Diary - Yesterday, my English teacher discussed freegans and food waste

[Maybo]

This is an entry from my diary. Please check it and correct any mistakes.

Yesterday, my English teacher discussed freegans and food waste with me. It was my first time that I'd heard of freegans. They take discarded food from shops and sometimes share it with other people to reduce food waste. I think I produced a lot of food waste during the pandemic. At that time, I couldn't get into the supermarket, so I bought bulk items online. A lot of canned food was expired because I couldn't finish them. I should have shared them with my friends. Now, I buy only hygiene products in bulk.

 

[Tarheel]

Maybo: Yesterday, my English teacher discussed freegans and food waste with me.
Tarheel: Hm. What are freegans?
Maybo: I'm getting to that.OK?
Tarheel: OK.
Maybo: It was the first time I'd heard of freegans.
Tarheel: Well, this is my first time hearing about freegans. That's why I asked you what they are.
Maybo: Ron, I'm getting to that.
Tarheel: OK.
Maybo: They take discarded food from shops --
Tarheel: Wait a minute! That doesn't sound right.
Maybo: What do you mean?
Tarheel: I don't think there was any taking involved. I think those items were simply made available to them, and they picked them up.
Maybo: Yes, that's it! Anyhow, they used that food themselves, and sometimes they shared it with other people.
Tarheel: That reduced food waste, right?
Maybo: That's right!
Tarheel: Is there more?
Maybo: I think I produced a lot of food waste during the pandemic.
Tarheel: Interesting. I would have said I think I wasted a lot of food.
Maybo; Hm. It didn't occur to me to phrase it that way. Anyhow, I couldn't go to the supermarket so I bought bulk items online.
Tarheel: We don't call them supermarkets anymore. It's "grocery store" or just "store" or "grocery".
Maybo: I didn't know that. Anyhow, a lot of canned food expired because I had bought too much.
Tarheel: You could have shared it with your friends.
Maybo: That's right! I wish I had thought of that. Now, I only buy hygiene items in bulk.
Tarheel: Thank you for telling me that story.
Maybo: See you later!

 

[Maybo]

@Tarheel You have an imaginary friend.

 

[Tarheel]

@Maybo I decided to do things a little differently this time. Did it work?

(Back to bed!)

 

[Maybo]

@Maybo I decided to do things a little differently this time. Did it work?

(Back to bed!)

Yes, Ron.

 

[tedmc]

This is an entry from my diary. Please check it and correct any mistakes.

Yesterday, my English teacher discussed freegans and food waste wastage with me. It was my first time that I'd heard of freegans. They take make use of discarded food from shops and sometimes share it with other people to reduce food waste wastage. I think I produced contributed a lot of to food waste wastage during the pandemic. At that time, I couldn't get into the supermarkets, so I bought bulk items things in bulk online. A lot of canned food was expired because I couldn't finish them. I should have shared them with my friends. Now, I buy only personal hygiene products in bulk.

I guess the term is similar to "vegans".

 

[Tarheel]

@Maybo I had a brief discussion with myself. I thought about doing the usual corrections and suggestions thing, but then I said, "Boring!" So I decided to make it a conversation.

The voice feature worked well when I thought to use it.

That's all for now.

P.S. I thought I had posted this an hour or so ago, but I hadn't.

(I'm all out of sleep medicine.)

 

[Maybo]

@Maybo I had a brief discussion with myself. I thought about doing the usual corrections and suggestions thing, but then I said, "Boring!" So I decided to make it a conversation.

The voice feature worked well when I thought to use it.

That's all for now.

P.S. I thought I had posted this an hour or so ago, but I hadn't.

(I'm all out of sleep medicine.)

Good night!

 

[Tarheel]

@Maybo Canned food is an it. That is, it's a mass noun. So you would say: "A lot of canned food expired because I didn't finish it." In fact, it's the same as with "food".

That issue didn't come up during our imaginary conversation because I changed the sentence too much.

 

[Maybo]

@Maybo Canned food is an it. That is, it's a mass noun. So you would say: "A lot of canned food expired because I didn't finish it." In fact, it's the same as with "food".

That issue didn't come up during our imaginary conversation because I changed the sentence too much.

I’d edited the thread before you posted so the sentence is different from yours. Isn’t it 5am in US?

 

[Tarheel]

@Maybo It's 5:15am. (I'm having trouble sleeping.)

PM me.

 

[emsr2d2]

The term "freegan" is a portmanteau of "free" and "vegan", coined in the 1990s. It refers to vegans who are appalled by how wasteful the food industry is and who rescue discarded food from the bins and trolleys at the back of supermarkets (and other food shops). I believe the term in AmE is "dumpster-diving". It doesn't just apply to vegans, however. Although most people who participate are vegetarian or vegan, the term "meegan" is apparently now used for someone who is ostensibly vegetarian or vegan but will eat meat if that meat would otherwise go to waste.
Freeganism has been described as "ethical eating - a reaction against a wasteful society and a way of highlighting the millions of tons of edible food thrown out by supermarkets etc every year". (Source: Freeganism)

@Tarheel (I posted the info above because I noted that in your dialogue in post #2 you suggested that you assumed that the food in question had been "made available" to them. That's not right.

 

[emsr2d2]

Yesterday, my English teacher discussed freegans and food waste with me. It was my the first time that I'd heard of freegans. They take discarded food from shops and sometimes share it with other people to reduce food waste. I think I produced a lot of food waste during the pandemic. At that time, I couldn't get into the supermarket, so I bought bulk items online. A lot of canned food was expired because I couldn't finish them it. I should have shared them it with my friends. Now, I buy only hygiene products in bulk.

As you can see above, I made fewer corrections to your post than usual. That's good. It means you're making fewer basic errors. My main comment now is that your piece is a little stilted. Most of the sentences are about the same length and they're quite simple. That's not always a bad thing but I think you can try and get a bit more complicated now.

Just to give you an idea, here's how I would have written your piece (given that it's for a diary entry so it doesn't need to be formal writing).

Fri 25 Aug - Joe (English teacher) told me about freeganism. That was a new one on me! Apparently, freegans go to the back of food shops and take food that's been thrown out, sometimes sharing it with other people to reduce food waste. Now I think about it, I wasted a lot of food during lockdown. I bulk-bought online and loads of the canned stuff went out of date - I should have shared it with my friends, I suppose, but it's too late now! From now on, I'm only going to buy hygiene stuff in bulk.

 

[Maybo]

As you can see above, I made fewer corrections to your post than usual. That's good. It means you're making fewer basic errors. My main comment now is that your piece is a little stilted. Most of the sentences are about the same length and they're quite simple. That's not always a bad thing but I think you can try and get a bit more complicated now.

Just to give you an idea, here's how I would have written your piece (given that it's for a diary entry so it doesn't need to be formal writing).

Fri 25 Aug - Joe (English teacher) told me about freeganism. That was a new one on me! Apparently, freegans go to the back of food shops and take food that's been thrown out, sometimes sharing it with other people to reduce food waste. Now I think about it, I wasted a lot of food during lockdown. I bulk-bought online and loads of the canned stuff went out of date - I should have shared it with my friends, I suppose, but it's too late now! From now on, I'm only going to buy hygiene stuff in bulk.

Does reading magazines help writing more casually? Since I've been studying English from textbooks and news, I have difficulty writing casually. I sometimes read other people's blogs but I don't know the boundary between "too causal" and "a little bit casual".

 

[Tarheel]

Does reading magazines help writing more casually? Since I've been studying English from textbooks and news, I have difficulty writing casually. I sometimes read other people's blogs but I don't know the boundary between "too causal" and "a little bit casual".

No, what you read in magazines is not casual writing.

If you and I exchanged text messages that would be casual writing.

That paragraph is perfectly good.

 

[emsr2d2]

Does reading magazines help writing more casually? No. You won't find "casual writing" in publications.

Since I've been studying English from textbooks and news, I have difficulty writing casually. That makes sense. If you're not reading informal casual writing, you'll find it hard to replicate.

I sometimes read other people's blogs but I don't know the boundary between "too casual" and "a little bit casual". It's a fine line and it's hard for non-native speakers to grasp. Don't worry!

I only commented on the formality because you keep saying these are diary entries. As such, I assume they're not for anyone else to read. If that's the case, they don't actually need to be in anything other than note form. For example, if I were really writing a quick diary entry, just to remind myself what happened on Friday, it would say "Fri 25 Aug - Joe told me about freegans. They rescue discarded food from shops. Reduces waste. Remember not to bulk buy food - remember what happened during lockdown!" That's it. I wouldn't need any more because it's just an aide memoire.

The pieces you've been writing are less like that sort of diary entry and more like a short note to a friend to tell them what happened yesterday. If you're thinking of it like that, then writing full sentences is absolutely fine. It could still be more casual, though. Your pieces remind me a little of what young kids write when they're first at school. For example:

What I did on Friday
I went to the park. The park was good. I played on the swings. There was a black cat. I stroked the cat. The cat was soft. Then I went home. We had fish fingers and beans for tea. They're my favourite. I went to bed at 8pm.

Of course, your English is of a higher level than that but that's the kind of staccato impression I get when I read your texts.

Is there a difference between formal and informal/casual written Chinese or does it look exactly the same regardless of the situation?

 

[Maybo]

Is there a difference between formal and informal/casual written Chinese or does it look exactly the same regardless of the situation?

There is a difference. I would use more spoken language.

Of course, your English is of a higher level than that but that's the kind of staccato impression I get when I read your texts.

When I'm writing a diary, I use my Chinese logic to write. That's how I would write in Chinese but of course it might not exactly be how I speak or write in Chinese because I'm using another language. My writing looks formal, and I guess, it's because I was trained to write like that. In school, we spent most of the time writing argumentative essays.

For example, if I were really writing a quick diary entry, just to remind myself what happened on Friday, it would say "Fri 25 Aug - Joe told me about freegans. They rescue discarded food from shops. Reduces waste. Remember not to bulk buy food - remember what happened during lockdown!" That's it. I wouldn't need any more because it's just an aide memoire.

I want to practise using different tenses so I would not write that short.

 

[Tarheel]

@Maybo Perhaps:

I want to practice using different tenses so my sentences won't be too short

You can do that, but I think you're well on the way.

You do text messages better than some native speakers.

 

[kadioguy]

Now I think about it, I wasted a lot of food during lockdown.

Could this be a run-on sentence? Maybe it doesn't really matter in informal writing?

 

[Tarheel]

@kadioguy I might say: "Now that I think about it, I wasted a lot of food during the lockdown."

I believe I discussed that sentence in my imaginary dialogue (which nobody appreciates).