It's Okay to Picnic in the Evening

Yesterday I was attending a language course. At one point we were asked to rewrite a poorly written letter in groups. What could go wrong? The communication.

The letter contained a sentence “We went to picnic.” We needed to make it polished. We had a time limit, so I quickly suggested rewriting it as “We went on an evening picnic with our company.”

The group was startled by my evening picnic suggestion. How could you hang out in the evening? Should be impossible. You could watch a movie, walk a dog, whatever. No way you picnic after 18:00! For whatever unknown reason.

Having a picnic in the evening might be unusual, although it depends on the type of picnic. We might have argued about this forever. But you don’t need to spend time arguing. The proposed sentence was correct from the grammatical point of view.

This is not the first time I’ve seen such behavior in people. People are rigid and aren’t used to leaving the unnecessary aspects out.

We needed to deliver the exercise solution faster. The less time we spend on it, the more opportunities we have for the feedback and learning from the teacher.

Let’s treasure the precious lesson time. It’s a unique opportunity to ask the native speaker. Generative AI at home won’t give you a correct answer. Dictionaries also don’t provide the whole picture. Don’t spend time on minor discrepancies while exercising.

Don’t overthink. Deliver faster. Learn more.

Life is short.

The time we get for a lesson is even shorter.