I hope Warren will give me a second change (as Jesús Says: life always gives us second chances) and let me explain further as below:

*********************

Your teacher used the word “don’t” which is a present simple form of the verb “do” to indicate that it is a habit for English users to say “listen to”, they do not say “listen at”.

If the teacher uses “you can’t” which can mean “you must not”, her tone will be too bossy which is not very nice.

**********************

I hope you will have time to have a look at the en.wikipedia.org’s page about “Present Tense”.

It said:

“The present simple or simple present is used in several ways:
• to describe both habits and or routines (habitual aspect) (I eat breakfast every morning at 6:30; I go to work every day), and general facts or the truth (The earth revolves around the sun);
• to present thoughts, feelings, and other unchanging states (stative aspect) (I think so; I like it; It is hot; The sun always shines in the desert);
• to indicate scheduled events in the near future (so that the simple “present” verb form actually indicates future tense) (I take the train tomorrow at 6:00);
• to indicate events at any time in the future in a dependent clause (I’ll retire when I reach age 65);
• to provide narratives such as instructional narratives (Now I mix the ingredients; now I put the pan in the oven);
• to narrate past events (the historical present) for stylistic effect.

Best wishes,

Tania

Warren told us in his article that “There’s a popular piece of advice that says “fake it (pretend) ‘till (until) you make it (succeed)”.”

I am faking to be able to answer your grammar questions until I make it one day – hopefully.

************************

When your teacher says, ‘you don’t say “listen at”’, she was asking you not to say “listen at”, say “listen to”.

If your teacher says, ‘you can’t say “listen at”’, there is a suggestion that you say “listen at” incorrectly, for example, because the English words are too difficult for a Chinese to say.

Sometime we have to guess the meaning of the sentence from the speaker’s tone.

*********************

If your teacher says “you can’t write bestseller”. It can have two meanings:

1. You must not write bestseller, for example, it may bring you rich and famous which you dislike.
2. No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to write a book which is good enough to become a bestseller.

*****************************

In the sentence “You can’t write bestseller”, “can” is a present tense form of the auxiliary verb “can”. It suggests that you have not started doing the writing yet, no book has been published.

In the sentence “You didn’t write bestseller”, ” didn’t” is a past tense form of the verb “don’t”. It suggests that you had done the writing, and published the book, but the book was not a bestseller.

***************************
If you have time, look up ”thefreedictionary.com” for the word “Can” and “Do”, it has very good explanations.
“englishgrammarsecrets.com” also has very good learning material for the verb “can”

***************************
If Warren allows, I am listing part of thefreedictionary.com’s “Can” here:

can 1
aux.v. Past tense could
1.
a. Used to indicate physical or mental ability: I can carry both suitcases. Can you remember the war?
b. Used to indicate possession of a specified power, right, or privilege: The President can veto congressional bills.
c. Used to indicate possession of a specified capability or skill: I can tune the harpsichord as well as play it.
2.
a. Used to indicate possibility or probability: I wonder if my long lost neighbor can still be alive. Such things can and do happen.
b. Used to indicate that which is permitted, as by conscience or feelings: One can hardly blame you for being upset.
c. Used to indicate probability or possibility under the specified circumstances: They can hardly have intended to do that.
3. Usage Problem Used to request or grant permission: Can I be excused?

*********************************************

I just hope that I have not confused you.

**********************************

Thank you for helping me finding answers to some of my future questions.

Betty

My question is why would teacher say “don’t say” instead of saying” can’t say “?

2.”you didn’t write bestseller, cause you despised emotions of people”.
my initial reaction to this sentence “you didn’t write something” is something were not done and finished,
back to the original text it indicates ”you had written a book, and yet this book was not in popularity,
was not too good enough to impress people to become a bestseller.. “
you know when I am going to express the original text’s point of view, I always want to say ”you can’t write bestseller ”,
I know this is wrong. Here is my doubts, now that you didn’t write it, how it become a bestseller?
I’m convinced there is must be something wrong in my thinking and mind..
I’ve been trapped in this “don’t and can’t ” question for so long, can’t figure out what went wrong…
what’s subtle distinction between “you don’t write bestseller”?? and “you can’t write bestseller”??

Would you please to help me out, my adorable teacher? or if somebody else would like to help me with this intangible trick..
I’m very open to any of your answer..

That will be all this time, and I’m sure I would get the hang of it when I’m committed to do something special.

Betty
(I am not a well-trained disciple, and I have constantly been hit by pain – unfortunately – but I have always told myself that “don’t let one bad thing lead to another bad thing”, and I just “deal with it” step by step and then at the end I sorted out the problems – luckily – and the pain has gone.)

in this word I’m like U the way what i feel, from time 2 time i usually love my life, but when I’m facing a hectic week I set with myself what I’m doing in my life
my life was so dump, so with a lot of concentrate I figured out I say 2 myself LIFE IS EASY 2 live with GO OUT see people share laugh with forget ur problem
SO I have to be HAPPY to get rod of all my stress
When I need to feel HAPPY I LOOK TO YELLOW SMILE I adore this pic it’s make HAPPY & optimistic

MY advice is LOOK TO YELLOW SMILE WHEN U STRESS & FROWN

Thank you for taking the time to check my comments, I like the way you write, and I think that I learn every time I read one of yours.
Regarding your English teaching experience I think that life always gives us second chances and if you can, you should think about teaching English in your country. There’s a proverb here in my country, that says that the best way to learn something is by teaching it…

Best Regards from Colombia,

Jesús P.

In the article it says:

“The untrained layman, when touched by painful bodily feelings, grieves and laments and is distraught. But the well-trained disciple, when touched by painful bodily feelings, will not weep, nor grieve, nor lament; nor will he be distraught. The layman, when touched by painful bodily feelings, weeps. He experiences two kinds of feelings: a bodily one and a mental one.

“It is as if a man is hit by one arrow, and then by a second arrow; he feels the pain of two arrows. So it is with the untrained layman; when touched by a painful bodily feeling, he experiences two kinds of feeling, a bodily one and a mental one. But the well-trained disciple, when touched by a painful bodily feeling, weeps not. He feels only one kind of feeling: a bodily one, not a mental one. It is as if a man is hit by one arrow, but not by a second arrow; he feels the pain of one arrow only. So it is with the well-trained disciple; when touched by a painful bodily feeling, he feels but one feeling, bodily pain only.”

I am not a well-trained disciple, and I have constantly been hit by pain – unfortunately – but I have always told myself that “don’t let one bad thing lead to another bad thing”, and I just “deal with it” step by step and then at the end I sorted out the problems – luckily – and the pain has gone.

Recently one of my pains was to hear my father telling me how unhappy he was because of all the illness that he had to bear with. I always stayed with him and told him some stories about how unfortunate some people in this world died involuntarily, like, in tragedies. He always started asking me questions about those tragedies and he forgot about all his own illnesses. Soon after, he told me that he was tired and needed to go to sleep. That’s the end of his pain and my pain, for the afternoon anyway.

Thanks again, Warren, your articles are always worthy of reading again and again until one fully understand the reason behind the articles.

Betty