xHysteria

I totally agree with you, having a teacher is essential to learning a new language. That way when you make a mistake they are there to give you an indication, and prepare a way to help you remember and not to repeat the mistake.

I would say the recommend number of languages to know is maybe 4. English, French, Chinese, and Spanish. Those 4 languages are the main ones that I think should be learned.

Pointing is something that could be used, but like said above, some countries might take it as an insult like in Vietnam. I think it is a good way of indicating something.

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 only dream in a different language once in a blue moon. These dreams are usually dull, and it's just normal conversations. Nothing too fancy, from what I remember.

Basically what I do when I'm trying to remember the way a word sounds is to write it out. Not write the word, but writing how it should sound onto paper (with the translation of course). That way you know what to say, and you'll remember what is it because the translation should be right next to it.

English is definately the most complicated language to learn because it uses terms from other languages. Such as, weltanschaung (is now an English word, taken from German) that means Worldview. There are many other words that do that same. Plus the way that the language is structured is very different to other languages.

I'm planning to learn the French language. I was thinking that it would be a pretty good language to learn because well there are a lot of French tourist around certain areas, and I'd like to be able to guide them even though I'll just be a passer by. And who knows, I might even pick up a girl in my newly learned language.

I remember using Google Translate for swapping Vietnamese over to English, and I'd say it's about 90% effecientcy. Mainly because it translates word by word and then it begins to work out the structures of the sentence, but sometimes it's wrong even. I really like the features where it speaks the word for us, so we can learn the word, but sometimes it's not that clear so I can't really learn anything.

I have been using Duolingo to help me learn French, and their methods of learning and memorizing is fantastic! I really like how they have the coaching feature with the XP and how there is a daily reminder. I don't like the hearts feature though.