The English Language

[John McKenna]

While we're at it - doesn't to plan (to arrange in advance) become planning in the present tense.

"Planing" is another skill altogether.

(I only point this out due to the topic, for completeness and because it's there.)

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Well, we had the incorrect addition of a comma in the Dec 17, 2015 6:55 pm post

What additional comma?

[MartinCarpenter]

Guess the final sentence didn't really need one. But please try not to worry too much about English grammar! Its even sillier/harder to understand than the language is
(And often mostly ignored in practice.).

[Michael Farthing]

We're not as bad as German:

There punctuation stays where it is told;
Unkempt about our English prose
An unofficial comma grows.

[IM Jack Rudd]

English grammar is, in general, not all that difficult. Would that the same could be said of English spelling.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Any difference between saying
His Bishop is superior to the White Knight
and
His Bishop is better than the White Knight?

Thanks in advance

[MartinCarpenter]

No

[soheil_hooshdaran]

They gave me a document for my presence at a tournament to show to our school.
It read 'certificate' and my dad thought it indicates an accomplishment.
Same for my membership card of USCF.
Ha!ha!

[John McKenna]

Mere mementos?

[soheil_hooshdaran]

No. Not keepsakes.
I think they just serve as tokens.
Not "certificate"s!

[soheil_hooshdaran]

What do I do?
I attended a free lecture here in USA, and I understood very little. I suppose the problem is mostly do to my bad listening ability.
There are free lectures every Tuesday nights

[soheil_hooshdaran]

What does 'persistent' mean in:
Alcohol consumption is a consistent risk factor for breast cancer
?

[Barry Sandercock]

Is the question about ' persistent' or 'consistent' ?

[IM Jack Rudd]

It means that studies keep on showing that the more alcohol you drink, the more likely you are to develop breast cancer. (This is in addition to whatever else the studies might be showing.)

[John McKenna]

What does 'persistent' mean in:
Alcohol consumption is a consistent risk factor for breast cancer
?

Persistent alcohol consumption by women is consistent with the risk of developing breast cancer.

What do I do?
I attended a free lecture here in USA, and I understood very little. I suppose the problem is mostly do to my bad listening ability.
There are free lectures every Tuesday nights

Your listening ability may not be as bad as you think and the problem may be more to do with the way Americans speak. You need to watch American movies and TV programs with English subtitles - then you will find that a lot of the words, phrases and sentences being spoken are ones that you already know. It is the way in which they are being pronounced that is preventing you from recognising a lot of them. (Note that in the US and UK there are also many regional accents that make listening comprehension difficult. So, find out if a local accent or dialect of American English is being used and learn it.)