I have had the ambition?

[iamtime]

Hi,

I think there are some errors in the sentences below, can you tell me please?

'I have had the ambition to pursue the knowledge of western art, philosophy and scientific thinking since I was a teenager, and were ambitious to improve my English... I hope to continue pursuing the knowledge and my ambition.'

1. 'have had the ambition' or 'had ambition'?
2. 'were ambitious' or 'had been ambitious'?
3. 'pursuing the knowledge' or 'pursuing knowledges'?

Thanks.

 

[Raymott]

Hi,

I think there are some errors in the sentences below, can you tell me please?

'I have had the ambition to pursue the knowledge of western art, philosophy and scientific thinking since I was a teenager, and were ambitious to improve my English... I hope to continue pursuing the knowledge and my ambition.'

1. 'have had the ambition' or 'had ambition'?
2. 'were ambitious' or 'had been ambitious'?
3. 'pursuing the knowledge' or 'pursuing knowledges'?

Thanks.

Here's one solution:
'I have had an ambition to pursue a knowledge of Western art, philosophy and scientific thinking since I was a teenager, and am also ambitious to improve my English. I hope to continue pursuing this knowledge and my ambition.'

Ideally you shouldn 't keep repeating 'ambition'. Three times is too often in such a short passage. "The knowledge" implies all of the knowledge. That would be a big ambition!
I prefer to capitalise 'Western' and 'the West', when they have the political meaning, to distinguish it from just anywhere that's west of somewhere else.

 

[iamtime]

Thanks so much for this correction, Raymott!:-D