A little practice in Japanese

[astaroth]

こんにちは
In an effort to practice Japanese, I thought of writing a small composition each week using what I learned from みんなの日本語
I'm pretty much by myself in learning the language, since no classes are available around where I live, so I would really appreciate any help from you guys.
The composition is nothing like the name could imply. Honestly I felt a little like back in elementary school when I was learning Italian and English grammar (Italian is my mother language).

Anyway without further ado, here it is

イタリアからアメリカに来て六年間ニューヨークに住んでいました。NYUの大学生でした。
去年の秋にマサチューセッツに来ました。それから、UMassの研究者です。
イタリア語と英語ができますから、去年日本語を学ぶつもりでした。

As you see it's nothing too long, but even here I have few questions.
The first is about the use of the て-form. As far as I understand the て-form is used when linking between two consequential sentences, so does it make sense to use it when linking between two sentence one of which is a -ている?
The second is about 来る and 行く. I learned they are used referring to the location of the person I'm talking to ... how does this translate in a forum? (To be honest I'd have the same problem with those two verbs both in Italian and in English ... )

ありがとうございます
-Luca

[Sairana]

I'm not good enough to help with your corrections, but I thought you might like a pointer to Lang-8. It's perfect for what you're trying to do.

Don't let that stop you from posting here, too. ^_^

[richvh]

The first is about the use of the て-form. As far as I understand the て-form is used when linking between two consequential sentences, so does it make sense to use it when linking between two sentence one of which is a -ている?

You can link them with ～ていて.

The second is about 来る and 行く. I learned they are used referring to the location of the person I'm talking to ... how does this translate in a forum? (To be honest I'd have the same problem with those two verbs both in Italian and in English ... )

Your understanding is wrong. In fact, in Japanese (unlike English), 行く and 来る are from the point of view of the speaker. Where in English you might say "When will you come over to my house?" "I'll come over tomorrow," in Japanese you would say 「いつうちに来ますか」「明日行きます」instead. As far as forum usage, since you're at the forum when you're writing, 来る is appropriate, I believe.

As far as your composition goes, I see only one thing wrong: 去年日本語を学ぶつもりでした. This means you intended to study Japanese last year, and I don't think that's what you intended to say. Perhaps 去年から日本語を勉強しています (I've been studying Japanese since last year) but I fail to see how that's a consequence of your knowing English and Italian, so perhaps 去年日本語の勉強を決めました。

[astaroth]

I'm not good enough to help with your corrections, but I thought you might like a pointer to Lang-8. It's perfect for what you're trying to do.

Thanks I'll look it up!

Your understanding is wrong. In fact, in Japanese (unlike English), 行く and 来る are from the point of view of the speaker. Where in English you might say "When will you come over to my house?" "I'll come over tomorrow," in Japanese you would say 「いつうちに来ますか」「明日行きます」instead. As far as forum usage, since you're at the forum when you're writing, 来る is appropriate, I believe.

Thanks for pointing me that out. I never get that straight !

As far as your composition goes, I see only one thing wrong: 去年日本語を学ぶつもりでした. This means you intended to study Japanese last year, and I don't think that's what you intended to say. Perhaps 去年から日本語を勉強しています (I've been studying Japanese since last year) but I fail to see how that's a consequence of your knowing English and Italian, so perhaps 去年日本語の勉強を決めました。

I guess there is no way to make a "continuous action" with つもりです
The problem I have, which I think is common to beginners, is that my vocabulary is very, very small.
Thanks for showing me the use of 決める, verb I didn't know.