"Although he doesn't like to talk, he likes to smile."

Translation: 虽然他不喜欢说话，但是喜欢笑。

[kuyaC]

Must I say 但是?

[Anon341685]

Yes. That's the rule.

[PeaceJoyPancakes]

When is it appropriate to use "笑", and when "微笑"?

[roman2095]

I don't really know but my dictionary says

笑 = laugh, smile

微笑 = smile (and translates literally to "small laugh" so that makes sense)

So I guess it would be safe to use the first one to mean "laugh" and the second one to mean "smile" but I don't know what other more subtle distinctions in meaning are possible.

[PeaceJoyPancakes]

Yes, I think that's the basic distinction, but that (a) there's less of a clear line between them in Chinese, and (b) there are euphony effects (and nuances, as you say) to consider that native speakers will naturally have more of a feel for.

As far as I recall, a user called Mr.rM and I had a substantial discussion on this page, but all of his posts seem to have been deleted from Duolingo, and unfortunately that means several useful discussions we had in the Chinese forums are gone as well.

[freymuth]

Is it wrong to use the pronoun 他 in the second clause?

[Dr_Jerry]

Apparently Duo thinks so because I got marked wrong for using it there. IRL there's not a thing wrong with it and in fact it makes the sentence less ambiguous.

So far in this particular lesson I have gotten six different questions wrong that Duo should have accepted. So glad I'm not paying money for this course.

[freymuth]

Yeah, I'm still always surprised how soon this course graduated from beta...

[Yammy4488]

2 months later, same issue

[CNep16]

It's not wrong, but it's also not very colloquial

[Jon769874]

I typed it in chinese and even it's the same words it's failed.

[PeaceJoyPancakes]

Because you put a space after the comma, no doubt. Chinese doesn't use spaces, and Duolingo doesn't seem to allow them.

[Jon769874]

thanks, that really make it disappointing.