Emmanuel

Your baby's already learning, whether you've decided to start teaching it or not. A baby's mind is like a sponge, and it's absorbing information all the time. Not all kids begin to talk at the same age. Once that happens, your child's learning will accelerate and you can intensify his/her learning process.

Yes, of course. It takes some practice either in speech or thought, but it can be done. For example, my french accent has changed quite a bit since I moved to Quebec. It's transformed from a french-European accent to a slightly french-Canadian accent in a matter of years simply due to exposure.

I don't usually like words as names (desirée, destiny, etc..) but there are a couple that I'm quite fond of. I like J'aime as a name, as well as hope and rose. They're all female names, so I don't know if I'd make them my name any time soon.

There are definitely certain words or expressions that really annoy me. Mostly it's because of overuse. I can't stand when people say "at the end of the day" or "hands down". The words "actually" and "literally" also rub me the wrong way. I think they're used far too often, and sometimes out of context or unnecessarily.

At the moment, it doesn't function nearly well enough to be used frequently or to any real success. I do believe, however, that in time the technology will improve and SIRI will provide people with a useful hands-free user interface. We're just not there quite yet.

Pretty often. If I'm unsure about using a word based on context/definition I'll look it up to be absolutely sure. Oftentimes I'll type a word into my google tab just to make sure the spelling is correct.

I write notes and stuff on my arms and hands all the time. Mostly phone numbers or addresses. Memento was a great movie, but I wouldn't go as far as the main character did by tattooing notes on his body..

I always write "Separate" as "seperate". I also sometimes have mix-ups with "ie" combinations. In general though, I manage to fix my own mistakes without relying on spellcheck. It's a good way to keep your spelling sharp.

Some things are rather universal, like the expression of primal emotions. Others are culturally-dependant and vary across the board. It's as anthropological as music, dance and language.

Almost never. Me and my friends all use slang and acronyms out loud as satire. It's gotten to the point where I think we've created our own dialect. People eavesdropping on our conversations can't understand us. 

"stuffed like a turkey"

I feel like that one's a bit of a reach. I think pretty much every bird-related idiom got covered in this thread.

Actually, quite the opposite. I find it rather relaxed and calming. Some of the words can be "sharp" in sound, but the overall flow of it seems pretty laid back to me. I like it.

It can be funny if done by the right person. Mostly, it's impressive if the person is good enough. I've never been good at impersonations and I'm awful with accents. My Australian always comes out as Irish or something weird like that .

Without a doubt. People travel much more these days, and since english is a universal language, it gets spoken everywhere. Most large countries are very tolerant to the english language and accommodate anglophones quite well.

As early as possible. A child's brain is far more capable of learning multiple languages than you might expect. If may not be easy, but they'll be rewarded with an invaluable skill and will thank you later.

What made you decide to learn a second (or third or fourth..) language? Was it moving to a different country, a new job, or simply curiosity? Are you happy you did it? Would you have chosen a different language if you could do it all over again?

My neighbours have a very linguistically diverse family. They each speak a combination of 4-6 languages. The mother speaks Japanese, Russian, english, french and one more that I can't remember. The father speaks Greek, Russian, English, French and Spanish. They speak to each other in Russian. Both their children speak Japanese, Greek, english and french. They speak to each parent in their language (Greek/Japanese). Isn't that crazy?

I consider myself a very fast reader. If I'm reading something very information-dense though, I'll take my time and often read through it several times. Otherwise, I can scan through pages quite quickly.

I think I have a slight Quebecois/french Canadian accent when I speak french. I live in Montreal, but learned french from my mother who's from Paris. I guess I got a mixed bag.

I know French has a reputation for being a very "romantic" sounding language. For me, though, it's Spanish. Maybe it's because all the women were so beautiful when I travelled to Barcelona, but I remember being infatuated with the language there.

They're all difficult to learn, but especially so if they belong to a different root language. Learning a latin-based language is easier if you already speak one, for instance. Learning Chinese must be incredibly hard for Westerners because of the difference in sentence structure. It's almost an entirely different way of thinking.

Quite simply, what are your favourite words in the english language? They can be long, short, complex, funny.. It doesn't matter! My favourites are as follows:

Plot

Warmth

Plaintiff

Well some people simply aren't very creative. It's possible this is a language issue, but I wouldn't know how it affects their creative writing. Perhaps they haven't yet built a vast enough dictionary with which to describe their thoughts?

I still use it all the time. When I'm writing notes in class and I need to be quick, I always write in cursive. I was shocked to hear from a few of my friends that they had forgotten how to do it. I guess it's less common these days than I thought..

"To kill two birds with one stone."

= To accomplish two things at once.