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I always find that when I'm learning a foreign language, I pretty much get the basics quickly. However, I tend to lack in confidence in terms of actually speaking it. Yet I know exactly what I want to say, and can write it without any problem whatsoever. I know practice makes perfect, but I'm still a bit shy and wary of making mistakes! Does any of you feel the same?

Singing is definitely a good one. I also tend to use word associations. It may not necessarily mean anything to the next person, or even make sense to them, but it works for me. These word associations often have nothing to do with each other, which is even more bizarre! For instance, when I first started learning French; to remember "Merci beaucoup" I'd associate "beacoup" with a word in my language, "borokhu" which sounds very similar but actually means tree sap. Weird I know, but it worked for me!

Wow, that sounds fantastic! Thanks so much for posting Of course, you'd have to take yourself there and have money for living expenses, but that's such a huge saving on lessons that are quite often very expensive! So I bet nobody would grumble about that. I wish I were in a position to explore and exploit this

Wow, first off; well done on your lingistic "portfolio". I think you're doing a fine job, and you feeling so demoralised is only natural. You're clearly a go-getter and very inspired. I too am a Linguistics graduate although nowhere near as accomplished as you. I took a Setswana (my native language) and English Double major and a Minor in French. I did French for 4 years and then took private lessons for a further year. This is where I became very disgruntled as my native French tutor was useless, more concerned with flirting with a girl in my class. I didn't enjoy that and soon left. Before that, I'd had the opportunity to visit France and stayed there for three months in my second year. I lived with a non-English speaking French family and went for lessons at a university in Strasbourg. This was a very enriching and valuable time in my learning of French. Other than that, I learnt French in a classroom in my English speaking country. I just want to say hang in there, and don't let anything derail your focus and determination. Keep at it and you will win in the end. Maybe even compare notes with other students and see how they feel. All the best

I think countries like America and South Africa are in the very unique and privileged position of having "rainbow nations", classic examples of melting pots of cultures. I wish I were in that position, because I'd take full advantage of this by soaking up all the cultural differences and try to learn (definitely) Spanish and some of the other languages out there. The world has definitely become a lot smaller due to the advent of modern technology and boarders opening up to welcome people from all four corners of the globe. We're truly enjoying the global village effect, learning about different people from all cultures and backgrounds, even interacting with people we would otherwise not have the opportunity to meet. So I think all this is leading to very positive changes in race relations

Wow, that sounds so cool! I think if it can also translate whole phrases for you, even better! You could sit through the movie making notes of new phrases and words, although it would take you ages for you to see the whole movie LOL Yes, I like it

Writing is all good, but I think practicing your oral skills is even better. When I was learning French, I spent way too much time on writing, and that's where I excelled. I was too shy and lacked confidence to speak as often as it takes to really polish up on my French, my French lecturer was often shocked at how good my written French was! So for me, the best thing to do is to find a native speaker and keep practicing. As they say, practice makes perfect

Oh wow AureliaeLacrimae, congratulations on all your linguistic achievements! I have so much respect for multi lingual people such as yourself. However, you go even higher in my estimation if you also speak Latin, German and Chinese as I feel those are some of the most complex languages to learn. After those ones, you'll find Italian easy. I learnt French first and found it relatively easy. I found Italian even easier! -But I don't speak either fluently now:( All the best for your MA, although I'm sure you don't need any luck there as you'll breeze it

I find it interesting that some of their words make them sound like they have a lisp. I used to have a couple of Spanish friends who even struggled with some English words because of this, the "lisp" carried over to their English. I think this is the one area I'd struggle with If I were to learn Spanish!

I'm in agreement with elles-belles. I tend to listen to how the natives pronounce words, then I'll write the words down exactly how they're meant to sound. Next I practice, practice, practice. I think that's the best method but then we all learn differently

In the next ten years, I'd love to be able to confidently converse in Italian and French. Those are my two favourite languages that I have some knowledge of. So those are the ones I'd put on my language bucket list. I think that's about all I can manage LOL

I've always spoken English, from very young. I'd go so far as to say although it's my second language, I'm as close to a native speaker as you can get. English is the official language of Botswana, we conduct all business matters in English, we are taught English from kindergarten, we even prefer to communicate in English amongst ourselves. It's a bit sad really, but most young people speak much better English than our own language, which I think is even harder to learn. My step-dad is Danish, so English has always been "our language" as he doesn't speak the local language. What's more, I love languages; so for me learning English has never been a problem. These are the reasons for which I used to feel slightly offended when people in England would compliment my English LOL Only slightly, though.

Mine was more to do with a new friend, whose LinkedIn profile stated she spoke some French. We were hanging out with a few other people when I remembered and decided to have some practice with her. I delved right into it; when queue pregnant pause, all eyes on us, and one hell of an awkward moment ensued. My friend was scratching her head and squirming in her seat uncomfortably! She couldn't respond to a simple "Salut, et comment Ca va?"! (Sorry, I don't have French letters on my keyboard) She then giggled and said it was a little white lie! I was thinking, more like a whopper, honey! I was really embarrassed on her behalf.

Elenamarie, I wish you all the best with your plans to move to Europe! I hope you have a fantastic time while you're there. My two favourite languages are Italian and French, in that order. I learnt French first, and later on Italian. I also found similarities here and there. If I had the money, those are the ones I'd learn some more of. But Alas! that has to be shelved for now due to financial constraints

I totally agree with you, Elenamarie! I think we can all make an effort to learn from each other. I think it helps with the spirit of community, race relations and overall cohesion between people. It baffles me when I see people living alongside each other, but in total isolation, with no effort on either side to blend and learn from each side.

Yes, very interesting article, thanks for posting But I too am one of those who prefer to take their time and really learn, not just speed through an intense crash course. I'd probably not be able to keep it in my head, forgetting some of the stuff over time. Practice, Practice and more practice is what I'm all about

Interesting, if a tad weird! The thing with monkeys is that they are very intelligent and are very much like humans. I've been around them and they display many human-like behaviour, so this is not at all surprising to me. I doubt they'll ever be able to speak and articulate words like we do, that'd be a bit of a stretch LOL

Absolutely true, immersing yourself in the culture and life of the language you want to learn is the most effective and quickest way of picking up a language. You also learn the language as it's spoken not text book speak, which tends to be useless in my opinion. People look at you funny when you come out with all these big, posh words!

I'm sorry but I find it very odd when people choose to go and live in a foreign country, yet they're not prepared to integrate and learn about the laws, culture and language of their "host country", and then wonder why they can't get jobs! Nobody forced you to leave your own country, so it's a no-brainer, you need to do something to make your life easier and bridge that weird gap that's often created by this sort of thing; bridge that gap by showing an interest in a country that you've made into your home. In the UK, the government even offers non-English speaking people who reside in the UK FREE English lessons! I lived in Italy fo three months. I went there as an au pair because I've always, always had this affinity with the country. I love everything about Italy. In those three months, I was able to wobble my way through a conversation in Italian. Many of the locals could not believe that I'd not been in the country that long. Likewise, I lived in England for thirteen years and didn't see the need to isolate myself and socialise ONLY with people from my country. I interacted with people of ALL backgrounds, colour and religion. I actually saw very little of my own fellow countrymen. I was hungry to meet new people and learn about them and make new friends!

Oh yes, me too! I wouldn't mind lending my help for your project. My native language is Setswana, a little known language spoken by the people of Botswana. I'll be sure to email you if that'll suffice

My native language is setswana, a very difficult language even for native speakers. I also grew up speaking English, and most people around me and across the country prefer to communicate in English. interestingly; when I dream, I dream in English,very rarely in Setswana.

I think English still remains the most important language to have under your belt. It seems to be the unofficial universal language that's used on a global scale. After English I'd say French and Spanish are pretty useful, with Mandarin sniping at their heels mainly due to the sheer enormity of the population. More often than not, when a job requires additional language skills, it's French or Spanish.

In general, we all mispronounce a lot of French words to the point of hilarity LOL I'm going to throw in a few British examples: Welwyn Garden City- pronounced "Welin" Daubhill- pronounced "Dobil" Edinburgh- pronounced "Idinbra" Leicester- pronounced "Lesta" Salford- pronounced "solford" ...just to name a few!

I love languages and if I had the aptitude, time and money to learn many, I'd go for it even if I wasn't planning on going to those countries. I believe a person with varied linguistic skills is a very attractive business prospect and will more often than not outshine other candidates in a job interview.

I only recently found out it's unique to each country, I always saw logic in it being universal! Very interesting! I suppose it makes sense seeing as all countries're different, and have culture, lifestyles and traditions that're unique to them.