Thrix

I'm not a teacher, but I'm a student, so I can help I think. What's working best for me is real life examples, something that connects to me on a personal level. My teacher rarely does something like that, but when she does, I really do remember the lesson from the first time, and can talk about it whenever needed.

I read insanely fast, at least according to my friends and girlfriend. When in class I usually read everything first by far, but that causes me to lose some details about the material I'm reading, but I can't help it, haha.

I do it regularly, but not in the right context. LOL, meaning Laughing Out Loud, should be something like "HAHAHAH" reaction, not "heh" (the one I have). But yeah, I use it in everyday communication on Facebook and Skype, but I don't use it when talking (I know some people who do).

Well it has surely improved over the years, but it's still not at the level I'd want it to be, especially with less popular languages - such as Croatian. As Mydigitalpoint said, it translates things "as is", and ignores context behind it, often giving wrong (and humorous) translations as a result.

But knowing Google, I think they will bring it to perfection in the upcoming years.

I was taught English through a combination of English and my primary language - Croatian. That worked fairly well for me, because my English is pretty good and I had no trouble learning it. But that could be due to the fact that I was watching and reading English materials since young age.

But if I had to choose, I'd go with learning the language in that language. In my opinion it would be much easier to learn how to pronounce words and everything, and also a majority of people learns by what they hear, not only see.

Well English is my second language, and I had no problems remembering the alphabet. The reason for that is because I've started learning it in like 2nd grade or so, and the Alphabet song haha. I sing that song even today, 10 years or so after I've learned it.

As far as I can remember, never. But I find myself thinking in another language if I was influenced by something what I've seen/heard moments (sometimes days) ago.

I've never had a dream in another language, but I'd most certainly like to. It would be a fun experience.

From my experience, no. In my class there isn't a single straight A woman student, while there are 2-3 male students that average between an A and a B, and one straight A student.

We discussed on this subject the other day, so I thought I'd ask you guys.

Personally, intelligence attracts me (sometimes even turns me on, lol), and a sure sign of intelligence is knowing more than one language.

It's not like I wouldn't date a person who is smart, charming, beautiful etc., just because she knows just one language, but I like people who know multiple languages.

Do you think it's easier to learn/improve your language knowledge with writing, reading or talking?

For me, it's a mixture. I expand my knowledge by reading news, posts, discussions (...), write replies to them, or comment on some articles and when talking to my teacher for example.

I just realized that I probably use both around the same. Even though I haven't actually spoke any 'real' English (like had a serious conversation) wiht anyone else than my English teacher.

I use Croatian in everyday life when talking to my friends, family, girlfriend, etc., and in school when writing. But I spend a great amount of time on-line, where I use English more.

So, what about you?

Hmmm... I live in a small rural village, so there aren't many big beautiful buildings. But our church really stands out. It is really well done and looks majestic illuminated on snow nights. Much as the exterior, the interior of our church is really beautiful, with gold and dark red colors prevailing.

Much alike "your" and "you're", a bunch of people has no idea how to use "their", "they're" and "there".

I was surprised with this as well, as the difference was always pretty clear to me.

Do you feel the difference? Do you struggle with these words?

Do you feel the difference between your and you're? When I first joined some forums and websites, I was surprised how much people don't know the difference (especially on Facebook). What surprised me even more, those were people who's main language was English, not foreigners.

It was always pretty obvious to me that your isn't the same as you're (you are), even though I'm a foreigner.

Do you feel the difference? Does it annoy you when people misuses these words?

Sooo... I've been seeing two of those options on many forums, programs, games, etc.

What's the difference? I know that some words are spelled differently (color-colour, I believe), and that there is a difference in the accent, but that surely can't be all of it?

So what are the differences about 'British' and 'American' English?

Really cool indeed!

I don't speak nor understand any Balcanic/Slavic language, but they have always attracted me, same as the Balkans region with its rich traditions and folklore.

Perhaps one day I would devote more time to learn more about their languages and, why not? Study one of them

Yup, we have a rich tradition here, you are 100% about that.

You might even find it easier to speak Croatian than English, because there isn't so many grammar related rules.

Well anyways, if you need some more info, fire away!

Yes. You do. But I find it hard to write short sentences. If the past three sentences were to be used in a different thread, they would probably become one sentence.

But yes, I have made mistakes (at tests for example) because I used veeery long sentences.

I can think of some right away:

"Keep the change you filthy animal!"

"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."

and one of them even turned into a 'wise thoughts':

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

I find myself using random movie quotes quite often I admit. Mostly as a humor answer to a question.

Am I the only one who finds some languages more 'beautiful' than others? For example I find English much 'prettier' than my mother language, Croatian.

Not sure the cause of if, but it might be because English has so many words that have different meanings. If you called your partner 'medu' (honey) he would probably die laughing.

And it sounds much better when speaking, in my opinion.

What about you?

Pretty simple question. My mother language is Croatian, and my second is English. And I'm not sure what to think. I can communicate on both fairly well, but I suck with grammar (as in school for example).

But that's probably because I hate grammar (defining, nondefining, adjectives, nouns, blah, blah), and that's mostly because of my boring school teachers.

What about you?

So I was just wondering if there is anyone here from Balkan countries, or speaking balkanic languages? Or if there isn't, would anyone like to learn Croatian for example?

Did you know that most of balkanic/slavic languages are almost the same? For example, even though they are considered 3 languages, Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian are basically the same! You can speak Croatian in Bosnia or Serbia, and everyone will understand you.

The only noticeable differences are accents and spelling (ex. us Croats spell 'New York' the way it's written (New York) while Serbs spell it as they read it (Nju Jork)).

Bet you didn't know that!

Other than that, if you know any of above mentioned languages you will be able to understand some of Slovenian, Macedonian, Russian etc.

Pretty cool, huh?

I consider myself a fast reader (also speaker!), at least compared to my school buddies. I usually read whatever we have to first in class. Or when reading news or whatever together, I wait for others to finish. But that sometimes causes me to miss some details, so when I am interested in something I try to slow myself down.

If it lefts a massive impression on me, such as motivation, depression, confusion etc. That's when I say that that writing/writer was good. There is no any usual pattern of doing that. For me, it's detailed descriptions to bring the atmosphere, and good character development, as well as tense situations.

You can never learn too much of anything, which includes languages. But after a certain number, it usually becomes useless, I agree. For me that would be 3, but I'll say that knowing more than 4 is pretty useless for a regular guy. But it is one of the best way of expanding your knowledge, so if you can, learn 10!

They can't be 'that good' if they don't practice, use and improve their grammar. Nowadays nationality doesn't mean much in terms of the language the person speak. There are many people from non-english speaking countries who speak better English than some Americans/Brits.