Today I went to the dentist again. The dentist x-rayed a suspicious tooth and found a minor cavity. He offered to do the procedure without anesthesia. I have no insurance and would have to pay for it out-of-pocket, so it was a decision I had to make. But it was also very cheap — 700 rubles at most (±8$). So it wasn't really about the money. But I was curious - would I feel the pain? Could I tolerate it? I could stop the procedure at any time, we'd only waste a few minutes at most, so I decided to agree to try it without anesthesia.
I barely felt anything at first, just a little pressure. But then it became painful. Tolerable, but painful. Then it got worse. Although the pain would persist only in the moments when the dentist was drilling (or whatever you call what he was doing). Still, after a few moments, I started to think I had reached my limit and thought about giving the signal to stop the procedure. And then it was over. The pain was gone, like it had never existed.
I thought about that for some time. The pain was so intense in the present, almost unbearable. But then it became the past; it became irrelevant. And the same can be said about many other issues in life: they seem to be the most important thing in the world while they're happening, but when you think about them years later, those issues seem so small, so insignificant that you can only laugh at yourself, thinking about the time you wasted worrying about them.
That thought can be applied to life as a whole: it will eventually end, and the pain will be gone.
You're at a point in your English where your learning how to manage complex sentences and I have to say you're doing a great job. Bravo!
Thanks @CocoPop ! I thought I was doing great when I was getting about 3 corrections per post. Now I'm not sure 😅
You're still doing great. If you look at the percentage of blue compared to white in your post, it's incredibly small. That means that the white is native-quality English you can be very proud of. Even most native English speakers don't come away with any less blue than you 😉 English is a bitch, but you're killing it 👍🏻🤩
https://record.reverb.chat/s/TeFfO35it24TqDHvR6E3
Is this your recording? I love the voice!
But it's so hard to listen to my own story. I can't help but cringe at it. I felt like writing something "profound" but it came out like, "I'm 14 and this is deep." And I can't even use the excuse that I was under the influence of drugs 😅
Thank you!))) If you ever want me to record anything, just let me know. The story is fine. You're overthinking it because it's your story, but with the corrections in place, it sounds very natural and interesting!
Just so you know, the way I check posts is that I read them aloud and if anything sounds off, I correct it or rephrase it.
It reminded me of a story I read once in Russian. It might be interesting for you to translate it. I've already translated it and I could post my translation after yours so we can compare them. Here's the story:
Я стомато́лог. Не самый умелый, но самый продаю́щийся. Я просчитываю стоимость работ, учитывая только самые дорогие материалы, берусь за самые дорогосто́ящие работы, даже если никогда их не делала, лечу безнадёжные зубы, которые всё равно придётся удалять. Даже вернуть одино́чному недово́льному клиенту его деньги для меня вы́годнее, чем не взять их изнача́льно. Меня ненавидят коллеги (ещё бы — они же и разгреба́ют мои косяки́, если что). Начальство тоже недовольно по той же причине — но так как я приношу половину всей вы́ручки, молчат. Да, мне стыдно. Я мать-одиночка, у меня маленький сыни́шка, которому хочется быть лучшей мамой, образцо́м для подража́ния. Хочется быть не только "продавашкой", но и профессионалом. Меня пугают разборки с очередными недовольными, я вздра́гиваю от звонко́в с работы. Вот только никаким честным, челове́чным путём мне не заработать ны́нешних 250-300 тысяч в месяц.
I’m a dentist. Not the most skilled, but the one who sells out the most. I make an estimate using the most expensive materials. I take on the most expensive jobs, even if I haven’t done them before. I treat hopeless teeth, even if they’ll have to be removed later. Even making one refund to an unsatisfied client would be more profitable than not taking the money in the first place. My colleagues hate me (for the reason — they’re the ones cleaning up my mess). Management is also unhappy for the same reason — but because I bring them half of their profits, they don't say anything about it. I’m ashamed, yes. I’m a single mother. I have a young boy. I want to be the best mom and a role model for him. I want to be not only a sellout but a professional as well. I’m afraid of another argument with clients. I shake when I receive a phone call from work. But there’s no way I’ll earn my current 250-300 thousand per month in an honest and humane way.
I find translations to be harder than making something up, and it's not something I practiced.
Well, you didn't do a bad job at all! Just a few little kinks here and there that didn't quite sound native, but all in all, more than I was expecting! If you post this formally, I'll make corrections. In the meantime, here's my original translation I did over five years ago:
I’m a dentist - not the most skilled, but I definitely bring in the most money at the clinic. When I quote jobs, I always factor in the most expensive materials and take on the most lucrative jobs - even if it’s a procedure I’ve never done before. I treat teeth that are beyond saving and need to be pulled anyway. In fact, refunding a dissatisfied customer their money makes more financial sense to me than not taking it in the first place. My coworkers can’t stand me (and who can blame them? They’re the one’s who have to clean up any messes I make.). Management isn’t crazy about me either for all the same reasons. But since I bring in half of all the revenue, they don’t say anything.
No, I’m not proud of myself. I’m a single mom to a little boy who I want to be a better mom to; a role model. I want to be a top-seller, but also professional. I shudder at the thought of my next showdown with a disgruntled customer and I jump out of my skin every time I get a call from work. The thing is that there’s really no decent, humane way for me to make the $250,000 to $300,000 a month I’m raking in now.
Thanks! I need to figure out what I can and can't say as a single sentence. In this translation I split everything into separate sentences. Your variant is more eloquent, obviously.
Hmm. I didn't put much effort into my translation. It feels like a waste of anyone's time to work on improving it. I don't think I'll post it; I'd rather post something new when I get inspiration. And I'll take notes from your translation.
Also, is this story originally Russian? $250,000 a month is an insane amount of money. I thought they were talking about rubles, but I left it vague. 250,000₽ a month is a huge amount, but salaries like that do exist.
The original story is from a Russian website called JustKillMe where people complain about their lives, etc. Obviously, they were talking about rubles, but I instinctively used dollars. I'm more about the language than the accuracy of the currency.