LauraM

Yes, indeed. I first learned about the culture of the deaf when I was in college. I had a close friend -- a hearing person -- who knew sign language fluently and who had grown up with deaf family members and friends. She felt more comfortable within the deaf culture. As she was not totally happy in our college, she transferred to Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, which is devoted to the education of the deaf and the hearing impaired. I heard from her from time to time; she was much happier there and was studying to become a teacher in deaf schools. So yes, it is very much, a separate culture and society. To learn sign language and to become fluent in it would be much like learning a spoken language and immersing yourself in the culture and customs of the native land where it is spoken.

Yes, indeed. The power of books! Henry David Thoreau is also among my favorites, ever since I was a teenager. Here's another one from him that I like: "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."

Sounds like a fun game! Here's my contribution. sueño Definition: Spanish: dream Sueño can also mean "sleepy" when used with the verb "tener" which translates as "to have" or "to be," depending on the context. So "tener sueño" translates as "to be sleepy." "Tengo sueño." = I am sleepy.

Years ago, I was fluent in Spanish -- reading, writing and speaking. This was after years of studying both in high school as well as in college where I also took several Spanish literature courses. Although I never spent time in a Spanish speaking country, I immersed myself with television, radio and other media, and had some friends who were native speakers. But, as I noted, that was years ago. I feel quite rusty with Spanish and I'm curious to know what I can do to regain my lost fluency. Should I start from scratch? Or are there ways to reconnect with the old memory of knowing the vocabulary and the grammar? Has anyone else had a similar experience with any language(s)? If so what have you done to relearn the language? Do you have any tips and pointers?

Even though we don't know the exact number it is still fascinating to think about this. Whether it's approximately 4,000 languages or 6,000+ languages, either way those are huge numbers. What's also interesting is the wide range of the numbers of speakers. While the major languages have hundreds of millions of speakers, just think of the languages that are on the verge of extinction as there are only a handful of speakers left, and they are dying off with no new generation to replace them. I know language extinction has been discussed elsewhere on the forum... http://linguaholic.com/general-discussion/language-extinction/ ...but for me it also comes to mind in this context.

Several years ago I had a friend who was earning her master's degree in bilingual education -- Spanish-English -- and she had a circle friends who were native speakers from South America -- mainly Colombia -- whom she had met in school. I used to hang out with all of them frequently and we spoke almost exclusively Spanish. It was a great experience and helped me with my language skills.

Google Translate has shortcomings as others have described on this thread. But at the same time, I think it is helpful in some ways. I mainly use it when reading news stories or in doing preliminary research where getting the gist of what's being said is what's most important. Google Translate fails in capturing the subtle nuances of vocabulary and so sometimes the results can be a bit strange, possibly even goofy, and certainly way off the mark at times. So we just have to use it with caution and be mindful of the limitations.

English is my native language and I grew up in the U.S. My parents encouraged me to learn languages, especially my father who had learned French in school. When we took family trips to Quebec, Canada when I was very young, I really got a kick out of seeing my father converse with the French Canadians and I aspired to do the same. But rather than French, I had a particular interest in Spanish mainly from being surrounded by it to some extent growing up and seeing that it was a language widely spoken in many countries. I had access to Spanish language TV and radio and so it was easier to immerse myself once I did start studying in high school. Later, in college, I became interested in German, partly from being a longtime fan of German opera, as well as from hanging out with friends who were learning the language or were native speakers.

I agree. Google Translator is best for when you want the gist of something or a general comprehension of some text. I mainly use it when I want to read news articles in a different language, or occasionally for background research. It falls short in capturing the nuances of emotion and the subtle differences in phrases and word choices in relationships between people. I'll be curious to see to what extent Google Translator will improve as time goes on. But I don't think it will ever be able to replace a human translator who can take into account the full cultural and social context when translating text.

Yes, homophones are fascinating, but can be frustrating when learning the language. Here are a few I thought of. peace = the absence of war piece = a part or portion of something larger fisher = someone who fishes, or catches fish fissure = a long, narrow opening carrot = a vegetable carat = a unit for weighing precious stones and gems wry = dry humor, sarcastic, mocking, ironic rye = a grain

Yes, I enjoy music in general, and I have found it quite helpful when learning languages. When I was more immersed in Spanish I listened to some classical music in the language, particularly some of the vocal works of Manuel de Falla. "Siete canciones populares españolas" -- "Seven Spanish Folksongs" -- was a favorite of mine. With German, it was German opera; Wagner, Mozart, Handel mainly. Sometimes I would follow along with the libretto and other times I would just listen. I also listened to some contemporary music in both of these languages.

I find Google Translate to be a useful tool to use when researching and I encounter search results in Google in a foreign language. Typically, I'm just reading a news story or an essay -- or possibly something in social media -- and so what's important is to get the gist of what has been said. I can see the awkward phrasings here and there but as long as I have a general idea, it's adequate. I think it's great that we have such a tool, as imperfect as it may be. It reminds me of the original "Star Trek" series and the "universal translator" that the crew of the Enterprise had. Growing up and watching those reruns on TV I thought to myself it would be really cool if we had such a thing. Google Translate -- although it is in written format -- kind of reminds me of the "universal translator" and so when I really think about it, I do find it to be rather amazing. As time goes on I'm sure it will get better and better.

I had some really good hardcover dictionaries over the years; Spanish-English, German-English as well as some unabridged English language dictionaries. I kept them on my bookshelves and they were great references. I eventually let all of them go. I rely on smaller paperback dictionaries to some degree, but mostly I depend on online dictionaries these days. It's very easy to get hooked on the sheer convenience of them. I must say I do miss the dictionaries, even though they were cumbersome and heavy. (I still like physical books in general.) In particular, I miss the detailed footnotes and even the illustrations. As others have said, there is a greater assurance that the material has been thoroughly vetted.

Yes, I can relate to this. I am also a native speaker of English. Thus far I have only learned Spanish and, to a lesser degree, German. But having to learn not just a new alphabet, but indeed a completely different system of writing -- as Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and other languages of China, etc. would require -- would be difficult for me. I admit I find it quite intimidating. I've never tried it and so I commend you for making the attempt. So I think "difficult" is relative to what we are used to, whatever language system we have been brought up with and how different and challenging the demands of a new language would be in comparison.

If acronyms are helpful to you, here's one that's used for remembering the difference between affect, the verb and effect, the noun: RAVEN -- Remember: Affect = Verb, Effect = Noun

English has already come to be a dominant language in the world and, as others have pointed out in this thread, we are starting to see some of the effects. Some are quite positive; having a universal language is very beneficial for communication across cultures. Yet some of these effects are negative. People lose touch with their ancestral language and culture as there may be pressure for the sake of professional advancement and/or a personal desire to embrace the pop culture (mainly of America) and the language that goes with it. It even happens in the U.S. as pop culture and mass media have homogenized the language. As a result, the regional dialects of English -- particularly in the South -- that go back generations are getting lost. So yes, the loss of languages and cultures, which is already happening, is lamentable.

Yes, I have also found all of this to be true when learning a new language. In my case it was Spanish, as I am a native speaker of English. But I believe this is applicable to any language. Something else that works for me is practicing my enunciation while looking at myself in the mirror was very helpful. As you have pointed out, it's important to make note of how your lips feel, when enunciating. Similarly, I found that watching myself also made a big difference. Although I have not tried it, I would imagine that making a video of yourself as you pronounce words and then analyzing it might also be helpful. Interacting one-on-one with a native speaker is extremely helpful especially if they can give immediate feedback and coaching as you pronounce new or difficult words. I've had firsthand experience doing this and it helped me a great deal.

Yes, there are lots of different words for shoes in Spanish. Here are just a few: Sneakers = zapatillas high heels = tacones altos sandals = sandalias Also: platform shoe = zapatos de plataforma flip flops = chanclas loafers = mocasines house slippers = zapatillas de casa

I have long been fascinated with oxymorons. Some of them are entertaining to some degree or another. Here are a few that come to mind. "random order" -- Which when you really think about it makes no sense at all. "chaotic organization" also "organized chaos" -- I always found these two amusing. "cruel joke" -- This one is kind of chilling to me; it gives me a visceral reaction. "working vacation" -- For those enduring such a vacation, probably not so amusing!

I also found that doing translations helped me increase my vocabulary when I was studying Spanish. I had a particular interest in poetry and so I would try my hand at translating poems in Spanish to English. Translating is a more active process than just listening to the language or reading -- which both have their benefits, of course -- as I would look up words that I didn't know. I seemed to retain these new words pretty well. After I did my translations, I would then compare them to the official translations and that was yet another learning experience.

Yes, I found this amusing as well. I think it's because people use the F-word for all parts of speech -- noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc. --that it must seem to mean so many different things! Multiple definitions of common English words is one of the challenges in learning the language, especially when the definitions seem so random: This is a perfect example. Really it makes no sense that the same word that is defined as "unkind" is also a a rather impassive term used in mathematics. So to me, it's not just amazing that so many words have so many different meanings but that sometimes there is nothing -- e.g. common Latin root -- that connects the various meanings.

This made me very curious and I did look it up. The winner is "set" with 464 definitions! I was amazed that a single word would have so many. But there are others with hundreds of meanings / definitions: "run," "go," "take" and "stand" are among them. This is really fascinating. The full details are in this article: http://puzzles.about.com/library/weekly/blmosdef.htm

It's so fascinating how similar the words are across languages and cultures. There are some variations in American English as well. Mother / Father are rather formal. Informal variations in America: Mom, Mommy, Mama Dad, Daddy and, less often Papa.

Those are very good! Here are a couple of my favorites. You’ve put on a shirt made out of eleven sticks. (You've bitten off more than you can chew.) Te metiste en camisa de once varas. The scalded cat flees cold water. (Once bitten twice shy.) Gato escaldado del agua fria huye.

I am from the U.S. and so I grew up with English as my native language. I was interested in studying Spanish -- I could have picked German or French -- and I started in high school. I studied all four years of high school. I also did a lot of my learning on my own, by watching Spanish language television, listening to the radio and reading newspapers and books in the language.