MyDigitalpoint

My grandmother used to say that the only way one can mess up with whatever is mastering such a thing first.

This can be applied to languages too. You can mess up with your native language or a second language to have fun or go along with people, but is one's duty learn the correct grammar to make use of languages appropriately when needed, and this is more commonly needed for people aiming to be "someone in life."

I'm sure there might be many euphemisms that I use to listen but, aside of pass away, I can't remember any just now.

However I think euphemisms make of our chatting a more enjoyable activity, an essential part of a colloquial setting.

When I started surfing the web, somehow I felt that English was the sort of "official language" of the web and, throughout the time I have sadly seen how English is taking over all languages, either distorting other languages or substituting those that are rarely used.

Like the article said, I doubt many people talk in Cherokee, but still it's sad to see languages disappear thanks to the Internet.

Since some weeks ago I have in mind to start writing a project made of "life clips"

Sometimes a memory comes to my mind, it could be something happening a week ago, or a dozen years, so I'm trying to write down all those flashback memories and make a sort of online scrapbook or something that may include my concerns about learning a second language, languages I would like to learn, or my worrisome about my own language being distorted, but also other facts that are part of my whole life.

When I was younger I used to think that learning a fictional language was kinda cool, and even I remember that TV used to promote the "F" language through TV show and even in commercials.

Later I found that Google used to have versions in fictional languages, and still thought it was cool, but today I don't see the funny part of it and, on the contrary,  I believe all those languages, texting and more are distorting terribly our former languages, which is truly sad.

I began lo lose random words at age 9-10 but formally my learning of a second language began at age 12 when my secondary school education began, and I have not stopped learning it to date.

In my fact nowadays I make us of my second language more than I use my mother tongue.

I believe that besides the learning of a given language, they need to be certified, not just to make sure they are proficient in such language but also in teaching.

I have seen many ads in the classifieds calling to people who can speak a second language to work as language teachers, and therefore anyone with this knowledge can apply.

I guess the applicants undergo a quick training course and they are done. No other scholarship is required when it should be.

I witnessed one of this case in which the interpreter ruins it all rather than help.

This happened on a TV show in which the host apologized for her little knowledge in the guest's language and therefore an interpreter was by their side but mostly to decorate the scene because at the very end the host had to figure out how to interview the guest on her own due to the multiple mistakes of the interpreter.

I hope to find the time to learn German. I really like this language and I'm subscribed to "About German" lessons from About.com, but I have not found the time to read at least those lessons.

I guess this is because I'm very bad and organizing my day and set schedules.

Not just Chinese and Japanese languages are hard to write, but also Arabic, Greek, Russian, and all other those languages that requires the use of a Cyrillic keyboard.

There is software to use this type of keyboard or perhaps can be set by changing the system operating language but, who can write on Cyrillic languages here?

Probably very few of us.

This Spanish song by Manuel Mijares was very meaningful to me when I fell in love with a man that my parents disapproved due to his "low-profile" occupation:

Solo Dios sabe

cuánto te he buscado

y no te hallé

busco en tu mirada

por si hay una minima señal

no pienso rendirme

ya son muchos años tras de ti

este amigo te ama

eres el sosiego

que la vida me negó

Tengo amor que llora triste

por que no te puedo amar

le has quitado media vida

es amor sin completar

como flecha sin un blanco

como invierno sin llover

como barco en un desierto

como fruta sin comer

This site has a large list of tips to improve your English writing skills, just check it out:

http://www.skidmore.edu/~rscarce/WritingTips.htm

WRITING TIPS

Advice, Hints, and Teensy Pearls of Wisdom for Weary and Wary Writers

By Rik Scarce

You Can Improve Your Writing

Students often tell me they feel a range of emotions about their writing.  Some approach written assignments with excitement and curiosity, while others feel nothing short of anxiety and even outright fear.  Having experienced many of those same sensations, I can sympathize with just about everyone.

The way I see it, though, everyone can improve their writing, including me. I continue to learn from good writers, editors, and proofreaders.  You can, too.  The rewards of improving your writing are substantial.  Writing well is an enjoyable pastime and a valued skill.  If you take the time to improve your writing, you will find yourself more self-confident about the ways you express your ideas, and you will find that others appreciate your writing as well.

I hope "Writing Tips" will help your writing in several ways. First, I have found that most students are unaware of some of the easy steps they can follow to improve their writing. These ideas have little to do with spelling and grammar, and you will find them in the "General Tips" section. Second, from year to year students tend to make the same sorts of writing mistakes, such as using incorrect words, misspelling common words, and certain grammatical and punctuation mistakes; I note some of the errors that crop up most often in the "Mechanical Breakdowns" section. Next, I discuss titling papers, quoting and paraphrasing others' works, and citing and referencing those sources.  I also spend some time discussing and the plague of plagiarism--you'll be amazed at who's stealing whose words--along with "good" and "bad" internet sources.  And I conclude with a word about creativity.

In my personal opinion it just looks better and helps you read trough a whole bunch of text. For example if I was reading a book, I would have a hard time distinguishing sentences which started with a non-capital letter and it would simply turn into a mess. Other than that, I don't think it looks childish.

Agree that capitalization is necessary as it is line breaks for a better reading.

To me lack of capitalization does not only look childish but like if the person writing that way would not have the most essential knowledge of grammar, particularly when they write "I" in lowercase.

That's funny but not a real language indeed, just an invention as you or I could invent a linguaholic proprietary language.

This recalls me the Christian church that my sister attends. The bishop in there told their devotees that "suddenly" the Holy Ghost could posses him to speak out wisdom words.

Sometimes such thing happens and the bishop says incoherent words supposed to be the Holy language and he says anyone touched by the Holy Ghost can talk the way he talks.

I would say anyone can talk incoherent things and say this is a language without needing to be touched by anyone

I used to think all languages are same, it's just the pronunciation difference.

On the contrary, I have always thought that all languages sound different one from another, but I was curious to see many words in different languages sounds similar and even mean the same.

Today I came across with a site that offers free online lessons in 46 different languages.

This site is Open Culture,  that claims to be the best free cultural and educational media on the web, and also offers other free language resources to complement your lessons.

This is the link if you want to check it out, http://www.openculture.com/freelanguagelessons

I know there are several apps that can assist you when it comes to learning a language, but it's still a very reduced list if compared with the 483 freeware programs for Windows that Cnet has available for download, http://download.cnet.com/windows/language-software/?licenseType=Free

Hmm, never thought of this. Could it be due to I focused on working 96 hours a day?

Not much time for romance at all

Learning a second language was vital to me due to sentimental reasons wanting to send a letter to my favorite singer when I was still a kid, but today my second language is all to me!

My work relies 99% on my second language and 90% or all my friends speak this language too, hence I use more my second language throughout the day than my own mother tongue, really!

I learned Latin for a year a couple of years ago, for no reason other than personal interest. Of course there isn't any real point to it, but I think it's nice to learn about the way people and things used to be.

Interesting approach to learning an ancient language I didn't think off.

This brought to my mind a documentary about an old Indian tribe in the South American Chilean region that was extinct a few decades ago (or about to be extincted)

Sometimes learning a language could be just out of curiosity to understand something that is at risk to be lost.

In Spanish, as in many languages, there are different ways to greet people.  My favorite one is ¿Qué onda? which basically means what's up.  It's just a casual way to say hello and a departure from the usual hola.

Actually is a casual word that means what's up indeed, in fact this has been always its meaning but not the context.

"¿Que onda?" became popular in the early 70s among young people following the American hippie movement. My mom says whoever said this greeting was considered kinda hippie, hence not commonly used in a casual context as it's used today.

Another greeting from the 70s, still in use and that is sort of "extended-version" of "¿que onda?" mixed with slang is this: ¿Que ondón Ramón, qué patín hijín?

This greeting was popularized by Mexican actor Alejandro Suárez characterized as one of those hippies I said under the name "Vulgarcito" (little vulgar one)

I think that the best workaround to differentiate those words is listening to natives speakers whether "live" or watching TV, movies or playing a sing-along song.

This way you can determine what the word is by its accentuation and pronunciation.

Google Translate has improved through the years, but it's still really inaccurate so certainly it can give you a clue of what the translation should be, but with a little grammar knowledge you can correct it yourself.

Otherwise asking a Spanish-speaking friend certainly is a good way to go.

In the case of the two version of the translated phase, Google wasn't inaccurate, simply used two different versions to say practically the same.

Latin might be worth learning because it's not just religious literature, but many other fields of the human knowledge still use Latin references. In fact a large number of languages have borrowed many terms from Latin.

However other ancient idioms are not worth learning, what do you need to talk or understand Sumerian, Akkadian, or Tasmanian, unless you are a historian or archaeologist.

Don Quijote is a classic of the Spanish literature but not really what could be considered a children's reading.

Most readings for children include the Spanish versions of traditional literature such as

Alicia en el País de la Maravillas (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) o La Cenicienta (Cinderella)

However a very simple to read and yet inspirational reading for children and teens alike is "El Principito" (Le Petit Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.