Kotro

I would also suggest the Robot stories by Asmiov, starting with I, Robot. It happens in the same universe as the Foundation series, exploring the nature of robotics and artificial intelligence.

Thanks, guys. I'll add those to my shopping list!

Hardest English book I ever picked up is definitely Joyce's Ulysses. Made it halfway through before I decided to put it down. Haven't really given up, it's just on hold. Indefinitely.

Wow, it was such a long time ago. I'm thinking it might have been Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Grey, as that is the oldest English book on my shelf. I do remember having to pull out a dictionary to get the meaning of some words when I read that - might be time to give it another go.

Ahah, so it's actually spoken by approximately 8000 people? I think that can hardly be considered a language no, it's more like a dialect.

It doesn't matter if it's 8000 or 8 - it's not the amount of speakers that determine a language, but rather the diference between systems of communication. Mirandese could not be considered a dialect of Portuguese because it has no relation to it, they are different language families altogether and not mutually inteligible as are dialects.

Era uma vez uma jovem menina chamada Ana Maria que gostava muito de comer gelados com sabor a morango.

Um dia, ela decidiu que já estava farta

"Era uma vez uma jovem menina chamada Ana Maria

Has to be Christoph Waltz. Fluent in German, English and French, actually spoke all of them plus Italian in one movie alone (Inglourious Basterds).

Politically correctness aside, I always crack up when a friend of mine who lives in NY tells me his stories about going to his local deli/grocery store and yelling out some particular Portuguese foul word, but in the same tone as saying good morning - especially when people are friendly and yell it back at him! 

While I would agree with English and Spanish, I am not sure about Mandarin. I don't think it's that important yet. The reason for this is that both English and Spanish are global languages, spoken throughout the world, while Mandarin, despite the vast number of speakers, is still pretty much localized to China and a few of it's neighbours. If I were to pick a 3rd important language it would probably be French, as it is still a global language, and although it's not as spoken as MSA or Portuguese, it is more widely used as a lingua franca in Africa and has wider acceptance as a working language in international organisms (even more than Spanish).

The Constitution of Portugal recognizes three languages as official: Portuguese (duh!), Mirandese (a local dialect of North Portugal, derived from medieval Astur-Leonese) and Portuguese Sign Language.

Yeah, this seems dodgy. I find it much easier to read than speak foreign languages, and that seems to be the same with my aquaintances - we are often near fluent at reading and sometimes writing, not so much speaking and listening. Perhaps a specific age group was targetted in this study?

Unless someone moved out of their native country at a very early age, I have never heard of anything like this happening.

I honestly don't know what kind of learning the children would have from an excursion a couple of hours long. Bigger field trips (as in days) would definitely be best, but the costs are prohibitive for most schools if there isn't a language community living nearby.

I've only read David Copperfield and A Christmas Carol, but I've seen adaptations of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, as well. As far as story goes, the last is my favourite. I know of A Tale of Two Cities by name, but am not sure what it's about. Guess that will be the next one I'll pick up.

I really enjoy "El secreto de sus ojos". It is a crime thriller with great writing and acting. It also isn't overly violent, so don't worry about that.

"Rudo y Cursi" is another worth checking out. It is a comedic drama about two brothers who are soccer players.

These are very good suggestions, especially the first one, one of the finnest movies I ever saw. I heard they are working on a Hollywood version of it, hope they don't ruin it!

One of my favourite movies in Spanish is "El Dia de la Bestia", by Alex de la Iglesia, from the early 90's if I recall.

Olá, André, bem-vindo!

Never heard of this Duolingo gizmo, is it worth it? Do we have to pay?

Isabel, a decent historical series about the times of Queen Isabel La Catolica. If you enjoy The Tudors, Game of Thrones and that kind of stuff, you should enjoy this.

"Do you have anyplace to go?", I asked her. She nodded a negative. "Is it okay if I take you to my place, to dry you up?". She nodded yes.

I drove on to my house, my mind racing with anticipation. A sad lost girl with nowhere to go - the perfect victim.

Despite all the positive answers on this topic, it's strange to see that this practice has decreased over the years, being much relegated to the days of the lost art of writting letters - one would think that in the new digital age the practice would increase! Penpalling had a certain aura of mystery and anticipation, the way one would wait for a delayed answer on the post, the exitement of opening an envelope, that just isn't the same when everything is but a click away.

As a way of developing your skills in a language, it is highly obsolete. You can probably do better tuning in some random foreign channel on the TV.

What variant of Portuguese are you learning, and why? Do you expect, in time, to take on the other variants? Did you previously learn one variant and are now learning a new one?

What are some regions in other parts of the world that are considered peculiar (in a good natured way) by the rest of their country? And why? Funny accents, odd ways, or something else?

We kind of have that too, although not just in the South - the Portuguese North is a bit more chastised. In general, we find Northerns have a ruder approach to language (they swear a lot!), and they also switch "v" with "b" (which is an influence from Galicia), but are very pro-active and friendly. In the South, especially the region of Alentejo, their speech pattern is slower than the rest, and you get the feeling that even time moves slowly in those parts. They are also generally a more brooding type of people, but also extremely creative. 

I don't really enjoy poetry, most of it bores me to tears. I find some notable exceptions in Fernando Pessoa and heteronyms, Bocage, Baudelaire, Rainer Maria Rilke or Ezra Pound.

I have to confess I've never really had any interest in plays in English apart from the obvious Shakespeare ones - love Henry V and King Lear. Apart from Shakespeare there isn't much more I know of. I've seen movie adaptations of plays, like Cat On A Hot Tin Roof or Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, but never read any. The sole exception I find is I'm Not Rappaport, which I had to read for a class.

I think the original poster meant "just reading" or "only through reading" when she said "reading only" as in "Only through reading one can learn a foreign language."

Ah, yes, that makes much more sense. Well, in that case, I really don't think so, one should also hear how a language is spoken to get a proper grasp of it. Pronounciation goes a long way into helping you remember words, reading them alone won't cut it.

Italian, hands down!

Oh yeah, Italian! How could I forget that one? It's such a vivid and creative language, that when people insult you it almost seems you're being sung to!