Trellum

I tend to text using full sentences, good grammar and punctuation.  Mostly because I can't stand using shortcuts, I just don't feel comfortable doing that!  It's part of my obsessive personality, I think, lol.  I just like to express myself in the best and most clear way possible.  That's why I text using full sentences.  After all... what's the rush?  No point in using shortcuts in my opinion... unless you really need to, like when you are in a real rush.  But sadly people nowadays seem to think they're always on a rush, so they over use shortcuts.

You can check this web site out: http://polyglotclub.com/  You can find a lot language partners over there, if you have Skype you can video chat with them over there!  I've actually done that in the past, I did it with an Israeli guy who wanted to practice his english.

I'd often ask him questions regarding to Hebrew as well, sometimes we'd just talk about our lives and shared all sorts of things.  We practiced our english that way, it was really fun   We talked once a week! Sadly he can no longer chat because his wife just had a baby and he's working extra. 

Just create a profile on that web site and start contacting people   I'm sure you will meet a lot interesting people over there!

Yeah, and I think that's super rude.  If someone was trying to speak my language and pronounced things in a funny way, there is no way I'd laugh at him/her for real.  I might do it the first time, but never continiously, that would be really rude.  Sadly my boyfriend is the type of person who does this; he laughs at me even if I type a word wrong. 

I haven't told him how much that annoys me yet, but if he continues doing that I'll have to be very clear with him.  After all he is still very immature, too immature for a 30 year old man if you ask me! But seriously, laughing at someone's accent a lot is plain rude and immature; don't do it people!  You might make that person feel bad or even lose his/her interest in the language.

Nope, not yet.  I might after living 20 or 30 years in Holland and speak dutch the whole day; both at home and at work.  I think this is quite normal, specially if you stay in a place for a really long time, but I don't think you will ever forget your mother language, unless you move from your country at a really young age.  Then yeah you can forget, but not an adult.  You might get a bit rusty tho, but after a bit you should remember everything.

Immersion, no doubt about it.  Classes are good, but nothing beats hearing and speaking the language you want to learn with different voices and accents the whole day.  I think I'm having a hard time learning Dutch right now because I'm not currently living there, but once I move there things will get better. I hope.

Taking language classes is good tho, isn't as efficient as immersion, but it definitely helps.  A lot people can't afford moving to the country where the language they want to learn is spoken, so language classes are a nice way to learn it without spending too much.

In my experience, knowing another language can open a lot doors, take me as an example.  If it wasn't because I know english, I'd not have been able to live and work in Norway a few years ago as an au pair.  I also landed a quite good online job some years ago, I had to quit tho, because my boss started to take things too personally.  I'd not have been able to get it if it wasn't because I know english.

In my opinion languages can open a lot doors, but it also depends on the language you are learning. If you are learning a very international language like english, then you can rest assured the effort will pay off later.  If you're learning a language that isn't widely spoken in the world just like I am, but you're doing it because you're moving there, then you can also rest assured that move will make your life easier in the new country.

I have done this a couple of times, and let me tell you isn't as easy as it seems.  Because it's really hard to keep the interest of the other partner, even if you offer help to learn or study your mother language. In the end things get awkward, and die out.  The best way to  pick good language partners online is picking other students who are looking for someone to practice the language with.  That way both of you win something whenever you start a conversation online.

I'd not recommend a language exchange with a native, because keeping the interest up will be hard.

It depends! In the past, the origin and history of the people who spoke the language I wanted to learn was very important, that's why I was fascinated with scandinavian languages as a teen (I'd still love having a reason to learn norwegian or swedish). So in this situation the origin of the language was closely linked to the history of the people who spoke it. 

I'm currently planning to move to the Netherlands soon, I need to learn dutch before that tho.  But I know nothing about the origin of this language   Which is easy to understand... since I'm MUST learn it, not because I want or because I like it, but because I really have to   They practically have told me it's a requisite. 

Disadventages:

1) I have ADD, so I get distracted quite easily!

2) I have serious concentration issues because of my ADD.

3) I'm forced to learn a language I don't even like or feel like learning

4) My eyes are killing me all the time!

5) I have almost no time to study a new language (but today I tried very hard and made it!)

Adventages:

1) I'm a quick learner.

2) I have a great memory.

3) Once I'm motivated I can do a lot!

4) I truly enjoy learning new languages; the ones I'm truly interested in!

English.  Seriously, it's so easy to learn I learnt it back when I was 16 years old (on my own) and it took me 6 months or so to form phrases that made sense   To be honest I never saw learning a new language as a challenge, that was until I started learning dutch.  Oh my... was I in for a big surprise!  LOL!  Seriously, I'm having the hardest time ever learning dutch... there are waaaay too many vowels together in one word... same with consonants; it's crazy! 

Plus they pronounce a word in a way, but the written version looks NOTHING like the way you thought it would when you listened to it the first few times!  Too bad I need to learn in order to move with my boyfriend to the Netherlands, but believe me... I have no real desire to learn this language; I never had!  Not even as a teen... and believe me I wanted to learn a lot languages back then!!!  One of them being finnish!

You know a lot interesting facts about a lot different languages, incluiding the ones that are almost extinct or dying   

Is cooking a part of your language study? For example, if you are studying French, would you purposefully cook a french meal?

I do this sometimes. I'll put on French music, take out French recipes written in French, and prepare an entire meal. Sometimes, I even add a French bread, wine, and dessert. I will then sit at my table and eat the meal listening to some more french music. What about you?

Uhm trying to learn Dutch really hard, and soon I'll be cooking dutch food for my boyfriend, so I guess the answer is yes   I'm going to be traveling to the Netherlands soon, and will be eating authentic dutch food... so I guess this while be a very complete and immersing experience.  I'll surely learn a lot dutch while I'm there   As for other lanugages... not sure   I'd love eating calofornia rolls while watching my favorite animes tho

When you start learning a new language, do you focus more on single words or entire phrases?  I'm asking because of a dilemma of mine. Right now I'm trying to learn dutch so hard, I have a Pimsleur course that seems to be really helpful, but if I want to learn (I know myself) I'll have to reinforce my learning by writing the words/phrases I learn. 

So to compliment my learning...I'll make use of other resources.  But I wonder... should I work on lists with single words or lists with entire phrases?  In your opinion... what would be more efficient for a person who is just starting to learn a language? single words, phrases or both?  I've been thinking of creating basic words lists

Feel free to post your opinion!

I just started learning Dutch again, but I'm trying to find out what the most efficient way to do it would be.  I've the Pimsleur audio course, but I know it just won't be enough.  But it's ok because I can get different dutch courses quite easily. 

The problem is... what should I do first??  Should I start by learning some new words in dutch and work my way from there? Should I start with full phrases instead?  Should I focus on the written or the spoken form? or is it too soon to be focusing on the written form? What should I do?  It's been so long since I studied a language... I'm so rusty!

Any kind of advice would be highly apprecited!

That's right!  I had been trying to learn Dutch before, but I had to stop because I barely have any time to study.  However, my boyfriend told me I should make an effort and start learning it, so I'm trying REALLY hard to find some time to at least listen to a track of my pimsleur course for at least 30 minutes.  I've been trying for the last 3 days, lol.  I've failed so far, but I just need to adjust my schedule a bit more! 

I'm so motivated to learn!  That's why tomorrow I'll try to listen to the first track of my course for at least 20 minutes before going to bed... maybe some words will be picked up my subconscious!  Who knows!  Plus, I really need to rush because my black is in january next year!  I want to impress my future in laws

If anyone has some tips for me, please feel free to share

Wow!!!!  Thanks for the awesome reply, I wasn't expecting such a detailed reply   Thanks for covering all those topics related to traffic and crossing.  Where I come from people cross the street whenever they can!  Seriously!  It's interesting to find out that you can get a ticket if you don't wait for the light to turn green   Woah!  It seems it's very easy to get a ticket over there, at least that's what my boyfriend has told me  

Could you please ,pleeeeeeeeease... tell me more about the general etiquette, like for example when you are invited to a house for dinner? Should I shake hands with my boyfriend's parents? Hug his mom?   And also... how should I react to the weird comments my boyfriend's sister makes? 

Learning english for me was the easiest thing ever.  That being said, I can assure you that some languages are easier to learn than others. So you can't say that learning a language is hard in general, because it really depends on the language you are learning and also your personal circumstances play a really important role when it comes to learning a new language.  What do I mean by personal circumstances? You might be wondering!  Well... things like, whether you have enough time to dedicate it lo learning a new language or not. Whether you're very stressed or not... if you have learning issues or you lose motivation easily...  A lot factors to take into account.

So, yes and no!  Yes, learning certain languages can be hard (depending on your mother language as well) and no, some languages aren't hard to learn.

Ah not at all, the new language I need to learn is Dutch, and to be honest I don't even want to learn it   It's too hard! My native language is spanish, so learning dutch (a germanic language) is really hard!  I'm trying to learn it only because I plan to move there in the future, and it happens to be a requirement for me to live there. 

Why I want to live there?  Well, mostly because my boyfriend is dutch and he wants to move close to his family and start a family there with me!  I'm not happy with the idea of learning dutch, but oh well! It's something I need to do for him, plus it's a nice way to prove my love to him.

Ehh I think this thread is interesting, but I'm not sure what you said actually proof we ever spoke the same language, but technically maybe we did.  I mean, back when we were cavemen we communicated mostly tru noises, and that's how we started to develop a language. I mean, cavemen had to work in team to hunt and get rid of potential threats, so in order to do that they needed to find a way to communicate with each other   So, I guess we once spoke the same language.  I wonder how we came to have so many different languages??

Well, you have to ask yourself why you want to learn a new language.  When I was 16 years old I wanted to learn as many languages as possible, but in the end I fell short because I couldn't stay focused. Just try to focus on just one language at a time.  Finding a new language to learn shouldn't be that hard, specially since you are already learning japanese   You should also ask yourself why you want to learn this language in specific tho. 

Learning a new language requires a lot patience and effort, so if it takes you a while to learn it is ok and totally expected.

Uhm this is really sad, but at the same time really interesting!  And I thought ladino was in a big trouble!  I guess this is the fate of a lot languages, including my loved ladino hara. Sadly the link posted by BWL didn't open here   I'd have loved to listen what this dead language sounded like, it sounds so interesting from what I read from the admin's and BWL posts.  Thanks for sharing this   I had no idea this language even existed!

I think brain capacity has nothing to do with how many languages you can learn, most of us have the same brain capacity, but some do use their brains a lot more (naturally or trained to achieve that).  But truth is, learning a language requires more than just brain capacity and a good memory; it requires a lot effort, time and patience!  If you have those 3 things, then you sure can learn as many languages as you want! 

There are many factors that can contribute to someone not learning more than just one language, like for example lazyness, stress, lack of time and motivation. For me stress and lack of time are a huge factor when it comes to learning a new language, that's my main issue right now... I'm trying to learn dutch because I plan to move there soon, but lack of time and stress really affect my learning capacity.

I like language videos that go straight to the point, and only offer some explanations when really needed.  I just can't stand those vloggers who make language videos and go yada yada this and that before going to the point!  That can be so annoying!  Specially if you are just creating a video to help people learn a language, and not a video about the culture of the country where the language you want to learn is spoken.

I plan to make my own videos for Youtube in the future, but I'll not be covering languages or anything.  I plan to take the same approach I do now; go straight to the point. That's specially nice for cooking videos  

I really appreciate it when language vloggers don't go bla bla about their day at the start of the video.

A great aid for me was making my own didactic material.  I actually enjoyed gathering all sorts of images (from the old microsoft gallery), because those images were perfect for the creation of learning materials.  I liked to print those images, along the corresponding word in the language I liked to learn.  I used this method with the finnish language! 

I'd then glue them to a cardboard, cut them and buy a special material that I used to coat my new cards I created a lot learning material for my english classes using this method as well.  This can be really useful, specially if you are a visual learner

I'm going to the netherlands on january next year (I have the ticket already) so it's actually a fact I'll be going   I'd like to learn Dutch because I might end up moving there with my boyfriend, I'm going to meet his parents during this trip and I'm nervious as heck!  I really don't know what to expect, seriously! 

It'd be nice if someone living in the Netherlands or a native dutch person could tell me more about dutch culture.  I come from a very different culture and I don't want to screw things up!  I know how to behave, but I think our cultures are so different.  Also there are some particular idiosyncrasies that can only be noticed by foreigners living in the Netherlands, please feel free to share if you know any