Kektheman

Well, I am a bit biased on this one. I hate to see words like that in the dictionary, but you know what they say. The language is alive, new words are formed every day, some stick and some get forgotten. The term "selfie" is used thousands of times on a daily basis, so it's only fair to put it in the dictionary. Alongside all the other new words.

I enjoy English the most because it is my native tounge. I have always enjoyed learning and speaking Spanish as well. Currently, I am in the process of trying to learn Finnish and am having a very hard time understanding and pronuncing the letters of the Finnish alphabet. I am hoping that if I stick with I will eventually pick it up, but it seems to be a slippery slope for me. I would love to hear any advice from native Finnish speakers!!

That's good to hear! So many people out there don't particularly like their mother tongues! I don't even know if I like Slovene better than English or is it the other way around. I'm glad you love your native tongue, that's super important!

No college degree is worthless. Anyone that gets a diploma put a lot of effort into it, so you cannot just call his effort worthless. While you might have a problem getting a job with an English degree, you studied something that interests you, and this is the most important.

I've only read Norwegian Wood by Murakami, and it was amazing! Hands down one of the best books I've read in a while. I will have to read some more of his novels in the near future, I hope the others are as well written as this one. He is incredibly talented!

Hello Sebastian!

I'm sure you will love your stay in Germany! This is definitely the right place to improve your knowledge of German. There are a few people here that are fluent in German, so you shouldn't have problems finding people that can help you improve you knowledge!

Welcome to Linguaholic, I hope you like it here!

It really depends on the individual. I know people that can study and work best during the mornings. But I also know people that wake up at 2PM. I'm afraid there is not a simple solution to the question. If you are looking to teach a class and are able to adjust the time of your lesson, ask the students about it! They will give you the best possible answer. If you were asking for yourself, just try out studying at different times of day and figure out which one you like most.

Welcome Ray!

Indonesian, huh? That's interesting! I'm sure you will be able to find people that speak Indonesian here on the forums. They will definitely be more than welcome to help you improve your knowledge!

Hope you enjoy your stay, welcome!

Hello Dennis!

Welcome to the forums! There will be many oportunities for you to improve your English, as well as help others get better in Spanish. There are quite a few people here that are currently trying to learn Spanish and would love your help!

Welcome to the forums, hope you enjoy it!

The language that I really love would be English. I don't mean today's English I mean the old English, the English that Shakespeare used (Okay it's not Old English, it's Early Modern). I just love how poetic it sounds, even the very act of you taking a rude bowel extraction when described using that old English would sound really majestic and grand. I don't know if I answered it correctly but I really adore that form of the English language.

I was about to correct your mistake about Old English, but you corrected it yourself. Shakespearian English really is amazing! You make me feel bad about myself since I don't read enough of it.

I was under the impression all along that sign language is universal but seems not like it. Glad I asked otherwise I wouldn't have known about this. Seems like really inconvenient.

It's as inconvenient as spoken languages, really. I find it awesome rather than inconvenient. It is just something that you wouldn't think existed until you heard about it! Perhaps there is a lingua franca of sorts, for sign language? Like English is the language you speak when meeting a foreigner.

I'm not sure if speaking two languages and being mediocre in third counts, but let me brag about it. I spend a lot of my time on the internet, browsing English websites for the most part. That becomes a problem once I want to discuss certain topics with my friends in Slovene. I sometimes simply can't come up with the right word at all, even though Slovene is my mother language. It's so strange and a bit scary!

No, sign language is not universal! Someone from Europe would have a hard time understanding an American, because the symbols (is that what you call it) are completely different! I'm not even sure that the basics are the same. I think it's similar to spoken languages, really.

I would love to teach English in a foreign country when I finish my studies! Even though I am fluent in British English, I would have a hard time getting a job since I'm not a native speaker. Even Britons without an English degree would get hired faster than me. I think I will have to get a British certificate if I want to teach abroad.

This is so true, specially for languages. I learned Italian for 4 years in high school. Since I don't use it anymore now that I'm in University, I can't even put together a single sentence. It's so sad. Never make the same mistake I did. I guess you should start listening or reading things in the language you forgot to try and get your knowledge back.

Well thank you for the information, I have never used it, I am going to check it out, since I would love to begin learning Chinese,I hope it is as useful as you say it is.

I've never heard of the method. Based on what you told us, it sounds like a joke rather than a valid method. Why exactly would shouting the words help? Perhaps to improve your pronunciation, since it gives you a good reason to actually speak? I don't get it.

Here's the list for Slovene:

pes    (dog): hov hov

petelin      (cock): kikiriki

žaba    (frog): rega kvak

koza      (goat): mee-ee

mačka      (cat)  : mjav

krava  (cow):  mu

That's excellent advice! Since you asked me about cognates in my language, I will list some of them below, with the corresponding English words.

garaža=garage

turizem=tourism

festival=festival

saksofon=saxophone

kitara=guitar

I don't read short stories a lot, but I've recently stumbled upon a really good short stories book! I bought a used book for 1€ because I liked the cover. Good choice! It's called Contes carnivores by Bernard Quiriny. A compilation of fantastic short stories with weird twists and horrific elements. Definitely worth a read!

Wow! You must be really good at multitasking! That's actually my main problem with audio books. I end up either getting bored or distracted. When I read, I do that alone. I just can't imagine listening to a story while doing something else.

I don't think I'm good at multitasking, I'm mostly forced to do it. I can't do one thing at a time. It's hard for me to stay concentrated on reading only. My mind just starts thinking about other things while "reading". I have to frequently go back a page or two because I had no idea what I read.

Looks like you have the same problems, you should at least try listening to an audio book and doing something else while at it. You might actually enjoy it.

I've never heard of this, but is sounds really cool! Not only will the Brazilian kids get to practice their English skills, but the senior citizens will have someone to talk to! I don't know if it's available for any other language, since I haven't heard of it prior, but I would definitely endorse it if it were!

Thanks for sharing, the idea is amazing.

Well, this might not be applicable in every situation, but you could just ask the person about the word on the spot. If you are just chatting with your friends and don't understand the meaning of a particular word, just ask them, they would be happy to help you improve your vocabulary.

In situations where you don't feel comfortable asking the person about the meaning of the word, just remember it for later.

In real life, you would figure it out by the context. The sentences around this particular one would tell you what the correct meaning of the world would be. schwer is just a homonym, like many English words. For instance glass, key, spring, match, etc.

I enjoy audio books! I haven't listened to many, but the few that I have were amazing. My first audio book was The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy by Douglas Adams, read by Stephen Fry. It was amazing. I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it. It's a completely different experience. Since I use the internet too much, I can't really concentrate, so reading books for long periods of time is almost impossible for me. If you listen to audiobooks, you can multitask. You could be cleaning the apartment or jogging while still enjoying the benefits of reading a book.

Thanks for the heads-up. As I've said, I've never heard of Rosetta Stone beforehand. Looks like I'm not missing out on much. I'm currently using Duolingo and it's really helpful, So I will stick to it and forget about Rosetta Stone. Thank you again.