karmel

My favorite one, which I learned way back in my grade school days, is this:

She sells seashells by the seashore. 

Some of my non-Filipino ESL students thought that they could master the English language within 3-6 months of being enrolled in a language program :confused: They would get frustrated if they couldn't use the language fluently. I kept telling them that they shouldn't fret too much because learning a new language really takes time and involvement in a community that uses that language. In our country, people have been exposed to English from birth up to the time they finish their education, so understanding English is fairly easy even to people who have not mastered using it. I believe that a 3 to 6-month program will just teach the student the rudiments of the language. Being able to use the language in an unrestrained and effective manner is a different thing.

I believe there is no other effective way to maintain a language you've learned but to continually expose yourself to it. Listen to songs, watch shows, read books, and talk to people in that language

I teach English in the early grades and because I have to constantly speak the language throughout the day, I tend to forget some words--especially the basic ones--in my native tongue (Tagalog).

I am able to use Tagalog and English fluently. Most people here in my country (the Philippines!) are actually multilingual; some are eloquent in 3-4 languages!

I grew up reading a lot of children's stories so somehow I got the English grammar into my system without being too conscious about it. But of course, since English is part of our curriculum in elementary and high school, I had to study the rules in grammar and all those technical stuff. That was the hardest part for me. Studying the tenses was troublesome for me but thank God I'm all over it and I understand it a lot better now 

I use "LOL" but not to the point of pelting my chat box with it. I'm not a fan of acronyms when I email or chat even with my closest friends. What I think I use a lot is "haha". I noticed that I add more ha's whenever I laugh harder, so it appears like this: hahahahahahahaha.

I remain very confused when these things come up. Which way the full stop shall go?

He said," I love America."

He said," I love America".

Since I love America are the exact words of the subject He, it is correct to put the period inside the quotation marks just like this: He said, "I love America."

In the Philippines, English is generally used in teaching Math and Science. I think it's because we do not have or most of us are not familiar with the Filipino translations of mathematical and scientific terms. Much more if you're studying in a private school because almost all subjects are taught in English. Most of our textbooks are also written in English.

I believe there is a difference between the basic sentence patterns of English and my native language, Filipino (Tagalog). In English, we usually start with the subject followed by the verb: I will go to the mall. We can also use the same pattern in Filipino but it doesn't sound natural: Ako (I) ay pupunta (will go) sa mall. What's common in our daily conversations is the verb-subject pattern: Pupunta ako sa mall, when translated literally, becomes Will go I to the mall.

Also, there is a difference in the pluralization of nouns. In English, we add -s/-es or change the spelling of the word. In Filipino, we add mga before the noun.

I'm not exactly a language expert but these are my observations. I don't mind being corrected . I think there are still a lot of other differences.

I enjoy reading children's stories. They're very fluid and easy to read especially for those who are trying to learn English. As a child, I immersed myself in fairy tales (Rumpelstiltskin!  ) and pocketbooks (Sweet Valley, Goosebumps, Night World, etc.). Through reading at an early age, I was able to learn English grammar and vocabulary almost by myself. Though we had English classes starting kindergarten, I'd say that my skills, especially my writing, are greatly influenced by what I read.

I'd also suggest stories by Shel Silverstein, Mercer Mayer, Neil Gaiman, and Roald Dahl.