lizbeth19hph

I use my second language, English more in both my teaching and writing jobs than my first language. But when it comes to conversations, I use a mixture of my first and second language. I admitted before that I am more adept using English when ever I write essays and compose poetry for there are some words in my native language that I still don't know for they have deeper meanings.

Why do I want to study French? It has something to do with it sophistication and accent and classy sound of words in conversations. The language fascinates me much and I just thought that I should be able to understand and speak a little French before I start planning to travel around Europe.

This is not a quote but then I learned this phrase and I love it : "Je'taime mon cheri" and another one "Parlez Vous Anglais" (Do you know English?)

When I was a student, I have this "photographic memory". I don't get to memorize line per line and word per word all the data/info in our lessons. What I did was jot down some notes on a separate paper like a list of important infos then read them repetitively until I get to "memorize" on my mind the picture of the whole paper with the list of info on it, in the order they were written. It is merely reading again and again not memorization. That helped a lot while I was studying. Now as I aged, that ability slowly depreciated too. LOL 

I increase my vocabulary by reading books, news and through interactions with foreigners. I believe reading plays a major role in increasing one's vocabulary, widens their knowledge also. We must also try to apply and use new vocabulary words we have learned when we are writing and at times in our conversations.

I have been teaching English to Koreans for almost 6 yrs now and I must say I have learned a lot about their culture as well. I do enjoy teaching English as it is my favorite subject since I was still a student. I also gained a lot of friends through my teaching classes.

According to my parents, my first word was, "Dada" which was supposed to be "Daddy" My younger siblings then adapted the term and people started to call my late Dad, "Dada" also. I think that is one common first word uttered by babies.

I believe you can get back right on track with your fluency in a certain language by gaining back your momentum Try reading, writing and speaking again using the language you have learned for a while/ Practice makes perfect and also immerse yourself once more in the culture and get yourself exposed to the language once more. Apply what you have learned before again.

Almost everyday of my waking hour, I use and write in English as a writer by profession doing all articles and web contents in English and as an Online English Instructor for Koreans. I also am an English Poet so all my poem compositions are written in English.

In our country, we start learning English as our second language at about the age of 4-5 in preschool. We get to be exposed to the language by watching English TV programs, reading books, listening to music , etc. I was lucky to have watched Sesame Street which I consider as my first English teacher when I was a kid.

We are exposed more with American English so we have difficulty at times using and understanding British English with the sophisticated accent and different pronunciation as well. Expressions also confuse us at times. For example "sound off" in American English means "didn't create sound" or it was turned off while it has an opposite meaning in British English wherein it means "the alarm sounded" or it created a sound.

I am also a Poet and I believe that it is one of the best ways to express the English language through rhythmic or free flowing verses. There is what we call a lyrical poem, though. A poem that is actually made as a song and the classical ones have measurements and other parameters. A poem you write can actually be made into a song merely by creating melodies in tune to the lyrics. Composing poetry is fun and artists also use it as an "escape" or outlet when their emotions come pouring in and they need to vent.

As a writer myself, good writing for me is one that touches the hearts of not just one reader but of many who were left amazed by your writing style that they often ask if the story was written for them or was it about them. A story, a poem or any form of writing that gives you that lingering effect of you craving for more of the writings of a particular author/writer/poet, one that moves your emotions in a way no other has done before. Something that is written from the heart. 

Being a writer by profession, I do read faster than my other friends and can finish reading a 300-page novel in less than a day . I also believe when one is into reading the whole time, he gets used to reading fast. Also, you must comprehend what you have reading so it won't go to waste. As a writer, Stephen King once said, "If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the tools to write." 

I admit I am also quite guilty with overusing LOL when I get to chat with my friends and colleagues. It is easier instead of typing "hahahahaha" or what to express how much you bought one's joke or when you just want to laugh it off because of something.

Foreigners may sound rude at times maybe because of their manner of speaking in a way we are not accustomed of. Even if they don't really want to come off or appear as mean or rude, they may have expressions that have bad connotations in our country of origin.  

My favorite quote is a common one that I apply in my life : "Live and let live."  I also like writing quotes by Stephen King one of which is "To write is human, to edit is divine." among others. 

"Was" used in singular form (he, she , it, I)

"Were" used in plural form (they, we)

That's common knowledge in grammar as was taught in school starting at pre-school.

In this case "If I were you...", that's the time you use "were"

I am currently an ESL teacher for Koreans online aside from my work as a freelance writer and we use scanned book online, articles taken from their websites, other documents as sources of everyday lessons. As a teacher, I listen attentively to their pronunciation, correct use of grammar and reading comprehension among others.  Teaching English as a second language can be fun and both the teacher and her students can both learn from each other. Good luck on your ESL teaching job.

  Hi, there guys! I am Lizbeth, one of the newbies in this language learning forum.