Verba

I would if I have some good friends from that country even though I don't really intend to visit it. Or if I need it for a job, especially if it would accelerate my role, why not? A friend of mine tried to learn Arabic during her first few years of marriage even though she did not plan to visit her hubby's home country. She just wanted to understand her husband's conversations with his friends and relatives. Call it paranoia, but like what she said, she'd rather play her cards well than to be sorry. That's a good enough reason for me. I personally would learn it if I have some reasons that make perfect sense for learning it. Otherwise, I won't waste my time, really. I'd rather do something productive and meaningful especially at this time in my life when I have to prioritise my activities and goals. 

I have not tried learning two languages at the same time but based on what I know from some people's experiences, it can be done. So I reckon it all depends on one's language learning ability, enthusiasm and time given for learning. I even would not count in time as a factor to learn a language or two. It is all a matter of enthusiasm, interest and persistence/patience. If one really wants something done or achieved, he or she would go for it regardless the obstacles. But if the willingness is not there or the interest is missing, there will be many reasons for not doing it. Hence check yourself for those attitudes and linguistic ability. All the best to you!

I am better in language than math but I am not bad in the latter either. I would say I am average in math but above average in language. I do not believe in that stereotyping because my daughter is really excellent in both fields. Points proving the case are her school performances in those areas. in her IGCSEs, she got A* in all subjects - all sciences, maths and English. In French, she got A but that is certainly not bad at all. Right now, her high-level subjects are maths and physics. English and French are two of her standard subjects, but it is because that's her choice and that's what she needs in the university next year. 

Well, what happened to me was before my family and I went to France, I had never learned its language. I only knew Bonjour!  My daughters have been taking French classes in school before that trip and until now. And so it was really a good practice for them to speak French to the French men! My eldest talked to an old French lady to ask for street directions. I admired her for doing so and following her directions accurately. We got to the place without any hassles!

Just like you lushlala, I'd rather learn a language online for free since there are many resources available that do not charge at all. However, if I had to do it for a job or any other urgent reasons, I would pay for a real classroom or one to one sessions. I am also willing to spend if the language is quite difficult to learn like the French or German or Japanese languages. Right now, since I am just trying my best to learn French just because, I do it for free online and at my own pace.

Oh yes, for sure! If you could learn as many languages as you can, go for it! You'll never know when you will use them, but time will come that it will be beneficial to you. Say, you will visit or stay in a country whose national language you can speak and understand. Or you need it at work which is really a plus point for business communication and promotion. Or you simply meet a new friend with whom you will end up connected all your life. So the more languages you learn, the better! 

Right now, I am trying my best to re-learn French. Since I have already forgotten what I learned before, I am back to the basics of the language. My biggest setback though is finding time to do it. Perhaps if I need to learn it due to work-related reasons, or settling in purposes, or whatever urgent reasons there may be, I could see myself moving mountains just to learn it! But right now, I just do it at my own pace. Time and motivation plus energy are debilitating factors for me to finally give it a go. After that one beginner's session, I have never moved forward to the next one. Sigh! 

I must say all those with double letters like occasion (just had to concentrate recently that this is how it's spelt), accommodation. Also, the ior, ous words like behavior, marvelous, supercilious. I guess this is because when I started working in a British owned company, I got mixed up with their spellings. For instance, they spell behavior as behaviour, marvelous as marvellous (?) Sometimes, I do not even know which is American English and which is a British word.

I've always used my imagination when I read. Thus, I get so scared when I read horror or suspense thriller books. Yup, until now that I am older! I wasn't able to sleep well when I read the book Dracula. I just was able to get over it sooner than after I read Pet Sematary because I was younger then so my imagination was so vivid and wilder. Lol!

Sometimes when I like the scene too much, I repeatedly read the page and go back to it several times after I'm finished reading the whole book. :-) Nothing for me can beat the first marriage proposal of Mr Darcy to Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice. Lol!

This sounds a helpful study. What did you say it was for? Please update us of your project results. When do you need it? I can make one for you but probably by next week if that's still all right? At any rate, I am very interested to join this project. So count me in please! :-) Good luck in your endeavor.

I agree with you, provided that the teacher is really an expert in teaching the language or any subject matter that s/he's teaching. Sometimes, teachers are knowledgeable but they do not know how to impart the lesson well and to the level the students will understand and learn. Nevertheless, this speaks volume of how important the teacher is to what and how much the students will learn. When a teacher has mastery of his/her lesson, has an excellent teaching skill and all the qualities a brilliant teacher possesses, the students will greatly learn and benefit from the lessons.

Hi Dora M. The correct use of "if I was" and "if I were" depends on how the verb is used depending on various moods. Moods here refer to the way a verb expresses an action or a state of being. These moods can be indicative, imperative and subjunctive. Of the three, the most common and easiest to understand is indicative as it only makes statements or asks questions. Example, She is buying a Barbie doll for her niece. Imperative sentences are those that make requests or command. Example, Buy a Barbie doll. Here the subject, though not in the sentence, is often understood as "you". Subjunctive mood refers to hypothetical situations or ideas contrary to facts. Example, If her niece were a boy, she could buy that toy plane.

Please note that this last mood is most commonly expressed in the "if I" sentence. But this is not always the case, as in the sentence If I was at fault, I am sorry. Here, I am actually apologizing. This is the indicative mood. Subjective mood goes something like this: If I were at fault, I would say sorry. This sentence either tells us that I really apologize if I really did it or that my mistake and apology are both hypothetical. This is in the subjunctive mood.

Hi. I answered your survey. As for my motivation, I'd say opportunities for job and career enrichment will make me really pursue learning another language. Moving to another country with most its locals not familiar with the English language will push me to learn their language. Those two are so far the best motivators for me.

I know I started reading novels when I was about 10 but I couldn't remember much about them anymore. What I vividly remember was the novel I read when I was 13 years old because I wrote a book review about it as an English requirement. It's Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol where the very popular Ebenezer Scrooge was the main cast. I loved it and even got scared at the point when ghosts came to visit him.

Here's a definitely absurd technique I used when I was younger. My mom taught me a Mandarin prayer of the sign of the cross. I memorized it by half-chanting, half-reciting it for just a few hours. Until today, I can recite it by heart. But what happened was I gave it a different accent and tune that Mandarin speaking Chinese might not even understand. 

We lived in Iowa for awhile too and so I am familiar with some of those towns. Iowa has alot of towns that were also originally founded by the french, the same as my home town in Detroit, Mi. We have alot of towns that have French names but the locals have long mispronounced them. I had no clue until I met some French speaking natives who told me 'Dee-troyt' is not the right way to say 'Dee-twah' which is the way the original word was meant to be pronounced. There are other towns with a similar sad story. I'm not on a hunt to find out how to properly say these names and am curious how many foreigners might recognize them upon hearing them said correctly.

That explains the strangeness of the names being founded by French. I love hearing French language. In fact, I attempted to learn it several times. But my word, I have a really difficult time pronouncing their words much more remember them. You don't read them as spelt. Even the French teacher of my daughter told me that it is really difficult for other nationalities to learn their language for that reason. When my family and I visited France, we had to rely on my eldest daughter to read for us the names of streets and their popular places. They sound so strange!

Awesome! I will have a look at the site to see for myself how it can help me. Thanks a lot for coming up with this helpful site. Your efforts and time are highly appreciated tomm. Good luck and may you come up with more valuable concepts to make is more useful. :-)

"Boom Panis" is a growing meme similar to the "Push mo yan, 'te" phenomenon (they were birthed nearly at the same timeframe, right?). It's a growing term used after punchlines and supposedly "funny" moments.

(It's harder to explain it than to actually get used to the phenomenon.)

I honestly believe this started with the "Boom Vanness" meme that originated when Meteor Garden aired again in the Philippines (after quite some time), being a play on Vanness Wu's name (Vanness) sounding closely like "Panes." In this context, "Panes" is not the same as "Panis" (spoiled). In the "Boom, Panis!" phrase, "Panis/Panes" is taken more as "Owned!/Pwned!" when we use videogame wording.

In essence, the main thought of "Boom! Panis!" in the meaning it wants to convey is, "Boom! It's too awesome you couldn't resist the urge to feel its awesomeness, yes?" (Of course, the meaning varies, but this is the general message that it gives me).

It's not practically that bad, though. To be fair, it's funny and entertaining (irritating perhaps for others who noticed/can't appreciate the rather mellow taste of other Filipinos when it comes to comedy), but I have to say it's not as hurtful as the Jejemon Phenomenon language-wise.

Changing the last word sometimes makes it funnier, though. "Boom, Galit!" "Boom, Panot!" and other words. It doesn't get funny when it's taken too out of the context, though - but when the timing gets itself right, it can become something that's really entertaining. I still don't get why Vice Ganda had to make a song about "Push mo yan, 'te," though. It just says "Push mo yan, 'te," right? The "Boom, Panis!" one had a more entertaining vibe to it.

So it has a positive meaning. Still, it is not appropriate to what panis really means. It somehow gave a wrong twist to its meaning. I don't want my child, who is learning to speak Filipino since we migrated when she was 2, to hear that expression and get confused. Adults who are well-versed in Filipino got confused, how much more those who are learning our language. I may be too serious about it, but it is what it is, a wrong definition of the word panis.

I don't like it. It does not make sense to me. Although I'm guessing it means a spot on dumbness because of the word panis? Panis means spoilt food for instance, right? From that, I think it's meant to be an insult. And boom is an explosive sound. Or does it mean something else?

I especially don't like hearing that from kids. Whether it implies something good or not, it does not sound smart and appropriate.

This is an excellent point. I really liked what you'd written. So what your daughter had learnt in school she was able to implement in real life. I believe that's because of the practical aspect of the task she'd had in school. This is called ''Task-Based Learning'' and it is very effective with children. They focus on the task (in this case, the making of the map) that they learn the language subconsciously, more or less. They also walk about the class and ask their classmates (Total Physical Response) about certain streets.

She must have had an excellent teacher! And she must have been an exceptional student.

Oh so that's what it's called, Task-Based Learning. They were introduced to several of that, like ordering in restaurants, some actual life simulations that can really be applied. Apart from that, my daughter said her teacher was patient with the class. That is one trait that I think any teacher should have. So her teacher was really excellent. And my daughter is also hardworking and pays great attention to what's being said. She got the academic award for French that school year. In IGCSE French early this year, she got an A. :-)

I don't remember this approach when I was younger. Is the item the word to be read or a picture that hints at what the word is? These days, flashcards of words or sounds are shown to kids one by one. Another method is the writing method. Word is written one at a time then it is read or sounded out first then read. Or in the interactive whiteboard, word appears one at a time again then read. There are also word games. One game shows two words. One is a real word and the other is a con word. When the correct word is chosen, the alien who eats the correct word chews on it but when given the wrong word, he frowns and does not eat. So there are already loads of methods now-a-days for children to learn words. 

Mine happened just recently. A colleague and I were talking about work. In just a matter of a few minutes, we moved from a fun chat to a more serious one. Everything was going well for us. As she was leaving (she was at the door), she spoke too fast I didn't quite get it. I laughed knowing it was something funny. But her facial expression changed so I realized it was a serious reaction about the last discussion we had. After she left, I was deep in thoughts of what she could have possibly said. It dawned on me that she said the word frustrating. OMG! I laughed at that! She felt bad yet I laughed instead of comforting her. But gracious as she is, she let it slipped and laughed along too. I can't forget though her initial reaction. Ohhh, totally embarrassing!

As the very title says, learning one language is not the same as acquiring it. Children have that innate ability of ''picking up'' the language merely by being exposed to it, which doesn't work that way with adults or older children. This makes the process of learning the language more difficult and a conscious effort. Whereas acquisition is an unconscious process and happens naturally, learning requires your full participation and effort.

The trend is to try to imitate the background and circumstances of the acquisition in the classroom, but the question is - how successful is that really? Can we create an atmosphere which would replicate that of home? How successfully and in what degree can we teach children by using the acquisition methods? This certainly doesn't work with adults as they mostly learn through ''prior experience'' and are more disciplined and focused - but does that serve as an advantage or the very opposite of it?

I'm interested in your opinions. Please, feel free to share them.

I am not sure if there is an atmosphere of acquisition in what I'm going to share but the method my eldest daughter's French teacher taught their class in Year 9 (she was 13 then) was effective for her. I'm not sure though with her other classmates. Anyway, they were given several practical exercises like some students drew maps with French roads/street names. Then some used the maps to give directions while others followed then vice versa. She was able to use this know how when we went to France for a few days. She was our guide in reading street names, following directions and even talking to an old French lady in French. Our travel was fairly successful. We got to our desired locations without getting lost. My husband helped but she was the one who successfully read the street names and translated to us what some notices or instructions were saying.

So at her age, the immersion or practical methods, if it can be classified as such, were advantageous for her. I guess that will also apply to me as I tend to learn more by getting shown the practicality of things and its applications to real-life situations. I think we can refer to that as natural day-to-day events in life that we can learn from, am I right?

Hi Adam. That really sounds interesting and helpful. However, my question is how can we synchronize the time as we may be living in different parts of the world? If I may suggest, maybe, the native speakers who can volunteer to help out can signify their availability then the learners can just choose the timetable that suit their schedules.

That's the minor issue I can see for now. Other than that, your idea looks promising! Thanks for the concept. :-)

I am trying to learn Spanish but I can see that it won't really enrich my work life because from where I work, we do not need it. It is a British institution so it is not really necessary. However, I think if I am adequate enough to speak and write it, I believe I can be hired as a translator or perhaps, a writer! Any languages one can learn well may be an additional income or even your bread and butter. Why, you can be a tutor for the language you learn. :-)