wholesaleblogger

Some good ideas and I like the basic approach of reading the children's books it reminded my that I actually watch the local version of kids shows such as Sesame Street. Its a basic step by step approach. Add to this the many cartoons for children that are available also.

I have had some Mandarin lessons and it was useful to me while in university here in Liverpool as we had a large number of Chinese students. It enabled me to have (limited) conversations and make some new friends. My main aim however is to continue with my lessons and so use my new skills in business.

I am English and my wife is Spanish. I am always saying words that are normal to me but then I see a puzzled look on her face. The worst words are the slang words that can't be found in a dictionary.. This week it was Spondoolicks ... which is a slang word for money :-) Add to this the word 'Flim' which is the slang word for a five pound note.

For me, I find it useful to have sticky notes stuck all over my house. My living room had labels on almost everything, lamps, TV, radiator, each with the name in Spanish. I picked the names up much faster as every time I used the item, I said the word and it wasn't at all like I was revising. You should see my kitchen now :-) What tips do you have?

There are very similar words in all of those languages and you could add in English also. I think this is down to the proximity of each country to each other along with the history of those countries way back and the wars, invasions that happened. I have friends form each of these countries, as well as Turkey and they all have words that are the same, sound the same and indeed have the same meaning.

As far as I am aware, and this has been proven in some way, a childs first words are always 'mama' This isnt because mum is the most important person around but it is down to the natural way a baby is first able to form words and shape it's mouth. Apparently, the muscles in the mouth arn't so strong and saying 'mama' is just opening and closing the mouth.

I was wondering what people find the best or most useful parts of language learning videos. Is it the way the lesson is delivered or maybe any graphics used in the videos to help you understand what is being said?

I have a Swedish friend (A girl) and I could listen to her speak English all day, its a treat. She spent a little time with me here in Liverpool for a few days and taught me just a few words and phrases... mostly forgotten now. however, the one that has always starued with me is 'Puss och Kram' which means 'kiss and a hug' ... I don't really get to use it anywhere, but who cares :-)

Thanks for the link. The video's arn't the worst Iv'e ever seen but for me, when learning a new language I often find myself going for the free Youtube options. There are some good ones there and far too many to link to. Also, I think it really depends on what you want.

For me it has to be Chinese (Mandarin) as I see it being great for my business prospects. However, it may have to wait a little while as I am still in the early stages of learning Spanish :-)

Im English and as many in my country when we go off to Spain, the first words we learn is 'Dos Cerveza' ... If we can do nothing else as learners we can always get a beer. The pity is though that many Brits never get beyond this ;-(

Hello all Just popping in to say hello to you all really. I am English (living in Liverpool, England) and married to my Chilean wife. I am learning Spanish, although I have a long way to go I am enjoying it all and look forward to chatting to you guys here.

My wife is Spanish and although fluent in English she still makes mistakes in pronouncing certain words. Mostly because of the use of the letters B & V which sound the same to her and most Spanish people. The other day my wife pointed at a cat and told me that she loves Bolbo's .... She meant a Volvo :-) What words do you have problems with?

I note that (English) Scouse isn't on the list and so as a 'Scouser' I am adding it. Scouse is the accent from Liverpool and to be honest, I don't really like it myself although I know many people who visit Liverpool Love it. For me, I like lots of accents from outside Liverpool but not Cockney or Brum (from Birmingham).

Well I have to say, as entertaining as these quotes are; as an Englishmen, I have never heard of these. It may have been to offer where the quotes came from :-) When I read the title of this thread I thought we would be seeing the likes of 'An Englishman's home is his castle' .. Maybe it was just me :-)

I am just getting along with Spanish with a long way ahead before I am fluent. However, I also fancy Chinese (mandarin). I have taken lessons in it before but that was a few years ago and I was never very good at it. The problem for me in the lessons was the culture divide. The teachers were so timid and giggled at the end of each sentence... I really couldn't understand what the heck was going on. Why Chinese? Well, I see it as a door opener to new jobs and business opportunities.

Well for me its that my wife is Chilean and so it makes sense to be able to talk to both here and her friends and family in their language. I have to say though it isn't always easy even when living with a native Spanish speaker. I first imagined it would be like having a 24/7 language lesson but life takes over. In addition to this, my wife speaks fluent English and so we slip back into English very fast. Must try harder !!