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Miya

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Everything posted by Miya

  1. I think most immigrants who have been in the country for a while can speak a little bit of English. Those who just immigrated might not be able to speak any English (but they are willing to learn). Those who are studying abroad in the U.S. obviously know some English because otherwise they wouldn't be studying abroad. To study abroad, you need to be interviewed and I doubt they would send someone who doesn't know a little bit of English (or shows an interest in learning English).
  2. I've been to China before (not Shanghai) and people there didn't really talk to me. Maybe it's because I'm Chinese and I didn't look lost. I think if you go to a place where youngsters hang out, you'll be able to start conversations easily. So try cafes, acrades, and stuff like that. Also, if you're foreign looking, I think people will approach you and try to help you (regardless of if you need help).
  3. The same thing happened to me with Japanese. I tried to use Japanese audio and Japanese subtitles to watch something on Netflix and the two were completely different. The meaning was basically the same, but the two didn't match. It confused me for a while so I stopped using Netflix as a way to learn.
  4. Not necessarily my country, but in Japan, if you can speak English you are almost guaranteed a teaching spot. You don't even have to know "proper" English grammar. As long as you're fluent in speaking, it's fairly easy to get a job here.
  5. I don't (and have never) paid for online language lessons. Learning online isn't really effective for me so I probably wouldn't even do it for free. I prefer to take real classes even if it costs a little more.
  6. Trust me, I can't draw to save my life and I can write (most) Japanese characters without problems. The two things don't correlate. As long as you're willing to practice, your Japanese will get better.
  7. Miya

    Hello!

    Hello everyone! I'm Miya! I'm not necessarily a new member on here, but I've been away for a while so I thought I'd reintroduce myself. I joined this site back when I was a college student (about 2 years ago). I majored in Language Studies (Japanese) so I really loved coming to this forum to talk with other people who were passionate about languages. Unfortunately, I had to give up this site after a while because of my schoolwork. Now I'm an ALT (assistant language teacher) in Japan! It's my dream to work in Japan so I'm really enjoying my time here. My work is still taking over my life (yay for teaching at the biggest school in my PREFECTURE), but I thought I'd pop in to see how everyone's doing. Hopefully I'm still welcome here XD
  8. Thanks! I'm actually a language geek, lol. I would love to get back into learning languages, but work is taking over my life now and I don't have time ;__; Dutch is definitely one of the languages on my list though!
  9. For a while, I really wanted to learn Dutch. But then things happened and I kind of lost interest. Now I'm too busy to learn any language... I'd love to have another try at Dutch though. If I remember correctly, I was one of the people who wanted to have a Dutch section on here and that's why we got one xD So it'd only be right for me to start learning Dutch.
  10. If you have a smartphone, I would also recommend the "Pleco" dictionary app. It's a must for all Chinese learners. And if you're particularly interested in Cantonese, http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/ is a great source.
  11. I prefer to read an actual copy of a book. Something about it just makes the experience better. Unfortunately, buying books cost money and it's often not cheap. That's why I read e-books now. I don't prefer them, but they're a lot cheaper and more convenient that actual books.
  12. I totally agree with you lovelanguages. When I was taking French, my French teacher also recommended wordreference. I've been using it since and it's wonderful. Not only do they have an amazing dictionary, but they also have a great forum.
  13. I'm always looking for ways to brush up my Japanese so I'm going to give this game a try! I'll let you know how it goes!
  14. If you have a smartphone, there are also apps that you can download that will help you review vocabulary. Simply type in "JLPT N__" and you'll find tons of free resources.
  15. I have Kanji Senpai, Kanji Nankuro, and Jsho for Japanese. Kanji Senpai and Jsho are studying apps while Nankuro is a Kanji crossword app. It's super hard and I've only been able to complete 1 stage so far. I also have Pleco (a dictionary app) for Chinese.
  16. It's been sooooo long since I've been on here, but it's nice to be back. The new forum layout is nice and much cleaner than the old one (from what I remember).
  17. Chances are any "foreigner" who's in the U.S. (which no intentions to immigrate) has done some English study before coming abroad. It's not only true for the Japanese. There are tons of Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and other Asians who can speak also English.
  18. At that age (7-10), I would say that getting them interested in the language is the most important. I teach English to children in Japan (in a public school) and I think the biggest problem for me is that they don't care. They simply DON'T CARE. They get through class with the bare minimum, they don't participate, and they don't actually learn. I find that playing games with them is A LOT more effective than teaching them grammar. Maybe they don't learn as much (or as fast), but they remember what they learn. Of course, we can't play games every lesson, but I try to do my lessons based on activities that require interaction among students. Instead of getting them to sit around and take notes, I get them to move around and do a worksheet with their friends. I get to draw pictures or make crafts. I get them to do something "fun", something that actually makes them think. Then after the activity, I follow up with the grammar. I think that's the most effective way to teach a foreign language.
  19. I got 100% too which is reassuring, lol. This one made me laugh: "You will be fine, thrust me! "
  20. I am always afraid to fail in learning a language Simply because I don't think I can ever learn 100% of a language. Sure I can sit down and study what's in my textbook but there are certainly some parts of the language you can't learn just by studying. (That and also because my professor is a troll and will ask questions on my test that isn't even in the textbook. So more often than not I am thinking "omgomgomg I'm going to fail".)
  21. Not sure if you're still looking for answers, but do these people have to be living in Japan or do they just have to be Japanese?
  22. Personally, I would recommend watching English TV shows or listening to English music. When you listen to lessons, those people are just reading from their script so you are not really listening to "real" English conversations. The best way to practice your listening skill is to listen to natives (who are not obviously reading from a script) speak English.
  23. あ、そう。説明してくれてありがとう つまらない (tsumaranai, boring)
  24. It depends on which part you're talking about. I don't know much about Korean, but I have experience learning both Japanese and Chinese. For Japanese, the writing is definitely easier. While they have Kanjis too, their base is hiragana which is way easy to write than Kanjis. However, their grammar is harder and more complicated than Chinese. Plus they have a whole different way of speaking to people from upper society. This is something Chinese doesn't really have. Chinese is harder to write, but the grammar and sentence structure is more straightforward so I find it to be easier than Japanese.
  25. ああ、そうか。じゃ、葉書を持ちましょう。 ありがとうございます 
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