Sly14Cat

Well even a layman should be able to understand simple grammar as long as he passed middle school. Maybe they're inferring that your sentences aren't very academic in nature, instead of that your grammar is "bad".

Most phones made recently come with build in or easily downloadable Chinese support. I know it's already been mentioned, but Google pinyin is very good, I use it whenever I want to spend a message on the phone, especially with the drawing option.

So referring to an action that you're doing at this moment? Would it be used in a phrase such as "I am running" then?

You haven't posted on this in a while, does that mean it's not happening anymore?

As far as I know, the best way would to be to start off with simplified characters, since those are used more often then move on to traditional if you want. Although in my area there tends to be more traditional script, I still prefer simplified.

So the Microsoft one is better? Maybe I'll end up using it then. Hopefully it does a much better job going to and from Asian languages than can be said for Google Translate...

For most languages I learn it's either because I really want to visit that country, there's something interesting about that language and it's culture that I want to be a part of, or just because it's good to have another tool.

I like watching movies in other languages with English subtitles on the bottom. I think it's a great way of making the connection between your native language and a new one, as well as learning a lot about the culture and language you're trying to learn.

This is so true. I know that in Canada if you get an extended French certificate after high school, you have to take a test every two years to keep using it on your resumes and whatnot. If you don't use the language you'll forget everything in no time.

I can't say there's any language I hate because they're all beautiful in their own way. I love the Chinese language, it's so artistic and the characters are quite beautiful, even if they don't mean anything to native speakers. I like English because it's so dynamic, and even when it's littered with mistakes you can still understand what they other person is communicating. I like French because it's made to sound good, as you study it more you'll see how many things are changed just so it sounds better.

Google Translate is really tricky. The trick is to only use it for small translations. Don't use it for anything longer than a short sentence, especially in really foreign languages because it's never perfect and both sides will be left pretty confused.

I love Chinese, it's almost as if every character has it's own story and writing is like a form of art. Also German, since I already know French and English it's quite easy. Many words resemble French, while the grammar structure is exactly like English. Perfect. I don't have any language I dislike, I think they're all beautiful in their own rite.

I prefer to use perfect grammar in my texts. I tend to mimic the style of who I'm texting with out of habit, much like taking on someone's accent or way of speaking. If I'm talking to with a friend and (s)he like to use a lot of shortcuts, then I'll probably use a bit more shortcuts than usual to make the conversation feel less rigid.

I'm surprised really. What I've found is that so many people who can barely even speak the language certainly know the curse words by heart. I guess it's a part of being in the culture, but they should at least be proficient before they go swearing at people... sorry for gravedigging I had to

If you look off into the distance you can see my hope for humanity farfaraway.