elles-belles

You make valid points, I agree with you and I think that those are the best reasons to learn a new language. I also think if a lot of people look at it this way then the more we as a people would get tolerant and acceptance would also come easily! Language could very well be the bridge we need in filling up a lot of cultural gaps we face as different people!

Afrikaans which is similar to Dutch: leuens en laster

Setswana: Maaka le Makgakga

Wow this sounds awesome! I can imagine the great fun I would have going abroad to say Spain and learning Spanish with all the native speakers surrounding me and at my exposure to practice on! Thank you for sharing this, I think I will actually look into it a bit more once I have the extra money.

I would say that there are some signs that are universal. Not all, but some. Definitely the alphabets would be different in different languages such some language don't have certain words, such as Vietnamese with the letter "J".

I agree with xHysteria on this one, there are some signs that are universal but most of it does differ especially from country to country and basically community to community! Of course different languages as well as cultures play an important role as well.

I personally like the sound of ce soir as well and I like Pardon, Un moment and this one Au secours is my absolute favorite! I like the way in which it is pronounced (o-skoor) meaning Help!

Nice one. I think the idea of a live chat is a great idea, it would give all us a lot of great benefits such as a more personal feel to our learning and it would be helpful in cases of language sharing!

I do agree that it should be considered!

I agree with most of the posters here that it is just the way their alphabet is set up! I don't think they were going off the English language alphabet as much as well hence they have the silent 'J'!

Verba gave it to you precisely the way it is meant to be used! It all depends of the mood you are trying to convey! Like Verba already nicely put it for you, If I was is when the mood is indicative and If I were is pretty much regarded as being hypothetical therefore displaying a subjunctive mood. Subjunctive meaning the verb is used to express wish or a suggestion!

Hope that you now have a better understanding.

I hear your frustration as I have also been there, it takes a lot to finally crack the pronunciation side of things! What I usually do especially because pronunciation is vital as it can help you be understood if you are speaking to a native speaker of that language is; practice my French pronunciation at least 20 minutes everyday. I also make it a point to watch French shows and try imitating the speakers on there... I find that these methods have helped me somehow.

All the best with your new languages.

I don't think your writing is bad or that you have a poor grammar, but I'm guessing some editors from those content sites you work with are really strict!  Maybe you have made a couple of mistakes when writing in English, but that doesn't qualify to me as poor grammar, actually whoever told you that didn't give you a truly objective opinion.  Most likely he made that comment based on a very subjective opinion, and was made with the mere purpose to make you doubt your own skills.

I have to say I agree with Trellum in that it is probably because the content sites you write articles for might have certain standards that they want to uphold and maybe you didn't quite meet them. However that is not to say you are terrible at English, it simply means you did not meet the required standards. I wouldn't take their opinion too much to heart because if you believe in your writing skills and know you write good English and follow the grammatical rules then one or two people who disagree doesn't disqualify that!

I totally agree with your assessment here. I find that when I attempt to write in a language I am currently learning I grasp it quicker than if I am just depending on the lessons I take for it. I also realized that writing to me helps get things in my mind quicker than if I just read and try to memorize. I remember most of the things I write down a lot.

I think that language sharing is really a great way of not only learning the language faster and most accurately but also meeting new people and possibly making great friends. I have a friend who speaks Swahili and seeing as I am eager and interested to learn the language, we have arranged to go the language sharing route. He will be teaching me Swahili and in return I will teach him Afrikaans. I can;t wait, plus this way of learning is so cost effective.

Bonjour,

Welcome to the forum. Wow that's impressive, you seem to be really cracking it at the French!

Looking forward to interacting and possibly exchanging tips.

Enjoy the forum.

Learning languages is such a passion for me and this year I plan on focusing on learning French and some Swahili. I think I will achieve this because I already have some French background and as for Swahili I feel it's a bit on the easy side of things.

All the best with your quest.

My most effective language learning experience was in college, and I'm guessing I'm not alone here.  There are a lot of benefits to being in a class when learning a new language.

Would you ever go back to school to learn a language? Perhaps not to major in it and get a degree, but just to take language courses as a non-admitted student?

Some of my best learning experiences are also from collage!!! I would definitely consider going back to school to learn a new language just going off my prior experiences, I caught on pretty fast with a teacher or lecturer in front of me!

I have never actually had a dream in another language than English! I also actually just realized that I haven't even had a dream in my native language at all! Which is rather bizarre.

I agree with what most of the posters have put down that it depends on your focus and willingness to learn the language. I also think that learning a new language is much better down with a teacher or a tutor, that way you get that personal face to face touch that can go a long way in how much of the language you actually grasp.

I agree with most of the posters I doubt that you will get quality learning material from Youtube mostly because it is free and there is a lot of traffic towards it. However if maybe you just want to polish up a few language skills then you can definitely use it. I wouldn't recommend it for learning a completely new language.

All the best.

Wow, this sounds like an interesting project you are working on!

I will be sure to look into it. Thanks for the information.

I am inclined to agree based on my personal experience of course. I have attempted learning a few languages such as Mandarin on my own and wow was that frustrating! Having a teacher ensures that you grasp some of the fundamentals of a specific language and really get the gist of the actual language. Plus I also simply believe in two heads being better than one. Sometimes a person can't be as objective about their progress as the next person might be.

Hmm, this sounds very interesting. I wonder though do you only need to be a native speaker of the English language and have no other qualifications? Sound to me like it would also be a tricky one to do in terms of scheduling teaching times and so forth.

It all in all sounds like a great idea though,especially if you get to make some extra money out of it.

I know a lot of people who have a difficulty in pronouncing the letter "r" and it always does crack me up when they say a word containing 'r', just sounds so weird.

I think that the reason why some people can't pronounce the letter 'r' is that they just don't fully develop the tongue motions for it making it very difficult to pronounce it. Even with practice,there are no actual guarantees that a person will be able to pronounce it.

Yes, I would definitely learn a language of a country I don't plan to visit. First of all because I am fascinated by all sorts of different languages, I find learning languages a fun challenge and mostly because having vast language skills can open a lot of door for you.

There are plenty of opportunities one can run with simply because they can speak a certain language which might very well be the requirement for that certain prospect.

Wow, it's always great to see people work so hard for something they are passionate about. I've been going through all the comments and well done you have a lot of the posters ranting and raving about your site. Sounds like a user friendly site as well as very helpful!

I will definitely bookmark it for future use and also spread the word! Great initiative.

Thank you for the list of apps, I will check a few of them out and make use of them.

I can vouch for the Advanced Dictionary app, it is fun to use, very user friendly and free !

The great thing about mobile apps is that you can pop it open anywhere and anytime you want!