Since I work as a language assessor for a number of call centers, I thought I'd give some tips to people who might be interested. I'm normally not the type of person who dispenses unsolicited advice, but I thought these tips might be helpful to at least a few people:
1) 'Used to' and 'usually' do not mean the same thing. When I ask people about their hobbies, many people tell me, "I used to play basketball." To clarify, I ask them, "So you played basketball before and you don't play it anymore?" And they usually (not used to!) reply, "No ma'am, I still do...every day." 'Used to' is used when talking about past habits. 'I played basketball' could mean you played it just once or repeatedly while 'I used to play basketball' means it was a habit. For some verbs (stative verbs, usually), 'used to' can be used to talk about something that was true in the past even if that thing was not a habit, e.g. I used to live in Marikina, I used to have a dog...
2) 'Last August' does not mean August 2010 (even if August 2010 has come and gone). Last August means August 2009--August of last year. If you mean August 2010, you should say 'this August'. And try not to say 'last 2008' or 'last January 5, 2010'. Skip the word 'last' unless you are talking about last year.
3) 'Typical' does not mean 'ideal'. It means 'normal' or usual. It is not a translation of 'ang tipo kong...' Do not answer the question, "Tell me about a typical day of yours." by saying "A typical day for me is a bright and sunny day..."
