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.

The easiest? I'm not sure about that but it certainly is a very easy language to learn. The grammar is pretty simple, there's no conjugation charts to memorize like in French for example. It's generally just pretty easy to learn, I know many people from Asian countries who've been able to learn it no problem. I've heard people say that they even find grammar form their language annoying sometimes...

Just some simple Google searching should bring up a ton of French e-books within the public domain. At your local library (especially if you live in Canada), there should be a multilingual section. This usually has lots of books that you can look into. For me, middle aged childrens books are best.

My favourite has to be "tu chantes comme une cassorole".

In English it means you sing like a pan. Obviously it's used to insult someone when you think their singing is terrible. Another one is (I don't know how to say it in French) "If you keep singing you will cause it to rain".

I think this is totally true. Non-native speakers have to put a lot more work into remembering the grammar structures and spelling of words and phrases while they're learning the language. While you're learning they drill this deep into your mind, so  it become hard to forget. As a result, they're probably better than a native speaker. That's not always the case though, but it's certainly a trend!

I remember hearing that it's "essential for the rest of my schooling and I will be expected to use cursive".

That was in third grade. However many years later I still do not have to use cursive for any school assignment, job related activity, whathaveyou. I still think it looks nice though, and I find my handwriting transitioning into cursive when I need to write fast.

That's a great idea I'd like to try out sometime. The only problem I have is that some people in my house might find it a bit annoying, but otherwise subtitles are great for helping correlate words spoken to words written, and I notice that subtitles are the norm for Chinese television viewers.

Well that depends on the language. For English, it seems that many have a better time learning to speak it than anything. Some languages are much harder to learn to write though, especially the East Asian ones like Chinese or Korean that don't have a standard alphabet from which words are derived and you have to memorize the characters. I find Chinese easier to read than to write or speak, because I can see certain characters and remember the meaning, but two hours later I'll forget how to write it.

Since I live in Canada, we have to start learning French from the age of 10 I believe (at least that's how it is in Ontario). I decided to take Extended French, so I did and still do much of my schooling in French. So although not by choice that is the first time I really tried to learn a second language.

I'm certainly learning French, as I don't really have a choice in that one. I'm trying to learn German, as it's interesting and since it's Germanic/Romantic like English, it works well for me. I'm also trying to learn Chinese, as it's the most spoken language in the world. I like the characters too, as they look nice and always seem to have an interesting story about Chinese culture behind them.

German seems pretty rough to me. I remember when I'm on Duolingo, and I try to pronounce certain words, I have to say it like I'm angry for the program to tell me I got it correct. As you mentioned, even when you're not speaking it angrily, German is pretty harsh.