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Hi. I'm still kind of a newbie here, but I wanted to do an introduction on behalf of another new member, who happens to be my wife. She's been lurking on here for a long time, and often has very intelligent opinions on things that she reads. She's especially fond of threads about Harry Potter, as those books and the Ender's Game series are her all time favorites. For a long time I've been trying to convince her to start writing some of her thoughts down, but she's always been reluctant.
The problem is that English is her second language (actually, her third, since she learned Italian before English.) She was born and raised in Tirana, Albania. She moved to America when she was 19 to go to school. She's now 26. She speaks perfect English, with almost no accent, and you might not even know she was foreign if she didn't tell you. But she hasn't had much practice writing in English, and feels a little shy interacting in this medium. She isn't entirely illiterate, and with practice I'm sure she will become quite good. But she may make spelling and grammar errors for a little while, and her thoughts may translate to the page imperfectly. I hope you'll be patient.
The word "Zemra" is an Albanian term of endearment. Not necessarily romantic-- it's much like "dear", in that it's often used by family and close friends. We have no trouble thinking of jatraqueros as friends, so she thought it would be an appropriate screen name.
Zemra registered and made her first four posts this morning, and she really enjoyed it. I'm hoping that I can convince her to keep it up until her writing skills match her speaking skills. I know that you'll dig her once you get to know her--she really has an uncanny knack for making friends. I'll have to tell you some stories about her people skills sometime. They're amazing. Meanwhile, thanks for your support, and enjoy what I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) is Hatrack's first Albanian member. Cheers. Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
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Welcome, Zemra! Don't worry about spelling and grammer too much, language skills vary widely on the forum. Use a spell checker program for long posts, if you want, there are plenty out there. The grammer checker programs haven't been perfected, though, IMO (stands for In My Opinion.) Have fun posting! Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Welcome. Hopefully you will enjoy your stay. And don't worry, before long you'll be better at writing English than those of us who were brought up with it. And no, I'm not kidding!
Anyway, glad to meet you, and hope you enjoy it here.
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Just want to add my own welcome to Zemra. Stay. Have fun. And don't mind Trogdor or the LizardMan... they are here to help... themselves.
Posts: 822 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Welcome, friend! In my opinion, this is a great place to learn how to write more easily in a foreign language. The Grammar Nazis are here to help, I swear!
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Welcome! And there is one honorary jatraquera who's Albanian. Artemida. Lissa introduced her and several of us talk to her though she doesn't really read or post. Anyway, any countrywoman of Artemida's is a friend of mine. Very glad to have you here, Zemra.
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Welcome Zemra! They haven't run me off yet, so I am sure you will be welcomed warmly and willingly in a most wonderful way.
Posts: 240 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Scott R. grazie per vostro dare il benvenuto. Sono spiacente deluderli ma io non ha parlato italiano per circa 10 anni così ora posso capire molto bene il pozzo ma ho perso la capacità di parlare.Lascilo sapere per favore se ho fatto qualunque errori. Proverò ad accomodarlo
Thank you to you all for your welcome.
Posts: 69 | Registered: Sep 2003
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