I translated some Chinese into English

[Aleaf]

Hi dear friends:
Recently i tried to translate some chinese into english. Could you please help check out whether there are any mistakes in grammer? or please point out the places you feel not so authentic. Thanks in advance. The translation is as the followings:

Some student may feel confused :"why he/she won the prize instead of me? I think my pronunciation is better." Ok here I want to make some explanations.
First, Oral exam really need careful preparation. And it is the main reason why some students lost the contest. Yeah you speak English rather fluently and your pronunciation is outstanding. But when the examiner asked you some questions about Tianjin you said “sorry”. In fact most of you should have learned “living in Tianjin” in Practical English Textbook in class. So sorry was unacceptable. You are really close but no cigar. Please remember Chance favors only the prepared mind. If those who didn’t prepared well in advance won the contest, it is unfair to those study hard. And I think In this contest, Part 1Introduce Yourself and part 2 Act Out all demanded your careful preparation.
Second, you participators should be sure that you understand what the examiner wanted you to do. If you didn’t understand, just say:” pardon or could you please repeat the question?” which was better than you gave the wrong answer.
All in all I really feel sorry for some students because only a “sorry” made the prize passed them by.

aleaf )
_________________
Try to change youself before you try to change others.

[Alan]

Hi,

Here goes - amendments in CAPITAL letters:

Hi dear friends:
Recently I tried to translate some Chinese into English. Could you please help check out whether there are any mistakes in grammAr/GRAMMATICAL MISTAKES? or please point out the places you feel ARE not REALLY authentic. Thanks in advance. The translation is as FOLLOWS:

Some studentS may feel confused :"why DID he/she wIn the prize instead of me? I think my pronunciation is better." Ok here I want to make some explanations.
First, AN/THE Oral exam really needS careful preparation. And it is the main reason why some students lost the contest. YES, you speak English QUITE fluently and your pronunciation is outstanding. But when the examiner asked you some questions about Tianjin you said “sorry”. In fact most of you should have STUDIED “living in Tianjin” in Practical English Textbook in class. So sorry was unacceptable. You are really close but no cigar I don't understand this. Please remember Chance favors only the prepared mind. If those who didn’t PREPARE well in advance won the contest, it is unfair to those WHO studIED hard. And I think in this contest, Part 1 Introduce Yourself and part 2 Act Out- all demanded your careful preparation.
Second, you participators should be sure that you understand what the examiner wanted you to do. If you didn’t understand, just say:” Pardon or could you please repeat the question?” which was better than you IF YOU gave the wrong answer.
All in all I really feel sorry for some students because only a “sorry” MEANT THAT the prize passed them by.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Are you a Persuader?

[Aleaf]

Mr Alen:
you are really close but no cigar means some participatprs have almost won the contest but in tne last part of the contest,because of their bad performance they lost it.
i remember there is a slang'close but no cigar 'in english which seems can describe this case?

for example:

you are running a race you are almost came to the first place but at the last minute someone else beat you. The one passed you may say"close but no cigar."

Thanks for your corrections.

aleaf
_________________
Try to change youself before you try to change others.

[Jamie (K)]

You understand the idiom "close but no cigar" reasonably well, but I don't think you understand its usage.

It comes from circuses or carnivals where there are booths that have various games that people have to pay to try. They can be guessing games, tests of strength, etc., but they're usually rigged so that even skilled people can't win them. In the old days, the prize was often a cigar, and if someone came close to winning but still lost, the carny would exclaim, "Close, but no cigar!"

You need to be careful with this expression, because it's often used sarcastically. Among friends it may be used humorously.

[Yankee]

.
The expression "close, but no cigar" is extremely well known in the US.

The Cambridge Dictionary states that "close, but no cigar" is used primarily in American and Australian English.
.