Baburra

I agree. I think it really takes a certain kind of educator, one who is passionate about his or her craft enough to teach the same thing year after year to hundreds of different students to really instill a sense of wonder and curiosity because they are the ones who should be teaching you why their subject is a wonderful thing to know. As for me, as much as I hate to admit it, I have a way easier time with English which is only my second language. I think it's because English just has rules that are way more standardized than my own native language, but I still love it completely nonetheless.

I think what really makes learning fun is the application you get to do once you have some sort of a grasp on your newly learned language. I always found it very exciting and fun that I get to read both English and Chinese comic books as well as ones that are in my own native language. Furthermore, it's also fun communicating with a local countryman of that language and seeing the surprise and joy in their eyes when they come across a foreigner who took initiative to learn their language and culture.

I agree, and I'd almost contest that both are almost symbiotic, by which I mean a love for reading will most likely increase your language skills and having more knowledge of a particular language might also encourage one to read more. I can only speak from personal experience, though, as I read a lot of comics when I was younger and I attribute a lot of what I now know about English and English grammar to it, and it in turn has also made me want to read even more comics until I grew up and moved on to actual predominantly literary books.

I think it is set up like that just because American English is still the prominent standard, internationally speaking. We all use sites like Google and Facebook and those are American sites, and I doubt they would choose putting British or Canadian English as a priority standard against their own. It's not just in the main websites we use too, it's also pretty much the same when it comes to movies and literature, so I'm not really that much surprised.

I think the best way to get accurate translations is to not get too attached to the sentence and paragraph structure of the language you are translating. I find that different languages will often have different flows to them and I think it's best to translate whole paragraphs instead of doing them sentence by sentence, so as to have a better result of conveying what is being portrayed.

I think I've always been relatively comfortable with English, so I never really got stressed out too much when it comes to English exams. I usually just brush up on some technical terms, but besides that I don't really have much of a problem unless the topic is very specific and requires precision. Otherwise, I only ever get worried when the subject is about something that needs memorization like History.

I agree with the Words That Matter list, just not all of them because I'm only familiar with some. I agree, though, in that some of the other words just seem to be too forced and therefore probably irrelevant. I think the words that matter have a way of organically creeping into mainstream usage, while some are just too artificial to make it.

I agree. I think these things are helping us along in developing us further in terms of universal communication. I know a lot of countries have their own versions of these, and that just adds even more to the things we have in common and thus giving us more reasons to relate to each other. Additionally, communicating in pictures is very effective too, I think.

I work in graphics design and I've made a good number of minor mistakes such as these already. I think it just happens when the project is too rushed or the designer is too tired, but still, the bosses should really put in better quality checkers above the designers especially when they are selling a product that focuses on words.

LOL I chuckled heartily at the title! I am very much amused (with all due respect) by Canadian speech, definitely - especially the "eh" bit. Although, to be honest, I've never really spoken with a Canadian in person, so I just know what I know from online videos and depictions in cartoons and TV shows - specifically South Park and Craig Ferguson who frequently and adoringly talks about Canadians and your naturally calm demeanor and politeness, which he usually then follows by half-jokingly stating that those totally go away once a Canadian holds a hockey stick. Anyway, my personal favorite speech habits of Canadians, from what I understand, is the use of the terms friend, buddy, and guy when pertaining to others. I find that very quaint and adorable and I wish more people from other countries used it as well.

Wow. The one about "rule of thumb" was pretty disturbing, and of course, Ring around the rosy was too but the thumb one caught me by surprise because I didn't know about that one. I vaguely remember learning that a lot of children's songs were about troubled times, so that one didn't shock me as much anymore. Some other notable examples are "London Bridge" and "Jack and Jill" if I'm not mistaken. Thanks for sharing those! Anyway, I found another interesting one - "Close but no cigar" originates from carnivals once offering cigars as prizes, and participants usually only came close to winning the prize but never quite making it, as is the norm at these types of games - hence the term.

As much as I hate to admit it, I do care somewhat. I tend to speak the way I like, but at the same time, I also try to also join in our group of friends' "insider language". I do it partly because it's still pretty fun and amusing, don't get me wrong, but I can't deny that I also avoid using some words and ways of speaking that I know will not sit well with them. I honestly don't really mind it that much anyway, since I realize that everywhere I go, as long as I am speaking with other people, there will be a need for compromise - pretty much in the same vein as just merely being polite and various other social conversational norms. As long as you don't let it rule your life, it's acceptable to allow some degree of self consciousness from time to time, I think.

Mine would probably be "piece of cake". I've always been amused by food idioms for some reason, and this is one that I often heard growing up and I also use it too. I heard this figure of speech most when speaking about tests and homework at school. I wasn't getting very good grades and my dad would always tell me to try and look at it as being easy and he always used idioms, specifically this one. I don't really say it much anymore nowadays since I don't take tests anymore, but it's the one that stands out most in my memory.

I think it might be best to first have an idea of how the foreign language translates, even just in pictures or in gestures, preferably as minimal of an amount as possible. After having learned the basics, it might be more possible to use the foreign language exclusively as the student will already have a starting off point and can already understand what is trying to be conveyed. I learned Chinese this way, and I think it's best.

As already previously stated, the most prominent difference would probably be the use of "OU" in place of "O". Also, another one that stands out in my memory is their variation and pronunciation of the word "programme" (pronounced pro-grum) in place of "program".

"The pen is mightier than the sword", I think is a great example of this. Although, I don't think it's used as much anymore nowadays. Probably because people rarely even use pens anymore lol. I think it's still pretty accurate even in these modern times, though.

Very interesting topic! I see a lot of things I have in common with our members here. My specific advantages are probably that I have a pretty good memory and analytic skills. However, no matter how good my memory is, I will eventually forget it if I don't use it so I'd say that even that is heavily dependent on what my particular situation is at any given time. Also, I'm pretty lazy, so I usually put off lessons sometimes, but I try not to let my laziness get overboard.

I come across a lot of English idioms which have meanings that aren't too obvious, and I tend to forget what they mean eventually if I don't make myself fully understand them. Personally, I think knowing about the origin of a phrase will only make the meaning stick to your head better or it may at least give you better appreciation for it. As an example, I will put up something I looked up just recently which is "A dime a dozen". At first, I didn't really see the obvious implication of it, but having read up on it and seeing how the evolution came about from how it was originally used and compared to how it is now used really gave me some perspective on it and undoubtedly gave me a clearer picture of the best way it could be used. Here is the history for anyone who is interested: How about you guys, any interesting origin stories? Please do post them, and I'll do the same as I remember and look up more of these.

My memory of this is a little blurry since I was very young when I started learning English at school, but I still remember getting taught some of these idioms early on and at least one of the first ones I learned and remembered was "The grass is always greener on the other side". I'm sure there were lots more taught within that period, but it's the one I remember most for some reason.

I'd say it's entirely possible. It would surely be easier if you were younger and had less things to worry about and maybe your mind would be sharper, but I wouldn't say it makes that much of a difference. I think it just looks daunting at first, but once you get so used to knowing the language that it becomes second nature, you'd wonder how you lived through decades without it.

Very interesting! I never knew it was rooted in the '90s, I always just assumed it was a new derivation trendy word like yolo. It does sound like a relatively natural sounding word though, so I can see how it took off.

I speak Chinese and Filipino and in both languages I think the adjective comes first. I imagine it could be done the other way around if you really wanted to, but you can do that in English as well. I think I know what you're talking about, though, whenever I read subtitles in Japanese and could understand a few of the words, I can tell that the English subtitles is structured in the opposite direction of how to say the same sentence in Japanese.

I'm not too sure on this, but I'm fairly certain that I've seen the word used in the middle of the sentence, although not really as often as using it in the beginning. As for using it at the end, that one might be a little more rare if not completely non-existent. An example I've seen of usage of this in the middle would go something like this: I, however, have never been a fan of his work. Again, not entirely sure of this, hopefully other members can chime in, and I'd actually love to see it used at the end of the sentence if that is indeed still a correct format.

I agree and I've always felt the same. I guess the only advantage you'd have from being in the same family language-wise would be that you could imitate or adopt the tone and accent a little easier than someone coming from a totally foreign language, but other than that, yes, it's pretty much like learning a whole new language. For example, Cantonese is just a dialect of the Chinese language, if I'm not mistaken, and it's totally different from Mandarin.

I'd recommend trying to find a well written children's book. It might sound silly, but there's a reason why Harry Potter is as well known and universally liked. I personally loved the original Narnia book and it was the book that got me started reading in the first place. What's odd about it is that I'm not even that fond of fantasy themes, especially the type that was in that book, but it was just so well written that it grabbed my attention within the first few pages and I could barely put it down after that.