What is incorrect in this short fragment?

Question

Could somebody help me correct what is gramatically incorrect written in this short description? Thank you very much.

English - I have studied English in school for 11 years, and 2 more years at the University. I have also participated at different English seminars and summer courses, thought by students/professors from the UK or USA.

German - I have started learning German during my 1st year of University at the German Cultural Center in my home town. I have stopped after 2 years and 3 months, after reaching the B2.1 level. Before I began my study at the University in Berlin, I followed an intensive 6 week German course, which helped me to achieve the B2.2 level.

French - I have learned it in school for 6 years.

Spanish - I have learned it in private.

Answer 1

English section:
Change the word "thought" to "taught". Change "students/professors" to "students and professors".

German section:
Instead of saying, "I have started learning German", say, "I started learning German", or, "I began studying German".
Also, instead of "I have stopped after 2 years", instead say, "I stopped after two years".

French section:
Instead of "I have learned it in school for 6 years", say, "I studied it in school for six years".

Spanish section:
Instead of "I have learned it in private", say, "I studied it in private".

For all the sections, write out the numbers in full text form instead of using the digits.

The main error you seem to make is your use of the present perfect tense. When you say you "have started learning German", for instance, you are implying that this is a recent development that is ongoing in the present. But the following sentence makes it clear that you are no longer studying German, which makes the use of the present perfect incorrect.

Also, please allow me to clarify when to use "learn" and when to use "study":
When you say you have learned something, you are implying that you have learned it fully, that your studies are essentially complete in that subject. Therefore, to say you learned French for six years is a bit awkward. It would be better to say either that you spent six years learning French (which implies that you have learned the language pretty well and are essentially finished learning it), OR, that you studied French for six years, which does not mean that you have completely learned the language. It is possible to study without necessarily being able to learn everything there is to learn. Do you see the difference?

I hope that helps...

Answer 2

English - I have studied English for a total of 13 years in both school and university. I have also participated at numerous English seminars and summer courses, taught by students/professors from the UK and the USA.

German - I started learning German during my 1st year of University at the German Cultural Center in my home town. I stopped after 2 years and 3 months, after reaching the B2.1 level. Before I begin my study at the University in Berlin, I followed an intensive 6 week German course, which helped me to achieve the B2.2 level.

French - I learned it in school for six years..

Spanish - I have learned it privately.

Answer 3

English- I have studied English in school for 11 years, plus 2 more at a University. I have also participated at different English seminars and summer courses, which were taught by students and professors from the UK and the USA.

German- I started learning German during my Freshman year in College at the German Cultural Center in my hometown. I stopped after 2 years and 3 months after reaching the B2.1 level. Before I began my study at the university in Berlin, I followed an intensive 6 week German course, which helped me to achieve the B2.2 level. (You don't capitalize the university in this sentence since it's not the name of one)

French - I have been studying French for 6 years at school.

Spanish - I have been teaching myself.

Answer 4

English - I studied English in school for 11 years, and at university for two more. I have also participated in [several?] English seminars and summer courses, taught by students/professors from the UK or USA. [what are students/professors?]

German - I started learning German during my first year of university at the German Cultural Center in my hometown. I stopped after two years and three months, after reaching the B2.1 level. Before I began my studies at the university in Berlin, I followed an intensive six-week German course, which helped me to achieve the B2.2 level.

French - I learned it in school for six years.

Spanish - I have learned it privately [in private is quite weird but I'm not sure what you mean, can you be more specific here?].


I've changed all the one-digit numbers to words, although there are some contexts in which digits might be acceptable. Some would have "eleven" instead of "11" too.

Answer 5

The English one depends on whether you are still studying or not.

English - I have studied English for thirteen years, including two years at [name of University]. I have also participated IN different English seminars and summer courses taught by both students and professors from the United Kingdom and the United States.

German - I studied German for over two years and reached the B2.1 level. Before I began... I followed an intensive six-week course in German... (rest is okay).

French - I have studied French for six years.

Spanish - (okay)

Note: In English, numbers ten and below are spelled out (i.e. four, six, ten); numbers 11 and higher are written as numbers (i.e. 27, 35, etc.)

Answer 6

I am an English major, and I'm assuming you want me to correct your English. Seeing as you are multi-lingual, I'm guessing you are from Europe or something, unless you are a linguist.

It looks like you did a good job in general, only a few nit-picky things that I can find. Instead of saying "I have studied" just put "I studied." This eliminates passive voice, and appears a few times in your fragment. If you just say "I did _____," then it sounds more professional, less wordy, and most important, makes your sentence stronger.

Also, I believe you meant "taught" where you put "thought" where it reads "summer courses, thought by students/professors..."

I hope this proves helpful to you, and good luck with your resume or whatever it is you are working on!

Also, listen to other's answers, it looks like a lot of people have some good input as well. You can't have too many people review your paper! I know they caught things I missed.

Answer 7

It's a fraction. I wager it is simply incorrect. The right method to punctuate that might be "Alas-- they continue to be hushed and taciturn, timid and modest, and possibly even pissed off." Or "Alas-- they continue to be hushed and taciturn, timid and modest; possibly even pissed off." The rationale that it is not a brief sentence is that it lacks each a noun and a verb. Which is fine if you're speaking or having a talk, or are writing a unique in a conversational sort. But with essays, you desire to make use of nineteenth century grammar.