Lacey

That's a tough one I guess because I can't imagine anything other than English, and what would we do if this actually happened. However, I am always up for a challenge and I also choose Mandarin Chinese. What a wonderful exciting time in our world when we all realized that we had to sit down together and learn one of the most difficult languages. Could this be the beginning of world peace??

Would any one recommend that you learn more than one language at a time or do you become proficient in the one you are studying and then move on to another one. I am wondering this because a lot of languages are so similar and I wonder if this would be a hindrance or if it would help you.

I speak from experience when I say that I wish I could have studied German and I still may. It is a fascinating language to me. I know and can speak a little of the Latin languages like Spanish, Italian etc because they are so similar, but the languages like German for example have no rhyme or reason to me when I hear them. I would love to learn that language. Is there a language that you would want to learn but haven't either for the sake of time or there is just no access to it?

I have heard that if you go to sleep listening to the language that you will learn it a lot faster. I think that there is something to be said for listening to it. I don't personally have the patience to just listen to it for a year without immersing myself in the culture and reading and meeting people, but I do know that listening to it really helps with the accent and it also helps to understand the words faster.

I am planning on visiting China in the late summer early fall and I am wondering what to take with me to help me communicate? I have been reading books and learning the language with my friend who is going with me but I don't want to go over there and not be able to understand the basics. Should I take a dictionary or will Google Translator be enough?

My first language other than English was Spanish. We had to take a foreign language class in school and I was kind of forced into it because my school didn't offer any other languages. It took about a week and I fell in love with it. I couldn't get enough of learning and figuring out the different phrases and sounds that were there.

I have used it, mostly just for fun when we are at Chinese or Mexican restaurants mainly to see how accurate it is. I wouldn't use it as my only means of knowing what other people are saying, to know the language that you are around is so much better. I like that it is right on my phone though and if I do need it I have it in a pinch.

I think it is getting worse definitely . The use of random letters to spell out a whole phrase.....LOL, OMG etc..... has killed spelling I think. I know that they are thinking of getting rid of it in the school curriculum which is crazy to me. I hope they rethink that. I don't think there is any way to bring back the use of actual words, but I do hope we don't lose them all together.

When I was in first grade, a long long time ago, my teacher gave us an assignment using their, there, and they're....I did not get it at all. I was sent back to my seat to correct my work over and over again while the other kids were finishing and getting to move on to a fun activity. I still remember this 20 years later. I get it now, I think from that experience and years of thinking about it before I spell it. How did you learn? Is there an easy way to remember which one to use?

It is very important to teach children different languages and the earlier the better. They pick it up so fast the younger they are. I teach very small children English which is one of the hardest languages to learn and they pick it up so much faster than my older students. I speak Spanish to my child at home and she answers back and understands. I think it is really important and it helps them a great deal to learn another language. As I was getting my degree, it was said over and over again that it really strengthens your brain so to speak to learn more languages so I am definitely for teaching children new languages.

I think that it would be writing, then speaking, then reading. There are so many variations when it comes to writing new languages. There are different characters or accents and to get the conjugation down so it makes sense to a reader is very difficult. Speaking would be next because you again have to deal with an accent or putting an accent on the correct syllable to make the correct word. Reading doesn't seem to be to difficult just because once you do learn the sounds, reading is quite easy to do in other languages.

I have heard people say "she murdered that!" Meaning that she did a horrible job at something. It's just plain murder is when someone takes advantage of someone else. It is interesting to me that we have so many of these with negative words in them like murder or slaughter.

We are planning on going in late summer early fall, I have started and have been reading some books but these websites are fantastic. Thanks so much for posting I am so excited to look through them and become fluent in Chinese. I will keep you posted on my learning and how it is going. I do have a tutor that is helping quite a bit as well but I really want to know the language before I get there. Thanks again.

I'm learning Chinese for a trip that I am taking and I want to be able to have the basics down so that I can communicate while I am there. My favorite way to learn a language is by immersing myself in the culture but this is impossible until I go over there and I want to be prepared. Should I read books, watch movies, or get a tutor? What is the best way to learn in your opinion??

I taught English to children who spoke only Spanish. I was told by my supervisors to have them read an sound out the English words. As I tried this, I realized that there was really no comprehension as they were struggling to read. I started taking them outside and on walks around the school yard. They learned everyday words like grass, slide, swing, flower etc. This boosted their learning tremendously. What is your preferred way to teach a new language?