limon

It's on iOS as well, as it turns out so I downloaded it a few minutes ago.

A searchable database, with origins and meanings; http://www.phrases.org.uk

Hoy no sali de casa, porque me parecia que iba a llover. Pero al final no llovio. ¿Y tu, que tal tu día?

What does it mean!? //leans in eagerly//

Well slang and sayings are slightly different things I think. Sayings don't have to necessarily be slang and slang can just be a single word In Spain at least sayings or expressions are called 'dichos' o 'refranes'.

Lullaby It's the perfect sound for what it is, has warm associations, and even if it meant something else it would still be lovely.

This post reminded of the Father Ted episode in which 'ecumenical' is part of an ongoing punchline. Must re-watch that soon!

Wowwow. Yeah, that's why I will never wear clothing or jewelry with characters I can't translate. Amazing that there is even a tattoo specific gibberish alphabet. That's going to confuse some future archaeologists someday.

I really liked it, but like any method it can't be used in isolation. You need to be out there speaking to people in the language as well.

Hah, that's a lot of fun! I only got 400, I was doing really well and then failed all in a row.

I hadn't heard of it before, but since it's free and they have French I went ahead and downloaded it from the App Store to take a look at. At the very least the design looks nice!

I'd say they're pretty much equivalent. Like "excuse me" and "pardon me" in English.

Well, those are all spelled differently, "pero" and "perro" are different because one 'r' and two 'rs' are different, likewise 'ano' and 'año', the 'n' and the 'ñ' are completely different letters same as an 'i' and a 'j' are. So there are a few instances, but overall you're much less likely to run into that in Spanish than in English, where there are so many variations on how to pronounce letters on their own and in combination. You're more likely in Spanish to run into words with more than one meaning, or words that have regional meanings. Also common in English, I guess. The biggest example of that for me is "coger" which is a normal verb that means "take" or "get" in Spain but is r-rated in Mexico. I had to unlearn that one when I went to DF since it's such a common verb. That said, an accent will usually get you a lot of leeway in either case, since it will be obvious that you're not being malicious.

Well that's something too, isn't it. Correct language is very important in certain settings, like a business environment, academia, or journalism. But in another context, like a pop song, it's not just less necessary put potentially detrimental since it can impede spontaneity and flow.

I think it's useful to have a lingua franca, but it has always changed from era to era based on the dominant cultures. So I don't think it will be English forever.

“Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” ― Neil Gaiman, Coraline “Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.” ― Kurt Vonnegut

Many libraries can do inter-library loans, so you may want to look into that. At mine you can go online, request a book, and get an email when it arrives.

Writing for me. Speaking is hard, but you can get through a lot of meaning with tone and gestures.

That is incredibly cool, it's interesting to think that accents exist in time as well as space. I mean, it makes sense when you think about it, but I hadn't really thought about it much and the way it affects theatre and poetry is astounding. Thanks for linking.

That is insanely cool, I am officially jealous.

I just think it's good to also remember that "correct" is subjective. Language is a living thing, spoken or written. So over time and space the rules morph. It can be incredibly provincial to be a stickler for a rule that is simply not true everywhere. Not to mention that like most rule systems, it can be used as a tool of discrimination. People who speak in certain accents (foreign or regional) can be treated quite poorly if everyone agrees that there is one "correct" accent. By definition then anything deviating from "correct" is "incorrect" and lesser than.

Probably a couple of days if you mean not speaking at all, since I do tend to talk to myself. To other people? About a week, while housesitting recently in fact

I had a friend who used to teach English and would often use the phrase "Take it easy" when saying good bye. After several weeks of this one of his students asked him if he was afraid of him or something. After some confusion and back and forth he realized this student was aware of the use of that phrase to ask for calm and was wondering why every time they talked my friend urged him to chill out!

I certainly think so, it's easiest at a young age but possible as an adult, people do it all the time when moving to a new country for instance.

I'm torn, on a personal level it's quite important to me on one level. But like anything it's really just a tool, you need to know as much about it as possible in order to then make it work for you