jodig

I'm going to go a bit further with this, saying that learning a new language can make you sharper. The way I see it, a language is a medium to understand our world and express ourselves. In other words, learning languages makes you more open minded and gives you the ability to easier change perspective on a subject.

Sadly, I've done that too with Polish. From January till June I was living with 2 polish flatmates. I instantly enrolled on online courses to start and pick up the language. I was excited, but sadly my flatmates wanted to improve their Spanish too, so we couldn't do it all at the same time. After 2-3 months I gave up. I still want to get back to it, but now that I won't even have someone to practice with, I have no motivation. :cry:

Does the Harry Potter series count? I was actually raised with this series, as I am just the audience they were just targeting (I am about the same age as the main actors). They were some of my favorite movies and I will always be a fan!

I think this happens to anyone speaking two or more languages. I have noticed that occasionally the english word comes first and then I'm trying to remember the greek one! With spanish this happens a lot less though. In fact I'd be surprised if this didn't happen at all to someone.

"Coordinates" just messes me up! When I try to say it casually it just sounds bad and when I try to hard I justp pronounce half of the word. Honorable mentions to "tutor" and "turmoil".

I don't think that can be said. Every language is received differently by the receiver, according to his native tongue and the other languages he already speaks. In linguistics, that is the subject of the stratum (layer) theory. In a few words, this theory implies that whenever you learn a new language, it is built upon the one that you already speak, so the results are different!

I do over use it, along with "rofl". It's pretty hard not to use it now that I'm used to it. I play online games everyday, so even if I don't use it, I will definately see it written many times. But I don't think it's that bad to use it. For most people who are into gaming, it has also started to have a more general meaning.

I searched a bit and I didn't see this topic anywhere. So, which one do you prefer? I personally have tried all three, and I think I'll have to go with private tutoring. That is because you can go with your rythm, your schedule, but with the guidance of a professional. Groups can be too easy or too hard to follow, depending on the level of your classmates and studying all alone in the internet can be overwhelming, and much more slow, because you have to find and correct your own mistakes. What are your thoughts?

English is pretty hard to pronounce for us greeks, too. I've been told I'm on a very high level but there will always be a hint of accent. Spanish on the other hand, is a lot easier, much more close phonetically. I've been told many times by spaniards that I sound native, but even then, I will misspronounce something and "get caught"!

I'll give it a try and write in english how do these animals sound in greek 1. Cat - niau (or neow, i guess) 2. Dog - wav wav 3. Snake - sss 4. Goat - beeh 5. Chicken - kikiriku 6. Duck - kwax-kwax I don't think it would make sense to write it in greek, as most people wouldnt understand how to read it anyway!

I love the sound of "ambiguate". Pity I don't get to hear it often :nerd: I also like "shadow" and "thunder" (and many other words) because their sound is somewhat connected to their meaning. I just can't recall how these words are called, like "clap" etc.

I mostly watch american or british films, which are foreign to me, but I think I'll go with "Pan's Labyrinth", or "el laberinto del fauno" in Spanish. Cruel at times, but this is war. I loved it. Another really good but heavy drama is "Goya's Ghosts", with Javier Bardem and Natalie Portman. That film was amazing.

@add7 Well I speak Greek and Spanish so I understand quite a lot. It's a beautiful language and it shouldn't be that hard to learn. Plus, I have some italian friends and I'm planning to visit Rome in 5-6 months! @caparica007 Hi! I think you should! Most people love it here, there is something for everyone!

I suggest keeping in touch with the friends you have made in your travels or do some reading occasionally. I recently came back from Spain, where I was living for 5 months. I love that feeling of success when you are told you sound like a native and I certainly don't want to lose that! What I also do is speak spanish with friends that also learn spanish, helping them to get used to the language!

Hi there! Modern Italian is obviously the direct descendant of Latin. Now, the Roman Empire started colonizing the Iberian Peninsula at about 218 b.c (if I am correct). This "version" of Latin is called "vulgar latin" and is the language that served as a basis for many indo - european languages. I am Spanish Philology undergraduate, so there's my source! If you want more details, feel free to ask!

Hi everyone! I'm Jodig (just a nickname) and i live in Athens! I've been studying English since i was 12-13 and Spanish since i was 16. I am now 21, on the third year of Spanish Philology, so I've already done some translating and tutoring. I think my next goal is to learn Italian! See you around!

I will go with speaking on this one. And by speaking I mean fluent interactions. It is a true test when you have to put in practice everything you have learned while talking with a native speaker of the target language and knowing that there is no other way to communicate. Also, keep in mind that the conversations a tourist might have aren't that complex, yet most people (if not all) have trouble. Speaking is the last step of mastering a language, in my opinion!

Well, as many people already said, it depends on your use. Definitely not trustworthy if you are attempting to translate slangs, idioms or expressions. Not accurate enough for translations on languages you don't understand. But i tend to find it handy for single word translations, like a dicctionary, on languages I already am fluent in. For example, i have two bookmarks on my toolbar (english to spanish and one in reverse) to easily check words when in need. I am familiar with the answers provided, so I'm just doublechecking!