AureliaeLacrimae

I agree with the grammar here: Me is form used for objects (accusative case), whereas I is the subject (nominative) form. Try using ''her'' instead, or ''him'' and you'll see it doesn't work either: You and I are going to the bar tomorrow. She and you ... She and my brother found it. It's incorrect to use her: *You and her found it. *Her and my brother found it. Just like she in object position can't be used: *He found she and you. Object pronoun must be used instead: He found her and you. He found her. Try simple sentences and then just switch the simple form ''she'' with a more complex coordinated phrase ''she and you''. The same is with ''her'' and '' her and you'', or in your case, I/me. Even if you use ellipsis, you should always be consistent: He's taller than I (am). *He's taller than me (am) - although this works in informal speech just fine, but it's not strict ellipsis then, it looks more like pro-form to me.

They're pronounced differently: Message is pronounced /'mesɪdʒ/ Massage is pronounced /maˈsɑːɧ/ The second comes from French, so French pronunciation is kept. Although I'd always pronounce garage as/ˈɡærɪdʒ/, but it's also possible: /ˈɡær.ɑːʒ/ Perhaps you could try pronouncing them? Message still has that distinguished 'e' sound whereas massage keeps the muffled 'a' in schwa. Also, there are words such as masseuse and masseur for people who do the massage, also from French. This may help you distinguish them. Compounds with message... hmm.. I can't remember. The only word that comes in mind is gerund messaging. Is your phone in English? If you always see ''Messages'' when you try to send someone a text, you might remember it in time. Perhaps you could connect massage with spa? Both have ''a'' and message with text, both have ''e''

Although, one valid point here is: how do you know all contestants are women? When it comes to matching "each" with a reflexive pronoun/anaphora, the textbook usually opts for masculine form "himself". It's the accepted form in the standard English. Only lately did the trend of choosing feminine form appear. I really don't understand why all the fuss. It only makes the matters more complicated. It may be clumsy using himself/herself in formal style (although I'd seen this in sentences and it looks awful, it completely ruins the rhythm of the sentence), so I'd always opt for plural: All - themselves There's no mistake there. And no one will argue. Same is with "Every student has handed in his assignment". -how do you know they're all men? perhaps they're all women? or mostly women? This is why many grammar books suggest: "All students have handed in their assignments." Although, when it comes to mixed gender (3 fem, 2 masc. nouns, for example), many languages would still opt for masc. pronoun form. I had encountered a similar sentence to "Each contestant was given a room for herself." I think I had a version with "his own"? I can't remember. Still, it's better to use plural "their own".

This is what OED says on ''usage'' in the entry ''octopus'': http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/octopus noun (plural octopuses) ''The standard plural in English of octopus is octopuses. However, the word octopus comes from Greek and the Greek plural form octopodes is still occasionally used. The plural form octopi, formed according to rules for some Latin plurals, is incorrect.''

Although I'd rather put ''What could have happened if I hadn't stumbled upon this place...'' to make it a clear third conditional - however, mixed conditional is fine as well. The clear third conditional is more of a textbook example, though. Modal verbs must be followed by BARE INFINITIVE - that is, infinitive without to: may happen, will go, can play, could see They can also be followed by PAST INFINITIVE: may have done, could have been, would have left PAST INFINITIVE form: have + past participle [3rd column form for irregular verbs/-ed for regular] (always have!! even if the subject is 3rd person singular! it's infinitive - infinitive is non-finite and can't change) she may have done it not *she may has done it - you don't add present perfect, you add past infinitive may have happen combination doesn't exist. have is an auxiliary which contains "perfective" aspect, so it always comes with a past form, it cannot come with present form, just like be has progressive aspect as an auxiliary, so it's used in forming continuous tenses (even complex - have been doing) but can also be used in passives with past participle.

Add the genitive here. People often make mistakes when it comes to adding 's. Assassin's - it's only one assassin and something belongs to him Assassin's Blade, for example. Assassins' - plural: Assassins' Cave And if you have a long phrase, especially with ''of phrase genitive'' (King of Spain, my old friend, his big sister) you add genitive to the whole phrase, not the head or nominal expression: King of Spain's sceptre, my old friend's daughter, his big sister's friends NOT *King's of Spain sceptre Two genitives may be clumsy... Heidi's mother's lipstick - the lipstick of Heidi's mother

This is a very interesting point you're making. If you spoke Spanish and they spoke English perhaps you could have a blend of cultures and practice both languages simultaneously. However, I am aware that many people aren't learning English. This is mostly the case with older people who have trouble adjusting, especially if they'd spoken only one language throughout their whole life - it may be extra difficult to them to learn to speak a foreign one. Most of us have some experience and have learnt foreign languages in school, so it's easier to learn a new one, but not all of the people have this advantage. They encounter problems which we'd encountered in primary school, so we also have to be aware of that. And then there's the encouragement factor, or rather, lack of it. Many people don't see the benefit of speaking more languages. This is simply because the lack of education. If they were provided with information (for example, a quick seminar in their mother tongue, in this case, Spanish) and knew the benefits, perhaps the things would change and more people would be motivated. The language barrier as such exists, but it can be overcome. At least, I believe so. Languages are the wealth, the happiness, the knowledge, the opportunities. There's no reason why you should resist them.

Well, I also don't like the idea of memorising words from a list. This doesn't really work in the long run. You forget most of them anyway, but here are some tips: Check out the websites of Spanish embassies and such. They usually have information about language certificates and the levels (I know this is the case with both English and German, so I assume it is also the case with Spanish). They usually give you a practice test or a quick check test which you can do online. I guess this is one of the ways of seeing where you are. Keep reading the books and watching TV. These will provide you with the vocabulary you need. I would also recommend listening to the radio and perhaps even Spanish music. Even though these aren't really helpful in a great scale, they can certainly work in the long run. I believe Azucar Moreno, Mecano and Sarah Brightman have interesting songs in Spanish. You can also check out Enrique Iglesias and Gypsy Kings. These are just some suggestions, of course, you could make your own list. Even though you dislike learning words from a dictionary, perhaps you could find a website you like that has this. I know that Livemocha was very interesting to me when I was learning Spanish. I am also sure you can find some interesting phrases and sentences online. Hope this helps! Good luck!

I too checked it out and I believe that it can be very helpful. Good job! I like the idea of test and practice and rating. This could prove very valuable. And eleven languages! Now that's a big step. I wonder how long it took you to complete it.

But it certainly sounds interesting. I am not into online learning myself, but I know that some people succeed the most this way. I like the fact that classes are led by a teacher and not just written on the screen and pronounced. This gives an important dimension. I bet it is worth it, even though you're paying so much.

Thank you for this, nikolic933. I will certainly write this down somewhere. I know this is becoming off topic, but I have one more question: If I choose Russian, does this automatically set your keyboard to Cyrillic letters? I know that Serbian uses both Latin and Cyrillic script, so I'm not sure about this one, though.

This was exactly my point. There are a lot of words which are entering British English (and were originally associated with American) and vice versa, though it must be admitted that this is mostly the case with American words. TV is doing wonders for American English - the mass media is surrounding us with this version of the English language that sometimes we aren't even aware of the influences until they're pointed out, as you'd said, petrushka. What I'd written in my previous post is just the general ''American'' or ''British'' way. Of course, it's not forbidden to use both. I think only formal speech and writings may be exception where it will be expected that you follow either one or the other standard, but other than that, they're interchangeable.

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.

Well, to be honest, Latin is only spoken in Vatican (that's as much as I know). However, most of the prestigious diplomas are written in Latin, a lot of scientific research still is reviewed in Latin, there are a lot of texts which haven't been yet translated and such. There are some attempts to bring it back to life, but I don't really think that they're succeeding. After all, Latin hasn't been spoken in centuries, which is a shame really, but not something that can be easily changed. To answer your question, you wouldn't be able to speak Latin. Your work would mainly be on the texts and grammar, but it will provide you with the knowledge useful in studying many other languages, Spanish included.

I like the point made by a few other members. The ''word of the day'' idea is perfect. It will provide your readers with a more interesting side of language learning. I personally like the academic way of learning a language more than ''the fun way'', as I call it. Whenever I try this one, I fail. I simply like grammar more than vocabulary and such, though I am aware that vocabulary is extremely important as well. It would be amazing to see your progress. I truly do wonder how much you'll achieve in about a month or so. Best of luck!

Try to find as many sources and grammar books as well as vocabulary. You don't have to write about grammar, but do make sure that people know where to find the information if they're looking for it. I do believe that this could pay off. You can always see how Livemocha functions or Rosetta Stone and pick up some of their ways of presenting a language, but do make sure all you write is correct. It wouldn't be helpful to learn something incorrect... Anyway, I do hope you'll have fun time while doing this!

Just don't give up. Sometimes you can feel inferior, but you aren't really. You just have to be confident and keep trying to improve. Listen to the radio - BBC, CNN, anything you can find really, and you'll see with your listening skills improving so will your speaking. You'll start mimicking the accent and even if not that, then at least you'll find out the correct pronunciation of certain words. It's always like that for us ESL students. There are always some words which we don't know or can't pronounce correctly... sometimes we aren't even aware we're not pronouncing them well. I remember being third grade high school and the word mundane. I'd learnt how to pronounce it only about a year ago - and by accident really. I bet there are a dozen of words I am still not sure about... if only I knew which ones they were. But that's life - we never know for sure, no matter how much we study. There will always be something unfamiliar.

This can be very confusing to a child - having been exposed to two completely different languages and syntactic rules... Children are very intelligent, true, but with a lot of different pieces of information, and at times very similar can often be confusing which will in the end have the contrary effect from the desired one. I bet that it would have been easier for you to acquire language had you been spoken to in Chinese also at home. Naturally, English should be used, but there must be some kind of a balance. Anyway, this is just my assumption. I may as well be wrong.

I believe that Hungarian is not even Indo-European (I am not really sure if I remember this correctly), but that could be why. The original, proto-Indo-European language had eight cases! So all of the languages which have stemmed from it have kept this system, only more or less developed. It usually happens that one or two cases had taken the role of several others (for example, Ablative in Latin is also Indo-European Instrumental and Locative). Croatian (and Slavic languages in general) have lost Ablative, but they do have all the other cases. No language has kept all eight cases... that would have not been economical and therefore would soon change...

I also noticed this! The same similarity exists in between German and Dutch - it seems like a blend of German and English. I'd always found it curious. I believe that midnight in Dutch is ''middernacht'', which looks like a nice combination of Mitternacht and midnight. I bet there are so many examples about this... when I was learning German in school, we'd always used the ''Ich habe Durst/Hunger'' form that for a long time, I wasn't even aware the other one is correct (Ich bin hungrig/durstig). I'd only found it out years later when I'd found the phrase in a text...

Thank you for pointing these things out. As I'd said before, I do not speak Norwegian, I am only trying to help. You can also modify all of my posts - I do not mind. Correct whatever you think needs correcting, erase whatever you feel needs to be erased... After all, both of us have only one thing in mind - help people study the languages. I would love to hear your opinions on all the posts! so, once more, please, feel free to correct any of my mistakes, be they common or not.

Well, I'd compiled a very short list of some phrases which I believe could be useful. If you think of any more, please do add them: Waiter / waitress! Kelner! Can we have the check please? Kan jeg få regningen? It is very delicious! Det er veldig godt! I don't like it Jeg liker det ikke Expensive Dyrt Cheap Billig What time is it? Hva er klokken It's 3 o'clock Den er tre I'm hungry Jeg er sulten I'm thirsty Jeg er tørst In The Morning Om morgenen In the evening Om kvelden At Night Om natten Hurry up! Fort deg! All questions and corrections are accepted. We are looking forward to your feedback.

Certainly, these are useful. It's true that most of these are non sentences, but still, this is something used extensively in everyday speech, so I believed it should be included here. All corrections and additions to this list are, of course, accepted: Good Bra Bad Dårlig Big Stor Small Liten Today I dag Now Nå Tomorrow I morgen Yesterday I går Yes Ja No Nei Fast Fort Slow Sakte Hot Varm Cold Kald This Dette That Det Here Her There Der Really? Virkelig? Look! Se! Sorry! / Pardon me! Beklager! Sorry Unnskyld! No problem! Ikke noe problem! And now the wh-questions, or in this case, the hv- questions, or so it seems: What? Hva? Where? Hvor? Who? Hvem? How? Hvordan? When? Når? Why? Hvorfor?

Excuse me! Unnskyld! Can you help me? Kan du hjelpe meg? Can I help you? Kan jeg hjelpe deg? How can I get to ...? Hvordan kommer jeg til.. Go straight Gå rett frem Then Så Turn left gå til venstre Turn right Gå til høyre Can you show me? Kan du vise meg? Downtown I sentrum Old City Gamlebyen It's near here Det er i nærheten It's far from here Det er langt unna Is it within walking distance? Kan jeg gå dit? I'm looking for Mr. Smith Jeg ser etter Smith One moment please! Ett øyeblikk! Hold on please! (when on the phone) Et øyeblikk! He /she is not here Han(he) /Hun(she) er ikke her Airport Flyplass Bus station Buss-stasjon , Bus stop = Bussholdeplass Train station Togstasjon Taxi Drosje Near Nær Far Langt unna Help! Hjelp! Stop! Stopp! Fire! Brann! Thief! Tyv! Run! Løp! Watch out! Pass deg! Call the police! Ring politiet! Call a doctor! Ring en lege! Are you okay? Går det bra? Accident Ulykke Where is the closest pharmacy? Hvor er det nærmeste apoteket? Calm down! Ro deg ned! You will be okay! Det kommer til å gå bra med deg! More colloquial: Det går bra med deg! ) Can you help me? Kan du hjelpe meg? Can I help you? Kan jeg hjelpe deg?

This happens to me as well. I remember a few dreams which were in English and one in German (mind you, I don't speak German fluently - I am more of a... grammarian type). I guess that our brains get ''wired'' during the day and sometimes it's difficult to separate the dreams from what you'd been doing during the day. Sometimes it happens to me that I start repeating the lectures or things like that. I sometimes dream about the exams (which are always in very odd circumstances). Our dreams occasionally represent some of our inner thoughts, fears... it's only logical. I did find this strange in the beginning. Now I'm more or less used to it.