diprod

Is it just me, or are people now days not able to spell very well? Is it because we are all typing so quickly or just a lack of proper education? It's hard to blame it on keyboards when the words that are misspelled have corresponding letters that aren't anywhere near each other on a standard keyboard in the first place.

I blame texting for people who no longer care about spelling. Lol Even autocorrect is so not really correcting. It makes things worst!

Hello guys!  What are some of your favorite words in spanish?  There are some words that I've always liked, for example the word ''crisálida''.  Another words I really like (the way they sound mostly) are:

- Quéretaro

- Meridiano

- Aurora

- Muchedumbre

- Mediodia

- Elixir

- Extasis

Feel free to share your favorite ones

I'm a hopeless romantic so I would say, "mi amor". I like to hear Spanish songs recently too if I may just add that. :-)

Spanish is an influential language. They had influenced different languages in the world after Spaniards had conquered some countries that they had reach many years ago. In the Unites States, Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language and there are lots of historical letters that were written in Spanish. Learning Spanish really worth our effort because it's one of the languages that is easy to understand, learn and use by many people worldwide.

Aside from it does sound romantic to the ears, Spanish played a huge role in the society especially in history. It would be pretty cool to know a thing or two with that language.

I am totally guilty of this and it's almost a creature of habit now. Sometimes I'm scrolling up in a conversation I am having with a friend and i notice just how many "lol" I use in my sentences. Growing up in the instant messaging generation I have just been so used to it that it is now part of my every day vocabulary. Or when I do not know what to say or how to respond, "lol" seems to be the easiest thing to write. "Lmao" is another word that comes to mind that I seem to spam to my friends. 

I do this a lot when I text or chat. But I completely avoid these in writing formal letters! Lol

So there are a couple of well developed fictional languages out there, I think the two most famous ones would be Klingon from Star Trek and the Elvish langue from Lord of the Rings. I'm personally quite a big Star Trek fan and a keen linguist so I tried my hand at Klingon but I found it rather difficult to learn. Marc Orkrand the man that created the language specifically said that he wanted to create a unique language so he took the most difficult rules from all kinds of languages and mashed them together. The language is definitely speakable, I know a lady that likes to translate poems into Klingon, but for me it's more of a hobby or novelty rather than anything serious.

Did anyone else here every try their hand at fictional languages? If so, how did it go?

I knew this is going to be about Klingon! haha But no, I didn't try to learn it. I was intrigued though. I would to learn the language of the elves in Lord of the Rings!

Hello all.  My first child was born last month and my we've been discussing how and when to start teaching her languages.  Specifically, our plan is to teach her Spanish and German.  I've read that young children can pick up a language more easily than an adult, so we have a good opportunity to help her get started.

So, to parents or teachers, when did you start introducing younger children to a non-native language?  How did you integrate this instruction in day-to-day life?  Any tools or tips we should know about?  Any pitfalls to avoid?

Any thoughts would be great.  Thanks much.

I think I will start teaching them the native language we speak at home first. Then will inject every now and then some new ones. Children's mind are that of the sponge. It's fast for them to learn.

Is there anything about an accent you dislike when you hear people speaking? I personally think Canada and its people are pretty cool, and I don't mind their accent as a whole, but I strongly dislike hearing them say the word "about". I also heard somewhere that people in France generally dislike hearing the Quebec accent speaking the French language. I wonder why we are naturally drawn to dislike particular accents or parts of them, but on the flipside, I generally find it amusing when I hear other languages being spoken with an American accent. Do you have any pet peeves when it comes to accents?

I do love the British accent. It makes you sound smart no matter what you say! I don't fancy much the Scottish accent thought because boy do I find it hard to decipher them.

What is most difficult for you in a foreign language- reading, writing, or speaking? For me it is definitely writing, especially as I progress in a language.  Very early on, while I am still getting used to new sounds and pronunciation, I sometimes find speaking harder, but that usually lasts a few months at most.

What is hardest for you and why?

I would go with writing as well. It's easy to just mimic the sounds and pronunciation. But to formally write those, yes I'm definitely going to have a problem.

I think it's a fun way to learn new words and helps with pronunciation. Although I don't think it's too helpful for sentence structure because a lot of songs are composed of sentence fragments and phrases.

I listened to a lot of J-Pop when I was learning Japanese and I am now able to translate the lyrics as a I listen to them.

I've been trying to listen to K-Pop to get used to the pronunciation of Korean words and I think it's helpful.

Has anyone used music to help them learn languages?

I do find it easy to learn new languages with music. I don't understand them easily but it's a good start if I want to get fluent with it. This is what happened to me and Nihonggo. ;-)

I know google translate is used many times in classroom settings and the professor (fluent speaking), knows that they used the translation site. It is not always correct, I am wondering why.

I personally love that facebook now has a translate feature under posts because many of my friends live in foreign lands and speak non english languages sometimes. It is nice to be able to keep up with them.

Do you think google translate is a good online option for translation?

It's not accurate. I think Google should do more updates about it. Although there are some words that it could translate but still not very much helpful from my experience.

I tried learning Mandarin but it just was so hard that I kind of set it aside for a while. I plan to get back to it but probably not anytime soon. It was so frustrating.

Sometimes when I speak other languages so often and with little to no contact with my native people I tend to have problems with remembering certain words in my own language. It's not exactly that I forget them, they are just on the tip of my tongue but it's easier to find them in other language.

Also, I know many words related to my job that I don't know how to translate to my own language, yet I understand them.

Do you ever have situations like this?

I mess up with my own native language all the time. It's probably because I have become too familiar with it. It happens.

If you were going to start trying to learn a new language now which one would it be and why?

I would definitely want to try Croatian.  My family is there and I am visiting in a few weeks so it would be really useful to me!

I would love to learn some Italian. I think it would be really cool to learn their language. They sound so romantic. After that, I want to learn French too.

English is definitely a part of our curriculum. We are taught to speak English since preschool. The in college, we have 2 semesters that includes units for this subject. I had a blast during those years too learning English.

You can start with YouTube! Seriously, that site is perfect for language learning. Then it's always best to practice with someone who speaks that new language you're trying to learn. Practice makes perfect remember? These are my tips so far.

I have always used the one without the U. It just seems so formal with it and my personality is more laid back and chill. But it's totally fine to use the ones that's pretty common in Europe.

I believe I'm a fast reader. I have developed a skill on skimming. I can finish a 500 page book in one sitting. ;-)

I have always loved Shakespeare except when I was taking it back in college! I have learned to love him after all those forced paper works I was assigned that time. And my all time favorite quote from him has to be, "If music be the food of love, play on." :-)