pipps

I think reading out loud helps because if you're just saying it in your mind you're not use to saying and pronouncing the words. You probably think you are, but you really aren't. I have personal experience of this because I use to learn Portuguese very early in the morning and would just say the words in my head so I didn't wake anybody up. Now, I learn later in the day and feel more confident with speaking words. I noticed that I really struggled to pronounce the words when I first started speaking them though. Even though I thought I had mastered them

I think that most people tend to think they don't have an accent, unless their accent is obviously very strong. I'm british and I don't think I have an accent but I bet that other people would think I do.

I think that Canadians and Americans have accents. So they must think I have an accent.

I do this with some of my studies too. I just tell myself that if I can do 5 minutes then that is good enough. And I have to be happy with that 5 minutes. I usually end up doing a lot more. But I have to be happy with just that 5 minutes some days.

I've not thought about transferring this over to learning a language and I now think I will try out this method. As I can often lose motivation.

Oh yes, well I want to go to Brazil in 2016 and explore the country and hopefully improve my language. I hope I will be better spoken by then. I already practice with some of the workers in a local Portuguese restaurant but I know that that Portuguese is different to Portuguese Brazilian so I have to not let that affect me

I want to try and do this but something tells me it's going to be too much. Sometimes I mix up Portuguese and Spanish and I've never even attempted to learn Spanish! I just seemed to have picked up on it. So god help me if I was actually learning 2 languages at the same time! haha. I don't think it would go well!

I started learning french in high school in year 7. However, when I got there I was completely surprised and shocked to find out that the majority of people in my class already spoke french! I always felt overwhelmed and behind from that point onwards. I just couldn't keep up. They had been learning french in primary school for years.

I think all are quite difficult, but I think the hardest is writing. I don't know why but when I see a foreign word (in the language I am learning) I know exactly what it means and I can say it out loud. But then you could ask me to write down a sentence and I would be completely struggling. It's weird how it works

No, I don't overuse the word LOL when I write to my friends. In fact, I never use the word LOL. I'm a 'haha'' girl. It's only one character longer so doesn't take that much effort to write.

There are so many beautiful english quotes that it's hard to choose just one! In fact, I can't. Although the one that I always think of is "Love your life, every minute of it." but I have a whole Pinterest boards filled with quotes and inspiring images

I would love to learn Swedish next. I have always been really interested in Sweden and think it looks like a stunning country. I'm from the UK so I love the fact that they have proper seasons over there. I have also heard they are spending hundreds of millions on neuroscience and research facilities there and as that's my passion. That's something that really draws me to the country.

Oh thank you, I've found out how to do it. This will make the site a lot more appealing and user friendly to me now. Thank you! 

Oh wow, this is such a great idea and I can't wait to sign up. I'm sure this will really help my learning progress as I would love to read magazines or interesting books in Portuguese but I don't know where to start. This will solve that problem!

I've never tried learning a fictional language but when I was younger my best friend and I made up our own language. It didn't last very long because we could barely remember any words haha. We even made a little dictionary and everything.

I'm currently teaching myself a levels and I use my laptop if I don't understand something. I will jump on youtube or google and find a solution. I also use lots of websites to learn languages so yes. Personally, I think that advances in technology are making me smarter.

I like to learn at home in my bedroom where I'm alone at a peace. My house can be a bit crazy sometimes, so it would be impossible to learn something there. I wouldn't be able to learn in a library either because I like to speak out my words when I learn them, otherwise they won't stick in my head.

I'm such a slow reader. I like to take everything in and really get to know what I'm reading. Sometimes I even read the page twice  But I can also read very quickly, it just depends what I'm reading to be honest.

I would like to learn Swedish!

This is mainly because I like the look of the country and would like to put this language to good use on my travels there. I think I would fit in well with the Swedes and I would love to explore the country. I don't even know a single word in this language so I'm a complete beginner.

Hi there,

I love the forum and think it's a great tool for anyone learning a language. However, I would definitely use this forum more if there was some sort of alert to let you know when someone else comments on a post you have posted on. I think it would really open communication. Also, it's really tricky trying to remember which posts you have comments on.

Is there any chance of this happening

I think you've got to have a certain level of understanding to be able to watch a film in the language you are learning and actually know what is happening. There is no point sat there when you only have a basic understanding and can only pick out words like 'hello, name, how are you and bye'.

I wish I was a fast reader but I'm not. Sometimes I even read pages in books twice so everything is really saturated in :grin: I'm not sure quite why though. I wish I could just skim read a page and go on to the next but I like to absorb every last word and detail, otherwise I feel like I haven't read anything!

That is such a creative way of learning a language, although I think you would have to have a certain level of understanding already before you started playing a game like that so you could ignore the casual language. Because a beginner wouldn't have a clue.

I just wonder if I can find a portuguese version of this game. I don't play video games but this could be a fun way to learn.

Yes, I see learning a language as a personal investment. It has many great benefits and you can communicate with locals and really make sure you have the best time in that country. So yes, it's an investment in myself. I don't know how you could say it isn't...

This is one of my main worries with investing the time and energy to learn a new language. I worry that if I can't use it  will begin to forget it and then that will just be a waste of time.

Maybe every so often we could try reading a book in our second language?

Ah, I've not thought of learning the alphabet and I definitely will do now so thank you for suggesting that. I hadn't thought of how helpful that could be.

I think the best way to learn a language is to be in the country and only allow yourself to speak that language. Even if you start off as a blubbering idiot. People will help you out and I believe this is the best and quickest way to learn.

Ummmm, that's a tricky question. I would say English but that is only because I speak it and it's my mother tongue. However, I think Spanish seems quite easy. Considering I've never learnt it, I know how to say quite a few things in the language. I wonder if that's from TV?