[General] When weather is good, we like....

[Silverobama]

The following conversation was between Nina and me. Nina told me she stayed in Australia from time to time.

Sil: Tell me your life in Australia.
Nina: It was good. I love it.
Sil: What did you like to do in your spare time?
Nina: When weather was good, we liked having outdoor barbecues.

Is the italic sentence natural?

 

[GoesStation]

Sil: Tell me your life in Australia.
Nina: It was good. I love it.
Sil: What did you like to do in your spare time?
Nina: When the weather was good, we liked [STRIKE]having[/STRIKE] to have [STRIKE]outdoor[/STRIKE] barbecues.

Is the italic sentence natural?

I'd say "cook-outs". I've underlined problem areas earlier in the dialog.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I might say "having barbecues," but I strongly agree that the underlined parts need correction.

 

[Tdol]

Most barbecues are outdoors- I say it is unnecessary to say it. Let indoors barbecues let us know where they are cooking.

 

[canadalynx]

Most barbecues are outdoors- I say it is unnecessary to say it. Let indoors barbecues let us know where they are cooking.

I'm not a teacher.

Plancha grill?

 

[probus]

I'm not a teacher.

Plancha grill?

Not even close to a barbecue in my lexicon.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm not a teacher.

Plancha grill?

Definitely not. I'm familiar with the cooking method called "a la plancha" in Spanish but it's not used in English (not in BrE, at least).

 

[probus]

To my knowledge plancha is not used in AmE either, but so many Americans understand Spanish plancha wouldn't mystify them.

 

[Silverobama]

I'd say "cook-outs". I've underlined problem areas earlier in the dialog.

As for this one, I am not wasting your time, either, GS.

I don't know where the problem is with "Tell me your life in Australia". Perhaps "Tell me about your life"???

I know it's not always wrong to listen to English songs, but in Monsters "Tell me your problems I'll chase them away" is grammatical to my non-native ears.

..... I loved it!

 

[GoesStation]

I don't know where the problem is with "Tell me your life in Australia". Perhaps "Tell me about your life"???

That's right.

"Tell me your problems/I'll chase them away" is grammatical to my non-native ears.

Yes, that's fine. It means "Relate the story of your problems to me." You can tell someone your problems, troubles, adventures, story, and many other nouns. It doesn't work with "life".

 

[Silverobama]

Edited:

Around 30 minutes ago I posted this question on WR because I was so impatient and eaget to know about the reason. I noticed you first "liked" my post (hostel) and later you replied. However, in that thread, the reason was further discussed. (Why I should say "about your life").

Much appreciated!

 

[canadalynx]

Not a teacher

« around ... minutes ago, I... » is awkward.

For me « Plancha » is similar to barbecue.
Plancha can be an outdoor or indoor cooking but not barbecue. We normally use charcoal and hence, fire for the latter.

Voilà! My two cents.

 

[emsr2d2]

Not a teacher

"Around ... minutes ago, I ..." is awkward. No, it's not awkward. It's absolutely fine.

For me "plancha" is similar to barbecue.
Plancha can be an outdoor or indoor cooking method but it is not a barbecue. We normally use charcoal and, hence, fire for the latter.

Voilà! My two cents.

Note my corrections above. Please don't use << and >> around words. We put words we're putting emphasis on (or quoting) in quotation marks, italics or bold.

In Spain, cooking something "a la plancha" simply means that it's been cooked in a very hot frying pan or griddle over a heat source, rather than being boiled or roasted.

 

[canadalynx]

Not a teacher.

I didn’t choose « ». The keys were automatically converted as I was using my phone. Anyway, sure!
I will not use that sentence structure even if it is not awkward according to emsr2d2.

By the way, thanks for the edit!

 

[Tarheel]

The following conversation was between Nina and me. Nina told me she has been to Australia a few times.

Sil: Tell me about your life in Australia.
Nina: It was good. I loved it.
Sil: What did you like to do in your spare time?
Nina: When the weather was good, we liked having outdoor barbecues.

Is the italic sentence natural?

I don't recommend that you barbecue indoors.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

To my knowledge plancha is not used in AmE either, but so many Americans understand Spanish plancha wouldn't mystify them.

It's a new one on me.

 

[tedmc]

Most barbecues are outdoors- I say it is unnecessary to say it. Let indoors barbecues let us know where they are cooking.

I don't quite follow the underlined part.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I don't quite follow the underlined part.

Warn us about which room the BBQ is in so we can go somewhere else.

(We're riffing on the indoor barbecue concept. It's a safe bet that Silver will never again mention outdoor barbecues!)