Dora M

Recently I moved to Spain where there are plenty of jobs available teaching English and German. I am thinking of doing a course to get the teaching certificate that I need. I have no previous experience with this type of work but would like to try it. Have you got any advice for me?

Are you motivated enough to learn a language by yourself? I started learning Spanish with the help of audio tapes, books and plenty of online resources. I also met a person on a language exchange website with whom I have been meeting regularly on Skype to chat in Spanish and German. I am self-motivated by nature, so it wasn't hard for me. I continue to improve my Spanish language skills on a daily basis by reading, singing and talking in that great language. How about you?

The most effective way for me to keep up with my Spanish practice is to speak it every day. I sing along with my favourite Spanish songs and read Spanish books. I also continuously work on acquiring new vocabulary by immersing myself in my visual Spanish dictionary. Often before I go to sleep, I try to memorise at least 3 new words. This system works well for me.

To be honest, I want to spend as little as possible on improving my Spanish. I prefer to use free resources from the internet and practice with the people who are willing to do an exchange, where I help them with their English and German, while they instruct me in how to speak better Spanish. I have invested in some exercise books and audio tapes, but I don't think that I will pay for a course or have paid one-to-one instructions at this stage.

I am yours, yours alone... ich gehoere dir, dir allein. :-) Not that I have used that phrase often in my life. Maybe once or twice.

I would say that a sense of humour goes a long way. Perhaps it would be a good idea to slow your friend down a little and make him see for himself that he is not getting anywhere with his faulty pronunciation. Personally, I would probably reassure him with a lot of smiles and perhaps some funny comparisons, guiding him in the right direction.

Hallo Chris, Falco kommt aus Oesterreich. Das weiss ich ganz genau, weil ich auch von dort bin. Viele seiner Lieder sind unvergesslich. Ich erinnere mich besonders an eines, das damals , als es rauskam, sehr kontrovers war und auf allen Radio Stationen eine zeitlang verboten war. Unnoetig zu sagen, dass es sofort auf dem ersten Platz in der Hitparade landete, und dort auch lange blieb. Modern Talking war sehr populaer als ich ein Teenager war.

When I started learning Spanish, I did it with the help of a correspondence course and a friend in Latin America who interacted with me on Skype every day. One of my favourite sources of getting more familiar with this beautiful language were illustrated books for children and young adults. Not to mention the treasure of having an illustrated pocket dictionary for all occasions.

Generally, people have difficulties with my accent. I speak English with a slight German accent, German with an Australian accent and Spanish with a German accent. When, after a lot of guess work, I tell them that I am Austrian, they always laugh.

I can't believe my luck. Today I came across a visual dictionary in a book shop and had to buy it immediately. I can't imagine a better way for myself to remember new words than to have an image right next to them. It makes a big difference to me. How about you? How do you best remember new words? What kind of dictionaries do you use?

Ha, where did you find that? If anyone asked me to come up with a word that would describe rules, regulations, bureaucracy, I would point them to this overwhelming word. Obviously beef processing is a very serious business and requires a lot of people to make sure that everything is controlled tightly along the way. I am a vegetarian, so I will most likely never make use of this monster!

It looks like you have found a really good source of synonyms there. I always marvel at the art of creative writers who understand how to incorporate the best fitting and most descriptive words in any sentence. And how they can turn a banal incident into an exciting adventure. I mean from your average "gehen" to "flitzen", "rasen", "springen", and so on, there is a world of difference. There could be an entire psychological thriller behind it.

Hallo megshoe, wo arbeiten Sie denn? In welchem Land? Ich habe verschiedene Berichte von Au-Pair Maedchen gehoert. Die einen fanden wundervolle Familien, bei denen sie als Familienmitglied angesehen wurden, waehrend andere bei Familien landeten, die hauptsaechlich billige Arbeiterinnen wollten, die neben der Kinderbetreuung auch noch einen Grossteil der Hausarbeit uebernehmen mussten. Ich hoffe, dass Ihre Stellung zur ersten Sorte gehoert. Gibt es Parkanlagen in ihrer Naehe, oder Berge? Wenn Sie viel Stress verspueren, dann wuerde es bestimmt helfen, wenn Sie sich so viel wie moeglich in die Natur begeben, wo sie spazieren, radfahren oder vielleicht auch schwimmen gehen koennten. Haben Sie Freunde in Ihrer Umgebung, mit denen Sie sich unterhalten koennen?

Oh, Borat... ha! I was absolutely mesmerised by that movie. It really pushed things hard past a lot of limits. It was hilarious, touching and disturbing all in one. As soon as I hear that name, immediately those outrageous green swimming trunks come to my mind. I remember Ali G from many years ago. Unfortunately, they didn't repeat the show here in Australia and I can't recall it clearly any more. I just remember big sunglasses and some excellent jokes.

Hallo Ailsa, leider habe ich noch nie von Annette Louisan gehoert. Fuer welchen Stil von Musik interessierst du dich? In diesen Tagen hoere ich meist englische oder spanische Musik. Und du? Was hoerst du gerne? Wer sind deine liebsten Bands oder Musiker?

I always liked having conversations with people from all over the world and from every walk of life. I also like reading and writing. So it's only natural that I need to know different languages for that purpose. I grew up bilingual, speaking German and Serbo-Croatian. Later I learnt English and French, and a couple of years ago it became necessary and a pleasure to add Spanish to the list, after meeting my Latin American partner. I guess I have always been a language enthusiast.

I really enjoy watching comedies of all kinds. From stand-up comedians to funny movies. I mean actually funny, not just some generic rehash of some ancient jokes that is enhanced by artificial laughter. One of my absolute favourite comedians is Bill Bailey. I have to smile as soon as I see him. I also admire Robin Williams. I think that man is a genius. I have watched all of his movies and still can't get enough of "Mrs Doubtfire" and "RV". Who is your favourite comedian?

I can't really think of a specific English movie that I really like. I generally like films that bring out the famous English black humour. I like several English comedy sitcoms. My favourite is "Black books", starring Dylan Moran and Bill Bailey, who crack me up every time. I also love "The Mighty Boosh", a fantastically bizarre show that I have on DVD. And last but not least, there is "Spaced", another hilarious English series.

I have not been exposed much to the English language when I grew up. Most of the foreign movies on TV were dubbed in German, so I didn't have the privilege to actually hear much spoken English until I started learning the language in school. But even then, my teacher was not of an English speaking background, and I only ever heard English spoken by native speakers when I started working for a company that hired a lot of Australians. It took me about two months before I could actually understand fluent and fast spoken English. So, no, I wouldn't say that the English language is easier to learn than other languages. There is a difference between being able to communicate in a different language and the skill to have a sophisticated conversation.

I like to write short stories and, when I feel melancholy, I tend to express myself in a more poetic way. I have started strange hybrid stories and combinations of words in 4 different languages, wondering sometimes about my different language personalities. I can create a certain feeling around myself when I write in German that is quite different to when I write in English. Often I find it hard to translate from one language into the other. It just doesn't flow as well. Are you a creative writer or experimenter?

I like to have interesting conversations on all levels and don't try to correct people who have a unique way of talking. I don't even mind if they use a lot of swear words. For me it's about the essence of what they try to convey, about their background and their story. Imagine how boring novels would be if everyone spoke perfect text book language. A character in a story only comes truly alive through his unique mannerisms and language. And naturally the inspiration comes from real life.

I love dictionaries. When I was a kid I used to recreationally browse through my selection of dictionaries, simply because I was fascinated by words, especially those that have multiple meanings. In my house you will find quite a number of dictionaries on the book shelf. I also have a heavy Thesaurus sitting there amongst different encyclopaedias and language dictionaries. One of the most important feature on my phone is the google translator that I use many times a day.

In many of the Balkan countries they still teach Russian as a second language, followed by French and then English. None of my relatives and friends in Serbia speak English, and neither do their friends. There is only one of my cousins who learnt a bit of English on his own accord, but without having anyone to practice with, his skills wilted away quickly.

I have been learning Spanish for a couple of years now, and this year I will be travelling to Andalucía, Spain, to improve my language skills and to hopefully have a great time. Are you planning to travel to a different country to get more efficient at the language that you are currently learning or wanting to brush up on? Have you ever attended a language school or course during your vacation in another country?

I didn't have many problems when I started learning English. I thought it was all very clear and straight forward, unlike my native German, which has endless grammar deviations and eccentricities. What I struggled with in the beginning was the correct pronunciation of "th". For a long time I only managed a soft "zzz". This drove my teacher crazy. He would often point at his mouth and show me where I had to position my tongue in order to produce that particular sound.