Bob

Here's how I define poetry: the art of language. In other words, I believe that poetry is an art; more specifically using language to create art. I believe art is defined as being a product that originally had the intent to create art, so poetry should be words that were intended to become poetry. Because of this, there are so many different kinds of poetry. Poetry is just so diverse because there are no limits on what you can create with language. Since there is limitless possibility for creation, it can be creative! You should read different kinds of poetry because you can't just stick with the stereotypical version of a poem. After all, poetry is creativity expressed in words. My take on the benefits of poetry is that poetry does not provide concrete information like articles or books. That may be why you do not feel it is so beneficial. Poetry is not meant to convey concrete information, though. It is a chance to express creativity. Basically, poetry should make you feel good. There are a few ways to get the most out of a poem. You can analyze a poem for its literary devices. Be proud of what you can find within poetry because you want to follow the footsteps of the writer. In addition, you may try to decipher metaphors and symbols. See if that repetitive "10-layered dip" has any significance. It could possibly mean the complex layers of life. You could be the chip that experiences it all in one go. Find the interpretation that suits you and be happy about it. Because much of reading a poem is based on the reader's own interpretation, that is when the reader gets to benefit. It is like making your own story or fantasy, but basing it on someone else's work. Find the exquisite meanings and make them your own. The writer is guiding you to find the answer that you can call your own. This is the pleasure that you can receive from reading a poem. That is what poetry is to me.

Scientifically speaking, what you know about the language is stored inside the long-term memory of your brain. Therefore, you have not truly "lost" it. It is just that you need the right triggers to bring it out. Therefore, I suggest that you immerse yourself into an environment that exclusively speaks that language to pick it up again. I have an example similar to this: An Indian friend of mine was born in Singapore. He claims to have known Chinese at an early age but has since forgotten it completely since moving to the United States. This may be an example that contests my previous view if it is actually true. I have to agree with most of the other responses that you may forget the language, but I am sure that relearning it is easier because the language is actually stored in your long-term memory. Thus, the right triggers are necessary to bring the language back into full swing. Sometimes, I find myself forgetting words or phrases when I am learning another language because it just slips out of my mind. That is why in the course of learning a foreign language, constant review of what you already know is necessary. Language is a bit like math because you always build on what you already know, thus entailing consistent review.

For some people, this is fun. For others, it is a chore. The reason why it is fun for some people is because they see it as a puzzle because everything logically fits together or can be taken apart to form a sentence diagram. If you adopt this mentality, surely you will have a better time diagramming sentences. Do not force yourself to do it, and instead, diagram it when you're bored by acting as if it is a puzzle. Now, onto your original question. I am going to assume the following: S = subject TV = transitive verb DO = direct object "two or more complete phrases" = clauses I believe that what you mean by this: "they still have the usual S TV DO patterns but there's 2 or more of that" is that you want to find out how to diagram sentences with multiple clauses. A clause has a subject and a verb. There are two types: independent and dependent. First, let us give examples: [list type=decimal] [*]I ate a taco, and the car hit me. [*]Because I ate a taco, the car hit me. OR The car hit me because I ate a taco. I apologize beforehand if this wasn't what you were asking! #1 has two independent clauses. Multiple independent clauses can be identified by having a comma and conjunction or a semicolon. Otherwise, independent clauses can stand alone without attachments to other clauses without being considered a fragment. "I ate a taco" can be one sentence, and "the car hit me" can be the other. #2 has one independent clause and one dependent clause. The dependent clause is "because I ate a taco" while the independent clause is "the car hit me." As you can see me, the former cannot be considered a sentence on its own, which is why it is "dependent" and forms a fragment by itself. The latter can stand alone and is the independent clause. Dependent clauses are marked by a "dependent marker word" such as "because." Now, we will diagram these two sentences! For #1, the following image shows how to diagram two independent clauses and should help with any types of these sentences in the future. http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/images_diag/diag15.png As for #2, this image is how you would connect the two clauses (one independent and one dependent). All other objects or ornaments can expand from this sentence diagram. http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/images/basic_diagram_adverb_clause.jpg I know there are also different types of ways that clauses can be connected, so if this was not what you were asking, please tell us and provide an example so that we can help even more. I hope this has helped.

I. Telepathy is not real In this first section, we will see that telepathy is not a real phenomenon through refutations of previous posts. No it is not!!! Telepathy is not a form of communication because there is no such thing! If no one uses telepathy, then how do you know it exists? We cannot assume something exists because we see it in movies. This is not telepathy. This is called knowing your significant other or loved one enough to use induction to estimate what they may do or want next because of past habits. We have the brains to sense a pattern. This is not the same as telepathy. This will be an ongoing discussion because sadly, most people cannot differentiate between pseudoscience and real science. I see a reason not to consider telepathy as a type of "higher" communication - TELEPATHY IS NOT REAL. Have you guys noticed something? Some people say that most people have it, some people say that most people do not have it, while others say that it is just a power of the mind. There is no consensus on what telepathy is because it is a human fabrication with no scientific backing. Please, before you say that telepathy is some form of communication, prove it first! Do not be misled. Understand what you are talking about beforehand to gain greater insight. II. Definition of Language and Telepathy This section ASSUMES the discussion is of telepathy as portrayed in the media, not a real phenomenon. It attempts to answer the question that the OP has asked GIVEN that telepathy is not real, but only a fabricated idea. According to Merriam-Webster, language is "the system of words or signs that people use to express thoughts and feelings to each other." Once more according to Merriam-Webster, telepathy is "a way of communicating thoughts directly from one person's mind to another person's mind without using words or signals." An answer can logically and easily be deduced from these definitions. Language uses words while telepathy does not use words. Therefore, telepathy (as a fabricated idea and not a real phenomenon) is not a language. But keep in mind! Telepathy is not real!

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TELEPATHY. Telepathy is pseudoscience! There is no such thing because there have been no real cases of this, nor is there any evidence of telepathy actually occurring. Honestly, do not believe anything that is not based on real scientific evidence. This is not a "philosophical concept" because there is no logical backing! Can anyone give us a REAL case of telepathy? I think not... The only reason why telepathy is regarded by the average person as a real phenomenon is because of the media and all the entertainment that we absorb. Absolutely do not take what you see in the movies for granted. They are for entertainment, not knowledge. No, it is not scientifically proven. In fact, telepathy cannot be scientifically proven because there is no way to test it (and that raises a huge red flag in the field of science). In addition, THOUGHTS ARE NOT (significant) ENERGY. TELEPATHY IS NOT PROVEN. TELEPATHY IS NOT REAL. Some people believe in some "power" when they think of something and it happens. Count the number of times you thought of something and it did NOT happen. You will be surprised at how biased you are toward the time that it did happen compared to the times it did not happen! And people still call it real. Sometimes I feel sad about the things that people believe. That is why I am all worked up here. Thus, we can conclude telepathy is not a language (because it does not exist).

This is a conjugation chart! It is an easy way to learn conjugations of verbs because it follows a coherent structure. You should definitely consider using this when studying the conjugations of verbs. First, draw the three rows. Next, draw a vertical line through them. Then, draw diagonal lines on both sides of the middle row. Then, follow the order for conjugation in the pattern above. This makes conjugation a whole lot easier to study. Above the chart, write down the verb and the tense so that you can refer back to it for future reference if it is in your notes. This is how I learned verb conjugations. Conjugations are the hardest part of learning Spanish for most people. Personally, I love grammar rules, so they have not been that much of a problem for me. However, it is still very tricky to come up with the right verb conjugation when you are placed on the spot. Like SirTenenbaum said, it really does take years to master it. Immersion would probably be your best option if you truly want to be fluent in it. What you say is true, once you learn the preterit tense, it will be a whole lot easier. The preterit is one of the hardest conjugations in the Spanish language. Much of the other conjugation types are based off of the present tense or the past tense. Of course, you will still have to learn others such as the imperfect, the affirmative/negative commands, the conditional, the subjunctive, etc. Good luck to you! It will be a long but fun process, and it will be worth it!

Don't forget that although English borrows a lot of its words from other languages, it is sometimes different from what they mean in that language. For example: English: Entrée = main plate French: Entrée = starter/appetizer Besides phrases used in English, we can still see many roots of English words from other languages. Sometimes they are the same in definition and sometimes they are different. That's why other languages have cognates that English speakers can use to learn easier. Unfortunately, there are also often false cognates. This definitely represents invasions, wars, or migrations that intermixed several languages. English itself is a Germanic language (Anglo-Saxon), but it borrows so heavily from French. Mostly, Latin and Greek make up much of the roots which is why we find so much similarity between the Romance languages and English.

The Chinese gave in before the Americans did. They started integrating English into their education system while in the United States, Chinese is only taught as a foreign language option. Chinese would be the most spoken language in the world if nations kept to themselves, but the fact is that English is the most spoken language in the world currently. As Hedonologist pointed out, the combined populace of the English speaking world is already overwhelming. The countries with the most English speakers are China and India, not the United States. They contribute to the hegemony of English. Another problem with Chinese is that the phrases are limited and it is difficult to learn. English is difficult to learn because of the grammar rules and exceptions, but Chinese is based upon memorization. The world is gradually moving away from memorization as intelligence and more toward understanding as intelligence. People don't feel the need to spend time on so much memorizing when they can achieve the same aptitude with different methods that save more time. English is the primary language used in communication because it is versatile and has unique words and jargon for each profession. Doctors and scientists around the world use English because it is a very effective communication system while Chinese uses phrases that can easily be confused with others if the listener did not hear them in their entirety. The versatility of English makes it so ideal. It can have a word or phrase for everything because of the combinations one can make with the letters in the English language. The language itself is so backed up with context that most of a conversation is repetition that strengthens the meaning of a concept. Even if some things are left out, the message can easily be understood which is why we can understand other English as a Second Language learners even if they are not so good with using their words. Of course, even though English holds such a high place in society, foreign language learning should still be encouraged because it gives you a huge advantage in communication. The image of an American who speaks native English is extremely strengthened by knowledge of foreign languages.

So many homonyms exist in not only English, but other languages across the world. Because of their multiple meanings, context is so important. Usually with context, the meaning of the word can be figured out. It's easy to do so in words such as "bow" or "bark." The more difficult words are like the one you pointed out "exact." I've heard of "exact" being used as "exacting revenge," but the problem is it's not used everyday, so people do not really recognize it that often. These are the things you just have to know, but context can help tremendously. Probably the only way for people to truly learn words with multiple definitions or with opposite slang meanings is immersion. The education system for foreign languages teaches us a vocabulary word and its definition in English, but that is not enough to learn the whole picture.

In second grade, we learned print writing. I remember that in third grade, we learned cursive writing. Then, for the rest of elementary school, any writing activity was preferably done in cursive. By the time I hit middle school, lots of other people from different schools also used cursive writing, but that was when I began to transition away from it because cursive wasn't required. I believe that elementary schools actually still do teach cursive writing. They are at the stage when they need to be exposed to different writing methods. Although I think my print writing looks better on paper than my cursive writing, I still love to write in cursive, especially on whiteboards. The only problem that I face with cursive is that the entire word needs to be written well in one stroke or else I need to erase it because I don't like it when it looks a bit off.

I set my knife down on the table and sat down, picking up the picture and staring at it. All of a sudden, I had an epiphany. The girl in the picture came knocking on my door five years ago.

Alberta struggled to swim up and get air, but her efforts were hindered by the dress she was wearing, and she slowly sank deeper into the ocean. The bird before her shined and transformed into a dolphin, picking Alberta up and breaking the surface.

In addition to being a great way to prepare for the SAT, the PSAT also enables test-takers to earn National Merit Scholarships in their junior year! The National Merit Scholarships recognize multiple divisions and categories. Approximately two-thirds of the 50,000 high scorers on the test receive Letters of Commendation. The top one-third become qualified as Semi-finalists. About 15,000 of those people move on to become Finalists, and among them, winners are chosen based on academics and test score. Many scholarships are available to those who are outstanding, so it is a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. To those who are unfamiliar about what the PSAT is, it is the "Preliminary SAT" because it mirrors the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), a test used to gauge ability levels in Writing, Critical Reading, and Math for college applications. While the maximum score on the SAT is 2400, the maximum score on the PSAT is 240. The three sections (Writing, Critical Reading, and Math) each make up one-third of the points in the score (80). Usually, a score above 200 is necessary to qualify for consideration in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Colleges don't look at PSAT scores, but they definitely consider you as a strong applicant if you qualified for a National Merit Scholarship, so definitely give it a try!

...when you accidentally answer a Spanish question in French (and vice versa). ...when you strike up a conversation in Japanese with someone in your French class. ...when more than half of the music in your playlist is not in English (or your native language). ...when you can't think of a word/phrase in one language, but you know it in another language and want to say that instead. ...when you start speaking in a random language to someone who doesn't know it. ...when you start answering "oui" or "non" to any question. ...when you join in a conversation with people you don't know when you hear them speaking in Chinese. I read all of these, and I think they are hilarious. I know what it feels like, but it's still so fun learning languages!

Music is a great way to learn a language. Since Latin is not spoken that much, it would be difficult to gain the listening and speaking skills required to me fluent. Songs are great to listen to and can strengthen listening skills. There are many genres of music that have lyrics in Latin. Although Latin is not spoken much nowadays, several songs are exclusively sang in Latin. My favorite Latin song is Carmina Burana. I love it because the classical aspect combined with the choir is awesome. Although, songs like these are not the only Latin songs. There is also rock, hip hop, metal, etc. This is a really funny video with misheard lyrics from Carmina Burana. "Salsa cookies... send him to North Korea!!!"

This one did not really confuse me because I could deduce the meaning from the context, but it was interesting: "Take it with a grain of salt." What was confusing was that I didn't know what the significance of a grain of salt was.

What we can definitely establish about people who know more than one language is that they are patient. Seriously, learning a language takes a lot of time, dedication, and willingness to study. Then, there are the people who are born into a family that speaks a different language than the one being taught in schools. Many of these people are lucky because they get to become multilingual more easily. I know many very smart people who do not learn other languages. I don't think any less of them, but I actually believe that they should go learn other languages because it is important for their success in the future. People who take the time to learn other languages probably also understand the fact that languages are important for communication, and communication is vital for progress. Finally, knowing more languages mean that you have opened up more brain pathways to understand and comprehend material. If this is true, then it should be helpful to know more than one language. I know that people who speak multiple languages are less likely to get Alzheimer's as they age.

Here are a few more that I remember or have learned: "Crayon" = pencil. "Crayon de couleur" = crayon. "Entrée" = appetizer. "Plat principal" = entrée (main course). "Pièce" = room. "Morceau" = piece. "Raisin" = grape. "Raisin sec" = raisin. "Blesser" = to hurt. "Bénir" = to bless. "Collège" = high school. "Université" = college. "Librairie" = bookstore. "Bibliothèque" = library. These false cognates can really be confusing to the beginning learner. Although a lot of the words have similar meanings and spellings in both English and French, there are several that are tricky because they don't mean what the English learner thinks they mean.

The previous posters have given great definitions, but to simplify this more, here is what I believe their definitions are: Luego = later Después = after As you can see, they have similar meanings and can sometimes be used interchangeably. If you are telling a story, both "luego" and "después" are transition words used to advance the plot. This is similar to how we say in English: "First, I ate a taco. Later, I ate another taco. After, I ate my last taco." Here, they are very similar in their usages. In addition, there are cases where these words are used but cannot be switched. Hasta luego = see you later Después la comida = after the meal In both examples, they have unique meanings. We say "see you later" but not "see you after." We say "after the meal" but not "later the meal." These are the differences that you must be aware of.

An easy place to "create a map" by connecting new words is the Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus: http://www.visualthesaurus.com/. The great thing about the Visual Thesaurus is that you just have to type in a word that you want to find the synonyms of, and it will show up with synonyms of that word connected to the original word similar to a map. I believe that you can even go further with individual words to branch out. It is really cool, so you guys should check it out. Unfortunately, I think that you have the subscribe to it if you want to use it extensively. It give you a few trial searches, but after that, it is only available to subscribers. The Visual Thesaurus is used by http://thesaurus.com when you type in a search entry. It appears if you scroll down a bit, so that can be used if necessary.

I believe that the wrong way to learn Spanish is basically not including any of the following: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. These four are the important things needed when learning a language. If you don't have any of them, you are headed in the wrong direction.

Hello! It's great to see someone young and ready to take on the world. I'm going to assume you are not a senior, so you still have plenty of time to prepare. The SAT has an English writing section, a critical reading section, and a math section. I love math very much, but since this is a language forum, let us focus on writing and critical reading. The essay portion is very important because it is a large part of the English writing score. I believe that usually, the topic relates current events. Anyways, there is a limit to the amount of time so you should carefully plan ahead so that you don't get lost while writing the essay. Primarily, create a thesis. This should be a strong sentence that summarizes your essay into an argument and focus. It should voice a side and be persuasive. The rest of the introduction doesn't have to be that long because time is constrained. About two body paragraphs would be acceptable. These two should follow a strong ontology such as chronological, cause and effect, problem and solution, or just two examples that demonstrate and prove your thesis. The conclusion summarizes these and restates your thesis. Critical reading is all about vocabulary. Memorize as much vocabulary as you can from flashcards or textbooks.

Think about how you learned English. Of course you probably didn't know any English words when you first started learning English when you were small. It just came naturally because your environment was full of English-speaking people. People helped identify certain objects and concepts. Then vocabulary was later defined in English. As a result, our English was fluent at a young age. I think that having a language taught in that language uses this as a guideline. The primary obstacles to this method are that you can't have an environment like that 24/7, and as we grow older, our minds don't wrap around concepts as easily as we did when we were children.

If you truly want to regulate and keep track of cellphones, I believe this is the best way to do it: Buy a few small transparent/semi-transparent boxes such as those "really useful boxes" that they sell at Office Depot. They should be slightly bigger than a typical cellphone (although they are making bigger smartphones which may complicate things). Place one box between every two to four seats/desks. Depending on how desks are arranged, this may be easy for some classrooms and hard for others. Form a class policy that states students must put their electronic devices in the boxes at the beginning of class and may not take them out until the end. If at any time the device rings or makes noise, students should ignore it and keep on working. The primary reason why this works is because the cell phones are literally in front of the student's face, and as a result, they do not feel as if they don't have it with them. On the other hand, it is in a box so it can't be reached. This makes the students more comfortable though they cannot use the cellphone in class. Every time a student wants to leave the room for any reason such as going to the restroom, ask for the cellphone. This serves two reason: first, it insures a speedy return from the student; second, they won't be making an excuse to check their cellphone. Over time, you will begin to recognize which cellphones are whose and which students do not have cellphones. From that, you can occasionally check in with the students to make sure they are following this procedure. All in all, I this is a great method to prevent cellphone usage during class while not actually depriving students of their cellphones. It is effective for students to learn without distractions.

I must agree that tones matter because there are already a lot of characters that sound the same even with the tones. To just have the bare pinyin without the tones would broaden the range even more. Of course, the meaning can still be understandable through the context such as saying "pinyin" or "xiexie" and Chinese names laid out in English don't use tones because they aren't significant, but plenty of examples can show when tones are important. Usually Chinese is not communicated through bare pinyin. Instead, the actual characters are more often used. There are a few solutions for this. I believe that Chinese language typing on a Windows computer can easily be setup. The pinyin is typed out and a number is typed at the end to indicate the tone. This brings up a few suggestions and a character can be chosen. On the other hand, Google translate's Chinese typing program don't let you use tones when typing. After you type in the pinyin for a character, many suggestions show up. The great thing is that you can continue typing without stopping and choosing, so it will appear in a queue that suggests the string of characters you might be trying to type based on the context.