rossonomous

This is an interesting one. I asked my Swedish house-mate what language she thinks in. So when she is running through things in her mind, is it in Swedish or English?

She said that it's both and it's becoming more and more English, obviously because she lives here now.

So my question is, do you think in your mother tongue or in a different language?

I'm not talking about when you are learning, because when you're learning it is obviously in that language. I'm talking about day-to-day situations.

Have not experienced it but that is a really odd situation. The reason I say this is because when you are fluent in your first language, do you not think in that language? If you think it that language, then you are using it all the time still.

If you intend to stay in your native language speaking country and have no desire to work in a multilingual environment then no it is not necessary. I don't think that many job opportunities are really looking for someone that can speak a variety of languages. At a young age you are urged to learn one because they insist that you need it to stand a better chance of getting a job, but I disagree with this statement.

When I dream in the language I am learning. I considered that a huge breakthrough. The first time I dreamed in Spanish I was so excited. I felt like I was thinking subconsciously in the language I was trying to learning instead of hearing, translating, then responding.

This is pretty cool. I have never dreamed in an alternative language and I can't imagine what that would be like. Must have felt a bit strange when you woke up.

I've heard of a lot schools offering thier students language courses in the country where the language they want to learn is spoken.  Most of them must be really expensive tho, but some of them go as far as promising the students to help them find a job once they're in that country (as well as helping the with the work permit and so on), so they can help themselves a little while they're studiyng the language there.  Sadly this is too expensive!  I think only the rich people in my country can truly afford it... some of those courses require the student to stay in the foreign country for a full year!

There are a few places I have heard of that do this, and you're right, it can be very expensive.

It would be a brilliant opportunity from a young age though.

I would urge them to learn one while at school, but if they did not want to carry it on after that then I would accept that as their decision.

I hope they will take some inspiration from me when I have them and see it as something quite cool and unique.

I like the accents of non English people when speaking English.

So do I! There's quite a nice twang in the voice which is pretty appealing.

I traveled to Taiwan to learn Chinese. I was there to teach ESL but the reason that I chose Taiwan was because it is Chinese speaking. One important thing though is that just going to the country is not good enough. My wife was also with me and she didn't learn Chinese. She got by as best she could with just English. Even in another country you still have to study the language to be successful. It just makes it easier.

O of course you have to study. I mean more that have people specifically gone to a country in order to further aid their studying of the language.

I know a couple of people who went to France for a year specifically to live and breath French in order to learn the language.

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 :-)

I know right! They sound brilliant. And I know that I will rarely get to use the language, but it should be fun to see what I can learn before going on holiday there!

When I travelled around France for a month I had this all the time. In your head, you have enough of the basics to catch on and hold minimal conversation, but you really don't!

One of the best ways to learn a new language is of course to live in the native country where it is spoken.

Is this something that you have done before? I personally have never done it, but would love to one day as it would be a great experience.

English is my native language. I know French and I am starting out on Swedish

Battered

Gattered

Ship-wrecked

Blasted

Mashed

I could go on and on!

When it comes to my native language, (English), I do not care how people think I talk. I guess it's due to a confidence thing since it's the language you've been speaking all of your life, you know? But when it comes to learning new languages, I'm definitely shy about how I may sound, or what I may pronounce wrong since I'm not as used to the language.

I think in this case, it is pretty standard. Especially when we are at the start of a new language when we have very poor pronunciation and take a long time to think of the words we are trying to say.

My least favourite English accent is the scouse accent. Everything just sounds so ugly!

I use to use it quite a lot as well as 'lmao'. Then I started to read my texts back and realised it sounded quite silly. So i've cut it down now just to exceptional circumstances

Every now and again I will just say a long sentence in English, write it down and then repeat it in an alternative language, then write that down. Then I'll compare.

Apart from that, just watching TV, reading and stuff like that.

I want to learn more languages because I love to go travelling and being able to interact with different people and cultures. My granddad can speak a fair few languages and it has always intrigued me. There's nothing like being able to interact with all different people across the world!

My family have a tendency for really random first words!

Mine was 'Watermelon' - Pronounced 'Waddmelon'

My sisters was 'Hippopotamus' - Pronounced very precisely apparently.

That's so nice!  It must be so exciting!  Because you will be going to Sweden so soon, and this will be the ultimate swedish test!  So you better hurry   It's so nice of her to have accepted to teach you some swedish.  Actually my boyfriend is my personal teacher; he's the one who is teaching me some dutch.  I'm trying really hard to learn it because we might move to the Netherlands soon (we'd like to get married).

That's my main  motivation.  To be honest I'm not a big fan of the dutch language, I'd prefer to be learning swedish instead of dutch   I find it WAY easier to learn... dutch is a lot like german, but it's more like a horribly misspelled version of it!  A lot words sound like german, but when you have to write them... oh my!!

It is really exciting and as you say it will be the ultimate test. I would love to be able to go out there and pick up on random words and sentences when I hear people talking. I'm going to be trying really hard, so it will be an interesting experience.

I'm also not a great fan of Dutch, I think it just sounds a bit ugly ha!

I can understand your concern, especially being in a profession setting.  I do think it's important to uphold standards of proper grammar and pronunciation in such circumstances.  It can be beneficial to you as far as your career in general is concerned as well as in your current workplace.

I don't see it as an issue of how others judge or don't judge.  I think that the standards should be your own.  If you want to have better grammar then it's a goal to work towards for your own sake.  If not, then that too is for your own sake.

My goal is for better grammar overall, but I don't want to be doing this just because I feel myself being scrutinised. I am trying to look from an alternative approach now though. If I feel like I'm being scrutinised, rather than taking this in a negative fashion (because it's probably not intended like that anyway), I'm just going to use it as a reason to improve.

Well, a girl is always motivation enough to learn a new language.

Haha, I actually do have a girlfriend

No I don't care what people think of the way I talk. Growing up I always had a deeper and more pitched voice. Some people would say I talked like my nose was clogged up. I don't care what people think of the way I talk, as long as they can understand me.

I've long stuck by this opinion but for some reason I just feel more and more agitated by it recently. I know that I should not let it bother me.

I trip over my tongue a lot. It's not great for when I try to tell witty jokes and I end up botching the punch line. That doesn't stop me from trying though. I'm not really concerned about how people perceive me through my grammar and pronunciation.

In a professional business environment, it would do you well to have great language etiquette. But I don't believe it seriously impacts what people think of you.

I also get told that I trip over my tongue and that I miss words out in my sentences. I think it's because I talk a bit slangy therefore say less words where I don't see them necessary. However, I don't know I'm doing it until it gets pointed out.

I guess I'd go with French or Japanese.  They're both interesting and widely spoken. Not to mention I would like to visit places where these languages are spoken. Culture-wise too, they're both fascinating.

Japanese is definitely one that I would love to learn one day. I've been told that it's very tricky though. I suppose when you have learnt a few languages though it is easy to start new ones from scratch.