I’m glad you found it helpful! I just read some short fiction by Haruki Murakami. It’s translated from Japanese to English, but even in the translation, it’s clear the way English and Japanese are used is so different.

Thank you for your tips! Now I feel like I need to rewrite the whole paragraph 😉 Also, the way you corrected my expressions made me wonder how much structures of our languages differ and in fact may be influencing the way we look at the world. Japanese language often incorporates human beings in the whole landscape; there is a store, and the salespeople who run away as soon as you set eyes on them are part of that retail store, an event you casually look at on human Safari. When the word “salespeople” is the subject of a sentence, they are so much more like humans – they are given a choice of answering your questions!

Great example of “more trouble than it’s worth.” I even asked some members on a recent call if they thought switching from iPhone to Android (or vice-versa) would be more trouble than it’s worth and everyone agreed it would be!

A few tips for you: “Besides there would be no salesperson who answers…” I would write this like, “Besides, the salespeople don’t like to answer your questions. They always run away as soon as you set eyes on them.”

“It used to be fun buying new things before” – “used to” and “before” are doing the same thing in this sentence, so you don’t need both of them. You might say, “I used to enjoy shopping a lot more.”

You can keep the structure consistent by saying, “perusing a catalog, asking a salesperson…”

Great paragraph! I enjoyed reading your opinion

Ha! I don’t have a wife, but I can totally see your point. Good example, Leonardo.

Great example! Where in CDMX do you live? When I moved here, I sold my car and I do miss it … but completely agree it’s more trouble than it’s worth to have a car here. Sometimes in traffic, it takes longer than Metro or Metrobus. A few tips for you here Antonio: “recommendable” is not a word – you can say, “it’s recommended to use public transportation to get around.” The closest word to “recomendable” in Spanish is “advisable,” but that tends to be a bit formal in English.

Second, “move into the offices area” – I think you mean, to get into business districts where there are a lot of offices – here, parts of Polanco, Reforma, Santa Fe, etc. So in this case, I would say, “business districts” instead of “offices area.”

Here’s how I’d put the whole thing together: “In Mexico City, mobility is an issue. Most of the time, it seems impossible to get into the business district in a car, so having a car is more trouble than it’s worth. It’s recommended to use public transportation to get around.”

(Also you can’t beat the price of a metro/metrobus ride, right?)

Nice job – I hope you enjoyed the sample lesson!

~ Jeff

Perfect example! And I agree. I just didn’t cut it. Then, hair salons in Indiana (the next state over from Illinois) opened, while Chicago’s were still closed. So I drove an hour-plus to get that first haircut. That drive was totally worth it