lushlala

Hehe I love teaching and I love accents, too LOL Lest we get the wrong idea, I wasn't suggesting people shed their accents altogether I speak English and have spoken it for most of my life, I lived in England for 13 years and recently returned to Botswana (my home country). I still have my accent, but I make an effort to pronounce words how they are meant to be pronounced whether I'm speaking English or wobbling my way through French or Italian

You're so right there, Mekare! Japan and China are going to be the places to be in the next 5 years or so. I mean, they've already got their position carved as leaders in manufacturing and technology as it stands. I think they will just explode and people the world over will want a piece of them, especially Japan.

I think there's a little misunderstanding here. The idea is not for people to change their accent in order to sound like a native speaker, that is near impossible. I'm talking about people who don't bother to phrase words right, mainly. People who you can obviously tell are just NOT bothered. OR worse still, those who deliberately distort their own accent to sound a certain way, for instance; more African. Those are the situations I was referring to.

You're so right about the fun aspect! I get really bored and soon lose interest if something I'm engaged in ends up being monotonous, it becomes like a chore!

Wow, well done on setting up your website, I hope it's successful I'll definitely go and have a look at it as I really want to get back into my French and Italian. Hopefully I'll also see a few familiar faces from here

I think when you are passionate about a language(s) you aren't likely to give up, no matter how hard. The only reason I've had to park my Italian and French is mainly due financial constraints. Once my finances pick up again, I'll be going to my lessons.

@ lushlala, When speaking to such people, why don't you pretend to not understand them and only respond in your native language? For sure they will be forced to speak it, then they will stop trying to impress people who won't buy into their act, lol.

Portugese is another language that I would be interested in learning at some point. Because it's so closely related to Spanish, it could help me pick up some Spanish too. I just love languages! But listening to people speak Spanish, I always thought I'd struggle with the the pronunciation.

Mandarin is certainly gaining speed in terms of popularity among the youth! When I used to work for for huge UK exam board, I was amazed at just how many children right across the colour bar took Mandarin! I wonder what's triggered this apparent sudden surge in interest?

No luckily for me, my two favourite languages of choice (Italian and French) came easily to me. There was never a point where I wanted to throw the towel in. I mean, I currently don't speak either, but I can understand a little bit. I know that If I were to go back and learn them, I'd be able to pick them up very easily

Practice, practice, practice! As we all know, practice makes perfect! I don't know if it works for others, but I'd say whatever you do, get in your basics first to build your foundation. From that point on I find it just keeps getting easier and easier. I also encourage people to surround themselves with speakers of that language and speak it at every chance.

I'm glad you came up with this point Melee, because a lot of the time this happens with women who have married a White American/British lol Then they think it's fashionable to have children who don't speak their native language, which I find really sad and tragic. Some of these women have come from humble backgrounds and have parents who don't speak a jot of English, so you can imagine what that does to the relationship between the grandparents and their grandchildren. Because I come from a mixed background (my step dad is Danish, and I'm married to a white Englishman), and lived in England for 13 years, people often seem shocked that I speak perfect Setswana (my native language) I only returned home in the past 18 months, and I tell them nobody can really forget their language. While I was in England, I never got to speak my language, except sometimes when I called home. If I didn't ever forget a jot of my language, then surely someone who went away as an adult, and stayed say 5 years, cannot forget their language. I think it's ridiculous!

Hehe I know what you mean about those two. I would say the same for all Scandinavian languages, though. They're not most attractive languages at all. My dad is Danish and tried to teach me a few basic phrases, I failed miserably lol I doubt I'd be any good at German and Russian, too!

That's a very interesting point you make about using children's books to help you learn a foreign language, VNtomboy ! I never thought about this, but I can definitely see how it could work. It's really simplified and made very easy, so it would be interesting to try this approach. Thanks for the tip

Latin is one of those languages that seem very daunting to learn. I do also wonder about the practicality of learning it. I mean, where would you be able to use it, outside of the Vatican? I take it it would make it easier to learn modern day Latin oriented languages like Spanish? Just how similar are modern day foreign languages with Latin roots to ancient Latin? Thanks Aurelia

I can't imagine Arabic is a very easy language to learn. I'm guessing there are not many people out there who can speak and write it at the very highest level. But I do know that there is a lot of interest in it out there. But I do agree with Sidney, it would certainly help some forum members if there were an incentive like free support and guidance, in order to grow your business.

Yes, I'm sure it counts! It is a type of language, so I don't see why not I too have had the interest, but not the time. It's so funny how I used to think that sign language was universal! Just goes to show you how interesting it is, how little we all know about it!

I have to say, when it comes to learning a new language, I am a huge fan of casual learning. I like that there is no real pressure there and no boundaries. The only problem is that you could pick up some very bad "habits", so I find that in as much as I love to learn from the grass roots so to speak; It's always a good idea to pair that with formal learning. I always laugh when I think of a Danish uncle of mine, who learnt English from some bad boy American marines (his words). He swears like a trooper and claims he picked it up from them lol

Joe, what language are you looking to translate into? I may not be able to help but I'm not sure if your question is very clear. Those who are in a position to help you may struggle to understand. I'm guessing you're looking at Spanish or one of the latin languages, right?

Hi Mitch and welcome. Wow 8 languages! Do you mind me asking which 8 languages you want to learn? Which 3 do you already speak? My interest lies in French and Italian, and I really do need to shake a leg. I have basic knowledge of both, but dream of at least being able to carry a half decent conversation in both; one fine day! Wish you all the best in achieving your dream of learning 8 languages

Hello and welcome onboard, Enrico! That's quite a list you've got right there lol I hope you will achieve that some day. Do you speak any of those languages at all?

Exactly takibari those are the very points I was trying to convey! Thanks for that! Hehe you just stitched me up with that LOL That just gave me a mental vision of such a situation, and it's downright hilarious!

I agree that it's so much easier to learn as a child because the brain is far more able to retain information better, and it sticks! I wish I'd learnt both French and Italian from about the age of 5 lol Right now I'd be fluent, virtually a native speaker!

I also believe it'll depend on the school as well as the teacher. If the school has a good reputation, and the teacher is dedicated and good at what she does; then it would be a good choice. Many industries are now crying out for multi lingual employees. I wish I'd had the opportunity to learn new languages from a younger age.

I am not studying any language at the moment, sadly. But when I am, I personally prefer to start off learning through a Basic Grammar text book with the guidance of a teacher, to build my foundation. Then If I have the option, my ideal learning environment would be through immersion, especially where the natives speak little to no English. This would be the ideal scenario for me