terryse

I do admire people who can speak more languages seamlessly because it takes not just efforts but also time and money to learn a new language other than your mother tounge. It surely takes discipline and few people nowadays have this attribute. As a job candidate, a person who is multilingual has more skill and therefor has edge over the other applicants.

Is there really a single best way to write? For me, this is an individual process but there are best ways to improve our writings including using correct grammar and punctuation. Seasoned writers that i know of write simply and connect to their readers.

I agree with others who have difficulty with Kanji. When i had my final exam on Nihongo, the questions or topics are all written in Kanji before we are asked to deliver the piece extemporaneously. That was hard but luckily what i prepared on the night of the exam was the exact piece i was able to pick when the topic was raffled on.

I took up and learned the Japanese language because it was a requirement to complete my graduate course in Library and Information Science. Besides, i admire the Japanese people, the place and their culture.

When i was sent on scholarship to take my graduate study on Information Science, i chose Nihongo as one of my cognates. That was more than five years ago but i can still remember how i memorized the vowels and consonants, the Katakana and Hiragana of the Japanese language. It's like starting from grade 1 again where you start to learn a new language but i did not regret a bit of my choice as i enjoyed learning my two semester course of Japanese language with my lady Japanese teacher.

Three idiomatic expressions stand out in my memory. Here goes,

"Strike while the iron is hot"  - Take advantage of a suitable opportunity

"A tall order"  - An order or request difficult to carry out

"Thanks one's lucky stars" - Be grateful

Yes, there are words and phrases that i forget to use in everyday conversation. There are also new words that i discovered for the first time when i read a dictionary of my native language.

Learning a new language like English is like learning a global language. One benefit i could cite is on the area of job employment. Applying a job online is half way won if you know the language of use internationally and that is English.

Next to English, which is my second language, i really want to learn Nippongo, the Japanese language. I have six units of this language when i chose it as my cognate when i had my graduate study, but since i cannot converse and practice to someone who speaks the language, i completely forgot about the language except for a few phrases.

Listening to music soothes me, it's like a therapy especially if i am tired and want to sleep. However, music is more appreciated if one can understand and feel the lyrics and emotions of the song. For example, i learned English in school and it is used as the language of instruction, songs in English are really music to my ears as i can easily relate to the message in the song.

English is my second language and people i talked and conversed with know that English is not my native or mother tounge, so I am not really embarrased. I'd probably be embarassed if i speak English with a forced twang in it imitating American or British when in fact i am not.

Speaking is hardest to me than reading and writing. I still remember when I had my final exam in my Nihonggo class, it was an extemporaneous speech in which the topics are raffled on the spot and written in Nihonngo. I was just fortunate the topic i got is one of those i prepared the previous night.

I started to learn English when I was in school. From elementary to college, it was the language of instruction being used. It is a second language to us here in my country.

The hardest foreign language i ever learned is the Japanese or the Nippongo language. I took it as one of my cognate subjects in graduate school. The Hiragana, Katakana are easier to learn than the borrowed character writings.

The English language is the only foreign language that I have more or less "mastered" as it is the language of instruction used in our schools. I have also learned Nippongo and French in my graduate study as cognate subjects but I could not carry a conversation using these because of the lack of practice or partner to converse with.

As in all forms of writing and communicating, proper and correct grammar is important. It is an essential part of any good writing and ensures that whatever you write is easy to read and understand.

Nice to be here, how's everyone? I can't wait to browse and participate in the discussion. learn as well as share.