alanoww

Hmmm I'm not sure whether or not this language would be classified as "popular" or "unpopular", but I have been exposed to Cantonese as a second language from my parents. At one point, Cantonese was popularized in movies and the economic success of Hong Kong in the 80's and 90's. As of late though, it is losing popularity and I fear it soon to be a rare language. So perhaps it is language that is "losing popularity", but not quite "rare" just yet.

I completely agree with the statements above about how language makes you smarter, which has been supported by numerous studies. I am learning a new language for the same reason, and also as a means of communicating with more people. These new people could begin as people of same interests and hobbies, and as my relationships and friendships grow, it may eventually introduce me to new interests and hobbies. For instance, I have been living in South Korea for about 1 year now, and through some of the locals I have met and befriended, I have been exposed to K-pop, which in the past I was quite neutral about, but today I can genuinely say I have an interest in it.

I think it depends on your level and discipline to learn English. It would be shame for someone to study in boring, rote ways for the sake of short term goals (i.e. TOEIC Exam). Too many English learners do this, and what happens eventually is they lose interest, or worst, associate a strong disliking towards English. I would begin with watching movies, TV shows, youtube videos, or listening to songs, podcasts, etc.; anything that would interest you spoken in the English language, and to follow this habit gradually. Perhaps, 1-3 times a week to begin. This way you will learn to actually like the language and learn for the long run. Learning English, and any language, is marathon, not a race.

I hear people commonly misuse the words literally and figuratively. Literally is defined as "exactly" or "actually" whereas figuratively is defined as "metaphorically". Many times, I hear individuals say literally when they really mean figuratively. An alternative way of looking at it is that these same individuals are using the word literally in a figurative sense. However so far of today, I haven't arrived to a conclusion of agreement or disagreement to that statement.