[General] I go to the workplace every day.

[Silverobama]

The dialog was between my student Nina and me.

Silver: What's new this week?
Nina: I go to the workplace every day. I'm new there so I work very hard.

Is the dialog natural?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

The dialog was between my student Nina and me.

Silver: What's new this week?
Nina: I go to work every day. I'm new there, so I work very hard.

Is the dialog natural?

Her second sentence is somewhat odd. It's a digression. It doesn't really tell you what's new. And does she think she can stop working hard when she's been there a while?

Is that exactly what she said?

 

[Silverobama]

No. What she meant to say was "I go to the workplace every day because I'm new there. I don't know how to issue invoices so I ask the accountant there"

Is the italic sentenece natural?

 

[emsr2d2]

No. What she meant to say was "I go to the workplace every day because I'm new there. I don't know how to issue invoices so I ask the accountant there."

Is the italic sentence natural?

No. Being new has no effect on whether you go to work every day. Is she going to stop going there every day when she's no longer considered new? Why? When will that be? What difference does it make?

I'm not sure we all mean the same thing by "workplace". Your workplace is the place you go to work! Saying "I go to work" pretty much means the same thing.

I assume "No" was your answer to "Was that exactly what she said?" If that's the case, you need to tell us exactly what she said. There's no point you telling us what you think she meant to say. What, exactly, did she say? How can you extrapolate that she meant to say "I go to the workplace every day because I'm new there. I don't know how to issue invoices so I ask the accountant there" if what she said was "I go to the workplace every day. I'm new there so I work very hard"?

 

[jutfrank]

When you say this was a dialogue between you and your student Nina, is that really true? Or are you just imagining this as a possible dialogue?

 

[Silverobama]

When you say this was a dialogue between you and your student Nina, is that really true? Or are you just imagining this as a possible dialogue?

I'm sorry for having made things complicated. This is really true; I didn't imagine this. The problem is that Nina didn't speak fluent English at all so she was trying to talk to me in both Chinese and English. And what I was doing was trying to translate what she said.

I'm not sure we all mean the same thing by "workplace". Your workplace is the place you go to work! Saying "I go to work" pretty much means the same thing.

I assume "No" was your answer to "Was that exactly what she said?" If that's the case, you need to tell us exactly what she said. There's no point you telling us what you think she meant to say. What, exactly, did she say? How can you extrapolate that she meant to say "I go to the workplace every day because I'm new there. I don't know how to issue invoices so I ask the accountant there" if what she said was "I go to the workplace every day. I'm new there so I work very hard"?​

I asked her to tell me what happened to her last week. Actually each time I tried to encouage her to speak by asking the same question. And she always talked about her job. Now she's working for a company as a cashier and her comapny is in charge of a construction site. She needs to go there every day to learn how to issue invoices from an accountant. She just became a cashier of that company so that's why I translated by saying "She's new". And when she said "I go to the workplace every day" she meant "I go to the construction site every day because the accountant is there and the accountant teaches her how to issue invoices".

She used the word "workplace" then I pointed out that the word is not very common. I'd use "company" or simply "construction site".

So, what can Nina say when I asked her "What's new this week"?

Much appreciated!

 

[emsr2d2]

If she only goes to the construction site to learn how to issue invoices, it's not her workplace. However, I'd like to know where her workplace actually is. Does she work in an office when she's not at the construction site being trained by an accountant?

"Workplace" is a perfectly common word. She's just using it incorrectly (I think).

I think Nina is perhaps being confused by your question. It's possible she said "I'm new there" in order to reflect the word "new" in your question. I think your question is too informal/casual for a beginner.
Why don't you be more specific with her? Ask her "What did you do on Wednesday?" Don't let her speak Chinese. Tell her she has to say everything in English, even if she gets it wrong. Encourage her to use short simple sentences.

You: What did you do on Wednesday?
Nina: I went to work.
You: What do you do at work/What is your job?
Nina: I issue invoices.

She might be trying to make complicated sentences in order to impress you. You need to help her to get the basics right. The most useful thing about my first suggested question/answer exchange above is that it shows you that she knows the simple past of "go". If she gets that wrong and says, for example, "I go to work", you know that you need to help her to work on tenses.

 

[jutfrank]

I'm sorry for having made things complicated. This is really true; I didn't imagine this. The problem is that Nina didn't speak fluent English at all so she was trying to talk to me in both Chinese and English. And what I was doing was trying to translate what she said.

I'm a bit lost. Are you saying the dialogue you've written in post #1 did actually happen but that it happened in Chinese? Or are you saying that your part happened in English and her part was in Chinese and then you translated it into English?

I can't work out what you're actually asking here, or why.

 

[Silverobama]

Does she work in an office when she's not at the construction site being trained by an accountant?

Yes, probably so. She doesn't tell me this but I think she works in her office but needed to meet the accountant last week.

I'll follow your instructions, emsr2d2. Asking her simple questions and encourage her to use short sentences.

I'm a bit lost. Are you saying the dialogue you've written in post #1 did actually happen but that it happened in Chinese? Or are you saying that your part happened in English and her part was in Chinese and then you translated it into English?

I talked to her in English and she tried to speak English too, but she can't say a whole sentence so she used Chinese words and then I translated what she said. So, when she mentioned "workplace" (She said it in English), I thought it's not common in that context.

 

[tedmc]

I think "workplace" is a direct translation from Chinese, which Nina probably did when she spoke. It is natural enough to say that in Chinese but not when translated to English.

 

[Tdol]

How about:

I'm new there so I feel under pressure to work extra-hard.

 

[Tarheel]

How many times did the accountant show her how to do that?

 

[Tdol]

They might be complicated processes that require a few lessons.