1. Melting pot
Politically incorrect? Racially biased? Not from the neck of my woods.
2. to get somebody's message across
This is what I wrote: ---"getting his or her message across." What's wrong with that? The typo ("cross") is yours, not mine. Take it back, will you?
3. you'd better be proud
I don't see any hint of coersion in my context. Perhaps, you're a little bit oversensitive.
4. everyday Joe and Jane
It is not only my preference to say "everyday" rather "average." It is commonly used in the media these days.
5. "assimiliated" "interlucator"
What's wrong with these two words in my context? In my humble opinion, they're where they belong. It's written English, not spoken English, by the way.
6. It's "play nice and play safe" in my post. If you read carefully enough, which I don't think you did, you might want to say this: "We won't let perfection get in our way. Still, we'd better know where we're going. Why make a mistake if we can avoid it?"
7. Standing mirror/smartphone
A standing mirror will help you check out your posture. By all means ignore it if you think this is not a good idea. Likewise for the smartphone.
8. "exotically"
Politically incorrect? Again? You must be kidding me.
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This is your writing:
My two cents:
Even if the English is not our mother tongue, using idiom is still make it nice and easy to communicate.
An idiom is a phrase that typically presents a figurative but not the literal meaning attached to the phrase. Using idiom can give us a new, creative way to express ourselves. Native English speakers use tons of idioms in their daily life. Used correctly, idioms can get our messages across faster and easier.
To use idioms correctly, I have a book of idioms as my guide. I read the book to figure out the meaning of the idioms, and practice how to speak them in front of a mirror with recording. Recording helps me to see my mistakes and how to fix them.
By the way, accent can be charming and give us our identity and heritage. Don’t worry too much about the accent as long as most people can understand us. And don’t be offended if somebody needs more time to understand our speaking.
The following is my Two Cents:
We can go far with idiomatic English even if we are not native English speakers.
Using idioms is building bridges to where we would like to be. We would like to close all communication gaps, wouldn't we?
Communication is not just about speech. It is also about how we present ourselves. Our postures matter. So, a standing mirror helps. With a handy smartphone recording our practice, meanwhile, we can always play it back and have a better idea of how we are doing. Isn't self-teaching wonderful?
As for our accents, don't take them as liabilities. They can be exotically charming. Who knows? We'll be okay as long as we keep ourselves open to communication which, by the way, is a two-way street.
---renqiulan
