Tyrell

I think it's because a lot of people try to learn their desired languages through reading a book and/or watching movies with the subtitles on.. which means they're naturally more used and feel more comfortable with text than verbal communication. I believe that this is pretty much the same with people who learn their desired language through verbal communication (i.e: Speaking through Skype), just in reverse. They find it easier to speak than write the language, because they're more used to speaking it than writing it.

I think my favorite would be The Avengers series, as well as it's character's individual movies (i.e: Captain America in Captain America: The Winter Soldier). I also liked The Social Network. Mostly because Andrew Garfield, but the movie itself is fairly captivating. You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies, talk about words to live by. But I'm generally more of a comedy kind of guy, even though I also really like zombie movies.

I've never really met anyone who made fun of me for my knowledge of their language. I'll say it though - it is sometimes funny when foreigners try to speak in my language. But most of the times we do that we're not mocking you, we just thought that it was a bit funny and at the same time we were also impressed by you for your attempts to speak my language. We actually admire foreigners who try to learn our language - we're one of those countries that hold our culture pretty high so when a foreigner tries to learn our language we take it as a major compliment. But that's just me - there are probably super rude people who actually mock you, but I haven't met any of those people yet.

Even though I can understand what's said pretty well without subtitles, I do prefer having it on. The reason for this is that because sometimes I get too distracted with what's happening that I stopped paying attention to what the characters said - and when you're watching series with strong storylines like Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, etc it's very crucial because you don't want to miss anything out. Occasionally, it also helps you expand your vocabulary which is never a bad thing. The drawback? You might feel insecure when you watch movies without subtitles - because you're relying on them so much you have this belief that without them you wouldn't understand what's happening at all, and also the growth of your communication skills might be a little stunted, because you're so used to reading and there won't be any floating subtitles anywhere. So, in my opinion it really comes down to what your priority is. - If you want to expand your vocabulary, improve your spelling, etc (anything written) go with having the subtitles on. - If you want to be better at communicating with other people in real life, stick with having the subtitles off. - Or you can just switch between them from time to time until you're adept at both. If you're a huge TV/movie nerd like me, it probably won't take very long.

I tried learning Korean about roughly a year ago, and I'd say it's pretty hard - but that's probably because I don't have the passion for it. If you do have the passion to learn the language though, you'll most likely have an easier time with it. As suggested above, watching Korean shows and movies is a good start - especially since there's an abundance of them online.

I am dealing with this right now. The thought of being unable to speak in your native language is rather terrifying - it's the language I grew up on and I thought I would always be perfect at it, but that's not the case. Whenever I meet other people from my country and they talk to me, I would ask them if they could talk in English instead. This usually results in my being outcasted from groups, as the reason why they reach out to other people from their country (especially in foreign countries) is so they could communicate with ease. In my case, it's even worse because I am in no way adept in English - sure, I get the basics and all, but I still struggle sometimes, especially with the grammar. This, however, means that there is no language I'm completely fluent on, and that is another terrifying thought. My only suggestion would be to try to communicate in your native language at least an hour a day. Find local forums, and post there. It doesn't seem like much, but it helps you maintain your fluency in the language - or get better at it, if yours have deteriorated really badly.

I have several: “If you would take a man’s life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.” - Bran Stark, A Game of Thrones (1996) “History is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging.” - The Kraken’s Daughter, A Feast for Crows (2005) “You could make a poultice out of mud to cool a fever. You could plant seeds in mud and grow a crop to feed your children. Mud would nourish you, where fire would only consume you, but fools and children and young girls would choose fire every time.” - The Discarded Knight, A Dance with Dragons (2011) “Men live their lives trapped in an eternal present, between the mists of memory and the sea of shadow that is all we know of the days to come.” - Bran Stark, A Dance with Dragons (2011) I find all of the quotes I listed above incredibly powerful, especially the last one. You've probably already noticed that all of these quotes come from the A Song of Ice and Fire series, written by the one and only George R. R. Martin. I might be a little biased, but the series is filled with gold. If you haven't read it, you should. It's worth reading even if you've watched the TV series.

Daenerys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones. They were amazing on the TV Series, but even better on the books. Daenerys is just awesome, while Cersei leans more towards the more intriguing side. She is also very blunt (she was rather filtered n the TV series for God knows what reason), which I absolutely love. Another favorite would be Amy Dunne from Gone Girl, but unfortunately I can't say much without spoiling the book for everyone. But she's a genius - that's all I'm gonna say.

I believe age does play a factor when you try to learn new languages. While it is definitely possible to learn a new language when you're older, it's just much, much harder compared to learning them at an early age. I believe children and teens (depending on the age) generally have it much easier, which is why parents tend to make them to learn a second language at a very early age, or learn two languages at once.

Definitely British English. It's nothing against American English - in fact, throughout middle school and junior high school I was actually taught American English - it's just that I like British English more. Not only it sounds classier, for some reason I feel like it has the substance American English seems to be missing. I'll admit I can understand American English better, but I still prefer British English.

All day, every day. Like you, I prefer speaking and talking in English rather than in my native language - it just feels 'right' for some reason. I post in English forums, listen to English music, watch English TV series & movies, play English games (both online and offline), etc. In fact, I dislike their non-English counterparts. I guess after doing them in English for so long suddenly doing them in another language feels really weird.

After I perfect my English, I'm probably going to learn German. It's going to be incredibly hard though, so I don't know. An alternative would be Korean or Japanese, but I can't see myself using them much, so that's unfortunate. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see learning which language would benefit me the most. Definitely not Chinese though. I won't be learning it, regardless of if it benefits me or not. I just don't have the passion for it for some reason. I tried years ago and failed.

I get that. I'm like that pretty much all the time. When I try to talk to other people in English it's almost as if like I'm someone who's new to English. It's actually quite embarrassing, especially if me and the person have spoken before via the Internet (text). Because I rarely have much problem typing in English (aside from the occasional grammar dilemmas), but then I opened my mouth and I just sound like it was my first time learning English.

Definitely online. When I'm trying to learn something, I like to learn at my own pace. And offline learning generally forces you to be adept at something after a certain point (unless you hire a private tutor that focuses on you and only you), which I find really annoying. And that is why I prefer online learning. Online learning does come with it's problems though - it relies very heavily on one's motivation (and on some days, mine isn't really that high). Meaning you won't always learn, because you only learn when you want to.

My target language is English. My biggest weaknesses are grammar and trying to express myself. I'm better at the latter, but it's still giving me trouble. But yes, I struggle with my grammar sometimes (not knowing what to use - had, have, has, etc) and for some reason sometimes I just find it hard to express myself. I just couldn't find the right words for it, and it's really putting me at a disadvantage. I'm also pretty bad at speaking English (in real life). The reason is because I still talk to others in my native language (it's extremely rare to find a native English speaker here) so I'm not used to it. When I try, I always end up jumbling my words, or pronouncing them weird.