Baburra

The best way is to learn the alphabet first so you can just read and learn on your own when it is applicable. Otherwise, if you can already read and learn a particular language on your own and already have a grasp of some key words and phrases, then the next step would be to talk to someone regularly using that language. I think the most efficient way to learn is by repetition and dedication. By practicing regularly, you will eventually get the new language ingrained into your memory and it will eventually become second nature, thus lessening the probability of forgetting it.

I agree. I think R's are one of the most difficult things to adapt to when speaking a different language, hence why Japanese people have a little trouble speaking English and why English speakers sometimes have trouble with Spanish R's, and personally, I have trouble with French R's because that is the one that's most different from my native language. As for Spanish, I learned it easily enough because it is very much similar to my native language, Filipino, which is for the most part derived from the Spanish language.

I think the situation you've stated is just a good example of how your mind can get in your way sometimes, and it's probably fairly common as I also experience this sometimes myself. I think when your brain goes into autopilot, it's much more efficient at making things happen, but when you start thinking about something too hard, then it only entails more effort and often results in stress. It may be similar to having the right word at the tip of your tongue, but the more you try to remember the word, the more the memory gets distant.

I agree. Rules are there only as a guide to have some sort of standard but shouldn't necessarily be given the top priority, especially when you are only starting to learn the particular language. Often, I think correcting yourself down the line is a bit better because you get to start learning without much hesitation on whether or not you are saying things wrong and instead just focusing on trying to put together a good enough sentence to be understood which you can then just improve on as you go along.

I think it can be helpful in some minor ways, but I wouldn't rely on it to provide me with majority of the lessons I need to learn. Movie dialogues are often exaggerated and usually doesn't translate well into everyday speaking purposes, but some lines in between could be common enough to be useful, although even then you'd have to rely on how well the subtitles are translated by the one who made it and most of the time it's only a rough translation because the purpose of subtitles are only to give you an idea of what the character wishes to convey instead of an exact and literal translation.

I think immersion would be the best way to do so in any way that you can. As some of the previous posts have already mentioned, surrounding yourself with the music and watching some conversations is a good way to start. I also learned a handful of phrases just by looking up some common ones on sites that have accompanying pronunciation audio, which is what has helped me in learning French the most so far since the pronunciations are very difficult to get down properly. Also, if you can find one, try to search for a language partner you could practice with either online or offline. I'm betting there are at least a few French speakers who would love to practice with you in exchange for English lessons. Good luck!

I played scrabble a lot when I was younger and I attribute a good amount of my vocabulary to it. I think it helps with remembering certain words because having them used as tools to help you win or even when the words are used to beat you, just makes the word/s stick a lot better to your mind instead of just reading them and instantly forgetting about them the next day.

I think it is still very useful to carry around a dictionary or translation books when in a different country. I agree that normal conversations wouldn't be the right place to use them, probably, but I'd guess that it would at least be useful for when shopping in stores and talking to clerks.

For learning a new language, I prefer to be isolated in a room or at least somewhere no one will hear me practice my pronunciations as I will get shy if I knew someone was listening to me fumble around. :shy: If I'm just studying in general, though, I'd prefer to be in a library. I like the atmosphere of libraries and I think it helps me focus a lot more there than if I were at home with lots of distractions and it's a little too comfortable.

My native language, Filipino, was derived from the Spanish language as we were colonized by Spain for a very long time. It's why we have a lot of words that are very similar to Spanish and it's still even common for people to know and use a lot of basic Spanish words like for when speaking of numbers and time, but I think it's seen more as an "old-time-y" way of speaking.

I experience this a lot. I think it's just because I'm not used to using it often enough. When I'm speaking in my native language, it feels like second nature, just like walking, and that doesn't require me to think about it, but when I speak another language that I consciously have to dig up from my memory, it becomes a conscious decision and I do get self conscious. I think the best way to fight it is to just immerse yourself and maybe even practice with people online where you can feel a bit more secure about practicing so you don't feel so shy about it when it comes to offline experiences.

Like you, I just started by getting interested in their culture, especially their TV shows and I just want to understand them without the need for subtitles because I feel like a good amount of the tone and meaning tends to get lost in translation. Also, I want to travel there someday and by then I hope to have learned their language enough that I can communicate with the people there without much fumbling around as I don't think many people there speak English.

I was sort of thrown into it as I started very young because my parents enrolled me in a school that teaches secondary languages. I am learning Japanese now by choice, though, and my reason for learning that is because I'm just very interested in their culture and their works and I'd love to understand them as pure as possible without needing translation which tends to kind of dilute the messages a bit in my opinion. Also, I plan on travelling to Japan in the near future and I think it would be great to be able to interact with the locals without much trouble.

I learned Chinese and English growing up and I got both lessons pretty much side by side and I feel like I learned it just fine, but to be fair, it did take me years to be fluent in both. I think it's a lot easier when the two languages are totally different from each other so there will be less chance of confusion. I agree that it probably is way easier to just focus on one nonetheless, though.

Yes, I certainly understand the text a lot less if I have to read it out loud and especially if I'm not very used to the language of the text I'm reading. I have enough trouble understanding what I read when I read silently, to be honest, and I often have to re-read some sentences because my mind tends to drift and I find myself just reading the text without understanding it, and it's an occurrence that becomes a lot more prominent when I read something out loud unless I'm already familiar enough with the text that I'm merely reviewing it.

I don't think an entirely new language will appear in our lifetime, but one may emerge given enough time. The reason I don't think a new one will appear now is because I don't think people see much necessity for it yet, but a future event or awakening might just give us a reason to or it just might naturally take form from a more streamlined universal communication, but as for now, I think we are still relatively comfortable enough with our own languages for that to happen.

One of the methods I use that helped me a lot was to start my lessons in the mornings. I don't know if it's the same for the majority, but I suspect it is since our minds are a lot fresher in the mornings and having that definitely helps in soaking up as much information as possible. I assume it's the same reason why it feels so good to read the news in the mornings too.

I studied Chinese for over ten years as a kid, and I got pretty good at it, although unfortunately, I've forgotten a lot of it at this point. I can probably communicate relatively well with any local now, still, but I'd have to get a serious refresher course to be able to speak it again straight without needing to stop so much to think.

I did not know Hebrew and Arabic were supposed to be read from right to left, but I only see them as symbols instead of actual words so I guess it's understandable. :confused: Anyway, Chinese is another language that is almost always written right to left, that is if it is being written vertically. When it's being written horizontally, I think it's still written as left to right as far as I know.

I think so, yes. I find it much easier to type out anything that I need to be descriptive and informative with wherein I need to be as detailed and precise as I can be; but if I'm trying to write something a little more artistic or creative, I tend to do it better writing things by hand. I don't know why this is, to be honest, and I always thought it was just me. :wacky:

It should be "the man who walks", but I don't think it has much to do with the word "who" as much as the word "man" since it is singlular and therefore should be followed with a verb that ends with an "S". The only time the "S" should be removed is when the subject becomes plural such as "the men who walk".

I didn't know the last example was an acceptable form, I may start using that from now on. I usually just use semi-colons whenever my sentences are getting too long but still not long enough to warrant two separate sentences. I rarely use it for short sentences since I can just replace it with a word instead like if I were to say something similar to your first example, i'd just put it like so: "I went home early, because I had a headache."

I don't think so. When I was learning Chinese and English when I was younger, I was in a class of 40+ students and we all managed just fine. It might be true if the people in the class were at different levels of abilities though, since the more advanced people might find it boring to have to go through all the basic lessons again.

I didn't experience this in class, but in my younger days, I did meet someone online from Singapore that I exchanged emails and often chatted with. I just met her in some random chatroom, but we had the same interests and she knew English very well so we had no trouble communicating. We eventually lost touch and I still wonder where she is now to this day.

I personally don't find it very acceptable, especially since most people are using it thinking they are using it correctly. If someone used it correctly, by which I mean using the term "could care less" to imply that they feel alright towards what is happening and actually care somewhat, then I guess it would be okay, but it tends to get a little confusing, and like I said, most people are only using it mistakenly.