karean

That idiom doesn't have a definite origin but there are a lot of speculations about the phrase. There's one version which proposes that it came during the 17th century when the houses were made of thatched roofs. To keep warm, pets like cats and dogs supposedly warmed themselves up on the roof. When it suddenly rains hard, the roof becomes slippery, the animals lose foothold, and they fall through the roof and into the house hence the term "it's raining cats and dogs."

Oh! That's exactly what I mean. I thought I saw it before but I skipped it this time. Can you add a subcategory for media as a means of real world practice that would be easy for beginner writers. It's hard to search for those over the internet. THANKS!

Distractions really come in many forms especially when you have to focus on a task. To counteract that, I heard that when you set up a ritual as well as a specific time of day to do your studying, you train your brain to focus faster on your learning and keep that attention longer. Personally, I do a simple routine after watching TV after supper. I bathe. That's about it. I take a bath and then go to my study corner and start learning French.

Is there, or could there be, a resources page for us members of the forum? It would really be helpful if there was a page or a subforum where links could be posted to direct language users to easy to read materials and audio of the language we can learn. Or perhaps linguaholic itself could host these materials. This may be separate from the tutorials that we see posted as threads in the respective language subforums.

I still am under the impression that the Greek plural octopodes is not used in the English language. Your argument is useful in debunking the wrong pluralization that is "octopi" although this quirky plural form is a favorite. Octopuses should be the English plural of octopus.

I can't imagine taking on learning more than one language at a time. Would it be easier to learn two languages that are similar with each other like French and Italian at the same time or would it be confusing? Should you learn two completely different languages then? Now I'm curious about this topic. If it were in a formal learning setting, then it's definitely feasible but average self-learning people like me probably should stick and focus on one at a time.

That's one way of describing the relational difference between the three. However, when you define them separately without the context of a connection between each other, you will find a more fundamental difference. To abet is to encourage a wrongdoing (i.e. a crime in particular as in "aiding and abetting"). To enable is to provide the ability to do something such as delegating authority. To incite is to stir up violent behavior which are usually unlawful in nature. As you can see, you cannot use these three words interchangeably for they have very different contextual meanings.

It is for me since Filipino and English have similar syntax and grammar. It is one of the bigger influence of our national language after all, at par with Spanish. Most of the time, it's only a matter of translating almost word for word.

I could empathize with this sentiment as I've also started learning the English language at an early age and despite that advantage, I still have difficulty recalling grammatical terms, rules, restrictions, and exceptions. I also tend to depend on my ear when using the language when my statements sound right. It's not a perfect method but it lets me carry on fine.

I guess the dynamics of language is at work there. Personally, I'm not bothered at all, especially if you engage in casual talk. But I guess your exposure to hearing those affects your tolerance. I hear it a lot because of my teenage sisters and it's often expressed on TV. Sometimes I even find myself saying them!

The first thing that popped in my mind is "online language penpal". But I agree, it does seem difficult maintaining both party's interests in the exchange if you only try to find it randomly on Yahoo Answers and similar sources. I think the language exchange forum is a great solution for this.

I agree, it's listening that takes a while to learn. I think it's because we have trained through our formal education to learn through reading and writing most often that it is considered both a life skill and a formally learned skill.

It's true that every aspect of learning a language gets easier when you immerse yourself in the culture. However, I think that reading and writing may not be as enhanced because accessing different materials can easily be accessed over the internet. I personally can't think of the added value when you go to the place in these aspects.

The primary reason why I wanted to learn foreign languages is because I want to watch movies in their raw/undubbed form and I also want to read books and publications written in their original language. There is always something lost in translation which I believe takes away, even if it is just a little, from the original. Of course, when I say I want to learn a language, I believe that learning about the culture is integral to it.

In relation to my provincial accent, other Filipinos are surprised that I don't have our strong local accent. I still am yet to receive such a comment from foreigners but that's probably because I've only interacted with a few so far. If I were to guess, although accents aren't supposed to be detected by the speaker himself, I would say that I have the typical Filipino accent.

That evaluation is really on point. According to an article I read a while ago, this unconventional method was indeed a way to emphasize the oral aspect of teaching language which aren't as pronounced in their curriculum. I also agree that it could be developed into an interesting mnemonic device. Just be sure to be alone and secluded. :emo:

With the slogan, "By shouting out loud, you learn" Li Yang's method for learning English for Chinese has been encouraging students to shout at the school building's rooftop or in the middle of the field. Do you think this method is effective? What are your thoughts about this non-traditional method? :amazed:

Filipino is our national language but the Philippines is estimated to have around 120 to 175 languages and 13 of which are considered major languages with at least one million native speakers. Of those, I know only one language which is my native language Waray as well as its two dialects. I would claim that I never forget some words from my local language but when an acquaintance randomly asks what's the Waray equivalent is of a Filipino word I sometimes couldn't recall it. It's probably because I have been out of touch with my roots since I went to college here at the capital of the country. :frozen: :cry: :speechless:

1. French 2. German 3. Spanish 4. Mandarin Chinese 5. Japanese I want to learn French because France is the first place in the world I would like to visit if I had the chance to go abroad. Also, I want to watch raw French movies so that there would be nothing lost in translation. Next, it is my impression that German and Spanish would be easier to learn after learning French (I have no basis for this). Of the five I've listed, German is the most random choice and all I know is that I want to learn the language and, consequently, the culture around it. Perhaps it's because I know and hear so little about the country relative to other EU countries. Spain was a colonizer of the Philippines and a lot of our words are influenced by Spanish. I even know how to sing our National Anthem in Spanish and my mother and her siblings told me that it was part of the curriculum back in their time. Then I chose languages that are closer to home. Mandarin Chinese is a practical choice. I meet Chinese and Filipino-Chinese often and it would be nice to converse with them in their language for a change. For the fifth place, I was weighing between Japanese and Korean because I enjoy their contribution to the entertainment scene. In the end, I chose Japan because it ranks higher in my list of places I'd visit. :angel: :grin: :nerd: :shy: :ninja:

Our national hero Jose Rizal was known for being a polyglot. The moment I learned that it was an option to learn language, converse and form bonds with people from other cultures without the barrier of language, I knew someday I would be trying to learn other languages. Of course I won't be learning around 21 languages, anytime soon (or ever). :shy: :confused:

Hello! Language is the reflection of a culture and the values that they espouse within their community. In a way, you can gauge the difference between two cultures by determining what words they don't share. For the sake of argument, let's benchmark English as the global language and see what values we have in our culture that we give importance to. For example, in the Philippines we have opo and po which is a very respectful version of "yes" and "yes?" which displays how important respecting elders is to us Filipinos.

I also use Duolingo and its mobile app because the "gamified" aspect of learning language is so enticing for me. The community of language learners that use Duolingo are also very helpful in dissecting each sentence or quiz item and so you begin to build a more real-world based idea of the language. :grin:

Grammar is an integral and foundational part in learning a language. For me, you can not completely command a language without mastering the grammatical rules that organize it. Otherwise, you will always be a "language tourist". People will understand that you are speaking or writing a language that is not your own when you make glaring grammatical errors but only up to a certain point. Beyond that, it is expected that you should be able to carry conversations in a decent and grammatically correct manner.

I actively engage with a new word I encounter by repeating it in as many different ways as I can. I start by writing it down on paper as normally as I would, then I stylize it in as creative a manner as I can. Then I listen to the correct pronunciation on the internet, I record myself multiple times and I compare my pronunciation to the recommended one. Finally, I find a rhyme for the new word and try to make a poem as I relate the two with each other (the farther they mean to each other the more fun I have).

I'm currently learning French :kiss: and I'm considering German after that :party: