delusional

I think it really depends on the language and the dialect the locals speak. I have been to countries where I could understand some sentences because of the other languages I know. But I have also been to countries where I couldn't even understand a single word.

I think only listening to a language will never get you to a level where you can build up a conversation.

Thanks. Bookmarked so I can read it on my phone when I'm on the train home. If anyone else has sites like that, I would love to read them.

I've been trying to learn Chinese in my spare time for a year now but I've not really put a lot of effort in it mostly because I suddenly got a lot more work.

I understand some words but I don't even think I could pick them up in a conversation.

I would love to start learning again so as soon as I get some more time, I'll begin again.

Hi,

My university is paying to have us take a TOEIC test.

Is this test representative of the skill and knowledge someone has with English?

I've read that it isn't really representative and that it is only valid for 2 years?

The hardest books I read in English are books out specific content like engineering, biology, chemistry, ... They all use terms that are very specific and most of the words aren't taught in any English course unless you take engineering courses in English.

As a Dutch speaker and knowing basic German, I can also say that there are a lot of similarities but it's mostly the structure of the sentences and vocabulary that is similar.

The grammar however is completely different and both languages have very difficult grammar.

If you are fluent in one language, you are probably able to understand the other when listening to conversations.

Whenever I want to find the pronunciation of a certain word, I either try to find it on Wikipedia (which has pronunciation for most words) or Google by searching "WORD + definition".

I would be really interested in different pronunciations in British English and American English.

Hey there

Thank you for joining our community!

I will be happy to assist you in your language studies of German, French and Chinese. I can speak all of them and also write in all of them of course :=)

Hopefully you will have lots of fun here!

Wow, how did you manage do learn such a wide variety of languages? You can basically go to every part of the world and understand pretty much everything!

I hope I can get my knowledge of Chinese somewhere near a level where I can understand basic conversations.

I think Dutch really isn't a language to learn only by listening to it. The grammar is extremely hard and very irregular.

You could maybe get away with it for basic grammar in the present tense but that would be it.

But still, I encourage you to learn Dutch! It's a great language and although everyone in Belgium and The Netherlands speaks English, you'll get a lot of surprised eyes if you can speak Dutch to a native speaker.

I personally believe that the ending was perfect.  One had to believe that he would be either arrested or killed, but the way he died made it so that he was finally unable to find his way out of a business mistake.  Furthermore, the way that Walt was able to think everything out the way that he did is an adequate testament to his wisdom which he displays throughout the show.

This is exactly how I feel. He planned everything so carefully. The scene where he delivers the money to the Schwartz'es was amazing. He even stepped away from all the violence he caused by using laser pointers (he could have easily had an entire squad of hitmen in there).

Breaking Bad was by far the best series I watched in 2013.

I believe Google Translate is an excellent tool for vocabulary but it lacks proper grammar support. Even simple sentence of 3 words sometimes get mixed up or have to wrong conjugation.

I don't know if there are other translation tools out there that have the ability to comprehend grammar? It would be a great technology and I think a lot of people would use it.

It can also be a great tool in language learning. While I was studying French I found myself looking online for the right conjugation of verbs quite a lot and using a translator that had this ability built-in would mean I didn't have to look in separate places to get the right information.

Yes, we have to study English from the age of 12 for at least 5 years. After that, a lot of courses at the university are also in English.

I started learning English by watching TV at the age of 8. We had to learn English at school from the age of 12.

If I compare the knowledge of English between countries that dub their TV shows (France, Germany, ...) and countries that don't, the countries that don't dub their TV shows have a far more better knowledge of English.

Hi guys,

Has anyone tried Rosetta Stone to learn Chinese? The starting cost is a bit steep so I want to get as much information as possible before taking the plunge.

It looks fun to learn and has excellent reviews but that might just be their marketing.

Thanks!

I believe it's true. I also have an easier time learning German (as a Dutch speaker) because a lot of words are similar. The only hard part for me in learning German is the grammar. The vocabulary has always been very easy and fun to learn.

Hi, I'm a native Dutch speaker (well, more like Flemish but that's the same without the strange accent ).

I completely agree with your opinion. From when we're 10, we have to study French (I'm only talking about Belgium here) because Belgium is bilingual. Then we have study French for 7 years and depending on your level of education you also have to study German (a small portion of Belgians live in a German speaking region). We also have to study English for at least 3 years.

So yes, we speak a decent amount of languages and being fluent in at least 2 languages means we can help people out by speaking their language.

It's strange but the Flemish mostly dislike speaking French and the Walloons dislike speaking Dutch even when they cross the language border.

Hi guys,

I would love to learn Chinese and maybe improve my French and German.

I'm fluent in English and Dutch.

I'll see you guys around.