sillylucy

I have read some books in Spanish, but half of the time I had to refer back to my Spanish English dictionary and I had no idea what was going on. I am able to read the words and kind of guess what they sound like, but I do not 100% know what they are saying. Does anyone else know what I am talking about? I am trying to make a sincere effort here and read the book, but I get lost.

I have tried to use Google translate for full sentences and I always got mixed up because the site will incorrectly translate one or two words and then you have to go back and reverse translate it. It an be so annoying. I find that just going on a forum like this one and getting a live translation works best for me when I am working with professional documents that need to be translated. 

I think it should be bilingual so it has the explanations in English or whatever native language you speak and then it is in German. Isn't this pretty standard though? Thanks for the suggestions to the OP. I am trying to learn German so I can go on a family trip to Berlin. 

Hello! I am trying to learn Spanish too. I was thinking that we could all do a Google Hangout sometime soon. Like with video chat and we can have a big group discussion, but we talk one at a time that way we can perfect our accents. Anyone interested? 

I have been learning Spanish for the past ten years and I would not say that I am "fluent." I am studying every day and whenever I have a conversation with people then I start to choke up and forget everything that I learned the past ten years. I am pretty good at reading and writing Spanish, but I still have problems conversing in the language. 

I find it is easier to learn a language from native speakers. Sometimes the accent of non-native speakers just throws me off. I once tried learning French from a native English speaker and his accent just threw me off so much. It was horrible and I had to re-learn some words because he was just mangling the language. 

I find that I learn language best if I am doing an interactive software where I can click and listen to speakers speak. I don't like doing the immersive learning that makes me write sentences in the beginning. I just like to listen and learn first before I start writing with proper punctuation. 

When I went to Boston University TOEFL was the test that all of my friends took for the university level. They all said that they had to take it to be admitted to univeristy and they had to send their scores beforehand. I know that some state schools in California also do the same. I would say to just study for the TOEFL. 

Hi Simon! Thanks for posting this! I love the interface on your app. So simply and sleek. I love the colors and that it is no-frills and just gets down to it. I might just have to start learning Thai now! I am starting to learn German with my boyfriend too. It's so cool when couples learn languages together! Thanks so much for sharing! 

Thanks for the tip! I didn't even know you could put it on your PC! I have always been using it on my phone and lately if I do a lesson on the subway, it does not save my progress because I am offline. Is it possible that I just don't have that much memory in my phone so it kicks it out? Whatever the case, I will be trying it on my PC soon! 

I find that it does when I am writing English and Spanish! I write super sloppy and quick in English and my penmanship is very neat when I write in Spanish because I am making sure that I am getting everything right. I am more precise when I write in Spanish.

Yes I think that you will learn more from listening to native speakers speak compared to listen to scripted dialogue on lesson DVDs or in lesson videos. I feel like they slow down or don't speak at a natural pace in those videos. You learn so much more when being with a person and trying to speak their language with them. 

It sounds like you are putting a lot of time and effort into your lessons! You should be proud of the work that you are doing and not feel bad for charging a fee. Your time is worth it! Never doubt that you are contributing something that others want. They want your knowledge and are willing to pay for your help. You might want to use the same method with other students. It sounds like you can have a great side business here.

Hi there! I think I know what made you feel lost and discouraged. It was because you probably thought that all Spanish was the same. A little hint here. Spanish in Peru is doing to be vastly different than Spanish in Colombia and Spanish in the US. I live in California and the Spanish we speak here is way different than the Spanish that my friends in New York speak. You might want to focus on a country and work from there.

I think that language sharing is a great service because it helps people practice and figure out what they need help with without the pressures of being there face to face. 

I improve my listening skills with active listening. I check out audiobooks from my local library or I listen to Ted talks on my computer and force myself to listen that way I get into the habit when I am listening to language CDs that I check out from my local library. 

I think a lot of the people on this forum will do proofreading, but you should be sure to pay them for their services. I suggest posting this as a job ad on Craigslist, Fiverr or on Amazon Mturk. That way you will get some excellent services and people will get paid and rated for it! 

I think this is something that all people deal with and I know that some people are proud to have their children assimilate. I wish that more people would teach their children to be bilingual instead of just forcing them to forget their native tongue! 

I did because I knew that knowing another language could be advantageous to my college applications.  I also lived in an area where you had to know Spanish to get a job. It still holds true to this day. If you are not bilingual you will not get hired around here. 

I couldn't even dream of doing this because I will get so confused! I have tried it in the past and then I would wan tot say words in Spanish when I was speaking French and vice versa. I really wish I could just download all of these languages into my brain and I already knew them.

I am going to have to confess that I only wanted to lean French so that I can go on vacation in France. I will probably only be there a week and will spend years of my life trying to learn it for a vacation. In reality I probably don't even have to learn it, but I still want to try it out. 

My biggest problem is finding the time to practice. I do not know how people can practice for hours at a time. I am too busy trying to figure out how to live life and I can't dedicate a few hours a day to it. How do you guys find the time? 

I totally agree that it is a very attractive accent. I remember being totally in love with this accent when I was in high school. I was so in love and it would just make me swoon. Now I am so glad that someone else declared it too! Yes! 

I have always wnted to do this and I know that the Walt Disney company is looking to pay people to go abroad and teach English. I just don't think that I would adjust well and my boyfriend just got a good job in the states so I am not up for travelling right now. If I were a little younger and unattached then that is something that I would want to do. 

At first I thought it would have been a good idea for each language to have a chat function, but it would be such a pain to moderate. I could see how the mods would be fighting tolls and bots the whole time. I think the focus should just be on the forum and I fully stand behind the admins on that decision.