Denis Hard

I also need to add a recommendation. I read and liked Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes comics. Not only did the characters use 'proper' English most of the time but it appears like Calvin's vocabulary [for his age] was rather advanced. Here's a dialog quote from the comic strip:

[pre]

Calvin: As you can see, I have memorized this utterly useless piece of information long enough to pass a test question. I now intend to forget it forever. You’ve taught me nothing except how to cynically manipulate the system. Congratulations.

Calvin: Isn’t it strange that evolution would give us a sense of humour? When you think about it, it’s weird that we have a physiological response to absurdity. We laugh at nonsense. We like it. We think it’s funny. Don’t you think it’s odd that we appreciate absurdity? Why would we develop that way? How does it benefit us?

Calvin: People always make the mistake of thinking art is created for them. But really, art is a private language for sophisticates to congratulate themselves on their superiority to the rest of the world. As my artist’s statement explains, my work is utterly incomprehensible and is therefore full of deep significance.[/pre]

A few more:

Fine tune - make changes to improve something.

Music to one's ear - of [something] pleasing to hear.

[something] rings a bell - to be familiar [to one]

Sing a different tune - change one's opinion [unexpectedly].

My worst language habit is writing as if I was talking to someone on the street. It's not a great habit considering the fact that in a few months I might be getting a job as blogger somewhere. Hopefully, I am going to change that, observe the grammar rules and use 'proper' English.

Grammar is not my strong point but I gave the 'correction' a shot. It's a not a correction per se. It's more like cutting out superfluous words and making a slight change somewhere. Hopefully someone better will fix  whatever needs fixing. Here's my attempt:

I currently hold a bachelor degree in Translation (ZHAW Winterthur, Switzerland), covering the languages: German, French and English. German is my mother tongue.

Languages have always been my passion and I am eager to take part in your next translation project. Rest assured that I am willing to provide accurate translations consistently.

At this moment I am studying Chinese and Computational Linguistics at the University of Zurich, so working with languages is my every day business and I am absolutely loving it.

Kate, you shouldn't let 'speech problems' influence your linguistic development. I've known people who could speak a language quite well but couldn't read it at all because the way the words are written and the way they're spoken is different.

The primary goal of learning a new language for most people is an ability to speak it. So regardless of how the words of a language are pronounced, learning to speak it shouldn't be too hard. So if you have a desire to learn a language, just go right ahead and give it a shot.

I wonder what's there to like in 50 Shades of Grey. I tried reading the first book and couldn't even go beyond the second chapter. While I must admit the twilight saga isn't the best trilogy I've read, it's not so bad . . . for teenagers [whom it's written for].

A few more:

Dice with death - do something dangerous

Till one's dying day - lasting for a lifetime.

Cheat death - narrowly avoid getting killed/getting into serious problems.

Ghost town - one of those 'have-been' towns. It's now on the decline, people are moving out . . . it's

                  literary dead.

Again:

In the same league - to be as good as someone at something/be at the same level.

Drop the ball - make a mistake

Game plan - a tactic/strategy/etc,.

Level playing field - when a situation does not favor anyone.

The Sage. I don't think it's that popular but is definitely one of the best digital dictionaries. Actually, I found it when I was searching a thesaurus. It's a combo: dictionary and thesaurus.

It's free so if you any of you guys want to see for yourselves if it's any good, you can download it here:

http://www.sequencepublishing.com/thesage.html

Indirectly maybe. If, for example, you're watch a TV show that you like but don't understand what's being said or you get just a little bit [enough to pique your interest in the show] then to fully enjoy the show and others like it, you could, for the satisfaction of your craving, want to learn the language . . .

No I wouldn't teach my kids any languages that I've learned. From experience I know it doesn't work for the best. I was forced to learn three languages as a kid and do you know what happened? I lost my communications skills entirely even though I could speak all the three languages fluently because then, I wasn't sure I could speak as well as the native speakers of the languages I'd learned.

It's best to let the kids decide for themselves when the time is right, if they want to learn other languages.

I don't how this works but I hear it's an effective way of learning language. Anyone care to enlighten me and others who may want to use this strategy?

Teach a baby a foreign language? How do you go about it?

Having grown up in a place where the people speak several languages, the best way for a child to learn more than one language simply is by hearing that language spoken. It doesn't matter to what extent. Just as long as you speak it, the kid will learn it, without having to be taught.

p.s The way babies learn languages is amazing.

Unless you're a religious zealot, I don't think it's necessary to learn a language like Latin. No one speaks it any more so there's no point in learning unless you want to read some old writings [mostly religious or outdated philosophy] which isn't that helpful because most of those writings have been translated to modern languages.

The main disadvantage of having ONE global language is that it'll create a feeling of 'oneness' which IMO is pretty bad. If the divisions that make us strive to be better than others are gone, then another problem would arise. The wealthy would literally take over the world and we'd have a repeat of what happened in France. A bloody revolution on a global scale.

I think it's better - - the lack of a global language should keep people from working together.

What of these ones?

Geezer.

Bimbo [an old-timey insult].

Hick [for the red necks].

Scumbag.

But I'd prefer an explicit insult anytime.

Language is always evolving. When I used to write I sometimes made up idioms and used them in my writing. We have that freedom so if someone makes up a word and you understand what they're trying to say then hey, communication successful!

Anyway, my favorite newly-coined word was spoken by Bush:

Misunderestimate.

Bush explained how his opponent and his advisors had not simply understimated him, nor merely misunderstood him. Oh no. "They misunderestimated me," he boasted, coining a term that would stick with him for the rest of his presidency.

Denis, you were exposed to Chinese, but were you studying it as well?

Nope. I guess that's why I didn't learn anything. So well, I must admit that if someone is learning or has already grasped the basics of English then I suppose intense exposure to the language does help make the language easier to learn.

From the files of Police The Police Squad:

Frank Drebin has a rendezvous with Ludwig [the bad guy] but unknown to him, the bastard [Ludwig] has double-crossed him [Drebin] and sent two goons to kill him.

Drebin: Ludwig!

Goon: Drebin!

Drebin: Yeah, I'm Frank Drebin.

Goon: I have a message for you from Ludwig.

Drebin: I'm sorry I can't hear you. Don't fire the gun while you're talking!

I had a friend who used to listen to Arabic songs most of the time and since I visited him often I kind of got hooked. So these days, out of force of habit, I still listen to 'Arabic' songs even though I know only a few Arabic words.

I took a look at the site. Not bad but I'll give it a pass simply because it conjures up bad memories of my experience at Zhura when it was still a place writers could collaborate . . .

A few more:

Hand [something to someone] on a silver platter - given without that person working for that

                                                                    'something.'

Cup of joe - cup of coffee.

Egg someone on - 'persuade' someone to do something they don't want to.

Bad egg - troublesome fella.

To have a bun in the oven - to be pregnant.

Maybe things work differently for different people so I'd like to find out if this theory has any truth in it:

According to some 'language expert' when learning a language you should listen to it for a long time [this could be up to one year] so that you can 'acquire an ear' for the language. After that, learning how to speak the language will be faster.

So, is that true or false?

IMO, the ease of learning a language isn't determined by the level of exposure. For example, when I was younger, all I watched were Chinese movies that had no sub-titles. After watching all those movies, my Chinese was still no good.

So the only thing that would make it easier is if you already have some basic knowledge of the language. If you don't then I don't think you'll learn much except the pronunciations of some words if you watch a lot of English movies . . . and that, wouldn't be helpful.

I don't know if this would do: "Do" as euphemistic term for sex.

But these others I'm sure about:

The "b" word - Used to avoid saying the disparaging "b" word used in reference to women.

Adult movie - used when wants to avoid saying a movie has porn content in it.

Mentally challenged - you won't get away with calling someone a retard. Not very polite is it?