What is the best structure to talk about this intention?

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sinnnnna

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I can't find the structure that I was looking for. Could anybody help me out to make these sentences logically and grammatically better?


"During last four years, I always considered as a minority for the university's community. This fact not only did not isolated me, but also encouraged me even more to participate in more social activities."
 

MikeNewYork

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"During last four years, I have always been considered a minority by the university community. However, they did not isolate me; they encouraged me even more to participate in social activities."
 
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oldbei

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Not a teacher

My attempt:

"During the last four years, I always considered myself as a minority member in the university. However, this has not discouraged my involvement in various social activities. If anything, it's a form of encouragement."
 
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It depends upon what you are trying to say. Did you think of yourself as a minority - that is, because you were a member of an under-represented ethnicity, you felt as if you were a minority member? Or were you "officially" a minority - that is, you received a scholarship based on your ethnicity, or received certain treatment because of your ethnic background? Are you saying that the university recognized your minority status and encouraged you to get involved in student activities?

Or are you saying that it was made apparent by the treatment you received from others on campus that you were a minority student? You felt ostracized but you did not let it get you down; instead you made an effort to assimilate with the other students, and study hard to get good grades so that no one could accuse you of "getting by" because you're a minority?

Clarification is needed in order to properly rephrase your statement.
 

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Perhaps:

During the last four years I have been considered a minority in the university community. That not only didn't isolate me, but it encouraged me to participate in social activities.


If I was going to participate in social activities, wouldn't that mean I would have to be around people?
;-)

(A sentence can, as I have said before, be perfectly grammatical but not really make sense.)

:)
 

sinnnnna

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"During last four years, I have always been considered a minority by the university community. However, they did not isolate me; they encouraged me even more to participate in social activities."

hi Mark and thanks for your answer.
but I want to brag about myself ( :-D ) not the university's community. Is the following statement correct?do you have any other suggestion?

During last four years, I have always been considered a minority by the university community. However, this fact did not isolate me; it even encouraged me more to participate in social activities.
 

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Your revision is fine if you add "the" as the second word.
 

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Maybe you mean to say that you are different for some reason, but that hasn't led you to isolate yourself. You have participated in social activities as much as anybody. (The "university community" is just a bunch of people in the same place.)

:)
 

sinnnnna

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No, I did not get any scholarship based on my ethnicity, I am saying that it was made apparent by the treatment I received, I was member of an under-represented ethnicity.
 

Tarheel

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I don't understand. If you are Iranian and you are in Iran how can you be a member of an under-represented ethnicity? Were you discriminated against in some way?

:-?
 

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I think the OP was talking about courage. Being a minority member, it takes courage not to be self-isolated, especially in a less tolerant society. For example, you can be an atheist in a very religious society or vice versa, and compelled to conform.
 

sinnnnna

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In my university more than 90% of students are Persian, but my mother tongue is Turkish. our ethnicity is different from rest of Iranians.

(Persian and Turkish are different languages.)
 

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In my university more than 90% of students are Persian, but my mother tongue is Turkish. Our ethnicity is different from the rest of Iranians.

(Persian and Turkish are different languages.)

Well, it says in your profile that your native language is Persian. Nevertheless, I get your point. Your native language is Turkish, while most of the students speak Persian. However, you haven't let that stop you from socializing with the other students.

:)
 

sinnnnna

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Persians are majority in my country and the they usually disrespects Turks (people who speak Turkish).
 

sinnnnna

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Yeah, this is what I meant :-D
 

sinnnnna

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Regarding to difference in my mother tongue language from country's official language, I have always been considered a minority by the university community. However, this fact did not isolate me; it even encouraged me more to engage in various social activities.
 

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We encourage all members to be 100% accurate with their member information, so please edit your Member Profile to show "Turkish" as your native language.
 

sinnnnna

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We encourage all members to be 100% accurate with their member information, so please edit your Member Profile to show "Turkish" as your native language.

I am a native turkish but I can only read and write in Persian because of country's educational system, what is your opinion, I am a native Turkish, native Persian, or both?
 

emsr2d2

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What passport do you hold? That dictates your nationality.

However, that is not important here. Your native language is the language you were brought up speaking/writing/reading as a child (your first language). Your home country is the country where you were brought up/spent your formative years. Your current location is the country in which you live at the moment.
 

sinnnnna

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What passport do you hold? That dictates your nationality.

However, that is not important here. Your native language is the language you were brought up speaking/writing/reading as a child (your first language). Your home country is the country where you were brought up/spent your formative years. Your current location is the country in which you live at the moment.

I am an Iranian. I born in Iran and I grown up in it. However, from where I came from, children start talking both languages simultaneously. In my town, people use Turkish for their daily conversations, but they only had chance to learn how to read and write in Persian.
 
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