Rosyrain

I am one that does not think that slang words should be added to the dictionary. These words come and go so quickly that it is pointless. If someone does not know what a slang word means then they can look it up on the internet. The dictionary should be a useful tool for real words.

I recently tried watching a video for an online class I am taking in Spanish to see if I could understand it. By about 15 minutes into the video I had to switch it back to English because I was very confused. It can be hard listening to someone who is fluent because they speak so fast. If I am going to process it in my mind, the words need to come out and be spoken slowly.

Animals are fascinating creatures and I really do think the can start to pick up on human language if they are around humans enough. It may sound silly but I had a cat growing up that actually learned to pronounce the word "out" when she wanted to go outside. It was quite distinctive to the point where she pronounced the T sound. She would stand by the door and chant it over and over again.

As being a typical teen, she decided to take photography instead of music or a foreign language. I suppose I could buy her a foreign language book so she could start to learn and she if she is at all interested in picking up a language. The great part about where I live is that there are people around that speak many different languages so I could connect her with a tutor.

It could be very difficult for someone to learn an accent or break one that they great up with. That takes a lot of work and conditioning. A person might not be able to help it of they speak a foreign language in their native accent.

I do not like giving up on things in life, but this was a small thing to give up on because I will probably not use it in the future anyway. I would not give up because I was having a hard time learning. If it was something I really wanted to learn I would just try harder.

Are there any languages that you set out to learn, but just ended up giving up on in the end? I did this with American Sign Language years ago because there were just not enough practical applications for me to keep going with it.

My daughter opted not to do a foreign language as one of her electives for school and I support her. She is very artistic and she decided to do some art classes instead. I think that the student really has to want to learn the language in order to be successful at it and she is just not ready yet.

I sometimes practice Spanish by watching something with Spanish subtitles at the bottom, using the closed captioning on my TV. I will turn the volume down to mute and then read the sentences at the bottom of the screen. Sometimes I can understand what is going on and other times I can't.

My daughter is going into high school this year and she is in the middle of trying to pick out her electives. She is very musical and wants to take music classes, but I would like her to select a foreign language. At the end of the day, she needs to make the decision on her own, but I think the language learning would be more beneficial to her because she is already taking guitar lessons. Are high school foreign language classes all they are cracked up to be?

It is much harder to learn new languages when you become an adult because there are so many things that occupy your mind. Starting out learning as a child is much easier because the mind is still developing and can hold onto information longer. I really wish I would have started to learn when I was much younger than I am right now.

I think that it takes over 30 times doing something before it commits to your memory. If there are words or phrases you struggle with, keep repeating them to yourself throughout the day. It is like when we had to memorize famous lines and quotes in school, some of them I could still recite to this day, just because I practiced so many times.

I chose Spanish out of necessity really. There is a large population of Hispanic people in my state, and it is easier to communicate if I know how to speak their language.

I have a considerably hard time speaking my native language when I am mad or upset about something. Sometimes my tounge gets tied and I can't spit out what I am trying to say. Thus means that I really struggle if I am upset or angry and trying to communicate in another language.

When people live together they start to learn about each other in ways that nobody else understands, especially if all people are related. Sometimes it is easier to understand someone just based off their mannerisms and behaviors, and just knowing how the person expresses themselves. I imagine that you pick up on words to even if you are not fluent in the language the other person speaks.

People have many reasons for picking new languages to learn. Some do it out of necessity, while others do it for a fun new challenge. Why did you choose to learn the language you are currently learning?

Foreign languages can be especially frustrating on the phone because sometimes you can't understand what the other person is saying, even if you are fluent in the language. If someone is not speaking clearly, or if the phone is muffled in any sort of way, it can be almost impossible. I have a hard time speaking to people on the phone in my own language, let alone one that I am still learning.

There are several English words that are easy to spell incorrectly and I do it quite often. English is my native language and I struggle without spell check or a dictionary. Some words have odd spellings and letters that you would not think would be in the word. You should not feel ashamed if you spell a word wrong, but rejoice if you actually spell it correctly.

Spanish is definitely a plus on the resume and employers are looking for it more and more these days because our Hispanic population is always on the rise. It is really hard to get a government job now if you are unable to communicate in Spanish. This is why I am trying so hard to learn it.

These are good examples. The easiest way to remember if you "should" or "shouldn't" or the "coulds" is to think of it as positive and negative in wording. Should is used in a positive unsure like "Should I go" and shouldn't is a negative question to someone "Shouldn't you put on a seatbelt" like the other course of action would not be a good one.

I think the best way to learn the differences between British English and American is to get to know someone from the UK. With the internet, it is easy to make online friends and there is someone out there that will help you. I talk with a few people from the UK and I have picked up on the differences in relatively short order.

It also depends on the age generation you are addressing. I am in my 30s, so I use more adult greetings than a younger person might. When I meet someone casually, I will say something like "hi, how are you" or "hey, how is it going?" "Nice to see you."

I talk with a lot of people online who are from the UK and I always notice that they use an S in words that I would put a Z in like "organize," they would spell it "organise" Is there a Z in British English?

That is an excellent question and one I have often wondered about too. In English we would pronounce Jose and "joe-say" but in Spanish it is "hoesay." The pronunciation alone is enough to confuse people if they did not know about the J making the H sound.

A lot of the time people are embarrassed about pronouncing words wrong, especially if you are speaking to someone who that is their native language. It is much easier to write things down on paper so you can visualize it.