justusforus

I never really thought about it that way. Well then we native speakers should be proud the language is so embraced. Learning it well should be a goal for the second language people as well as the native speakers.

From what you describe I would agree we in America would use slug...also worm or more derrogatory would be maggot.

Some may think it arrogant if English speakers say yes. I personally love the different sounds and phrasing of other languages. Diversity is always something that enhances any experience, so I am not sure if I would like just one language although it would simplify some things.

Like the topic approach and bet it would be a good study guide. I will pass the site along to a friend who asked if there was something like this. Thank you for posting it.

I can't wait to try the game. I played something similar a while back and found it difficult. Sometimes to a native speaker we foget the literal meaning and make some other association. I think it would be fascinating to pit a native speaker against one learning the language. I bet the winner would not always be the native speaker.

I just posted on another thread about the use of online dictionaries, many of which will pronounce the word. There are the official ones and even some that deal with slang or "urban" phrases. I can't agree with the above poster more. By looking up words you can also get similar words, or see usage in a sentence. Good luck.

As to pronunciation, the are several online English dictionaries, that have the feature to "speak" the work for you. As a native speaker, I feel the pronunciation on most is very good (a human speaker not a synthesized "robot" like voice). I assume they have them in many languages, but I would just search for online dictionary or another way is to simply search for the word and definition. It will usually lead you right to these sites. I have never used skype, but aren't there some sort of chat rooms or something you can mingle with English speakers?

I thought I heard them all. Love the site and thank you for giving me something else to spend way too much time on. Seriously, I agree this is a great resource.

Being in California (but a Midwest transplant) I can't stand the "valley girl" or "surfer" speak. They sound slow and medicated. My favorite English accent is any real accent from England, love the way the Aussies speak and Jamaicans as well.

I agree with the skin crawling effect but I think it is a kindness to correct a colleague or friend who uses this abomination. At first it might sting (like you are a pompous ass) but I think some have used it so long and so often they don't realize it is incorrect. The favor is that I think others DO judge them for it and maybe now they will know what the glazed eyes or cringe in the shoulders is about.

I do not care if people try to "judge" me. As to my speech, I have taught several subjects and put on presentations as part of my job and I am aware of my speech. Some of that may spill over to my personal life as I have been told I am very "proper" in my delivery. On the other extreme, I love to joke and have a dry sense of humor and can spit out a raucus word or two. When people say they are surprised, I usually I say "I say what I mean"...so I guess I don't care and just try and be me.

I am not a fan of text or text speech and I do not use LOL or all its cousins. If I am not sure someone will take a phrase as a joke I may use a smiley or even a parenthetical (smile). I just think as you get older it seems less age appropriate.

Actually, I have been told I say "actually" a lot. It may be because I do a lot of phone work discussing issues. I am sure I use "well" quite a lot too. I am sure I use the conversational crutches mentioned by LauraM as well.

My next language will definately be Italian. Although I grew up with it, I never learned it and as I have gotten older I regret it. I also have so many friends who have gone to Italy and loved it, so if I go, being mostly of Italian descent I really should learn the language.

I am learing a languare to expand my ability to interact with people and for business. If I do continue in some more unusual languages, I would agree it would be more of a hobby and perhaps a great excuse to plan a trip!

I agree with many above that if you do not speak the language you can get rusty. That is like anything whether its riding a bike or rowing a boat. If you do watch a foreign language film, I "talk back" to the dialogue. Do this at home with rental and not in a theater or you may find some angry people surrounding you.

I think the hardest part is getting the inflection right. People can be "fluent" meaning using the right terms and tenses, but not "sound" the part which I think comes with practice AND interaction with native speakers. My native language is English and although some may have the words right as a second language they can sound robotic.

I love to learn anything but with learning a language it opens you up a lot more to other people and cultures. It is also good in business to allow you to service a larger customer base with ease, but I think I would enjoy it without any financial incentive.

I don't think idioms are meant to make sense. As to the oldies, I find them quite charming and nostalgic. I love some of the ones from Britain as they ultimately are so odd they make me laugh.

I used the translation to write a note to my friend who was sad. I have never spoken Russian and wrote a heartfelt note. A few days later I went to dinner with her and some other Russian friends of hers and they all laughed about my note. Apparently "on" was translated to "in" and so on. Well at least I made her laugh I found out (but that was not my intent!)

I learned initially in a classroom setting, but recently I am utilizing the online or "canned" sources such as CDs. I do miss the classroom experience and interaction though.

you find out ATMs and even some slot machines, have a language selection. You are a real nerd when you pick a language you don't know at all and try to figure out what it is saying.

I prefer not to get the texts with all the short cuts. I actually do not like texts, because people even if they don't short cut the words often short cut the thoughts. Without hearing a person's inflection, I have often mistaken whether a person was angry or not (i.e. Why do you do that? could be interpreted as WHY did you do that? or Why did you do THAT? and so on. The more people rely on a device, I believe they lose prowess. Remember calculators came about and no one can add a column of numbers. If shortening or changing words continues, will they be able to spell or form a proper sentence?

Thanks for the link and the youtube reference. There is so much out there on the internet and its forums like this that really showcase them. What a mind to speak so many languages fluently.

Although I am extremely concerned with grammar in my native tongue, I think there may be something to learning as much as you can and becoming comfortable in the studied language and then work on "proper" grammar. I am not sure if it is that controversial in that most learning builds on other learning and some peoples minds work that way. Sort of level by level.