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I too know of people who learned a foreign language mainly through watching TV. But I agree, for most people, listening alone isn't enough, you need a bit of a holistic approach. -and yes, I think going with methods that work best for you is a good way of learning. It's great that these days the advent of modern technology means we've got so many different options available to us.

I never heard of Hangul, Cyrillic, Hiragana and Katakana scripts. But well done for getting them nailed, it can't have been easy! It's amazing what's out there that we don't know about.

I know you say you meant to post it in the Dutch section, but I have a feeling this method would work for most if not all languages. I mean, I've never learnt this way, but I'd be happy to go down this route. Even if it's probably a little tedious, I bet it's a very effective way of learning. I think you'll probably agree that even if you don't see yourself as being fluent in Dutch, you made strides in learning via this method, right? Well done

Hehe @Wanda, you're funny! So I guess we're safe then? On a serious note, I wish i could ream in Italian or French. Now, that would be something LOL I bet it would be all jumbled and wouldn't make much sense hehe

Oh dear, that's terrible! I know the type, for sure. Those who are just NEVER satisfied, no matter what you do. All you can be is yourself and be decent and polite towards her; no more, no less, and you should be fine. I was blessed with a lovely mother-in-law, but at first I had problems with my brothers-in-law because they couldn't stand me, and I never even knew why. I knew I couldn't change them, and didn't want to jump through hoops for anyone. I remained true to myself, didn't change who I am and they soon came around. Not that were now the best of friends, but at least now we're more cordial.

That's the spirit, my friend Keep it up and stay strong! As far as laziness goes, aren't we all hehe? You can definitely count me in!

My dad has begged my mum NOT to make it at home because he says the smell makes him feel sick LOL So she's taken to buying it from a local take out. Both my dad and my husband, not being from my country, absolutely refuse to even taste it. I've never personally prepared it. But I know it's chopped up into small pieces and then boil and then slow cook it. It's slow cooked until it's tender and then a pinch of salt and pepper is added towards the end. I know it's delicious, but I refuse to eat it regularly because it's full of calories LOL. it sounds like a very basic recipe, but it does the job.

Wow, that's interesting! How I'd love to dream in French or Italian, my chosen foreign languages! My native language is Setswana, but everyone generally speaks in English, our official language. When I dream, it's almost always in English. I can't explain that or even why I very, very seldom dream in my native language. The same applies to thinking. It's a lot easier in English. My language is very complex and goes around the houses, whereas English is very economic. - relative to my language, anyway.

Hehe you made me laugh with the description of your (future) mother in law LOL I know people like that, but I'm sure she means no harm. She probably thinks she knows it all by virtue of being older. The best thing to do is what you do, plus just entertain her and let her think she's in the right LOL

Thank you to you too, Trellum! I sure hope to pick up both my French and Italian where I left off in the near future. The only problem is that Italian is not as easily accessible as french here. But hey, I guess that's what modern technology is for, right? These days there really is no real excuse for not learning anything, including foreign languages. I mean, with all the online resources, including some very good free ones, we can all take advantage of and exploit all these resources made available to us to realise our aspirations. I'm glad that you succeeded in teaching yourself English up to the point where you are. It's amazing

Those are very encouraging words, for sure. I'll look upon you as my very own personal cheerleader LOL Well done on standing up to your condition, and refusing to let it keep you down. It's truly commendable and we could all learn a thing or two from you

That's very interesting, Trellum! Can you believe that we too have a similar dish here in Botswana?! We use either cow or goat's stomach, except our recipe is very basic and not nearly as colourful as yours. I must say bar the awful smell as it's being cooked, it actually taste really rather good LOL The garlic thing is a very good idea, because I imagine it'll wipe out all bad smells hehe

I'm sorry to hear about your condition, Trellum! But you're right, some of us really shouldn't have any excuse, given your condition and how far you've come in terms of learning new languages. I'm sure you'll inspire a lot of other people whose motivation may be on the wane. Kudos to you, and keep it up

I've been trying to ignore this picture, but today I came from work famished! -and just looking at it is making my mouth water and my stomach growl LOL I would probably skip the cow's stomach, which I take it is tripe? That's the bit I don't like very much because of the smell, so I'd improvise and use meat instead

I too like the idea of involving the grandparents. It would be ideal if they were within close proximity of you. I think your son will do just fine, to be honest. It's impressive how much they can learn without seemingly putting in much of an effort. The brain capacity of a child at that age is such that it allows much easier foreign language acquisition than is possible for most adults

Hmm! Nah, with all due respect, I still don't see where you are coming from at all. I also get the feeling you're not quite getting what I'm saying. BUT you do know we don't have to agree, right? We're all entitled to our own individual opinions without feeling like as if there's a right a wrong. Also, I'm not trying to convince you to see my way of thinking. I'm merely contributing to the discussion, and don't intend to hash out and re-hash this thing any more than I have.

I have to say you've done so well of yourself, in terms of learning foreign languages. So don't be too hard on yourself. You must also have a good aptitude for it, so I bet you'll manage just fine if you ever decide to revisit some of the languages you left behind.

I agree there are probably some people who can learn multiple languages simultaneously and do it effectively. BUT how many of those realistically exist? I bet it's a very negligible number, definitely the exception to the rule, not the norm.

I agree with this. All these aspects come together to help you gain a better and more in depth understanding of foreign languages. I know someone who speaks some English, but writes terribly and it's not a good thing at all. To see how he writes, you wonder where he learnt his English. If he were to take a basic English test, he'd fail it outright. Being a businessman, I feel he could do with polishing his writing skills.

I totally agree, languages ought to be learnt as they are, not 'simplified' to make it easier or suitable to foreign people who wish to learn them. Don't let's forget that what may be a difficult aspect of any one language to us as language learners comes naturally to those who speak that language as natives. Even if it were possible to change the languages, whose responsibility would that be and where would we actually draw the line? Could I for instance say I can't cope with the pronunciation of X, Y, Z in my chosen foreign language; shall we revise it and make it so that it's easier for me to wrap my tongue around it? I personally don't feel it's practical or even fair to change the makeup of any one language. As I said before, languages change and evolve over time, and as such in my humble opinion, it's not for us to take it upon ourselves to change them. Just my personal opinion.

I guess that's part of what makes English special, it's like a unifying medium of communication. So many people from all walks of life speak it to varying degrees. -and even if they don't really have a use for it, people always seem to want to learn it.

I come from a very mixed family, where we speak English and my native Setswana language. My dad is Danish and doesn't speak Setswana at all. So we all grew up speaking both Setswana and English depending on who you were speaking to at any given time. In my experience, there was no conscious step taken, our language acquisition just happened naturally. Children have a greater capacity to pick up multiple languages simultaneously without ever struggling. Now that I'm an adult and there are young children in the family, I notice that they do seem to have their own little minds and will have their own preference, in this case they do tend to lean more towards English. I'd say just carry on talking to them in both English and Italian as there's very little chance of them getting confused. You'll be very pleasantly surprised at how easily they pick them both up

Wow, I'm reading with great interest about Romanian and Italian being closely related to Latin. I love the Italian language and think it's one of the most beautiful languages out there! If Hungarian is closely linked to Finnish, then I'm getting a clear picture of exactly how difficult it must be. I had a Finnish boyfriend who tried to teach me Finnish once, and I was at a total loss. Quote simply put, it was a lost cause hehe. Having said that though, in my opinion, all Scandinavian languages are very complicated and I doubt I'd ever be able to learn them. It's all in the pronunciation, and that's where my first hurdle would be

it is very complex, isn't it?! which is why I have massive respect for those who seem to take to it like a duck to water! It must just be people with a natural aptitude for languages. I mean take the guy from my country for instance, whose language is as far removed from Latin based languages as you can possibly imagine, for instance! It's totally crazy, but equally as impressive. how I wish I had that ability LOL I hope you do realise your dream of learning Mandarin and Cantonese some day, and get to learn something of their culture too Good luck with that, I think you have the ability to do so!

@Chris_A....I think I'm inclined to agree with you there. With such complex languages as Chinese and Japanese, you're probably best off learning them from a native, for sure. Would you maybe be able to do some those Skype lessons, or is that not ideal for you?