[General] What are the three most important things...

[Silverobama]

I prepared a topic for tomorrow's English club meeting. It's about our school lives. Since all the participants are adults and have been working for many years, we will recollect our memories.

The topic will be "What are the three most important things you had ever wanted to do during your school life?"

Is the italic sentence natural and grammatical?

 

[teechar]

we will recollect our memories.

That doesn't make sense, and I can't see how it links to being a working adult.

The topic will be "What are the three most important things you had ever wanted to do during your school life?"
Is the italic sentence natural and grammatical?

OK, but since the context is the past, consider using "were" instead of "are".

 

[Silverobama]

That doesn't make sense, and I can't see how it links to being a working adult.

Adults have left schools for many years. So we will talk about it to revoke the old memories of the school days.

"What were the three most important things you had ever wanted to do during your school life?"

Much appreciated, teechar. I still think this question is not how native speakers would phrase it. I don't think I need to mention three because maybe there are some participants want to talk about more than three things. Is there a better alternative?

 

[teechar]

Adults have [STRIKE]left schools[/STRIKE] been out of school for many years, so we will talk about it to [STRIKE]revoke the[/STRIKE] reminisce about (old) memories [STRIKE]of the[/STRIKE] from our school days.

"Revoke" has an entirely different meaning. Perhaps you meant "evoke".

Much appreciated, teechar. I still think this question is not how native speakers would phrase it. I don't think I need to mention "three" because maybe there are some participants want to talk about more than three things. Is there a better alternative?

If you don't want to limit it to three memories, then you can simply say "... some of the most important things".

 

[emsr2d2]

I have prepared a topic for tomorrow's English club meeting. It's about our school lives. Since all the participants are adults and [STRIKE]have been working for[/STRIKE] left school many years ago, we will have to [STRIKE]recollect[/STRIKE] dig deep into our memories.

The topic will be "What [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] were the three most important things you [STRIKE]had ever[/STRIKE] wanted to do during your time at school [STRIKE]life[/STRIKE]?"

Is the italic sentence natural and grammatical?

I'm not quite sure what information you're trying to elicit. Are you asking what important things they wanted to do while they were at school (for example, pass exams, join the football team), or what hopes they had for the future while they were still at school (for example, go to university, get a well-paid job, travel to the moon)?

 

[GoesStation]

Note that Americans reserve the phrase "left school" for people who drop out early. Others are said to have finished school.

 

[probus]

But in BrE school-leaving age is just the usual age at which students have finished school and are ready for college or university.

 

[Silverobama]

I'm not quite sure what information you're trying to elicit. Are you asking what important things they wanted to do while they were at school (for example, pass exams, join the football team),

Yes, I meant this one. Is the corrected question still okay if I want to know information about such things?

 

[jutfrank]

I suggest this:

What are three things that you felt it was important for you to do during the time you were at school?

It's a bit of a strange question to ask, in my opinion. I think you might have to explain what you mean with an example or two of the kind of things you're looking for.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I prepared a topic for tomorrow's English club meeting. It's about our school days. Since all the participants are adults and have been working for many years, we will share our memories.

The topic will be "What are the three most important things you [STRIKE]had ever[/STRIKE] wanted to do during your school days?"

Is the italic sentence natural and grammatical?

The expression "school life" does not exist and is almost meaningless. Use "school days."

You don't need "had" or "ever." They don't add anything to the question.

I've also noticed that people have trouble with being given a number. Why specify three?

The big problem, though, as mentioned above, is that the question is unclear. It can mean either:

- When you were in school, what were the three main things you wanted to do somewhere, some day?

- What were the three main things you wanted to do at school?​

You need to rephrase it to clarify that.

 

[probus]

The expression "school life" does not exist and is almost meaningless.

That's a pretty bold statement, amigo. In fact, it's just plain wrong. Not only does the expression "school life" exist, I'll wager you a beer that it has often been used by people who, like me, have had the misfortune of being sent to a boarding school.

COCA gives 253 hits for "school life".

 

[Silverobama]

That's a pretty bold statement, amigo. In fact, it's just plain wrong. Not only does the expression "school life" exist, I'll wager you a beer that it has often been used by people who, like me, have had the misfortune of being sent to a boarding school.

COCA gives 253 hits for "school life".

Google gives me 11,000 results in context.

 

[probus]

Google gives me 11,000 results in context.

In this forum we don't give a fig for Google. As a tool for learning English it is worse than useless.

 

[Silverobama]

In this forum we don't give a fig for Google. As a tool for learning English it is worse than useless.

But I can find many articles with the phrase "school life" from reliable sources, then I can learn how to use it. Why did you say that it is worse than useless?

Maybe because you're an English teacher, a native speaker. However, that's one of the ways for students here to learn a language.

 

[emsr2d2]

But I can find many articles with the phrase "school life" from reliable sources, then I can learn how to use it. Why did you say that it is worse than useless?

Maybe because you're an English teacher, a native speaker. However, that's one of the ways for students here to learn a language.

The problem for English learners is working out what's a reliable source and what's not. There might be little clues on a website that make native speakers spot a poor source, even though it might look professional and reliable to a learner.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

That's a pretty bold statement, amigo. In fact, it's just plain wrong. Not only does the expression "school life" exist, I'll wager you a beer that it has often been used by people who, like me, have had the misfortune of being sent to a boarding school.

COCA gives 253 hits for "school life".

For Silver's sentence, I still think "school days" makes a lot more sense.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

But I can find many articles with the phrase "school life" from reliable sources, then I can learn how to use it. Why did you say that it is worse than useless?

Maybe because you're an English teacher, a native speaker. However, that's one of the ways for students here to learn a language.

I wouldn't call it useless. But it can certainly cause problems. Always remember that many or most English speakers don't speak standard English. Sometimes it's fine to use bad grammar or incorrect vocabulary, but sometimes it can get you into trouble.

How many examples of "ain't" can you find via Google? How many examples of the decorative "like," as used in the thread about job hunting? How many double negatives? How many examples of the decorative "So"? Those are all fine when you're talking with your friends, but they can make a bad impression elsewhere — for example, in a job interview or the first time you meet the parents of someone you're dating.

Likewise, people say "school life." In your context, however, I think "school days" is much more natural. (Like most people, I didn't go to boarding school.)