Denis Hard

I listen to a lot of pod-casts dealing with exams, online degrees and so on. What I've ever failed to notice is that most people mispronounce the word "Candidate" as: Can-a-dit. instead of ˈkændɪdət They omit the second "D."

How would you call a woman who fishes for a living? Fisher girl/ fisher chick or something? I think there are some words like Fisherman which though they can be changed to include both sexes, just can't sound right because we're used to the sound of it. He's a fisherman. She's a fisherman?

Kids just pick up language if they hear it often. My little niece stayed with me for long time and the people I met all day long [the job I had then required me to meet and talk to lots of people in three different languages [depending on their preferences] but much as I didn't teach her any of the two languages she didn't know, just by hearing us speak, she picked up words and could communicate [albeit with an accent] in the two languages no one actively taught her. So well, kids, you need not to bother teaching them a language if they can acquire it elsewhere.

I'd like to try the second method because it doesn't require much. Just have a dictionary and sleep on it. LOL. If only that could work, I'd be fluent in thirty or so languages if put my head on them, literally. Just get the dictionaries and use them as pillows! Anyway, what of the system where you read a dictionary from cover to cover? Can the mind store up some of the words and extract them for you when you badly need to use it [or them]?

You've heard it all. Read. Write. Speak. But is that all there is to learning a new language? How do you practice speaking if you have no interlocutor? Simple. Write dialog and read it aloud. Those are not my thoughts but it sounds interesting. Can this help you get better at speaking a language you're learning?

I'll also try that technique [replacing commas with fullstops] and see how it works. Actually I feel like I'm improving. The longest sentence I've written of late was only 30 words long. That's down from about 90 words which was my average word count per sentence in the past.

If you haven't no intention of doing any writing in the language you're learning, then the easiest way to learn would be by speaking it often. With natives. I'd rather be fluent in speech first then get to learning writing and expanding my vocabulary through reading.

The theory was wrong. Language can't shape how you think. The fact that you may not be able to express your thoughts about something doesn't mean you're limited by language from thinking further on the subject. You can think in pictures, colors. . . IMO, it's only feelings that can shape how you think. For example, if you're mad at someone, you rage will directly influence how you think. You'll start hatching schemes of vengeance, etc., etc.

The only time I'm able to grab some free time to do stuff that's not on my schedule is at night. Unlike you, I'm learning Spanish just for the fun of it but I'm serious about being fluent in the shortest time possible. Because of that, the time I spent watching movies after supper is now used for learning the language. It's a huge sacrifice because, to be honest I'm a die-hard movie buff. I'm sure if you tried hard enough, you can cut some of the hours you sleep to make time for learning Dutch. But don't push yourself too hard. Most likely your potential in-laws won't mind that you're unable to speak their language unless you wish to pass yourself off as a Dutch lady. . .

Most writers believe that the grammar rules have to observed to the letter when writing fiction. Really? Screenwriters have the freedom to write as they please. Their goal is to show what happens in a scene. No fancy exposition. Take a look at part of script I've been reading: I like how English is issued differently in different settings. P.S Actually that's just a small part of Bourne.

It's not telling the difference that's the problem. They're homophones and depending on what you're thinking about, you'll find that you've used one of them in the wrong context. It has happened to me once or twice and realized too late that you've made a mistake but if you've hit the "send" button, it's too late. I lost a good gig once, that way. Just one mistake.

Singing. I could listen to songs in a language I didn't know then try to get the words and sing along. Most of the time, I didn't get the words right and native speakers of the language would make fun of me. But of course they'd correct me once they'd had their fun but hey, I'd I've learned a few words along with their meanings.

Sign language is hard to learn and in any case not every one understands every thing someone communicating with sign language is trying to get across. For that reason therefore, I'd opt to walk around with a notepad and if I have something to say to someone, I'd pen something. p.s There's someone I've heard of who could talk but didn't want to talk to anyone. He just wrote everything [he wanted to say to anyone] and if he walked into a store to buy stuff, he'd point at the items he wanted and never say a word. He'd just grunt if asked a question and so on. Talk of taking something too far!

It's hard to answer this question. Do I even have a second language? I speak three languages fluently [because the neighborhood I lived in as a kid was populated by three different nationalities the kids got to learn all three languages] but I guess I'm better at English [which is my mother tongue] though I can speak the two other languages equally well.

"You came to the right place," I said, "come right in. I think I've heard something about a missing girl." I stepped back, careful to conceal the bathtub full of ice where the carcass of the last unlucky person who visited my den was lying. The man hesitated. "Do I smell something?" He asked.

If you have the means, the best way to learn a language [supposing you're interested in the people, their culture and so on] then the best way to get all that is live among them [the people whose language you're learning]. It would also be very helpful to have some contact with kids. They TEACH language like no one else can and don't care much for your feelings when they correct you if you can't pronounce a word right. One thing I learned is that good enough isn't good for them. You just have to be as good as everyone else. Nothing less.

On average, most women are great talkers. If they move into a new place and they can't speak the local language then most likely they'll make an effort to learn the language so they can talk to their neighbors and new friends. That, I've witnessed first-hand. So is it really true that women learn languages faster than men? Would that explain why most writers are female?

Practice. Just like everything else. It sounds so simple yet it is rather hard to execute. However since I have no options, I'll try it out. p.s I guess I'll pull it off! Thanks Laura!

Bush is highly learned and therefore had absolutely no excuse for making such embarrassing mistakes. Or is there some flaw with the American system of education?

Once. A long time ago when I was in high school, I was asked to give a speech in a language [you'd call it the local patois] everyone else in my class knew and I knew it too but since I hardly ever used it, couldn't speak it right. I couldn't find the words to speak, man. I just stood in front of the class staring at the teacher like I was some moron. . .

I read this somewhere on the forum, couldn't find the post so I'll paraphrase what was said: you can avoid making many grammatical errors if you use short sentences. I find it hard to write short sentences because of my background. I used to be quite verbose when I wrote articles on freelancer the primary goal being to drive up the word count. How can one rid himself of the habit of writing very looong sentences?

There are some who say that due to pronunciation problems, if your mispronounce the word "hour" and say the "H" then to be grammatically correct, you'll need to use the article "a" before the word. Dumb rules if you ask me.

I hate fictional languages. I've had to endure watching actors stumble through their lines in movies and didn't like it. Therefore, because my attitude is negative, unless I was some actor in a sci-fi movie [something that won't happen in this life-time] I won't bother trying to learn a fictional language.

I was just making an observation, not passing judgment. My grammar sucks but I get away with it anyway. But back to the topic. I look through numerous freelance writer job-boards every day and have never failed to come across a job posting phrased like this: It's sort of dumb to assume that every NATIVE ENGLISH speaker is a good writer.

How many native English speakers can't spell words right, construct a grammatically correct sentence or even speak the language right? You could think it's impossible but I've met such people from time to time. In real life and online. The best example of a native speaker who could sound worse than a foreigner learning English is Bush. : It's a real eye-opener!