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"Been there, done that." You say this when the topic of discussion already happened to you. Pass the salt. It's from one of the novel that I've read and since I read it, it somehow resides in my head. It means "get over it or forget about it and move on".

I enjoy Pablo Neruda’s poetry because it’s romantic, heartfelt, straight to the point and honest. You can find it in his poems those things you may want to say to the person that you like or love as well as the things that you cannot express as it should be.

Next to English, I would like to learn Japanese because I really admire Japanese culture and animation and Japan is the country I really wanted to explore. I like to witness their Sakura festival and to look at their arts and literature. Well, that or Spanish since besides English, Spanish was the language spoken in our country for hundred of years during the Spanish occupancy in our country.

For me it would be speaking since we don’t normally speak English in our regular conversation. Usually, we only speak in English when we are asked or being talk to that way and like resilientsage29 said, it requires spontaneity. I actually mind my grammar when I speak so I could not deliver like when I speak in my own language.

I loved to read books by my favorite author and a serialized novel. Actually, I have a lot of favorite. It’s hard to have just one because there’s a lot of great English books and authors out there. Say, my favorite in my collection would be Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery, Dune Trilogy by Frank Herbert, Frank McCourt’s ‘Tis and Angela’s Ashes, and Isaac Asimov’s The Winds of Change.

Taking note of every new word that you heard or read then searching what it means in your dictionary right away. When you heard an unfamiliar word from a friend, you’ll pester him or her for its meaning and say or use the word again and again and again.

Ah. So it’s like using semi-colon instead of coordinating conjunction in separating independent clauses.

I guess the limited space for tweeting and text messaging, not enough to express all the words that we wanted to write or say, forces us to tread on the correct spelling by abbreviating or writing it in a shorter form. Also, technology like mobile phone with a small keypad has a way of making it hard for us to write a word in full thus making us lazy to even complete the word. I think it also has something to do with rushing on saying what we have to say that we no longer feel the need to taste the word. It’s like the importance of the word is replaced by the importance of time that the word should reach the other person right away. It’s like we return to the World War era where messages were transmitted through short messages or telegraph.

The way I understand it, Capitalization signals the beginning and the end of one thought. Even without exclamation point, if your next word starts with a capital letter you will know that you’re starting on a different line. It also gives conviction to the word, like our name. It stressed its importance being capitalized unlike when it is not, you won’t know its difference from a regular thing. Like when your surname is Brown. How can that be different with the color brown if it’s written simply as brown?

Thank you, Laura. See, sometimes I use those words without being aware if I’m using the proper one. You've explained it very well and here, I’m going to try to use them depending on what I learned from your instruction. Will you look at this example if I used those words correctly? I could have done this yesterday but I wasn't online. I can do it now though. I will wait should there be any correction. Thanks.

I care when I can’t express myself well when the conversation is in English like the word I needed is hanging at the tip of my tongue. I’ve no problem when the communication is done via writing though. It’s just hard when it is done orally and I’m talking to a person really fluent in English. Somehow I expect myself to respond as well but, you know. I still need some practice.

If my memory serves me right, it’s either The Princess and the Pea or Cinderella fairytale book (that and the English textbooks in first grade) since that’s what really interests me as child. I think my cousin lend that book to me since I didn’t know where else to get it or any story book that time.

Those I know who lived in other country, mostly from the U.S., for a long time (at least a year) has adapted the manner of speaking there. I guess it’s a natural change since they are more exposed to the American’s tone of voice than their own and in keeping up with their adopted country’s language or in normal conversation there, they taught themselves to speak as well as the natives.

I say English because there’s English translation, explanation or counterpart for every Tagalog/Filipino words and our alphabet is the same with that of the English alphabet except for seven consonants that we’ve no use in our language. Also, to learn English is a required study in education sectors here (in the Philippines) and although it’s not our mother tongue, most Filipinos if not talking or writing in Tagalog would be speaking or writing in English.

Like, one moment you only speak this one certain language, the next moment someone asked you in different language and you’re able to reply in the same manner that person has spoken. Or you have in your hand this poem or article written in other language and when you tried to read it you’re, like, “Hey, I can read it!”