skywatcher

I think it depends on how much you're willing to learn and how much energy (time and resources) you're willing to give to that endeavor. A year might be enough to learn the basics, but for me it'd take much more than that, HAHA. Not because I'm aiming for fluency and perfect grammar, but because I'm not always that dedicated to learn a language I want to learn. Not because I'm lazy, but because I also have other things to do aside from this. Not only that, but I have limited resources regarding the languages I want to learn - I sometimes mostly rely on movies and series and books to learn a language, and those things are hard to find where I live. So I guess it also depends on the circumstances involved.

A combination of a lot of things, really. But for me, the most efficient way of learning a language is to expose myself to the language - literature, film, and all that. I want to learn how to speak Japanese (the writing seems to be a bit harder, haha), so I expose myself to JDrama, tokusatsu and anime. While it's been years since I've been watching those things, and it's been recently that I'm starting to get about 10% of what I'm hearing, it's been very helpful for me. Watching these things made me notice certain trends and patterns when Japanese is being spoken, the subtle changes in the words being spoken when certain "forms" of the words are being used, and all that. I mean, while a tutorial book is useful when learning the language, it gets more interesting when you're actually listening and watching people using the language in order to react to some situations. It's like, as much as they're not teaching the language in the series, they're absorbing you into their environment - they need the language to survive and covey their feelings, so you'd really learn the language while feeling them.

If I have the cash, I'd be more than willing to spend time in a country using the language I want to learn. I agree with the others that learning with native speakers is one of the best ways to learn the language (both in terms of speaking and writing). Sure, adapting into the culture will be hard, but it'd be a good way to learn the origins of the language, why the language is spoken that way, and even relate the language into the culture. Being exposed to people who speak the things you want to learn all the time is a nice way to 1.) see how things are pronounced, 2.) see the flow of the language, 3.) study the expressions and the gestures when speaking with others; as in, basic things that wouldn't make a difference in other places, but are really important to understand the language in that certain place.

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of friends of mine who fell under the category. What bothers me are my friends who are jeje in terms of fashion and lifestyle. Sometimes the clothing choices do nothing but irk me. They could always wear something comfortable, and they could always diss the caps. Either way, the base form of jeje (which I think could be shortcut texting) is okay for me, especially if you're in a hurry. But only if you're in a hurry or if you're conserving, say, texting load. Shortening the words are alright for me so long as it's understandable. But shortening the words and /then/ replacing letters with numbers and symbols somehow don't make sense. As much as other people can consider this an art of its own, it somehow does worse than hurt heads. Instead of simply understanding and replying to a message, you sort of get the urge to destroy the world a few times before replying.

Code-switching Filipino and English is okay for me, only inasmuch as it avoids becoming conyo - especially if it's something deliberately done. If it's conyo for the sake of entertainment, it's okay. But for me, code-switching is something that's okay if and only if it's used in informal settings. If it's for business meetings and official matters, I will need to uphold the English-only policy (unless the meeting is conducted in Filipino, then proper courtesies are advised). For me, I find nothing inelegant and wrong with Taglish. So long as the speaker is capable of speaking in both English and Filipino (when the individual language is asked to be spoken) without code-mixing all the time, then it's okay. I think people want to avoid speaking in a pure language in the Philippine setting because of all the "irk" it causes the other people around them. For example, not a lot of people would appreciate people saying "Would you want to watch a movie later?" in a public space - say, a market. A lot of people might think, "Grabe, ang pauso naman," and other things. Then again, not a lot of people would also appreciate people saying, "Gusto mo ba manuod ng pelikula mamaya?" in a business setting. Others might not take the speakers seriously. I think in this case, code-mixing should be done based on context. In a college setting, "Gusto mo ba manuod ng movie later?" is highly more compared to, "Gusto mo ba mag-watch ng movie later?" I think the more fluid the language sounds to the ears, the better code-mixed the sentences are. If words are switched with too much effort, then it just gets irritating to the ears, I guess.

I agree, I find this okay if and only if it's for the sake of respect and if the other person really wants to be corrected. If it's for the sole purpose of winning an argument, it kind of doesn't make sense anymore. It's like using a form of intellectual superiority for the sake of burying another person without actually disproving anything at all. Either way, I find this okay if, say, it's for the purpose of proofreading a document, or if it's for the sake of improving the performance of a friend - for example. If it's for the benefit for the person who used the grammar wrong (for example, if a writing exam is near and you're asked to judge a "preliminary work), then I think this is appropriate.

I always amuse myself whenever I get a spelling mental block, especially with some words. "Occasion," really gets me a lot of times, and I always laugh whenever I get the spelling wrong - and then worry when I really seem to not get it right.

They do, but not in a fast way. It will really take time. But I'd like to explain this in two dimensions: one with 1.) improving the native language's grammar (or at least, your grammar using subtitles of a language you're familiar with), and, 2.) learning more about the new language using subtitles of languages you're familiar with. Examples: 1.) Movies with dialogue in English with English subtitles 2.) Foreign movies with dialogue in their native language with English subtitles (examples are anime and tokusatsu spoken in Japanese but with English subs) Do these help? Yes. 1.) In this dimension, it can really help English speakers who might have a hard time following the dialogue of the characters. There are a lot of movies and series with actors barely speaking but you can hear a lot of words coming out of their mouths. Not being able to see and understand them will make it hard for listeners to understand what's going on. As to the way it improves learning, it does inasmuch as grammar and pronunciation is concerned. New words and concepts can be introduced, and concepts in English grammar (tenses, etc.) can be learned through hearing them overtime. Sometimes, during exams dealing with correcting sentences, I often base my answers as to how I hear actors tell the sentences. However, I don't advise to improve solely using these kinds of subtitles. I recommend that we should also read more books, and actually speak the language to learn the concepts better. 2.) In this case, it does help because the story and the characters' thoughts could be well-understood. The risk here is if the translations are wrong and the message gets misinterpreted. I really praise the work of translators who do a lot of risks comparing and contrasting various words in different languages just to get the right meaning of what they believe the show or movie wants to convey. Either way, this really helps introduce the language to listeners. Especially when they add translation notes on parts of the series when new words and concepts are introduced, and they get to explain these things. I've learned much of Japanese (at least, the super basics) from hearing these things overtime.

I'm not sure, it's always been speaking for me. Writing is hard, too, but it's different if you're pouring your mind's content from paper to an actual audience. If you're not prepared, things can easily get misinterpreted, compared to writing which can easily be fixed.

I don't get to use LOL nowadays, for reasons I really can't understand. Instead, I simply overuse "HAHA" - small caps for generally funny things and big caps for the extremely funny ones. It can go from haha to HAHA to HAHAHAHA.

Russian too! I have a friend who speaks Russian and I found the language amazing in a lot of levels. It really has this certain appeal that I can't explain - but instead of just giving me the chills, it also presents a beauty on its own.

We sorta have to. It's a trend with my friends that we embarrass each other when we place incorrect English in our sentences, especially if it's super obvious ones.

For me and my friends, it depends. We generally use short-cuts when we like to annoy people, haha. But aside from that, they understand that our using shortcuts usually mean we're in a hurry or we don't have time to text. This usually occurs when we're boarding public transportation, on the way to school, walking on the streets, or situations that can potentially spark an encounter with a thief, haha. Either way, if chatting in general, I don't like short-cut texts, too. Not that I'm annoyed since I do it myself, but if we have the time to chat, we might as well use it properly by making our messages understandable by placing correct spelling and word-organization.

For me, the most romantic languages are French and Italian. I mean, not just with the words we associate with love and sweet things, but almost everything in general. While playing Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker on my PSP, just hearing them say "Militaires Sans Frontières" almost made me fall in love in spite of knowing the fact that it means "Soldiers Without Borders," haha

I have the classic Filipino-English accent, which is something I kind of don't want to grow up with since I want to be able to say words with the proper diction and pronunciation the way a lot of people normally say them. Not that I hate the accent, but because part of my course is being able to speak on-cam, I have to learn how to make myself understandable for everyone, haha.

"Do not let fear control you, make it serve you" - Raistlin Majere, Dragonlance This has always been my mantra as a child. Ever since I read that line, I never knew I was also more than capable of conquering my fears. This is something I'm really thankful for, ever since I discovered the series and my favorite book character of all time, haha.

Mine was the traditional "mama," though instead of pertaining to my mother, I was pertaining to a random guy (we usually call men we don't know as "mama", as in ma-ma with an abrupt end to the second syllable) who has an ice cream. And I love ice cream.

For me, this would be "hyperbole." I'm not sure when this started, but I'm sure it was around my third or fourth grade that I used "hyper-bully" in order to remember what in the world the hyperbole does, haha.

Google Translate is fine, so long as it's for translations that 1.) are needed immediately, 2.) for personal purposes, and 3.) simply for fun. But if it's about academic papers or for official/formal reasons, I'd rather check an official translation-dictionary or maybe even consult a native speaker. Just so I could be sure, haha.

Oh! Oh! I have a question. Though it's not related to the thread itself, it's related to the reverse. Does the word "welcome" have a counterpart in Filipino?

Well, like the others, I feel really nervous during the exam itself. Before the exam, I generally take my time studying and remembering everything that needs remembering. I only get a little too nervous when I didn't get to review for important parts (and if it's Math), but aside from that, it's really the "receiving the paper" part that gets me. Do you ever feel anxious a few days before the exam? I do, but that's good, because that's like a reminder to hurry up and study harder! So I guess everything happens for a reason. Sometimes we need some pressure in order to do better in many aspects of our life

I always take time spelling occasion (oh my god I got it on my first try). I usually spell it as occassion and ocassion, but I almost never spell it correctly that the word processor does the correcting for me.

I've done this with a bit of both. I'm basing this on my being a native Filipino speaker with English as a second language. Since English is a required subject here in the Philippines (since it's also the official language, Filipino being the national language), I've learned perhaps majority of what I know with my classmates. Perhaps the thing I learned by myself were the more creative stuff like sentence construction and experimentation.

This is so cool! I'd love to come! Though I don't know where exactly, but given the chance, I'd love to take the opportunity! I don't know how to cook (but I'm eager to learn), and I also want to learn Spanish, haha! Though for now, I'm learning Japanese and I'm enjoying it while watching anime. I'm starting to get the gist (at least, the basics of the basics), and I'm loving it, haha.

Unfortunately, I have no idea how sign language works. I've always wanted to learn how to talk using sign, though, because I think it's so cool being able to convey messages with just the way you move your hands. I think it's an art on its own, too, because people who can use sign can actually turn their words into hand gestures. It's amazing to see.