takibari

I got curious about "The Chaos", and wow I'm floored! It's like you can learn the correct pronunciation of 800 words in just one sitting. WOW. Just wow. I thought I know how to read each of the words there, and boy was I wrong that there are words I'm apparently not saying correctly. Thank you for sharing this. Anyway, just thought of sharing the video of "The Chaos" as read by YouTube user Jimmmy Jams: ENJOY! The Chaos Of English Pronunciation by Gerard Nolst Trenité

As someone who's from the Philippines myself, one of my suggestions is to not deviate from the goal of acquiring the correct diction. It's unfortunate that sometimes we are scoffed at if we attempt to acquire the right American accent. Not wanting to be ridiculed, we tend to not speak the language and resort to going back to our local language. Thus, I echo others' suggestions here to keep on practicing and to put in the time to study. With speaking, one can never improve if one continues to keep his mouth closed for fear of being ridiculed.

I've only been to neighboring Asian countries in the past, and mostly for leisure. Thus, it didn't cross my mind to study the local languages. I guess, I just believe that English is all I need to get by. But travels to those countries have made think the importance of picking up phrases or two of the local language prior to the visit. My friends and I had this incident while we were in Ayutthaya, Thailand where we separated from our tour group. We had trouble getting back to our meeting place, and sadly the locals we met at that time spoke no English. One of my friends ended up acting similar to the game of Charades just trying to communicate that we wish to go to The Elephant (Park?). The locals couldn't understand us at all. We were only saved when another local came by carrying a box with a picture of an Elephant and we pointed to it, and finally the locals knew where we want to go. Thinking about the incident now it seems hilarious, but at that time - it was desperate time as our tour bus will leave if we are late in returning to the meeting place! Anyhow, I wish to return to Seoul, South Korea and hopefully with at least a bit of knowledge of Korean as I encountered some difficulty during a trip there because of the language barrier. I noticed that though they know English, some were hesitant to speak as their peers seem to make fun of them.

Oh, gosh - My Sister's Keeper! It is a truly heartbreaking book. I mean who do you side with? You can't blame the parents for wanting to find solution to their eldest child's health problem, but then you have the little sister who was conceived primarily to aid the ailing sister. Where do you draw the line? It took me a long time to read it because it was just too much to bear.

I've read about her works from some other forum in the past. I got curious that I immediately went to Amazon to check her book. Haha, I only got to read the preview, the samples = but yeah, I'd say I would recommend them too. They're very easy to read, but man the meaning are just so deep (tagus!) that it tugs at your heart. I like the contrast of the simplicity of her texts against the complexity of the messages behind her ideas. But due to monetary considerations, I didn't buy the books and just contend with reading a few pages every chance I visit a bookstore.

Hehe, no ounce of Spanish. But I've a feeling you're talking about pirated contents, and of course something about Google, hehe.

Cute idea. Here's the Filipino translation for that line: I cannot = Hindi ko // imagine = maisip (OR mawari) / my life = ang buhay ko / without (you) = na wala ka. In Cebuano; I cannot = Dili nako // imagine = mahanduraw (OR mapamalandong) / my life = ang akong kinabuhi/ without (you) = nga wala ka. You will have to change the pronoun from 'him' to 'you' though as it creates a bigger impact. To use him (siya) is like you telling the statement to another person, not to your boyfriend.

Oh, don't worry about the language bit. It's the seemingly irrelevant topic on language that got me curious in the first place. I would have ignored this thread had I thought it's not worth discussing. So, I went back to the original post, and perhaps the seeming protest to her claim of being Mexican has something to do with the years she's lived there (or hadn't). Well, I don't know Mexican laws regarding citizenship. But if it's the same as most countries, the fact of her birth (being born in Mexico) certainly qualifies her to claim being Mexican regardless of the race of her parents. From the original post, I gather that her birthplace being Mexico is the only legitimate claim she has of being Latina as it's mentioned that she was RAISED in Kenya and went on to the U.S. for studies. I'm assuming here that because she was raised in Kenya, not much of Mexico can be linked to her save her being born there. So I could understand those people's hesitation or opposition to her declaration of being Mexican-Kenyan. What I would not understand is where the protest is coming from if she was born and raised in Mexico, embraced their language, culture and all, embraced it so much that she act and think like Mexicans do. If the protest is solely because of her skin color, then I could only attribute it to (perhaps) Mexican pride of their race and culture. IF it's because of her skin color, I could only think of this: SO SAD. Exclusivity breeds hate, and the world can benefit without it.

Quite right. The Philippines was under Spanish rule for 300++ years, but interestingly it was English that stuck. After Spain, it was the Americans who came to our country and we were under them for 50 years. So, English indeed has become a second language to us. While it's true that English is widely spoken and most signs are in English, there's also half of the population (I don't know the exact statistics)(read poverty level + poor education), that aren't well-versed in the language. As one American blogger puts it, tourists definitely should not be scared of coming to the Philippines because if you're here, if the person on your right doesn't speak English, chances are high that the person on your left most probably do.

I opened the thread a bit curious if there is a language aspect to the discussion. While I didn't see it (or perhaps I'm just too slow to pick up the 'language' angle of the discussion, hehe), I think it's an interesting bit though. Should a person be defined purely by her bloodlines or the color of her skin? Of course, by how a person looks, there's no denying a person's lineage, but what of the years you've lived in a certain place (might even be born there)? If you happen to be born to parents who have completely renounced your culture to live in a different place, won't your affiliation be with your home country now (especially if it's the only country you've known ALL your life, regardless of your skin color)? Interestingly, there's an ongoing debate in our country now about a presidential candidate who once renounced her Filipino citizenship to become a Green Card holder. As she's running for president in next year's election, she has denounced her American citizenship and tells critics that she's fully Filipino by heart.

PERCEPTION. Labeling a specific language as 'hard' or 'easy' does influence a person's perspective on the target language. Hearing other people tell you that this and that language is hard/easy can somehow influence your perspective on the 'learnability' of a certain language. I get what you're saying that IT really is NOT worth mentioning as it can be a factor that can discourage people from learning the language. But the thing is we people will always have an opinion on things and we all know that opinions differ. So.

Hands down it's nice for children to speak the languages of their parents. Knowing different languages is an added skill set that will benefit them in the long term. I agree with OmniHead that for children of interracial couples, they aren't necessarily "taught the language" per se, but are able to pick up words here and there if the parents expose them to their respective languages. In any case, couples are the better judge regarding the necessity of learning languages. Yes, geographical issue might be a big consideration, too. I have a friend who lives in Norway. Both her kids mostly speak Norwegian in their daily dealings and English only when in school. However, since she sometimes speaks Bisaya (her mother tongue) at home, her kids can understand it, too. They, however, have difficulty speaking Bisaya as they don't have much exposure of it. When they come here on vacation, we can speak with the kids in our mother tongue, but more often, the kids reply in English or Norwegian (my friend translates for us).

In learning a new language it is understandable to be struggle with listening at first. So, do not give up and and lose hope. Follow as the others suggested here. The key is to continually expose yourself with audio of the language you are learning. In the other thread, there was a suggestion about writing down lyrics of a song. This way you become an active listener as you pay more attention to the words. Also, it's best to pace yourself. If you are still at the beginner's level - go with materials suitable to your level. While it's good to push yourself, it's also best to know your limitations and don't rush things lest you end up frustrated and think you can't do it. :)

@ Español - I'm not a native English speaker, but I think my English language level is good enough. I mostly worked with Koreans in the past and have helped them with their English. If you're truly interested to learn English shoot me an e-mail at [email protected]

I remember our teacher used this teaching method when I was in grade school. As I am a visual learner myself, it was helpful tool for me to remember the vocabulary when paired with a picture. As to combining two pictures to form a word, that was also used to teach compound words and to reiterate that a new word can come out if you combine two simple words together.

Wow! I didn't know that there is actually a rule on this. I just thought the words are spelled the way they are, and not because they follow a certain rule. Now, I know better. Thanks. As a lot of the words have been listed, the word that only comes to mind at the moment is 'retrieve'.

@lissetetiff what has come of your dilemma? have you figured out which one works best for you? i'm very interested on what has come of it. thanks. i hope to hear from you again regarding the technique that you have chosen and your reason for choosing it.

I was reading an article on what happens in the brain when learning a language, and came across a study conducted by Kara Morgan-Short of the University of Chicago. Basically, their study tried to compare the inner workings of the brain with regards to methods of language learning. Anyway, in their research, they have two sets of groups; one studying language by way of explanation of the rules of the language, while the other group is learning the language by way of immersing in the language. Their study revealed that studying by immersion is more effective than the former. For all of you, I'm wondering if it's the same. Do you learn better when you immersed in the target language or when you study and know the rules of the language? Reference: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/sep/04/what-happens-to-the-brain-language-learning

I think what you described here is exactly the point made in the study conducted at the University of Chicago on the Language Effect. Interestingly, a similar study was also conducted in Spain and yielded the same results: (quoting verbatim): Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona has studied a number of native Spanish speakers and compared their decision making skills in Spanish and again in a foreign language, English. The study concluded that emotional factors were more prevalent in the decision making process when the participants were using Spanish. They also showed a tendency to regard risk and certainty differently. When making decisions whilst using English, the study showed the participants to be more rational, logical and less emotional. Measurable differences were found in their attitude to avoid loss during the decision making process.

Envious to the highest level! Haha, I wish I had the same experience as you guys of having lived in another country. Living in a foreign country is the greatest 'immersion' you can have, and it can definitely improve your language ability. Here in Cebu, I see a lot of Koreans supposedly learning the English language. However, what I noticed is they kept hanging out with fellow Koreans. Thus, instead of them conversing English with the locals, they always end up speaking their local language, and they are truly amazing with their Korean, haha~ Kind of defeat the purpose of why they're even here to study English when they don't immerse themselves and take advantage of speaking with locals. Although, I see that there are other Koreans who do try.

One of the posters here suggested to ask her directly for her reasons. Have you done so? What did she say? I understand your frustration. But just remember each individual has his or her own passions. Your friend might not be as passionate as you when it comes to learning new languages. Thus, she's not very much inclined to teaching you. Also, perhaps she's more interested to having deep conversations and that can be achieved when you're both speaking the same language. Conversations where interaction is limited to you asking how to translate this or how to say this and that may not be her idea of having a great time. There are a host of "POSSIBLE" other reasons your friend may have, but my favorite 'assumption' would be she may not be as generous as you with regards to sharing knowledge. Express your intention clearly and she might respond. OR she may not. I learned that 'expectations' are really deal breakers. You'll only end up frustrated when expectations aren't met. So, don't expect that because you're generous with your time to teach when someone asks for it, other people may do the same.

My list will include the following: 1. Korean - because I work with a lot of them and there's too many Koreans in our streets right now. 2. Spanish - because a lot of our own words are derived from this language 3. English - (second language) 4. French - I just love how it sounds 5. Japanese - I'm just learning that there are a lot of employment opportunities for Japanese-speaking individuals in our country now. I'll be quitting my work with the Koreans by next week, so I kinda of regretted not learning Japanese when there are so many opening for Japanese interpreters and their salary is big.

Handwriting may indeed be a thing of the past in the near future. As for me, as I'm more a visual person - I tend to have better memory recall when making notes through handwriting. That's probably because when you're handwriting, there is a uniqueness to it that's all your own. Our penmanship is unique to us and that to me gives a more vivid picture than when typing. Of course, you can make your fonts different and all colorful, but still - your penmanship will just stand out. As regards the need to edit though, well - typing is got to be IT. No doubt it's more efficient and gives a more cleaner outcome.

I understand where you're coming from @lushlala, I myself isn't as convinced, too. But that's the beauty of conducting experiments. We always start with an idea that something is such, but when it is put to a test by asking several respondents in a controlled setting or whatever, results can either amaze us [when what we think to be the case, isn't at all] or be vindicated that you thought right all along. Anyhow, from the article I gathered that the study is premised along the lines of the respondents having full grasp of the second language. That is, the subjects have a degree of fluency in the second language. IF I were a newbie of the second language, then I would probably find it curious and impossible (honestly, bordering on the stupid, hehe) to be thinking in the foreign language when making a decision. [which was where my initial response was based from] BUT I am a bit inclined to believe now that using a foreign language can indeed lead to rational decisions provided that there is already a degree of fluency. Meaning, you have no problem formulating your pros and cons in the second language. A lot of one's biases may be omitted when thinking things as they are.

You're quite right. The emotion that the singer brings out when performing the song helps a lot. Primarily because the emotion provides an immediate and CLEAR context to the meaning of the lyrics. If at first you struggle with the meaning of the lyrics, with the help of the melody and the emotion from the singer, you can readily identify whether the song is a happy song, a sad one, an inspirational bit, or what have you.