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RomanAnthonysMama

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  • Currently studying
    Basque
  • Native tongue
    English
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    English

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  1. Greetings laurabean! I was actually just posting in another forum that I would love to find a snail mail pen pal to write to in Spanish, because I have forgotten so many of my Spanish language skills! English is my first language as well. I was almost fluent a few years back, but then I fell off and lost most of my fluency! I have to get a PO Box (I need to get one soon anyways), so once I get one, I would be interested! I could do it by email for now, but I know that's not as fun. I love getting snail mail. But I will favorite this for when I get the PO Box!
  2. I think downloading applications that offer a pronunciation option are the best ways to learn pronunciation. My personal favorite is Duolingo, because they include so many various levels and explanations, and they also have a pronunciation button that is a little speaker you can press to hear a voice pronounce the word. I learned Spanish somewhat on my own by using the app, and if I hadn't of used the pronunciation option, then I would not have been able to pronounce anything correctly! I think they are great because they save a lot of embarrassment and confusion! Other than that, I think the best way to learn pronunciation is by surrounding yourself with natives of that language.
  3. Is it true that by starting a sentence with, "est-ce que", you can follow it by an informal or formal question? I think it's pretty neat that you can use it so universally no matter who you are addressing, or what topic it is (within reason of course). So I would be able to use, "est-ce que" no matter what I was about to ask, no matter what context it is in? Are there any exceptions to the rule that I should know so that I don't end up using it in an incorrect or inappropriate way? Thank you!
  4. Do you have a favorite Quebecois Idiom in French? I live in New Hampshire which is not too far from Canada, so when I was researching French Idioms, these phrases deriving from Quebec definitely caught my eye. I guess even a lot of residence of France do not completely understand them! I think my favorite would have to be, "Pantoute!" In English it means, "Not at all!" I like it because it's such a simple one-word phrase for a three-word sentence. Talk about convenient! Plus I love that it is so laid back in nature, like a lot of Quebecois idioms are. What are your favorite Quebecois French Idioms?
  5. I am a bit confused by the concept of, 'Simple Present' when it comes to French grammar. It confuses me, because I do not understand how you would use the same tense in both current events and events in the near-future. I've heard that you can use the 'simple present tense' in English, but it sounds old-fashioned...I couldn't find any examples, though. So that means when I am describing an event in the near future and present, I use the simple present tense? What about describing events that are far into the future? I am just having a bit of trouble understanding. Thank you in advanced.
  6. That's so funny, I used to use the word "um" so much! My cousins used to always make fun of me for it, and the more they focused on it, the harder it was to stop! I would say that one of my most used English words is, "Seriously?" I'm pretty sarcastic, so if someone does something I find the least bit amusing, that's usually my response!
  7. The Chinese language is not very useful in my life, because the demographics of where I am currently staying is not prominently Chinese. Most people here are either from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Turkey, or France, so if I learned the Chinese language, I probably would not get to utilize the language in everyday living, unless it was online.
  8. Another benefit of being bilingual, is music! I love the beat involved in so many different music genre from country to country, but it would be cool to know what their lyrics are saying as well. Sometimes I wonder if the song I'm listening to is really saying something I don't agree with! If I were bilingual, I wouldn't have to worry about that!
  9. When it comes to my native language, (English), I do not care how people think I talk. I guess it's due to a confidence thing since it's the language you've been speaking all of your life, you know? But when it comes to learning new languages, I'm definitely shy about how I may sound, or what I may pronounce wrong since I'm not as used to the language.
  10. I remember when I was trying to learn French, I would seek out pen pal sites and find French pen pals that were looking to correspond via snail mail. Writing back and forth really helped improve my French, and if they were trying to learn to speak English, then it would help improve their English as well. It was a great way to help each other out. Just thought I would suggest it to anyone who was looking for fun ways to learn a new language! (Of course it is important to be safe, though.)
  11. I taught myself Spanish by buying a workbook at the local book store. It really helped me. It came with a CD for my PC at the time as well, but I learned to speak it almost fluently, without even using the CD. I also would practice writing letters back and forth to myself in order to improve my language skills.
  12. My favorite Spanish word is more like a name versus a word, but it's Margarita, because it's my name in Spanish, as well as my mother-in-law's name in Spanish, so I think that's kind of cool! My name is Meaghan, and that's just another version of Margaret, so in Spanish, it's a lot less confusing...We both have the same name!
  13. I've lost track of some of my Spanish-speaking skills, but it definitely used to help me in everyday life. It helps some now, but mainly only with basic things, such as reading signs or instructions that may be in Spanish as opposed to English in town. It used to help me communicate with people at work, since I lived in Boston and most people were primarily from the Dominican Republic at the branch I was working at.
  14. Do any of you feel as though workbooks help improve your Spanish language skills? I went out and bought myself a workbook from Barnes N' Noble, and I have to admit, it did teach me A LOT, especially the basics. I even became semi-fluent towards the end of the book. It was kind of expensive, but I think it was worth it. This day in age though, with so much technology, I wonder...Does anyone use workbooks anymore to learn a new language?
  15. If you live in an area where there are book stores like Barnes N' Nobles, if you go to their learning sections, they have some awesome workbooks on how to learn Spanish. I bought one of them a few years ago, and though it was a bit expensive, I was almost fluent in the language by the end of the textbook. It's great at not only teaching you the basics, but coaching you until you are fluent.
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