Denis Hard

When I was a teen, I was a sucker for adventure stories. The most memorable adventure book I ever read was "The South Sea Adventure" by Willard Price. Years after I'd read the story I can still, if I wanted to, I could tell anyone the entire story without omitting any minor detail.

The best way to familiarize and get comfortable with anything is: exposure. Learn the word and use it often. In different mediums. Use it when you speak. Use it in a sentence. Draw the word in 3-D and if you wish to, include the meaning in your graphic. Before you know that, and other words you're learning will be fixed in your mind.

I totally agree with that appraisal. Suppression of a word gives power to the one who intends to use it against another in derogatory terms. Heck, a word [especially racial slurs] are just freaking words! I remember reading a Samuel L Jackson interview just before Django Unchained was released and the interviewer asked him about Tarantino's usage of the "N" word. Probably they expected him to sugar-coat it. This was the response he got: Hmmm? Would you, in such a situation say a bad word had been used?

The only time I wrote in my second language was when [i'd been deceived] that someone would get my story published. I translated it fast and sent in the submission. Needless to say, the editors rejected the story and consequently I got demoralized, stopped studying the language.

This may come down to personal preferences but that's exactly what I wish to learn from you. How do you determine that a novel, story or any sort of writing is great? Is it the story, the way the writer expresses himself/herself or how effectively they get across their message? For me, great writing is the sort that will grab my attention on the first page and retain it right to the end. What about you?

What may seem right to one person, may directly hurt someone else. For that reason therefore, society defines boundaries which shouldn't be crossed [although this doesn't work most of the time] because doing so could infringe on the rights of someone, humiliate or offend them. Such words therefore, which may be "dirty," insulting or refer to something disgusting [like body waste] have to be classified as "bad."

I have never visited France or the parts of Canada where French is spoken and have absolutely no intention of visiting those places ever in my life. Come to think of it, since it's only France, a small part of Switzerland and parts of Canada where French is spoken I now realize that I wasted my time trying to learn French.

I volunteered to work for an aid agency based in Southern Sudan, stayed there for three months. I couldn't speak the local language so it was very hard for me to even make a purchase at the local markets. In addition to that, I didn't get along with the other expats who worked there and they made it their priority to make my life miserable. Since I was just volunteering, I left as soon as I could.

Since the two word are almost similar, their usage tends to confuse most people. Therefore; it would be best to differentiate the two: Who- Used to show who is doing something in a sentence. example: Who stole the tarts? Whom - Used to show the object against which something is done [in a sentence]. example: The girl whom I hit fell in love with me.

I just came across some interesting articles about how English speakers misjudge tourists visiting their countries and label them as 'rude' when in fact, it's their limited knowledge of the language that makes them appear so. For example, according to one writer, asking direct questions makes you sound rude and would result in either getting no answer [to your question] or getting a retort that would knock you off your feet. Hmmm? Your thoughts on this?

Sounds simple yes but what of when we add a word that complicates matters? The word is "whom." Just wondering, is it better to use "who" all the time instead of "whom" wherever it might apply to avoid getting confused?

We had an English who was born in England but spend most of her childhood years in Switzerland. She was fluent in four languages and liked to show off her linguistic skills. I was inspired by her [ability] and actually I attempted learning French, found it too hard at that time and quit.

You can learn a language [or anything else you please to] at any age. I don't think there are any special age requirements for learning languages. Of course kids learn languages faster but the pace of learning shouldn't be an issue because with the right attitude and taking classes daily, you'll be proficient in any language in under four years.

Hi. Thanks for the link. I've just clicked your link and visited some of the youtube channels listed and I'm impressed. All those resources would take a helluva long time to exhaust. Once again, thanks a lot.

I'm supposing that since there many video tutorials on virtually any subject anyone might wish to learn, then it could be possible to find videos to help me learn Spanish. I've tried searching the net for such videos but haven't had much success. I'd appreciate it if you'd provide a few links or any suggestions that might be helpful.

One idiom that is overused in schools and which you certainly can't help hearing a teacher use is: "pull up your socks." I heard it used so much in class that it become more of an earworm. Each time I saw a teacher, first thing I'd expect to hear him or her say is. . .

Some additions: Fair weather friend - the sort of friend who sticks by you only when things are going well. Make heavy weather of something - take longer than is expected to do something. Weather the storm - to get past difficulties against all odds.

English may be the most widely spoken language in the world at the present [with the number of those learning it projected to gradually increase] but I don't think that it will eventually be 'the-one-language' to rule them all. Communist countries can never permit their people to speak English because then their subjects would learn how they've been deceived. Because of that, I believe there always be that language barrier that separates the people of the world so that the intellectuals may take advantage of their people's ignorance.

A language's history will may interest me only if whilst studying the language, I encounter familiar-looking words which may or may not have the same meaning in my native tongue. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother and would instead concentrate on the nuances of learning the language.

To stay sharp at times requires a lot of practicing to be proficient at what you're learning. I'm interested in knowing the kind of exercises everyone else does [takes, etc] to help him/her keep getting better at the language s/he is learning.

I speak three languages easily well. Like MyDigitalPoint, my accent is implacable. When I speak you're left clueless as to what my nationality is. That's true for all the three languages I speak so I've never 'passed' as a native anywhere.

I guess I'm not as lucky as you guys. Of course I've bumped into people here and there who ended up to be good friends but I'm yet to make friends with someone simply because I can speak their language. I previously thought I was no good at learning languages but maybe once I get to know enough Spanish [and my progress is quite good] I'll travel in Spain and try to make friends.

In Swahili: Mama - reference to a mother. Baba - reference to a father which is rather close to "papa." Such similarities indicate that at in the distant past the people of the world interacted at almost the same level we do now, [inter-connected by the net].

We all have our beginnings in the Middle East. It's from this Central point that the people's of the world dispersed to the places they now reside. Using that as the basis of my argument I'd say that the oldest language must Hebrew which has to be the language initially spoken by everyone who dwelt in the middle East. The Jews still use and it's over 5000 years old.

I have my doubts about this because most of what we hear in movies is never used in real life. And of course there's the issue of recycling lines from old movies which wouldn't be helpful to someone who's wants to learn multiple ways to express themselves in certain situations? What are your thoughts on the dialog lines used in movies?