asiong123

I love classical poetry especially the works of Edgar Allan Poe. I am no fan however, of the popular Maya Angelou type of poetry. I actually don't know why, it just doesn't appeal to me. Maybe someday I'll get to appreciate them better.

When I am close enough with the person I'm talking or chatting too, I throw in the occasional LOL and other smileys. I never use it though for more serious conversations.

I recommend the Harry Potter books. They're simple enough to teach you a couple of things about grammar and vocabulary, and they're also very engaging to keep you reading for weeks. I recommend it to all my friends who are struggling with the language and has so far produced great results.

I used to have a very rough English accent before. My accent was like that of a chieftain speaking English for the first time. Back then I felt insecure but now that I have a more Western accent, I kind of miss my old tribal accent. It was very unique and distinct.

Very interesting answers! I also believe that it is necessary for people learning English as a second language to at least be aware of the profane words that comes with the language. People who are currently learning new languages are very susceptible to "accidents", and a simple mispronunciation or a slip of a tongue can cause very big trouble. My next question would be: When teaching English, should profanity be included in our curriculum?

I use two dictionaries as references when writing an essay. This is so I can compare the two definitions and to avoid confusion. I usually use the Oxford Dictionary and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Do you think it is necessary or important for someone studying English to learn about profanities and curse words. Why or why not?

Another misconception, in addition to post above me, is that English is an easy language to learn. I've seen my former students fall into this trap and struggling later in the subject. English, though popularly and commonly heard, is a very complex language to learn. Homonyms for example, is one of the concepts that is quite difficult to understand as an ESL student.

I believe that grammar separates the professional from the unprofessional. At a glimpse of a letter, you can immediately see if it reflects the professionalism of the sender by merely looking and inspecting his or her grammar. It has nothing to do with intelligence. Grammar is something you can fix with a quick search on Google. It has something to do with attention to detail.

Literature is a piece of a culture expressed into words. Literature is a mirror of what is happening in one's society. It is used to express to other people, the context of a culture, or as a self-reflection of the things where that culture might be falling behind.

Capitalization serves as barriers between thoughts or sentences. Periods serve as pause. All the fundamental parts of a coherent sentence serve a function that is designed to make understanding them easier. I very much dislike receiving e-mails that are grammatically incomprehensible. I just assume that the sender is too lazy to take me seriously and end up sending a horribly written e-mail.

I'm also from the Philippines and I personally have no problems with Taglish. Perhaps because I'm too used to hearing it already. Taglish I think it is a way for most Filipinos to express their thoughts without having to dig deep into a Tagalog dictionary. Our native language is too complex to be translated simply in English, therefore Taglish becomes a solution.

Thank you for the invite! I'll surely go there and discuss my favorite Bruce Willis films. It's a wonderful idea trying to discuss your major interests in a second language. I'm hoping to see you there. I'm sure Bruce Willis will be proud seeing fans learning a new language and discussing his films at the same time.

I was required to learn Spanish in my Catholic university. Unfortunately, I was not able to use it outside the classroom. I had no one to converse with, and no one to share my knowledge of the language, which perhaps contributed to why I am no longer able to speak it well. The instruction of the language in my university was very academic (and religious) in nature, and so I felt that it was not very practical when it came to real life. We were asked to translate English prayers into Spanish, and recite traditional English poems in its Spanish equivalent. I never felt this type of instruction was helpful at all. Nevertheless, I am still hoping to improve on my Spanish through this website, and hopefully someday, I am able to use this beautiful language when I visit Spain.

I found Rosetta Stone to be an ineffective learning module, at least for me. Although I might not have used it properly, which would be obviously my fault. If used properly, it might be a very powerful tool to learn Spanish or any other language the software offers. Good luck, and I hope you are able to make out the most of Rosetta.