everybodyknows

The above post pretty much sums up the differences between US and British English. In practice, there are not really any communication difficulties between British and American speakers of English, except for speakers with very strong accents and regional dialects (e.g. Scottish, Geordie), but people can usually moderate their accents to be understood. As a non-native speaker there are only a few vocabulary differences that can cause potential problems: Rubber in British English means an eraser as found on a pencil. In US English it means a condom. Bum in US English means a hobo. In British English it means what you sit on. Fanny in US English means what you sit on. In British English it means, er... something only females have. Fag in British English means cigarette. In US English it's a term of abuse. There are probably others if anyone else wants to chip in.

There are times when it's more effective just to use the students' native language (if teaching a monolingual class), for example with difficult grammar points or abstract concepts that are hard to get across. However, the direct method is very efficient at getting students into thinking in the target language and creating a space where e.g. English only is used. Having been taught at school using the traditional bilingual approach and experiencing the direct method as an absolute beginner as part of a TEFL course, I can say that for me personally the direct method is not only more effective but also much more enjoyable. This obviously depends on how good your teacher is too

Like linguetronix said in general I think of para=in order to and por=by. When translating English for it's usually "para" with some confusing exceptions Here's my go: Voy al supermercado para comprar una afeitadora Voy a mi casa por bus

Duolingo is great. It's free, it uses algorithms that have been proved to aid memory and also is helping to translate the Internet too! Be sure to use it every day and add some other learning methods if you want to get the most from it

Yes, this is a problem with Duolingo and other online language learning methods. Of course, the best way to learn a language will always be to have face to face contact with another human being who speaks the language fluently. I have found Duolingo has quite a good "Report Issue" functionality and they have accepted some of my suggestions when my translation has been marked as wrong. Having said all that, the most frustrating lesson on Duolingo (Spanish) was imperfect subjunctive where I got marked as wrong for missing out a comma!

I have to disagree. If this were the case then people brought up in children of immigrants to other countries would have noticeable accents even if they are brought up speaking the language from birth. Surely the USA and other multi-ethnic countries prove this not to be the case? There are people descended from just about every nationality in the world living in the states with no discernible accent whatsoever, if there were physical differences in their mouths this would be noticeable in the way they spoke English.

I've dipped my toe into lots of different languages over the years, being fascinated with their structure and the different ways humans find to communicate - this is probably why I never get fluent in any one particular language as I spread myself too thinly. It's strange how some seem to make sense and others never quite sit right in my brain. Favourites so far are: Hungarian, Russian and Swahili. To answer your question some languages I'd like to learn more about but haven't yet would be: Tibetan - something about the alphabet intrigues me Mongolian Vietnamese - so many vowel sounds

I agree completely with the comments about immersing yourself in the language - radio, television, movies and books are a great way to give you the motivation to look up that word you don't recognise yet. Another cool way I've found is using Flash Card sites on the Internet like Quizlet which have lists of e.g. the top 1000 Spanish words and use a tried and trusted memorising method to increase your vocabulary.

Baburra is correct - I was simply referring to the poor grammar in the description. "Should" is a modal verb and doesn't form questions with "does/do" but through inverting the subject/verb order. So it should read: [tt]How should language X be taught?[/tt] I'm not normally so pedantic but this is a language learning forum after all :wacky:

Hello all, Maybe this is the wrong place to post this, if so I apologise. However, I find it slightly ironic that on a forum dedicated to language learning this sub-forum's description reads: [tt]How does language X should be taught? What are the best methods to teach language X? [/tt] :confused:

Ha ha! I do this - even when I'm staying in regions of the UK I find myself mimicking the local accent. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing though as it can actually help you to pick up the cadences and stresses of the language more quickly.

I love the portuguese word "saudade" which refers to a feeling of nostalgia or melancholy but does not have a real direct translation in English. In Romanian however there is an equivalent word which is "dor" which refers to feelings of longing for a dear person or place which you've once known but they are no longer with you.

An interesting and amusing case of false friends in Spanish is the case of the word "constipado" which means to have a slight flu or cold and having a blocked nose and not what constipated means in English, well worth knowing haha!

The two spanish speaking films I can recommend that are worth watching apart from the ones mentioned above which are all good suggestions are: Y tu mama tambien, you've got a link to the trailer here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245574/ and Abre los ojos which is the version of the "gringo" Vanilla Sky link here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0125659/ and it still features the amazing Penelope Cruz Hope you'll enjoy them.

I've got one that is suitable for the upcoming Winter holidays: One snowman says to the other: "Can you smell carrots?" :santa: