Baburra

The errors that stick with me the most are the times when I realize that I've been mispronouncing a word all along. I find it embarrassing but not so much that I can't laugh about it. I understand we all can't be perfect at all words and at all times so I try not to take it too hard but it's still a bit shameful to me.

Has is used when the subject you are pertaining to is singular and have is used when your subject is plural. For example, "Suzy has an apple" or when plural, "Suzy and Bob have an apple". Because Suzy is alone in the first example, has is more appropriate, whereas the second example already has another person in it so you should use have.

I am currently studying Spanish because there is a huge call for bilingual employees in today's job market. Not only will being bilingual earn you more money but will also make you more valuable to most employers.

This is true. I have many friends who have made a good living by just knowing another language. Some were of different nationalities and just grew up speaking it at home while some grew up in other countries and they are all highly sought after by employers. I myself know a few languages but I'm not fluent enough to make an official job out of it.

I always thought that learning and knowing multiple languages was good exercise for the brain but I've never looked into it enough to see something as specific as what you've provided so thank you, it was a very interesting read. I also have come across an article that stated some theories on why Chinese speaking people have an edge at math and it had something to do with symbols which makes for easier calculation and mental manipulation. I find these very interesting.

I just checked the site out and the lessons are very well written so I must congratulate you on your achievement and your effort. I unfortunately can't volunteer because I don't have much free time to do hobby work right now but I just wanted to drop by and wish you luck with your new site. I can help with the design critique if you need it.

My vote would go to the French language. I know Spanish is a good contender and it might even sound more romantic on by technical level but I am just too in love with the sound of the french language so I am very biased towards it. The only problem is that the words and phrases are so hard to pronounce and get used to so it's a difficult language to learn for me.

I've seen these basic mistakes addressed before but I think putting them in a neat infographic like this is helpful. I'm fortunate that my education in English was good enough that I got to understand these principles at a very young age and I try to understand it as much as possible when I see these errors in others but I just can't help but feel squeamish whenever I see someone use apostrophes for plural forms.

I don't live in the U.S. so I don't get to use my Spanish much at the work place when I did work at an office, but I did have an office ate who was very fluent in Spanish so I got to have some enjoyment at work learning more from him. Also we used to communicate in Spanish for some phrases that served as inside jokes or just things we did not want our boss to hear or understand so it was helpful in terms of giving us a sort of code to work with.

I'm no expert so I might be wrong but I think the structure is sound as well as the pronoun used. Personally, I think you could substitute the noun with anything and it could work so it's why I'm assuming that the structure is good.

For example, "it is our duty to care for Frank, who has suffered" doesn't sound too odd to me at all, so I suspect using him in this case is acceptable.

I think it's told to people who complain about their problems so that they realize that they are lucky to have something in their hand and they should be discouraged from feeling disappointed with not having more options that are uncertain in terms of being attainable. To me it just means that having one caught is better than the possibility of catching two because that is uncertain whereas the one you have is already yours.

I'm not too sure about the coupon thing though since I'm not a coupon expert but I suspect it's something similar.

It's hard to tell because we all grow up with all these so it's hard to isolate which one contributes the most. If I had to guess, though, I'd say that television shows and movies contribute the most to learning a language because if you watch enough shows throughout the day and it's what you watch when you go to the movies you're bound to learn the language one way or another. This is probably why lots of kids learn language through shows even before they start reading or listening to their own music.

I think it's alright. As long as the teacher knows what he or she is doing then it shouldn't really matter what nationality they are originally. I don't think accents are that important either unless they somehow interfere with the lessons but I doubt that is common. I think as long as the students are being taught proper grammar and given a wide vocabulary to learn then the accents would be a secondary worry.

The one I find most amusing is constipado which means flu in Spanish but in English it would most likely be assumed to be constipation which is a bit more comedic since it deals with bowels and those tend to make for the most understandable jokes between nations and nationalities.

This happens for me sometimes too but honestly I see it coming just enough to be able to prevent it somewhat. I try and control it because I don't want to seem like I am trying to copy their accent on purpose and risk being misunderstood, although I'm sure that it is subtle enough that they don't even notice or at least they probably wouldn't mind.

I think this is how the direction goes in Thailand too. The Japanese however, reads from right to left on a book. They start from the end of it that's what I mean which is fascinating.

Yes. Japanese originates from Chinese, as far as I know, so they are very similar in the way their words are read and written. I've read a lot of Japanese books and manga and I've always been comfortable with them because I was already used to reading lots of Chinese books and comics as well.

I think good English grammar is very important because it tells a lot about who the person is. Granted, it still isn't and should still never be the sole measurement by which a person is judged but still it would be foolish to dismiss that it at least gives you an impression of the person's background. I don't think it is entirely necessary especially for those who are just trying to communicate something instead of actually trying to be good at the language, but it is favorable to be correct with grammar in general.

I agree. I think writing is good practice and it even encompasses all lessons you would or should learn like grammar, sentence structure, as well as punctuation. It's definitely a lot more effective than just reading since you are doing the work ur self instead of just passively enjoying what is presented to you.

These days, I'm seeing a lot of people misusing the word literal so it's good that we remind ourselves of basic lessons like these. I often see comments that say they are "literally" dying of laughter or something similar and I know a lot of grammar nazis like me who come across those are just itching to correct it, but I personally choose not to. My favorite figurative phrase to use I guess is dying of hunger because I'm always hungry.  :wacky:

I have lots of apps in my phone and tablet but I admit I rarely use them. I'm sure someone out there is getting much more use out of these but I personally just can't keep up either because usually they just tend to over complicate simple tasks. The only apps that I like are games and specialized ones that I can use to create but as far as utility apps go I'm not too fond of them.

This has happened to me more than a few times before, often when it's noisy, and when it does I just pretend I heard it and walk away unless I know it was something really important. If I know the person well enough I'd keep asking but most of the time this happens only with acquaintances so I try and not to irritate them by asking them to repeat themselves that many times.

Yes, it does depend on devotion. Most people who say it took 3-5 years mean about 2-3 times a week. If you want real progress FAST, work everyday. One tip suggested online is get labels and a dictionary. Label certain things in the language you want them in, and whenever you interact with one of them, say its name.

Did you know? If you know the 1000 most common words in any language, you will be able to read 70% of texts in that language!

I agree. Someone devoted would probably take more time out of each day to learn and they would also probably make much more of an effort to find tips and tricks like the one you've shared so the estimated time for learning would most likely get cut down to a lower timespan. If one is devoted then that person will find out more efficient ways to learn.

Google Dictionary to the rescue for me as far a spelling goes. Being anon-native speaker, I can;t depend on my gut feeling to know of I spelled something right or wrong.

It's definitely more dependable if you are someone who grew up reading in that language, I think. I know there are a lot of native English speakers who tend not to read or write much so they usually don't notice when they misspell something, but I think that's okay since we already have tools nowadays to find those errors anyway, as you've mentioned.

For me the biggest decider if i am going to learn a language or not is usually desire. If i find that  i have no desire to learn a particular language then i will most likely not do it. Or it will take much longer than usual. I have seen this in a lot of people too. The people that desire and want to learn something new are usually the ones that end up achieving the results.

I completely agree and I think this tip is actually usually underrated or looked over but it's very important because if not then the person trying to learn will eventually just end up wasting his or her time. The best thing to do is really to gauge how much you actually want to learn the language and to determine how much sacrifice you are willing to go through to learn it. This way you can be sure of what you are getting into.

I think we should have a sticky in the general discussion section on the most commonly brought up topic of "why we choose to learn another language" because I always see newly created threads for it. At this point I'm guessing I've seen about 5 different threads about it already. (Not a complaint, just an observation)

I know everyone can and should just search first before making a new thread but I'm guessing it's just partly due to the fact that it's not that easy to pinpoint old threads about it because it can be phrased a million different ways, so I think a sticky on this would be useful.

This might sound silly but what really helped me with my grammar was just reading lots and lots of Archie comic books, and it would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn grammar as well. I'm not exactly sure what it is about that particular comic but I think it's just due to the the short bursts of exchange and the conversations between the characters are very grounded. It's hard to explain but I think if you read enough of it you'll find your grammar is formed more subconsciously which I think is the best way to go about it.