Good evening, Mila Love!
To explain my p.o.w. I`d like U to pay attention, for example, on the word "world", how it`s sang by Mr. Armstrong (it could be heared distinctly) - it`s heared without [r] of any kind.
As far as these [rrrrrr....] are heared to any gentleman/lady almost immediatly after any american opens his mouth, so I think that absence of minded sounds in speech could be quite true and simple criteria for a non-native speaker to recognise, on whom he is in conversation, yankee or smb. other:-)

Hi, MSL!
As for me, I like french-manner pronounce) It`s so joyfull to hear! It seemed to me, that English should be more difficult for studying to a Frenchman, than Francais for an Englishman...
It`s interesting to me, how does Russians are heared and understood by native speakers and by other spekers in multinational Europe air? )))

2 Bazar_off
It`s interesting to me, how does Russians are heared and understood by native speakers and by other spekers in multinational Europe air? )))
--------------
I suppose we are herd very much like Germans :-)

BTW: Anybody knows the origin of the word "OK". Mila, do people use this word in the UK?

to Bazar_off
It`s interesting to me, how does Russians are heared and understood by native speakers and by other spekers in multinational Europe air? )))
****
Russians sound as foreigners:-))some do have a very strong and distinctive slavic accent, some are just OK..Yes, interesting, but French find it difficult to speak English. My colleage, French, can't pronounce clearly "o", instead something like russian "Ё":-)))

to MSL
Anybody knows the origin of the word "OK". Mila, do people use this word in the UK?
**************
Yes, OK is international word and is used here and usually is reinforced with both thumbs up :-D
One of the reasons they say that it might even have originated from here...All those talkings and discussions re: when and where did it all start... produce more questions rather than answers and clues:-)
You may want to look up here for example:
http://www.askoxford.com/askth ...

a bit to differ:
p.o.w - prisoners of war
p.o.v.- point of view

Thanks, Mila. Nobody knows in the end :-)

Yes, MSL, you can say that..and just use it any time you need to say it's OK! ;-)

Re:Armstrong
As he orginated from New Orleans his "rrrr.." might not sound that " specific American" as we all think they sound. There are also variations in pronunciation as well as in UK or Russia. It mostly depends where people come from.

Let's talk about happiness...
When did you/one recently feel happy?
Why do you think some people are happier than others?
What makes you/one feel happy?
What is happiness?
Any examples would be appreciated.

Britain's top-paying jobs...
Among 10 top jobs we see:

Aircraft Pilots and Flight Engineers
What they do: Exactly what it says on the tin -- to fly commercial, business or freight aircraft on short- or long-haul flights.
How to get there: A-levels/HND (Higher National Dilpoma) are sufficient and pilots must undertake an intensive training programme to obtain their commercial pilot's licence (CPL) and Airline Transport Pilot's Licence from a CAA-approved training school. Oh, and you'll need a good pair of sunglasses, too.
What they earn: £70,595

Air traffic Controllers
What they do: With more than 200 million passengers travelling to and from UK airports every year, air traffic controllers really do have their work cut out. Their job is to manage the safe take-off and landing of several aircraft at the same time by monitoring and controlling an aircraft's height, speed and course.
How to get there: Contrary to common assumptions, entry is not the preserve of university degree holders, although an increasing number of graduates are entering the profession. The minimum requirement is five GCSEs (grades A-C including English and Maths) in addition to two A-levels/GNVQ advanced level. Most people enter the profession via the National Air Traffic Services (NATS).
What they earn: £64,045

Hi, Mila!
Happiness is when they've missed to hit you. :-)

Hi MSL
You are not taking " missed ..you" for happiness, but for being just lucky, are you?

Mila, don't take it too serious. :-) It was just a joke. A paraphrase of good Russain author Alexander Pokrovsky. His collection of stories "Rasstrelyat" is wonderfull:
http://lib.ru/POKROWSKIJ/pokro ...

No, I don't take it seriously enough, don't worry:-)))
Your link is great. If you don't hear from me for sometime, I will be there :-))), reading!

Hello everyone!
In response to Mila appeal I add some more about happiness :)

(C) Authors are unknown for me, mine is just translation:
- The happiness is a sum of all possible mishaps that person has managed to avoid :)
- The person is happy when not bothered about it at all.
- If the rose petals suddenly fall down on you from the skies do not linger to check if flowerpot is following them behind :)

My personal “pseudo-scientific definition” (warning: boring!:)
The happiness is an absolutely subjective and personified notion based mostly on being in harmony with Self which is achieved through true recognition by person of own nature/abilities/motivations and finding the way to balance them with outside world.

Well, as Kozma Prutkov said, just be happy if you want to :)

Hi avia-beauty fan,
Well said, just another pearl of personal wisdom in the crown!!
To continue with the line here are some quotes:
"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life."A.Camus
"But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?"
A. Camus
"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be". A. Lincoln
"Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory."A. Shcweitzer
"The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."Allan K. Chalmers
"Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others."Buddha

I don't put Happiness in a category, I think everybody has her/his own reason to consider what happiness means..

Happiness happens when your thougts, your words, and actions are in harmony.

Greetings to all.

What a nice song is being heard in here.
I just can't but try and add a bit of mine to this sweetest tune.

He who does everything what he wants to do, provided that he wants to do what he must do - is blessed to be one of the happiest humans.

Mila I can't agree more that bad memory contributes to this precious feeling.
Thoughts themselves have led nobody to happiness if brought up without being fed with the light of heart and soul's fragrance. Though, it's not that easy to fulfill all this in a humans' lives. Very often thoughts do brake the thinnest silver thread with Those Two thereby dooming a person to suffer everlasting sorrows, misfortunes, failures....

To put it in a nutshell, a nice groom will help us sweep off those rabbish-thoughts which like a mist keeps us shaded with no chance of sunshine gleam. The quicker we unlearn, the wiser we become, the better we can love. )

Oh, NN!
From the bottom of my heart you have just merged the deepest and the most sacred thoughts about Happiness, Love and Feelings!
The less we remember (Hatred, Misfortune, Misery) the more we appreciate this Wonderful World :-)))

Evening!
Both such wisdom expression, "If U would to be happy, so be it!..", by K.Prutkov, shouln`t ever be forgotten! IMHO!!!

Thanks for this fine tune.
I wish it flowed endlessly making everybody feel what you told about.

Oh, sorry, the above was addressed to Mila. (Bad memory) )))))

:-)))

Hi Bazar_off
Oops, a bit of grammar, I am afraid...
"If U would to be happy, so be it!"
It would be correct to say...
If you want to be...
If you wish to be ..

Ok(!) )))
Sorry for mistake(
"If U want to be happy, so be it!.." )))
But in what have I mistaken exactly? I`ve just thought, that first part of the quotation is very expressive as itself: "Хочешь быть счастливым...". It`s said as an undoubted statement, cause - an axioma - everyone wishes to be happy))) That`s why I`ve supposed the verb "would", as more "active", to be said...
But just have supposed! And as far as my grammar wishes to be better, - I`d be very glad to hear some distinct explanations about my mistake)))

Another fine Music for the evening))) Here U are!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ...

If you WOULD just let me explain..
Would + Verb (basic from) without "to"...:-)

Thanks Bazar_off!
That was brilliant!

Haa!!! That`s clear now!
It ought to translate "If U would be happy, so be it!..." Such version smiles me much more than previous)))

Thanks a lot-lot-lot! For "lessons" of a kind I`ve joined Your English Club!
Remember yourself from Pushkin`s "Onegin":
"The English Club
Member of honest, till the thumb!..."

Sincerelly your`s, Bazar_off) Glad to serve with pleasant music links...

My pleasure :-)

I wonder. A lot of people on the forum asking how to learn English. But only a few come to this branch to do exactly what they declare. Strange. Seems like there are two kinds of English learners. Those who are perplexed to find the approach, and those, who are already 6-level experts...

:-)
Those who are perplexed to find the approach...
*************
They probably can't read the name of the topic which is in English...:-)
All they ask is about where? how? ..and in Russian...

Off I go ....struggling with back pain, which I believe I overdid a bit on ballet side ;-(
Take care, all of you.
See you.

Happiness is Your Moral Obligation, 5 min. lecture:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ...

this guy is our local radio talk show host (sorry for late entry)

Hi to all!
Thanks, boba...It's quite interesting to learn more about the essence of happiness.
Now we need more personal examples of when do people actually experience/ed this feeling.

I don't need a parachute...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ...

hi, everyone!
I have a question. No doubt our literacy improves when we read, we subconsciously learn how to spell words correctly visually- by looking at written texts and reading them. That is one of the reasons many teachers dislike excercises with the task "find mistakes and correct them". Ok, that poses no danger to advanced learners, but what about beginners? When new people come to the thread and post messages with plenty of mistakes-shall we correct them straightaway? People come here and read posts with mistakes and eventually they get used to them. Am I right?

Hi to all!
Inna
I see no reason why we should read newcomer's posts and leave them without correcting the mistakes...
However it's not a classroom! There are no teachers and no students - we are all learners.
Correction should be done in a very gentle and careful manner, preferably with lots of positive comments and examples.
Honestly, I am too busy to do that job here on my own..I prefer to communicate rather than to correct all the mistakes, which are inevitable, in the end of the day....
I wouldn't mind if we all do the correction at some point.
The other tricky bit is that If a new person starts posting and then finds out later that she/he is being corrected all the time, he/she might easily stop participating, simply because he/she would be dreaded to post anything. It's the fear and stress that we are trying to avoid here by all means..
So shall we just keep on posting, trying to give examples of good English if we find any, so that every one who takes over would feel confidence is being built up!:-)))

Nice to see all of you again!

Very interesting and acute issue - whether to correct newcomers' mistakes or not.

If I were a novice here, I'd surely feel comfortable and taken care of if one day I surprisingly found out that each phrase of mine containing mistakes was answered by the inhabitants using nearly the same words and structures but now in a correct way.
Perhaps it would take a time to notice that but once it happened, I'd eagerly and gratefully absorbed everything whicn my gentle tutors tried to make me understand in that outstandingly tolerant and polite manner. )))

to Mila-
I understand that you prefer to communicate rather than correct mistakes, but you named your thread "Brush up your English" :)
NN:
May I dare to correct one very little thing in your beautifully articulated post: "I'd eagerly and gratefully absorb (no -ed ending) everything". And I would recomment avoid using an indefinite article with "time" :) How do you find weather today? :)

ooops, "recommend" :))))

Inna 12

Well done. Either is accepted. )))

how do you pronounce "either" by the way?:) [i] or [ai]? Both are correct, of course.

The first one - [ai], though sometimes I force myself to use the second type when I here my interlocutor speak so. )

And again I mixed everything up. )))))))))
Just replace "first" by "second" and vice versa.

here - misprint, shuld be - hear

shuld - misprint, should be - should ))))))))))))))))

"... just another ... day in Paradise" )))

Hi!
Well, dear editors/proofreaders...
May I suggest an approach to correction in a specific/educational way?
I mean the following:
If we pick up a mistake we copy + paste it in our own message with possible variants for further discussin/approval/etc...
Will it be OK?
RE: either- both variants are acceptable.

misprints don't count:)

Mila Love

Agree. Either approache's acceptable.

Inna12

Jist kidding.
By the way, what does "12" in your nickname stand for?

NN
I think it's not just 12, but First and Second (Crew) :-))))

to NN:

I am not a wunderkind, I'm a wonder lady:)

to Mila
what do you call Second crew?:)