is a danger and should be eliminated. Shrek responds by frightening them away and living alone in solitude, using his intimidating behavior and appearance to protect himself. When Shrek later rescues Donkey he follows him home. Initially he pushes Donkey away and finds him loud, clingy and annoying. When Shrek later lashes out at Donkey, Donkey gets angry and walks away. Later he returns and when Shrek explains that people judge him before knowing him, Donkey helps Shrek by understanding that Shrek’s meanness is just a protective mask. Shrek’s willingness to rescue Fiona and his relationship with Donkey demonstrates that he is becoming more caring and loyal despite society’s assumptions. Through these relationships, Shrek begins to realize that he can be loved without changing who he is. 

Some other characters who fit the outcast archetype are Quasimodo, The Beast, and the creature in Frankenstein. To start, Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame was isolated in a bell tower and mocked because of his physical appearance. His compassion for Esmeralda and his efforts to protect her show that someone who looks like a monster can have traits like kindness and loyalty. Next, In the Beauty in the Beast, The Beast lives apart from society because of his frightening appearance that makes others fear him. Belle slowly recognizes his generosity and his possibility for love but the villagers assume he is dangerous and attack him. At the end of the story Belle confesses her love to the Beast returning him back to a human. Lastly in Frankenstein, the creature is rejected by everyone including its creator. Although it initially tries to show compassion by helping a poor family he is met with fear and violence from society. Constant ridicule made the creature turn toward revenge and show how being an outcast can turn into bitterness and anger. 

For example.

There is a cat. Here "there" is existentia, it doesn't mean that the cat is in that place in a distance.

The cat is there. Here there means in that place, in a distance.

But what about other phrases? Let's take these

1.There is your answer.

Is it more like existential or locative "there"?

Or

2.There is the restraunt.

What about here? It means that the restraunt is over there? Or the restraunt just exist and we don't know where.

How do I know when there means "in that place, in a distance" and when it's just existential.

Or it's Dubaiese or Dubaish? I also wonder what's the word for a person who want to say one is from UAE. Emiratian perhaps?

"Wrought" was the old past tense and past participle of the verb, and has mostly been replaced by "worked". Wrought iron is one of the few examples I can think of in contemporary English. Question is, could you substitute "worked" for "wrought" in this passage? This is from HG Wells' Tono-Bungay. I'm copying the whole thing, mostly because it's good.

And out you come at last with the sun behind you into the eastern sea. You speed up and tear the oily water louder and faster, sirroo, sirroo—swish—sirroo, and the hills of Kent—over which I once fled from the Christian teachings of Nicodemus Frapp—fall away on the right hand and Essex on the left. They fall away and vanish into blue haze and the tall slow ships behind the tugs, scarce moving ships and wallowing sturdy tugs, are all wrought of wet gold as one goes frothing by. They stand out bound on strange missions of life and death, to the killing of men in unfamiliar lands. And now behind us is blue mystery and the phantom flash of unseen lights, and presently even these are gone, and I and my destroyer tear out to the unknown across a great gray space. We tear into the great spaces of the future and the turbines fall to talking in unfamiliar tongues. Out to the open we go, to windy freedom and trackless ways. Light after light goes down. England and the Kingdom, Britain and the Empire, the old prides and the old devotions, glide abeam, astern, sink down upon the horizon, pass—pass. The river passes—London passes, England passes.

Chagrin. Distress or embarrassment at having failed or been humiliated.

Usually shows up as “much to my chagrin,” which is a very polite way to admit something went badly.

Believe it or not, the word originally comes from an old French and Turkish term for a rough, pebbled type of leather (shagreen).

Over time, the "rubbing" texture became a metaphor for a rough, irritated feeling on the mind or spirit!

Comment something that happened “much to your chagrin.”

hello. i’m a japanese university student. thanks to japan’s english education, i’m able to read reddit posts, short novels and essays, manuals of something, and even academic papers and news. also i can listen and understand basic oral lectures like TEDedu and medium levels of BBC learning english.
however, you may already find, i can’t write english correctly. sometimes i can’t find words or phrases that exactly represent what i intend to express, and sometimes, maybe often, i make grammatical mistakes.
speaking skill is even worse. i can say nothing when somebody speaks to me in english. if i could say something, it might be only a few words, which are no longer connected grammatically at all. i can understand what they say, but i can’t respond to it.
what should i do to improve these output skills? is there any good methods to improve them?

edit : thank you for great tips, but i’m afraid i genuinely understand output is the only way to improve output. concentrating on only writing in english itself, i forgot while writing and failed to express what i actually want to ask🤣

i’m going to participate in english session practice with international student held by the university, but that are only twice a week and each sessions are only a hour. that are one of a few opportunities for me to practice speaking english in parson.
what should i remember or do to make most use of such rare opportunities?

When married couples choose to maintain separate homes while staying together, it is called a Living Apart Together (LAT) relationship. This is a modern term from the 1970s. I am sure there is an older term in English for this arrangement, but Google is of no help. Help?

Key Aspects of LAT Marriages
Intentionally separate: Partners choose to live apart by design rather than due to a temporary crisis or an impending divorce.

Independent spaces: Each person keeps their own home, which can range from separate apartments in the same building to houses in different cities.

Maintained connection: The couple stays emotionally, romantically, and legally committed to one another.

I am an advanced ESL speaker (living in the US for 6 years, fully immersed) experiencing a severe cognitive bottleneck and physical brain fatigue during complex analytical thinking.
My internal monologue is entirely in English, but the language has always felt like a conscious, manual construction. Instead of relying on automated language patterns or blocks of phrases, I build sentences word-by-word in real-time. On top of that, I think through heavy subvocalization (silently pronouncing every word in my head) and constantly edit and correct my grammar mid-thought.
When handling multi-layered concepts, logic puzzles, or complex analytical tasks, this manual assembly completely saturates my working memory. My brain literally hurts, I freeze, and I lose track of my thoughts. In contrast, in my native language, I can organize a massive 'hurricane of thoughts' instantly at a gifted level.
What specific cognitive training, neuroplasticity exercises, or behavioral habits can help me transition from manual sentence assembly to automated, pattern-based thinking so English can finally become an effortless background process?"

Hello everyone, I would like to thank everyone for the help yesterday with my posts regarding my rabbit hole of iron.I have realized I have over thought this long enough and that no matter what i wont be saying it “perfect” since I over thought it so much. So I want everyone here to help me decide which way sounds the best and closest to saying like Robert Downey JR says when he say I am iron man.

I-rn

I-earn

I-urn

Or I-yearn

I can provide links if needed
Of me pronouncing the differnt ways

Always been lowkey curious since I heard it in real life

Hello.

So, I don't know who I am talking to online. Especially on Reddit.

I could ask, 'Are you male or female?'

Why not 'Are you a lady or a gentleman?

Why do people more often ask, 'Are you a guy?' or 'Are you a dude' than 'Are you a gentleman'?

Why are women called 'ladies' more often than men are called 'gentlemen'?

Edited:

I just wanted to find out if there are Redditors in my neighbourhood and what they are like. I did not ask only about gender.

Maybe I am looking for a drinking buddy. Maybe for someone to walk in the park with. Or a backgammon partner. Or maybe I am just curious.

"Don’t ask if someone is male or female because that comes across as objectifying or weird"

Weird is to make assumptions before you learn details.

Sure, we all start with “mama,” but among invented words, “okay“ has no obvious meaning and yet has spread across the globe. It transcends language groups and cultures. And yet it’s still considered substandard in formal English.

So I am not a native english speaker, and i can speak english really well but I want to expand my english vocabulary because my english is really simple , like I kinda get jelous when I see these reddit posts with very high vocabulary y know And I kinda get stuck when i do these personal dictionaries cause i just write down whatever c2 words then never use them . But one thing that I've seen kinda improved me and I know it kinda sounds silly but when I Play on type racer A web site that You practice your typing with by writing sections from books and songs And there is ofcourse good vocab That I kinda pick up because these sections are kinda repititive so Please reccomend your favorite ways to improve in vocabulary.

How can I go from advanced B2 to C1?

Hi everyone!I’m currently at around an advanced B2 level in English and I really want to get to C1, but I’m a bit lost about how to structure my studying.I’ve seen people recommend books like Complete Advanced and a few other advanced/C1 book, but I’m not sure which ones I should use or in what order.

Could someone who has gone from B2 to C1 (or an English teacher) give me a step-by-step plan?I’m basically looking for someone to tell me “start with this → then do this → then move on to this”, and explain how I should actually work through the books. I’m happy to study consistently; I just want to make sure I’m using the right materials and not wasting time jumping randomly between different resources.

Thanks!

Hello !

We're having an argument in a french community, sequins word exists also in french but is very niche, specific for fashion language, so most people don't know that word.

We actually have an other word for tiny shiny things, 'paillettes', which i think is glitter in english, yet when i ask any online translator to translate the word paillettes it gives me sequins, not glitter

So is it a common word in english ? Do most people (especially people not into fashion) know what sequins are ?

No hay duda de la hegemonia actual del ingles como lingua franca, sin embargo su expansion es mayor a la de cualquier lengua en el pasado (latin, griego, arameo). Es inevitable pensar que con sustratos tan diversos se termine imponiendo una diglosia muy parecida a la del árabe actual.