thekernel

Speaking, reading, writing. Those are the fundamental bases. Kind of sounds like the easy answer but in truth there's no better way to learn than to practice. There are also a ton of online resources dedicated to help increase fluency.

I know there's a thread on the hardest language you've ever learned, but what was the easiest? And what language(s) did you know at the time?

As for myself, I'm still working on it so I have no harder OR easier languages at the moment. 

How are your studies in Esperanto going? I heard it's supposed to be a very intuitive and simple language, guided by a strict set of rules.

Spanish is probably the easiest. Having a baseline knowledge of French really helped me transition in that regard.

I felt quite validated the first time I looked at my Spanish mark on my report card. At least 90%. I had never come remotely close to that score in all of my French studies. That was the first time I truly felt like I was good with language learning.

A ticket.

He lives there way up in the sky,

no one knows who he is and why.

Is it "God"?

On Christmas Eve, don't be negatively talking

If you don't want to end up with this in your stocking

Languages within families tend to sound extremely similar to me (romance languages being an exception given my experience with them). I can't tell the difference between Russian or Ukrainian, nor can I tell between Korean or Japanese. That being said, it's quite obvious what separates the families.

I like the suffix "-ería", which you add onto a word to describe a shop that vends the word. For example, "zapatos" are shoes, while a "zapatería" is a shoe store. It is helpful because a whole section of vocabulary is covered by the suffix.

With so much accessibility to internet resources, workbooks can seem a little dated, but it doesn't diminish their effectiveness. I used a workbook in my Spanish high school class, and though the questions weren't particularly of great difficulty, it did do well in imprinting the basics through repetition.

I don't agree with the study's results at all.  I've known skilled musicians who hate learning other languages.  I'm not a good musician and I enjoy speaking/writing other languages and language in general.  I knew someone in college who played multiple instruments, including the drums and he smoked a bunch of weed before his language placement test in an attempt to make himself look stupid so that he would be allowed to forego the foreign language credit requirement.  It worked well enough and the musician was able to skip the dreaded foreign language classes.

I don't think the study emphasizes ability to learn language as much as it does with the fundamentals of speaking and hearing. I've tried relating the study's findings to my own group of friends, and with each case I feel more inclined to believe it. I feel like those with good rhythm are more well-articulated and eloquent compared to those without. 

I think poetry is a good example of the link between rhythm and language. Those with good rhythm are able to distinguish what fits in a meter and what doesn't, and rarely will you find people who write poetry to be lacking in their descriptive abilities.

Another one I like, from the film Magnolia is this one:

I read a very interesting account that the film Magnolia is one gigantic analogue to Exodus 8:2. The biblical tale is heavily references throughout, the most obvious case involving the frogs, and the less obvious littering of 8's and 2's. The theory that I read goes so far as to discredit the closing quote as nonsense meant to derail the viewers from the true meaning of the movie. His logic was quite sound in that regard; I'll see if I can find the whole review.

I don't find capitalization that pointless. If you start doing away with grammar rules for no reason other than age, then you might as well get rid of other rules that you deem archaic or useless. We might see a shift due to current technology enabling the butchering of the language and its rules, but to me I find something like capitalization just as important as proper punctuation, perfect syntax, and verb conjugation.

Considering my propensity for music and my loquaciousness in general, it's cool too see that they are scientifically linked. I believe music to be a language of its own. This adds credence to that theory, if not already confirming it. 

I have a few deaf people in my family as well as some others who know/teach sign language. It's very fascinating to see the vocabulary in action. I learned a lot of the alphabet and how to say things like "water" or "I love you", but I never did fully grasp conversation. Fortunately, deaf people are very good at reading lips and they can communicate with those who do not know the language of the hands.

One of the cooler things in my nan's possessions was the phone they used. It was the earliest form of text messaging I've encountered.

"Sick" and "ill" are words frequently used to describe things that are awesome or cool.

"Hoser" and "jag-off" are two Canadian pieces of slang that are used to describe unfavorable people.

Yes, I do. I use the general, grammar, and vocabulary boards. I like to learn new things about my native speak, as well as helping others with their questions.

Spelling is not as important as the spoken word, so unfortunately the appearance of words will often take a back seat when it's a word that people haven't seen often. I feel it's only become apparent in the more recent generations, where everyone is communicating on a keyboard or keypad of some sort.

On a side note, it intrigues me when I see that people use "defiantly" in place of "definitely". It's a strange phenomenon, it's spelled as a completely different word and the phonetics don't even remotely match. Don't ask any of my friends how to spell "psychic", you will end up with the biggest butchering of the word possible.

Would oxymorons fall under English Idioms, or do they translate into other languages as well? Directly translated you would see some contradict each other but not all. "Military intelligence", for example, probably doesn't translate to other languages as a phrase of two opposites.

"Freezer burn" is one example I don't see often.

In high school, my motives were actually brought on by laziness. I was learning French in mandatory courses, and did not like it in any way whatsoever. The first chance I had, I switched to Spanish, which I was told was much easier, and it was. I actually enjoyed learning and speaking the language, and classes were much less exhausting than French.

Ever since then it's kind of stuck with me. I want to expand on my knowledge so that I can get by for traveling, as I want to visit Central America some time soon.

"El Mariachi" is a classic, and an excellent film altogether. What makes it particularly amazing is the initial budget of the film, which was about $7,000. Watching it, it would be hard to surmise that they had spent so little.

It takes a lot of self-discipline to master a language independently. In the learning environment of a classroom, it is easier to apply yourself to the task at hand. Structured sessions are very good for learning languages.

I very much enjoy the sound of Spanish. It feels almost fiery in its delivery. French rolls off the tongue elegantly, I like the sound of it as well.

As far as semicolons go, I believe they are used to connect two thoughts that aren't inherently related, but related when considered in context. A good example would be this sentence; two somewhat separate ideas brought together with a punctuation mark.

Is it entirely autonomous? You mentioned assignments being given. I don't know how well I would do if I weren't able set my own learning pace.

It's actually called 'SMS language', 'text speak', or 'txt-speak' (or something similar). I find it annoying in words like gr8, or u instead of you, but I do use abbreviations like afaik, iirc, imo, simply because that's more accepted.

I don't mind short-hand when used in that matter (as long as I understand it haha). I pretty much grew up with "lol" embedded in my internet/cellular conversation.

It certainly helps if said foreign land also has a fluency in your native tongue. Like, if I wanted to learn Spanish in a different country, Belize might be the best option as English is the "official" language, but most people were brought up with Spanish.

I like these synonym threads, I feel I uh...have a lot of experience in the field 

Just a couple off the top of my head:

Stoned

Bombed

Domed

Flying

Baked