Channa

I don't need motivation because studying or focusing on reading gets my mind off things. I tend to forget my problems when I study my languages. I guess wanting to forget even for a while is large enough motivation for me to pick up my books.

I get really tired of studying and always having to be at a class and juggling school and work becomes very tiresome and hectic. The demand is very challenging

A bit of noise, the so called white noise is actually beneficial to concentration, that's why I like studying with ambient music.

That is true I find that I am better able to study with the sound of a football game playing in the background and at one point I studied on a crowded bus and it forced my mind to block out every thing around me and focus.  :wacky:

I grew up in a country where English isn't the native language. So often times when students from countries with English as their native language arrive, they feel the need to correct our English. Honestly, it gets really frustrating after awhile. I think as long as your English is understandable, there should be no need to correct it.

I am from a country where Patois is our native language but because we were colonized by the British  there is a mixture of patois and English the refer to the natives as uneducated if they speak a mixture of both. go figure. :bored:

:)Life is a !!!!! and then you die!

simple but epic

Life can be life, but we all have to live life

I like the three C's! I also agree that its not about how long the words you use are, it's about getting your point across. Many times in an effort to sound more "educated" or "fluent" people go above and beyond, but by doing this your message has a higher chance of being lost to the person the words are directed towards.

At the end of reading an article certain things must have been achieved, knowledge and understanding being the main reasons. so i do agree with the small words for the everyday reader but for someone who wants to expand on their vocabulary and education words that are"bigger" are more interested and beneficial

Hi,

What do you think are the best and most effective ways for an adult learner to learn English vocabulary?

I'm especially interested in beginners.

Thanks

1. learn the sound each letter in the alphabet makes

2. always have a dictionary on hand(to search for word meanings)

3. keep a notebook on hand to write down words and there meanings

4. learn part of speech and their uses. eg. verbs are action or doing words

5. practice speaking and writing standard English at all time so it becomes the norm and everyday way of life.

I use the Websters Student edition very old  dictionary for daily use. The dictionary is small and does not contain more than 5000 words but then it has all the words that you need to know if you are reading simple things, like news papers or books. There is a larger edition of the company but the types are so small that it strains the eyes.

Which English dictionary you use?

In India there are some local dictionaries  also which are useful for English words used in India only.

I like the Qxford Concise, It give you the meaning of words, it also gives you sentences and pronunciations of words, also figure of speech .

What do you consider to be the most beautiful English words?

I've always liked the word 'alliteration' 'umbrella' and 'ailurophile'.

What words do you consider to be pretty?

I like the word, Lovely, whenever someone says that word to you its makes you feel good about yourself.,  It is also telling you that you are very beautiful. So that why i like hearing that word. Have a lovely day.

It is pretty annoying for someone who has studied British English all his life. You type in an entire post and there'll be red lines everywhere. It's not neighbour but neighbor, not colour but color, not realise but realize and so on.

I know it is understandable that most of them are American but we should really have an option of switching between spell checkers.

Well what is happening now is that base on where you come from and it also depend on how you speak, the way we pronounce, Ariel, Americans pronounce the name totally different from us.

I often come across a lot of words that to me are really spelt wrong such as centre. I really feel that it should be senter. I guess enlish is not a phonetic language and so we should not make it so. But it would be nice to hear words that others find the spelling to not be so amusing.

Words like Vacuum, the silent [E] on this is married the and joined him inside the word, where they are living ever since. Well the evidence is suggestive but not conclusive . Anyway, spell this word with two 's and not like "volume".

Could be a quote, a statement, sentence. Whatever hits close to home.

[/quote

A friend in deed is a friend indeed. This means, Someone who helps you when you are in need is a, real friend. Also, A friend's eye is a good mirror, this means, a true friend who will tell you the truth no matter what.

I noticed that a lot of people use "loose" instead of "lose" when they want to get rid of something or when they lost something, like "I want to loose weight" or "I'm loosing so much money already", and I'm like, "What the heck is wrong with you people? Don't you know that "loose" means not tight? The correct word would be "lose"! LOL. But I don't personally know anyone who makes this mistake, since I only see those kinds of erroneous sentences when I browse websites and forums.

So what is your 2 cents with this whole spelling blunder? Are you at one point, guilty of making the same mistake, (don't be shy to admit, we won't judge you) or you have always been aware of the correct usage of the words "loose" and "lose"?

No i don't as I try to pronounce my words correctly. I know that "loose" means, not tight, and "lose" means, be without something that you had once. Sometimes when you don't pronounce your words correctly it causes a problem when you spell.

Do you think "body language" of people speak more effectively than their spoken language ?

How well can you read a person's body language ?

Well for me i can read body language sometimes. You have some person that will look at you with lustful eyes. Like they want to tell you that they like you but are very afraid to tell you. Body language really speak a lot, sometimes persons don't like you and they will give you the eye look, that says I hate you .

I think that poetry is one of the best uses of the english language. It is a great art form and a skill that people who write poetry have honed. But then there are some really amazing songs out there that have your head boggled by their lyrics. I prefer poetry though. Which would you prefer?

Poetry, Because it give you a chance to express yourself, It also expresses how you feel, It helps you to use rhyming words. So I go with Poetry. 

Which English words do you misspell the most?

Well as for me i do have problem with 'E" and "I", Whenever I am suppose to put "E" first I always tend to "I" instead. Such word as, "Yield", "Field". I always have to ask someone if the spelling is correct. I also remember try to spell 'Busy", and it took me two day before i could get it right .

No I don't care what people think of the way I talk. Growing up I always had a deeper and more pitched voice. Some people would say I talked like my nose was clogged up. I don't care what people think of the way I talk, as long as they can understand me.

No I don't care what they say really. Because you can't please everybody, So if they wanna talk let them talk. And furthermore people love our accent because we speak, Patios and that cause us to have a unique sound.

I don't correct them unless the mistake looks like it's going to be embarrassing for them if they repeat it in front of someone outside our group. Otherwise, as long as we're understanding each other, I think it's fine.

For those of us who speak English , we should speak properly. Why I say so because I come from Jamaica and we speak different and so it is very important to speak properly.

I remember growing up and being confused by some idioms which were visually quite striking, but at a time when I did not fully understand what figurative language was.

"Raining cats and dogs" is one such idiom.  It sounded dangerous to me -- that if I were outside I could get hit by a cat or dog falling from the sky! 

"A pot of gold at the end of the rainbow" is another one that I thought was literally true. 

I use to think that babies fall from the sky, Because when i was growing as a child and we as our mom. "where does baby comes from " She would say baby comes from sky?.

I know we don't know all the languages out there but there are always people who use different languages that we do not understand. Sometimes it's easy to tell what they are talking about and who. After all, communication is mostly body language and tone. What do you do when you know someone else is talking about you in their language? Maybe this happens to you at school or in a group of people.

Well as for me, I listen to the words they are saying and if they are looking at me. The Chinese always do that, But we pretend as if we don't know what they are saying.

I find reading a lot of diverse works helps.  This exercises different bits of the brain, and keeps things flowing.

Reading a lot of books help your vocabulary. It also give you a better understanding. You also know a lot  when you read. But it is difficult if you don't set your mind to it .

I just really like Southern American English accent. It just sounds really cool. Of course there is something about the standard British accent that makes it sound so sophisticated.

Well i really love the English Accent. They sound so unique, I Love it when they speak.

I don't over use it, at least, I don't think I do. I say "haha" when I'm really laughing at something, and "lol" when something is funny but it doesn't draw as much laughter. Which I guess is ironic given the meaning of the acronym.

I do use it but only when there is a need to use it. It is just a short and spices way to let someone know that you find it real funny. lol.

In our country, even if we uses our native language in school, English is still a major part of our curriculum from pre-school to college. In discussing science, mathematics and technical subjects, we also uses English language and that made us know English even at young age.

How about in your country, is English also part of your education?

English is a must learn, even if you know other language its important to learn English.

I know so many who text and they use "shortcuts", these can bother me a lot when they're over used. I tend to text using full sentences and good punctuation and grammar, but that's just me. How do you text? I like using proper english because I don't want to get too used to shortcuts and forget how to spell certain words all together. What do you think?

Well when I just got my phone I receive a text message from some one and i just could not understand the text. There were too many shortcuts ,Like ,"omg" O my God. "smh" Shake my head. "kmt" kiss my teeth. It is hard to read messages like that if you are not familar  with shortcut.

When we're communicating with our keyboards to our friends, we tend to type quickly to get our message across. Some of us don't care about grammar and spelling while others type as if they are writing a essay. I think practice makes perfect so what's your take on this?

Its good when you are talking to someone you use proper English. It makes a lot of sense. And it is important too.