evapfromm

That's true Dieslrae, it does take some getting used to. I had to train my eyes to be able to read and watch the movie at the same time... Not an easy feat!

That's a great idea, LauraM! Meanings of poetry and songs are often sadly lost when translated. It's always better when you can appreciate the imagery and meaning from the original language. I'll try and implement that when I start learning my next language.

It's not really "foreign" for me, but my favorite film that isn't American is Run Lola Run (or "Lola Rennt" in the original German). To be honest, I really cannot recall watching a movie that wasn't in either German or English... I guess my tastes in movies are pretty underdeveloped.

Not really. I love being able to speak my native German, especially because it is such a rarity to find someone else who is fluent in it, where I live. I am happy that it is not one of the most common languages in the world, since that fact helps me find jobs where being bilingual in German is a necessity. I have a confession, though... I prefer the English language overall. Just don't tell my family that!

I am good at recognizing languages, as long as they are generally spoken in Europe. Once it comes to countries spoken in Latin American or Asian countries, Africa or Island nations... I am hopeless! That has to do with my exposure to those languages and my upbringing, however.

Yes, actually! Just recently, I started looking into alternative forms of income. I came to the realization that I do have skills, such as being bilingual, a fast typer, and being pretty good at grammar. This brought me to searching for jobs like transcription and proofreading. I am now a subcontractor for a company that does German transcription, and a proofreader for another online-based company. Being bilingual is a goldmine! Especially if you enjoy working from home.

The main thing would have to be motivation, whether it is necessary to learn the language because of your surroundings, or a must because it will advance your career. The people I meet who want to learn a language "just for fun" or just take it as an extra-credit course in High School/College, generally never become fluent. Of course, there are always exceptions. I would find one certain thing to motivate you to keep at it. That way, it won't feel as much like a job to learn another language.

Actually I think it's one of those words no German would use anymore.

I was born in Germany and spent half of my life there. I have heard it used among my family members.

I admit, I am somewhat guilty of that, GetFresh! Since German isn't commonly spoken at all in America, my father, brother and I will converse about people right in front of them. We are able to stand in a grocery store and comment on somebody's haircut that we don't like, etc. It's somewhat amusing, however slightly evil. :angel:

Good point Rand Paul. I wouldn't have met my American boyfriend if I hadn't first learned English. And Mareebaybay, I haven't looked into the benefits of being bilingual protecting against alzheimer's/dementia, but I can certainly believe it.

Ahh, that's also a good idea! I hadn't even thought of children's TV shows. I might try and find some that are in Dutch or French now, thanks.

I remember when I first started learning English, I would also keep the Weather Channel on almost all day. Even if you don't understand the person, you can pretty much guess at what they are saying, anyway.

Hello kitkat0124. Thank you for the welcome. It's always easier to pick up a language when you're living in that country, I find. I was able to pick up English within a year of moving to America. But don't give up!

I was born in Germany, and then I moved to America when I was around 10 years old. I became fluent in English within a year of moving here. I had no idea I had a German accent until one day, when I asked my reading class in middle school out of nowhere if they thought I had an accent, and I got a resounding "YES!"

I knew, back then and now, that I couldn't pronounce certain things like the "TH" sound in words... Mother, father, weather etc, or that weird American "ORL".. World, hurled, whirl. I still didn't think I had an accent at all times, though. Guess I was wrong!

Nowadays, I get told all the time that I don't have a German accent anymore. I still slip up sometimes, but my spoken English is pretty much perfect.

I just wanted to share some of the little tips and ways that helped me to become fluent in English within a year of moving to America.

For example, I always kept on the subtitles for a movie in English, and the closed-captioning for any show I watched on T.V. That way, I could both hear the words being spoken, and read them at the same time.

I also started out reading a ton of children's books, until I felt comfortable enough to move up.

Does anyone else have any tips they could share?

My top favorite American author is probably Kurt Vonnegut, for his humor and satirical works. After that, it'd probably be Ernest Hemingway or Emily Dickinson. If I had to pick an author that is still living, it'd be Orson Scott Card.

I've also found that learning other languages has helped me understand my own native language better. I'm Dutch, fluent in English, have a good working knowledge of French and German and have done some Latin as well. Despite their differences, I find it fascinating that words and even expressions sometimes occur across all of those.

With English and Dutch, in particular, I find sometimes that essentially the same word will have a subtly different meaning. This makes me eager to learn more about etymology and the development of languages and how they have influenced each other over the years.

I have noticed this as well! I think you might've seen my other thread on the Dutch forum, but I have found that, as a German speaker, I can find words that are similar in both languages. I see this in German and English as well, like you do with English and Dutch.

I wonder the ability or interest in learning a language is greater among those who identify with the read/learner type. It seems like the majority of the people who have replied so far at least somewhat identify with that type. Not that other types of learners can't learn a language as easily or even better than a read/write learner- that would be silly.

That's actually really interesting to hear, Miya. My family and I were all born in West Germany. I was born in Southwest Germany, Baden-Wuerttemberg, to be specific. My father especially enjoys listening to Dutch news broadcasts. I think he was born in West Germany close to the border of the Netherlands.

I was always confused why it was easier to read Dutch than to understand it by hearing it spoken... Glad I'm not the only German speaker who feels that way!

Thank you for the responses, guys. It sounds like it should be possible for me to pick up Dutch, then... I can see how finding a native speaker to practice with would be pretty hard, though. I can hardly find other German speakers in America! 

I try to read children's books at first, and then move up in grade level, the easier it gets. Chatting online with native speakers seem to help me out a lot, as well.

Thank you for that link. We had to take tests in school to see what kind of a learner we are, and I never seemed to fit into Audio, Visual or Kinesthetic. I am definitely a Read/Writer learner.

Oh wow, thank you for all the responses, guys. I wasn't expecting so much feedback. It is awesome to hear that other people see the tremendous amount of benefits in speaking more than one language... More jobs, more friends, music, more places to travel to... I couldn't imagine NOT being bilingual now.

Well, I'm going to pretty biased here and say that German is. Granted, it probably only sounds romantic to my ears, because I am a native speaker. I do enjoy the way French sounds, though.

I speak German and English fluently, but I have always been interested in becoming fluent in Dutch. A lot of the words already seem understandable to me, since they are similar to German words. What do you think? I sometimes watch news broadcasts in Dutch just for fun, to see how much I can understand. Trying to listen and understand seems harder than trying to read Dutch, though!

I am a native German speaker, and I speak English fluently. If you need a practice buddy, encouragement, or tips, let me know. I would be glad to help out. Talking to other people online helped me out a ton when I was learning English, so I would be happy to give back.

I picked up English within a year of moving to America from Germany. I was around 10 years old. I absorbed the language so quickly by being immersed in it- chatting online, reading books, talking to strangers. I read, speak and understand it better than my native German tongue now. I am always impressed by people who are teenagers or adults, and are able to learn another language.

If you are bi- or multilingual, what benefits have you seen in your life from speaking more than one language? Personally, I believe it has opened my mind to different cultures and new experiences. I also benefit from being able to read world news in more than one language, to see different cultural perspectives on things. How about you?