czarina84

Thanks. Self-publishing takes money, though. That's mostly what's holding me back. I'm still in the process of writing the novel. Then I have to find the money to get it out there.

I completely agree. I should have been more clear. I'm sorry. I think that any learning materials should be co-authored. There should be two people working on the book to correct each others' mistakes. If it's a Spanish-English dictionary, it should be a native Spanish speaker and a native English speaker. If it is German-Mandarin learning materials, one author should be German, the other a Mandarin speaker.

But isn't that what the question is about? Wasn't the statement, "I see that you are reading", making it an action that is happening at the moment of the statement? I am also confused.

I was always amused by the concept of swear words. Who decided what words were considered "impolite". I understand when you are telling someone to "blank" off or calling someone a name, but I'm referring to other words, such as the one that started this post. It is a synonym for excretion. I don't understand how that is swearing. Or when complaining, people call it "b**ching. This is also an old slang word for something being cool. How is that swearing?

I think it would take longer but may be worth it. It gives you time to absorb what you are learning before moving on. It also allows the teacher to correct with feeling rushed, therefore reducing mistakes.

Yes. One of the biggest examples I can think of is anime. My fiancé is an avid watcher. I have seen a few that I enjoy. The problem is that the translations seem odd because the phrases they use don't make as much sense to me as English...although I'm sure the opposite is true for a native Japanese speaker. I think it takes you out of the show (or book) a bit when you have to wrap your brain around the phrasing.

It depends on who writes the books. I'm not pointing fingers or being mean, but I have seen some polyglots on here who still make mistakes with the English language. Some people can know a language extremely well, but there are some things in a language that trip people up, such as idioms. Also, some people are self-taught and the books they learned from may have contained the errors that they are now teaching to others. I know some native English speakers that still make HUGE mistakes in grammar and spelling.

I'm working on a novel. I have never been published (mostly because I'm a chicken), but I have been told by many people I am very talented. My method is to write what's in my head, as it appears in my head. I don't want to disturb the flow of the novel. Then I check to make sure it makes sense grammatically. The most important thing is the flow. Always get your ideas written down as soon as possible. The grammar can be fixed later; it's not going anywhere. You have to catch the idea before it floats away.

I like the fact that he created new words. Most of the "new words" that were added to the dictionary in the past few years are just abbreviations or words that were mashed together. This actually looks like it took some thought.

Even if it does defeat the purpose of the thread, it's still good to know. You never know when you are going to run into certain phrases.

I agree completely. It's not over every little thing; just anything that they find a loophole to justify it. I also hate the fact that lawyers are allowed to bring up things from someone's past that have nothing to do with the case and say it counts toward "credibility". Luckily, I have never been in a courtroom other than my friends getting married, but my heart goes out to people who have been wronged but lost their case because of something small in their past that came back to haunt them. Our legal system is so corrupt. There is no fairness in our courts anymore. I wanted to be a lawyer when I was seven. Then I took some classes in high school and found out that those who are supposed to defend our rights are bigger criminals than the ones they defend. It was a terrible letdown. Legally, a lawyer can't even ask if his/her client is actually guilty.

Sure. For Selena: Como La Flor, Techno Cumbia, Si Una Vez, El Chico Del Apartamento 512, Baila Esta Cumbia, No Quiero Saber, and Donde Quiera Que Estes. For the Kumbia Kings: La Cucaracha, Mi Gente (which they did with Ozomatli, who I also love), Shhh!, Boom, Boom (Boom, Boom is the title, just so you don't think I wrote Boom twice), Azucar, and, my personal favorite, Reggae Kumbia. Daddy Yankee's biggest hit was "Gasolina". You may have already heard that one. Oh, my goodness, I can't believe I forgot the Orishas and Control Machete. They may be harder to find. I used to own the Orishas "O lo Cubano" album. As for Control Machete, I have only heard "Si, Senor", but I loved it.

I really like Selena. I have also gotten into Kumbia Kings. I like listening to Jon Secada and Frankie J in Spanish, as well. I also like a lot of Reggaeton, like Daddy Yankee. I like Los Lobos, as well. I really like a lot of Spanish language music.

"Tuna" in English is a fish that you eat. "Tuna" in Spanish is some kind of fruit, I think. I want to say prickly pear.

I'm not sure if this is helpful or not. When I was in high school, my teachers would single out the students who were having a hard time with a certain part of the curriculum and also single out the ones who did very well. They would pair them up. I, myself, was a tutor. What I did was contrast. I would show how the language was set up in our native language and show the difference in the target language. It was hardest with the Spanish students because of how different the syntax was. I think it's worse for English because of how many different ways there are to write one sentence. Maybe you can do that. Write a sentence in your native language and then write all the different examples of how it can be written in English. Do that with at least five sentences. Then you explain the differences in the examples, like formal and informal. Also write different mistakes that have been made and explain the mistakes. Sometimes learning why something is wrong is more helpful than learning the right way to do it.

In the US, when someone has an add-on to a warning label, it's because something happened. The company doesn't want to be held responsible for careless people not using common sense. For example, most places where you get coffee with be labeled-"WARNING-HOT COFFEE". Most people who see this are thinking, "of course it is hot. I didn't order iced coffee." This is because of a lawsuit filed years ago when someone spilled coffee on themselves and they were burned. The person claimed they didn't realize the coffee was hot. They won the lawsuit. As for the apples, it worries me a little that they didn't put the sulfur dioxide, too. What else aren't they putting on there? Maybe the laws are different in each country.

But I wonder if they are also in countries that aren't English-speaking. I know that English is spoken in many countries outside of the US. However, do any non-English speaking countries also hold spelling bees or any other language contests?

I just wanted to say that I love this thread. It is so interesting to hear opinions from native Spanish speakers about the differences in the Spanish languages depending on the region.

I hope this helps. http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/

I have tried something similar to this. I failed. I usually can't catch words in a foreign language unless I actually know them already. It usually sounds like a jumbled mess of noise. I have accidentally picked out words that I already know and tried using them to figure out the rest of a sentence. For instance, when I'm listening to Spanish music, I do it once without looking at the lyrics to see if I can find words that I already know mixed with ones I haven't learned or heard before. I jot them down and write what I hear for the other words, using what I know of the alphabet and pronunciations. I try to make sentences and then look up the words that I don't know. I also look up the words that I do know in case there's another way to use them.

Thank you for chiming in on this. I knew the second one wasn't correct. I was shaky on the first one, so thank you very much for letting me know it was wrong. I have a question, though. Is the first one just wrong in Mexico but some other countries may use it or is it wrong in any region that speaks Spanish?

I agree. For example, here in my part of America, we have had an influx in Spanish-speaking immigrants. I cannot speak any language other than English fluently. I grew up in poverty, so I didn't have the resources at home to learn (we couldn't afford electricity, so no Internet). I had to rely on school. I had one introductory class for one semester (half a school year), which was divided into French and Spanish. On half of the semester was Spanish and the other half French. All we really did there was pick a "foreign" name and learn the words for colors and some foods. Then in high school we were only allowed to have two years of language. Then we were forced to pick other electives.

Thank you. That is very helpful. I got confused. I just thought they spoke Spanish in Spain. I had no idea about Catalan before.

Mine is kind of muddled. I spent the first two years of my life in NC, USA. I had a lot of exposure to Southern accents when I was learning to talk. I guess that carried over. Some words I use have a Southern accent. I used to have a very heavy accent when I was young. I got made fun of so I kind of phased it out for the most part. When I get angry or tired, my accent comes out full force. This also happens when I'm around someone else with a Southern accent, regardless of what part of the South it is. It could be someone from Texas. My accent then comes out.

I think it's an interesting idea. As for learning to speak the native language before going to school, do that, also. Here's what I think you should do, learn the alphabet, then vocabulary. Learn what a toddler would learn before moving on. For example, my daughter will be three in January. She knows her alphabet, numbers up to 50 and can make small sentences. Try that first. Do your alphabet, numbers up to whatever you want to try to learn, then vocabulary, then sentences. Once you get that down, try reading things. Small books, warning labels, anything that will strengthen your knowledge. I hope you post the results of your endeavor. Good Luck.