Anna said:
However, I wanted to point out that adverbs and adjectives are very useful to us non-native English speakers. Learning them is easier than learning nouns and verbs, because when you know i.e. the word 'look', it's difficult memorizing more words that mean practically the same thing, as 'stare', 'gaze', 'glance' etc.. My vocabulary has widened since I started reading fics, but I still find myself repeating the same word several times when writing. And surely I can't search the vocabulary for synonyms/specific verbs or nouns whenever I need one...
As a veteran language teacher, I'm going to disagree with you here, Anna. Words are words. There is nothing inherently easier about learning a verb rather than an adverb or a noun rather than an adjective. In fact, from a structural point of view, verbs are the most important words in a sentence, and nouns are the second most important. Adjectives and adverbs are window dressing. Like spices, they should be used with care.
As for seaching the dictionary when you are writing, well, all I can say is 'why not?' It's what we native speakers do when seeking the perfect word.
Schoolmarm
