Bike— Part 1 Report

Suggestion: Answer the question directly by saying whether you had a bike. Then explain who taught you and whether you learned to ride successfully. Use the past tense for childhood experiences (for example, “my father taught me”) and avoid repeating yourself or using fillers. Make the contrast clear if you still cannot ride.

Example: Yes, I had a bike when I was a child, but I never learned to ride it properly. My father tried to teach my brother and me at the same time. I was a little nervous, so I still can’t ride confidently.

Suggestion: Give a complete answer about bike use in Korea before comparing it with France. Use “bicycles” or “cycling” naturally, and correct the past tense to “I lived.” Explain the comparison with a specific reason or example, and finish your sentence rather than stopping at “but in Korea.”

Example: Yes, cycling is fairly popular in Korea, especially in cities with dedicated bike paths. However, I think it is more common in Strasbourg, where I used to live, because many people commute by bike. In Korea, people often use bicycles for exercise or leisure rather than as their main way to get around.

× when it comes to bike

✓ when it comes to riding a bike

In this expression, bike is a countable singular noun and needs an article. The phrase when it comes to is also followed naturally by a noun phrase or a gerund, so riding a bike is a clear correction.

× I can't really ride a bike when I was younger

✓ I couldn't really ride a bike when I was younger

The sentence refers to the past with when I was younger, so use the past form couldn't rather than the present form can't. To contrast this with the present, you can add and I still can't now.

× I learn from my father with my brother, at the same time.

✓ My brother and I learned to ride from my father at the same time.

The speaker is describing a past experience, so learn should be changed to learned. My brother and I makes the subject clear, and learned to ride clearly states what they learned.

× The bike is quite popular but less popular than France.

✓ Bikes are quite popular, but they are less popular than they are in France.

The original sentence compares a bike with France, which compares unlike things. Compare how popular bikes are in Korea with how popular they are in France.

× When I was in France, I live in Strasbourg.

✓ When I was in France, I lived in Strasbourg.

The phrase when I was in France places the event in the past, so live should be changed to its past-tense form, lived.