takibari

If the subject in the sentence is "I", you always use "have". You can never use "has" if the subject is "I". I have tried yoga before. = OK I has tried yoga before. = X The same rule applies for "you". Have you tried eating kimchi? NEVER, Has you tried eating kimchi?

Yeah, the original poem was indeed very beautiful! I initially didn't like reading poetry until I had a very good professor in high school who passed on his love for poetry to many of his students. His class was one of my favorites because he showed us how to interpret and appreciate poetry. One of my favorites that I learned in his class was Shakepeare's Sonnet 116:<br>

I'm not familiar with Lang Leav until I came across her name in another forum. I found her name curious. Thus, I googled it and found her website. I believe her works are something I would really appreciate and admire. In her website, she mentioned that her books are available in Fully Booked. Interestingly, I just passed by Fully Booked this afternoon at the mall, and was trying to recall a book title and its author. Now, I just remembered that it was Lang Leav's name that escaped me earlier. I was supposed to look for her book called Lullabies.

Books are not a common fixture in my childhood. I also didn't go to pre-school/kindergarten, so even those nursery rhymes and fairy tales are unheard of to me. The only childhood book I could remember is only PUSS-n-BOOTS. My second grade teacher bought me one since she couldn't believe I'm the only one in class who did know Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty etc. I played catch up in high school at our school library. My favorite then was The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.

I can say the same thing. It was indeed an enjoyable book to read. I myself don't think I've applied most of the strategies presented there. However, that's probably because I've forgotten about the many ideas in the book. I'm sure I've picked one or two strategies from the book. Like I mentioned earlier, it's one of the best books I've read back in 2002. (I remembered the year because that's the first year I started working, and it was my Korean boss who introduced me the book - The Comic Version)

Sorry. I've been told I've the tendency to not make myself clear, hehe... Was referring to the original post (above). Perhaps, a translation box somewhere in the page, where members have the option to copy-paste a certain comment into the translation box. (incorporating a translation tool within the page of the forum or something?) That way, members need not leave linguaholic to find translation of a certain comment they might find difficult to understand.(I was thinking along the lines of some members might not be interacting enough for fear they are misunderstanding a comment, esp. a lengthy one. Thus, requiring a translation tool.) Although, I just realized all members here might be well-versed in the English language. Thus, having such translation tool may be irrelevant.(sorry, thinking aloud and lengthy, again^^)

I'm not clear on the context when used as a reply to 1) someone complaining about their problems or 2) if they're talking about coupons for a store. So, I'll just hazard a guess. 1 - could it be that the person who complains about a problem already HAS a solution to his problem, but proceeds to continuously complain about the problem and is not too happy with the solution in hand, and is still seeking for a different solution? Ergo, whoever is listening to him is telling him something about being content with his solution, and not go look for solutions that aren't within his grasp yet. 2 - i guess, it's the same thing with coupons. having a coupon that he can readily used, but still ends up wanting for more coupons that are NOT there or he doesn't have. just my thoughts.

Cover Art isn't a big decisive factor for me if I wish to purchase a book. Admittedly, having a great cover makes you take a look at the book. But my interest in the book stops if I skim through the book and find the writing style of the author not too appealing to me. I know of a friend who buys books because they have those lovely cover arts.

I don't have much exposure with graphic novels. While I've only skimmed a few of them, I definitely would agree that it can be worth reading. In not reading them, I've never considered that I'm snubbing them, really. I've always just taken it as a genre that is not my most preferred. In my mind, a person who is an avid reader is someone who can read anything without bias. The greatest result of reading to me is that it helps someone broaden his mind/perspective. Snobbery just don't go hand in hand with having a broad mind. It is just a preference issue, nothing more. Heck, I think I'm the only person I know in my circle who reads those super tiny prints of annulment cases published in our local dailies.

There's a warning about this topic not being posted in for at least 120 days, hehe. But I'll just reply anyway as for some reason I'm taking what the first poster said differently. I recognize that there is already a Translation section in the forum and that the person may just post in that section by starting a thread if he wish to get help with some translations. Is it possible to take a look at it from the perspective of someone who's not yet very well verse in the English language? That is, there are comments that are very lengthy and thorough that those may intimidate those that are not confident with English yet, or if not confident but wants to make sure that he understands what's being said in the comments thus would want the option to look at comments and be translated in his native tongue? (just to ensure comprehension of ideas presented is right, and thus, be able to reply accordingly?) Well of course, it is very possible for the user to go hit google translate and any other site, but the intention is to make the user stick here and thus help the forum grow more. Am I making sense? hehe...

I believe these media and all others (social media, language learning apps) do indeed provide great assistance in the language learning process. I also agree that reading is the foundation for studying any language. But that's just it - a person wanting to learn a new language should not limit itself to just reading. One can devour all books he wants, but must not forget that 'language' is a tool for communication and that communication is a two-way process. As it is a two-way process, one must test or at least practice what he's learning from the books from going out of his way to engage another individual. The language must force himself to interact with people in order for him to cement his learning and eventually acquire fluency.

I totally didn't notice this post until now. It's a very good infographic. Am sure a lot of new English learners will put it to good use.

Literal and figurative languages have their own uses. A language is developed by a society for communication purposes. Use the appropriate language that can best deliver your message across. If you use figurative languages so much because you want to appear more intelligent than the average person and you end up constantly confusing the people around you, then you aren't acting like the smart one. Primarily because you fail to adapt to the kind of language that is required of you at the moment.

For me, it depends on your profession. If your job requires that your written work is flawless, then you need to adhere to a high standard of grammar. Having good grammar in the said profession is one of the many ways you can achieve credibility in your job. However, if grammar isn't a very important thing in your work, then you can get away with having a few grammatical mistakes. As one of the posters said, if you can get your message across without confusing your reader, then you have done a fine job.

I don't think that's silly at all. The constant exposure has made you all too familiar with the language that over time it has become second nature to you. While English isn't my first language, it is a mainstream language in my country. Thus, being constantly exposed with the English has considerably improved my English. I think because of our exposure (surroundings or comics), we pick a thing or two from those and through use of what we've learned, our grammar is improved in the process.

Learning a language through movies is effective to a certain extent. Like one of the posters said, you can easily pick up a few phrases from watching movies. Learning however is limited to that. If one wants to gain conversational fluency, then I believe just watching movies isn't enough in my mind. To gain conversational fluency, one needs to interact more and you can't get that just by watching movies. It's a good supplement, though. My boss, however, will swear by its effectiveness. His two korean kids basically acquired English through memorization of movie scripts. So when the kids memorize the scripts he would have the two kids say the lines themselves. At least that's the strategy he used with his kids. The kids are now all grown up, but they speak the best English I know.

I tried Pimsleur once to learn Spanish. I only got to use the speaking part, though. Like yourself I was happy with it. It helped me say a few things in Spanish, and it was great to be able to speak relevant phrases/sentences in only a short time. I'd say it really is a great tool to achieve conversational fluency. I don't have much experience with the writing, though. Sorry. Good luck on that one. Do share if you find a resolution to your issue. Welcome to the forum!

I believe my reading comprehension has improved over the years. Studying in a university where we were required to read a lot of books, journals, and publications helped improved my comprehension level. Exposure to so many reading materials in some way forced me to understand my readings well, otherwise, I won't be able to write good reports. It improved more when I landed a job where writing our own TOEFL, TOEIC, and other standardized exam review materials is the main task. Through these exposures, I could say that my comprehension is fast enough. However, there was also a point where most of our tasks were writing for children, for beginners essentially. During that time, I believe my comprehension also deteriorated as we were forced to expose ourselves to simple language and had to tone down our level to suit our target audience.

While English is not my native tongue, learning English is more or less forced on us. For a time, English is the medium of instruction in our schools. Thus, English is highly part of our school curriculum. Learning Korean, on the other hand, is necessary for work. Unfortunately, I'm bad at acquiring a new language that I still only understand a word or two. Still can't string my own Korean sentences, haha.

I too would go with 'immersion' especially if the goal is conversational fluency. Exposing yourself to an environment where you are forced to speak the language you are learning is very important to attaining fluency of that language. Reading books, listening to radio, and watching TV/movies can only help to a certain extent. Through these different media, a person may be able to acquire comprehension and be grammatically correct when writing, but may still end up poor at his speaking skills if he limits to those and not engage himself in interacting with others using the second/foreign language.

haha.. i feel you. i myself is not into apps. while i'm not apps-averse, i find the value of using apps. with apps, a specific need is being addressed at a much faster pace. that i believe is where the lure is. compared to browsing a thick dictionary, one can simply just key-in the word and the app immediately yields you a result. (or whatever the app is for.)

In one of my classes in college, we were told that language acquisition is only easier for people below the age of 7. Studying a new language after that age becomes more difficult and as most of the members have pointed out, there are a lot of factors contributing to a successful language acquisition. To my mind, exposure is the key element in attaining fluency. Compare for example a Korean-speaking student studying in an American University, where he's the only Korean there vs. a Korean-speaking student in an American University, but surrounded with fellow Korean-speaking students. In the first case, because of constant exposure to the English language, there is high chance that said student acquires English fluency faster than the other Korean student. Being exposed to fellow Koreans, there is the tendency to continue speaking in their native language.

Mine is FAITH. In a world where chaos and uncertainty seem to take center stage, I love what its meaning represent. It's just a one syllable word and yet its meaning is very profound. I know a lot of people have lost their FAITH in the world, but I'd like to think that if we hold on to it, the world is still a nice place.

I'd recommend Fight Club, too!!! What about the book by Rebecca Wells entitled The Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood? It was written in 1996 and was later adapted into a movie starring Sandra Bullock! Bullock played the character of Siddalee Walker.

You're talking about The Art of War by Sun Tzu, right? I've read it a few years back. I can't remember most of the ideas presented there now. But I do recall loving the book so much that I've read it several times. I even saw a comic version of it. This book is actually highly recommended for management students. It's a very good book on strategy. I highly recommend it.