Trellum

Well, in general I'd say english is way easier to learn than spanish.  Sometimes even  the native spanish speakers have huge issues trying to use spanish properly.  This is actually very common among young people, they are destroying the spanish language.  The don't use grammar properly and their spelling is just horrible!  I blame the educational system of my country mostly, that and the parents of those youngsters.

English is way easier   Hence is considered an international language... spanish isn't for everyone.  The hardest part is with no doubt the conjugation of the verbs... we have some really weird tenses...

Hahaha, yeah!  I will do that a lot when I come back to Mexico to visit my parents and other relatives. I'll talk with my boyfriend in Dutch   Specially if we ever come across my half sister.  Hell yeah!  Thanks for bringing this up   Actually this is one of the funniest parts of knowing another language.  It's so cool being able to talk about whatever you want freely!  I'll definitely appreciate this every time I come back home   Who knows, me and my boyfriend could have a good laugh, specially if we are trying to buy souvenirs over here!

It has been proven the best age to learn a second language or even a third one is as a child.  Believe, children can pick languages in a very different way... think of them as little sponges!  Don't worry about your kid haven't ''mastered'' his native tongue, he's very likely to learn to speak both languages fluently by the time he starts going to the junior high school!

He will keep on imporving his english, and will also learn a good language.  Don't worry.  Kids can with that and more! It's great you are doing this for him, he will be bilingual in no time   I know your relatives don't see it this way, but that's because they don't know how receptive kids are at that age.

I agree with Sidney... sorry but I doubt Telepathy can be considered a kind of language, not at all.  I do believe it exists tho, after all humans are very complex beings! Our brains are amazing!

  Sadly most of us use only a small portion of it, but if we could use our full potential... I'm sure being able to use telepathy would be one of the many things we could do with our minds!  Seriously, mind over matter!  The mind is a very powerful thing! 

There is a really neat software called ''Selingua'', it's been around for quite some years now. It's basically a free software that allows you to work on your vocabulary.  It's designed for people learning these languages: English (both American and British), German, Spanish, French and Swedish. 

It comes with several neat activities that will put your language skills to test!  It's actually a very fun way to practice your language and the best of all is the fact this software is 100% free.  This software was created by a woman named Marianne Wartoft.  She has created several educational softwares, all of them are freeware now  

If you haven't given this software a try yet, then you should do it now!  By the way, the design of the software might not be the best, but isn't so bad considering this software has been around for very long (I believe this software was created back in 1996!). This software is still worth checking

There is a version with columns!  Also useful to work on your vocabulary, plus you can always adjust the difficulty of each software.  You can download this software from here: http://www.wartoft.se/software/selingua/

I practiced english by writing e-mails to people I found online, you could say they were my pen pals   But instead of writing letters, we just wrote mails.  That helped me to practice english and even learn it, since when I started I was making a lot mistakes.  That's how I learnt english; by making mistakes and learning from them

Things are different with the language I'm currently trying to learn: Dutch.  I think I'll just learn the basics (still working on that!), then I'll practice it by listening to Dutch native speakers, reading more self-teaching books, reading books in dutch (fairy tales and simple stuff), etc.  I can always ask my boyfriend for help   Ah... it's crazy the things we do for love!  I never thought I'd end up learning Dutch, lol.

I love all the softwares that were created by Marian Wartoft: http://www.wartoft.se/software/about-me.aspx  She has created some really awesome freeware software to aid people to practice several languages for free. 

They all look a bit old-fashioned and not very modern, but they're still a good tool to practice languages like: spanish, english, french, german, swedish, etc.  They are more like educative games, some look like a tetris game (but with words) and others allow you to practice your vocabulary by playing a hangman style game. 

I really recommend her software, it might not be the most stylized software, but it complies with the purpose of aiding the student to practice a language in a fun way.

No, and have never been, but I'd love to be part of one.  No idea what kind of activities are done by the members of those clubs everytime they meet, but I bet is really fun and enriching.  Specially if you are really interested in learning the language.

I've heard about meetings being held by members of a web site known as the polyglot club, it seems there are groups in each country... they organize activities and meet.  That sounds quite fun to me, sadly over here no one has taken the time to organize that kind of meetings.  I'd love to, but I'm too busy with work! 

That kind of gatherings sound like a great way to meet new people   I would love to try that in the future, specially if I move out of my country.

It's all about the body language to me!  It's amazing how easy is to understand someone who knows how to effectively communicate using body language, even if the person doesn't speak the same language you do. A big percentage of communication involves body language.

I really think most people should give body language way more importance... to the point of making it a real skill.  Actually... you can know more about a person's true intentions and feeling by paying a very close attention to his/her body language.  Remember... words can be deceiving... but body language can't! Since some body language movements are completely involuntary... like the ones on your face when you lie about something.

Yes, children have it easier when it comes to learning new languages.  If me and my boyfriend ever get married and have children, we'd actually like to teach our children to speak 3 different languages: Dutch, english and spanish.

Our children will have dutch as their mother language, as a second language they will have english and as a third one spanish. We plan to teach them spanish and english actively while they grow up, no need to work on the dutch, because they will be using it and hearing it every single day.

You could say we already have a very structured plan

Definitely. It's not a joke when they say: ''use it or lose it'', at least when it refers to a language you have learnt in the past.  By experience I can tell you that is really easy to start forgetting words and phrases easily.  I use english daily, but ever since I lost my old job (writing articles for a web site), I've noticed I've forgotten a lot words I had learnt preciously.  All because I no longer use them!!  It's amazing how fast this kind of things can happen, huh!

Sadly our brain is a tricky machine, you need to stimulate it... or else you will lose it all.  Same happens with other subjects, like for example math.  I used to be really good at math, but now I've forgotten a lot of what I learnt in the past.  I'm not surprised tho... since I no longer use math (other than the basic operations required in my daily life).

Keeping a language alive in your mind requires more than just using it everyday; you actually need to go beyond: work hard on expanding your vocabulary and work on your weaknesses. It's a constant struggle actually.

Well, it has happened to me in the past.  I heard some arab guys talking about me, lol, it was too obvious tho, they were looking at me and saying something to each other.  I then assumed they were talking about me, I'm guessing they were saying something obscene.  I guess because their body language pointed to that. 

I'm glad this situation didn't last too long, it was when I was walking back home some years ago.  My boyfriend was with me, but he did nothing about it. I guess it's good he didn't... he could have gotten into trouble if he had done that.

I rarely use slang, even when I'm with friends or people around my age, for some reason most slang words in spanish are so vulgar, lol, specially here in Mexico!  So, no, I really don't like using slang, at least not when I speak in spanish.  Things are different when I speak english, I use slang and I really enjoy it.  I think some slang words and verbs in english are really cool, I specially love using phrasal verbs

I'm actually trying to expand my vocabulary and learn more slang words and phrasal verbs.  There still are several slang words and cultural references I don't quite get!

For me learning a language I'll not even be using regularly is a waste of time.  Would I be learning Dutch if it wasn't because I might be moving there in the future?  Of course not!  Because I know there is no way I'd ever need to speak that language, so why learnt it?

With english it was different: I use it on a daily basis and it has opened a lot doors to me.  I guess as long as you focus on languages that are very international and you'll be using them often the effort is totally worth it. 

But learning for the sake of learning or bragging?  No way!  You'd forget everything you have learnt sooner or later; you need to use a language constantly in order to retain everything you have learnt.

I'm guessing my mother tongue (spanish) will change a lot, I read it was already changing.  Apparently some ''writers'' think that spanish no longer needs the ''h'' in the beginning of some words, like for example ''huevo''.  Yup, some ''writers'', specially people writing articles online, are no longer placing the h in the beginning of the words we all know that should have them.

According to them languages must evolve, and is time for the spanish language to do so... pfff!!!!  I'm sorry, I don't agree with that, for me that's just plain misspelling!  Is writing  LiKe ThIs AlSo PaRt of evolution? LOL, I doubt it.  Gosh, young people writes spanish just horribly.  I think they no longer know how to write properly. Forget the accents... heck, forget even the most basic orthography rules!

Norwegian.  This language is way easier to learn than english!  The conjugation of the verbs is very easy!!!  Way easier than in english, but I must admit that knowing english beforehand can help a lot.  I think the reason for that is those two languages belong to the same linguistic family. 

However, learning norwegian is still easy, even if you don't speak english.  Sadly norwegian is only spoken in Norway   So... isn't a very useful language to learn after all, unless, of course... you plan to live and work in Norway...  But english on the other hand... can open a lot doors for you!  I'm a living proof of that!

I guess you meant reading on my own and only that?  Well, I suffer from ADD, so isn't that easy for me to actually memorize or pick words by just reading. I need to be even more engaged in the process.  Reading won't just do it, I need more than just reading!  I need to use the language, and make a lot mistakes in the process.  So nope, no excessive reading in the language I'm learning, at least not for now.

I don't want to brag here, but I really think my language is the best for that (I have no reason to brag, I'm actually ashamed my language is great for swearing). I'm from Mexico, here in Mexico we speak a spanish that is really good for swearing!  Believe me!  A lot foreigners have told me that   We have a word for everything!!!

You can basically swear on anything or anyone.  I personally think the spanish spoken in Mexico is extremely vulgar   I hate that!  I actually avoid swearing as much as possible, simply because I don't really like to swear. I only do it when I'm really mad tho! 

But I swear most young people over here swear too much, and use a very vulgar language.  Ugh, the other day I was at the movies, a girl behind me was openly talking with her male friend about her first pap test.  Gosh, she was so vulgar!!  She was discussing a very inappropiate topic in a public place, but not only that... she used a collection with the most vulgar words you can ever imagine.

Hahaha, for me the weirdest part of knowing a foreign language is the reaction of the people around me (speaking in their language about me - assuming I can't understand) when I tell them I understood every word they said!  LOL.

It actually happened to me once, I was inside an elevator in Oslo, I was wearing some really tight clothes. The ''gentlemen'' behind me started to make comments about my body and so on, flattering comments mostly   It was funny, they probably thought I couldn't understand a word, but I did.  I told them: ''take a picture, guys, it lasts longer''.

Learning a new language as early as possible is always the best bet.  Those who start learning a language early in life seem to be more successful with future programs, sadly I never had the chance to do that.  Nowadays they are teaching english in most schools, but the quality of the program isn't good at all!

Over here the standards for english language teacher who work at public schools are really low.  Sadly that's the way it is over here.  But the high quality courses out there can do wonders for young kids.

I'm actually scared right now, because lately I've noticed I'm not interpreting things right (I think).  I swear I heard my guy said something the other day, but he swears he said a totally different thing.  I mean... wtf!? What's wrong with me?! 

I might have a hearing problem, I guess.  But seriously, I hear the things in a way sometimes, the words and everything... and then I'm told it was a totally different thing!  I believe that can be considered a huge interpretation issue???

This is a really interesting thread!  The woman who was teaching us english back when I was going to junior high school knew NOTHING about the language, lol.  She was as clueless as we were!  She guided herself with the text books, but we never got anything done.

All I could learn from her class was:  I'm from Cholula!''  LOL, and I wasn't even sure what that really meant or how right it was.  It was such a mess.  She wasn't a good teacher (in general either), she was in charge of other subjects as well, but she was helpless.  I liked that teacher, but gosh... she was no teacher material!

I heard she was shot dead some years ago... I felt so saddened. She had a family, I hope it wasn't her.  I'm not 100% sure it was her, but odds are she was.

I learnt english by the age of 16.  I learnt it all on my own thanks to Yahoo! chat mostly, and I later got better at it by writing to my pen pals all across the US   It was a long and tortuous path, but I finally got where I wanted to go. I still need to improve my vocabulary, but at least I can already speak and write the language in a coherent way

Learning this language was a blessing for me, it opened a lot doors for me!  I strongly believe it was my destiny to learn this language! I'm so glad I did, otherwise I'd not have met all the people I've met and all the new people I'm about to meet soon

This is a really interesting one, and hard one to answer, lol. My second language is english, and this question is extremely subjective But I guess the sexiest thing I've learnt to say in english is: ''You look very hot!''.

Lol. I actually never use this phrase at all, since I think using ''hot'' to refer to someone's looks is kinda rude, specially when used with a woman.  I personally hate those words: ''hot'' and ''babe''.  I just don't know why, but I have NEVER liked to be called that way by anyone.

Learning a new language is not a hobbie of mine, but it is something I enjoy doing. The only reason it is not a hobbie for me, is because I don't do it as often as I should, or as often as I could.

Erm, but if it's something you enjoy... how come you don't do it as often as you can?  For me a hobby is something you enjoy doing   Sometimes you might not have enough time for it, and you might not do it as often as you can, but you have a very sincere interest in it

For me learning a language is a hobby, but sadly I'm stuck learning a language I don't even like, lol.  But in general I enjoy learning languages