czarina84

I am also studying Spanish. I'm not fluent, so I could be wrong. Both the first and third one look right to me. The second one seems like it would translate to "Olivier nor Antonio isn't Latino" which would kind of be saying that they are both Latino. I ran it through a translator and got "Ni Olivier ni Antonio es latino".

Yes, I have. Some of them are swear words, so I won't type them here. Mostly they are just for the sake of humor. I have the sense of humor where I like to catch people off-guard by saying something unexpected. Some words I made up to avoid other words. I don't know any polite way to say "diarrhea". So, in order to avoid using that word and making people uncomfortable, I say "fiberlicious". It makes people laugh and takes a bit of the discomfort away from the problem. My friends use it now.

What do you mean "spoken alongside"? Is it a different language, but some people also speak it? Like in Canada, where people speak both French and English?

There are actually a few different ones here in America. The ones that come to mind for informal are: Hi, Hey, What's up?, How you doing?, What's happening?, How have you been? (this could be used either formally or informally, but you have to have met the person at least before). There are probably more, but that's all I can think of for the moment. As for formal: Hello, Greetings, Welcome (if you are hosting a party or meeting), Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening, Pleased to meet you. Again I can't remember any more off-hand but there may be more. One thing I want to add is to watch saying "sir" around military men and "ma'am" around women under 50. Personally, I don't care if someone calls me ma'am: I take it as a sign of respect. Some women assume that you think they are old. I don't know why. With servicemen, any enlisted man hates being called "sir" and will almost always reply, "I work for a living". Some will say it as a joke; others will not.

I've only seen interpretation done on TV and in movies. I know that a lot of times things are exaggerated. Do you really have to translate and talk while the other person is talking or do you wait until they have said what they want translated and then talk to the other person?

It's not just in different languages that sign language varies. I am trying to learn ASL (American Sign Language). That varies from region to region. So even within the same country, there are different versions. It probably happened in the same way that we all started to speak different languages or different versions of the same language (ex. Southern American English).

Ok. Thank you. I wonder if they do that for other languages or if it's only English.

I am studying Spanish. I keep hearing about Catalan. What is Catalan? Is it a subdivision of Spanish? Are there others like this?

These quotes are so great. I've a had few favorite quotes but the top of the list is this one. "Be the change you want to see in the world". I love that quote. So many times people are more "Do as I say and not as I do."

What exactly is "Business English"? Is this just another way of saying "formal English"?

That is very cool. I'm going to check it out. I hope they are able to expand their database to include more words. I like that they show the different uses of the words.

Where I live, we only have about three or four different languages in the language section. I also live in an area with only one bookstore. The others all closed because of the Internet and e-books. I think the languages are Spanish, French, German, and I think that's it. Every once in a while they may throw something else in that section, but it's mainly those few.

Yes, that is certainly something to watch out for. I wouldn't want to accidentally ask, "Would you have sex with that pen for me?" Honestly, thank you for the tip. That is very helpful.

I'm not really sure. On one hand, slang keeps changing. Some parts of informal English remain the same. It would be a boon to learn it if you are going to live in America, because most Americans use informal English when speaking with each other. It's not just English; it is part of other languages, too. I can't tell you how many times I was listening to Spanish language music and couldn't find the translation anywhere because most schools and dictionaries teach formal Spanish. However, the drawback to learning informal English is the risk of using it wrong. For instance there is a certain word here used by a group of people with a particular skin color. When used by people in that group, it is a friendly term. When used by someone outside of that group, it is a racial slur. I will not say the word on here because it is a term I don't use. I will just say that it begins with an "n" and is frequently used in rap songs.

I was thinking the same thing. After all, a song is just poetry put to music.

Thank you for this. I have to admit, my French is very rusty. I didn't have the Internet until I was in my 20s, and I was terrified of talking to people that I didn't know. Plus, I live in a mostly English-speaking area. I had no practice after high school.

You said they were 7-10 year olds, right? What do preteens listen to in Russia? What is acceptable for your school? Maybe I can figure out the English equivalent.

The reasons for me wanting to learn a new language are actually quite simple. I like foreign languages and with the increase of Spanish-speaking immigrants, it's just practical. I love all foreign languages. The increase of immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries is what helped me decide to learn Spanish first.

As an American, I can honestly say that over here, it doesn't really matter which one you use, American English or British English, you can pretty much be understood. I'm sorry your teacher is giving you such a hard time about it. I have had the same problem in Spanish. The fact that the language has a similar base but different uses for the words depending on the region gets very confusing.

When I was in school, my teacher used songs and games, even for grammar. Perhaps you can do the same. Granted, we were older (it was the 8th grade), but it worked. You can have them work in groups or make a contest out of it. Just anything you can think of that would make it more fun.

Ah. Thank you very much. I'm glad that I translated "I'm still learning Spanish" properly on my own. I tried it myself before asking. I just wanted confirmation or correction. You were very helpful. I had no idea you could apologize in so many different ways.

I'm only fluent in English, so I can't really contribute...yet. I'll be back to it. I just wanted to thank you for this. It will be very helpful to people like me who are learning.

So, basically, "lo siento" means "I'm sorry", as in a terrible grievance has occurred, and "perdon" is the equivalent of "excuse me"? How would you say, "I'm sorry for your loss"?

I live in a rural community. So not many people that live here are anything other than white Americans who speak only English. Sadly, it's one of those "they're taking our jobs" areas. I have never worked with anyone who spoke another language, although my ex-boyfriend was Ecuadorian and my former best friend was 1/4 Puerto Rican and 1/4 Cuban. So my personal life was enhanced but not my work life. I didn't work in construction or factories, which is where most of the people worked who were not Caucasian. My mother worked in a factory. She told me about the new employees who worked there. They didn't speak any English, so she asked me to help her learn Spanish. She wanted to learn Spanish so she could help them learn English. I taught her what I knew (which wasn't much because this was over a decade ago) and bought her a Spanish-English dictionary. I'm not sure if she ever learned it fluently. She died a few years after I bought it for her.

I don't have a preference. I grew up speaking American English. I have learned some British English from my former boss, who was from England. We used to talk and joke about the differences. I think the one thing I could never get past was the word "zed" for "z". I didn't get the chance to ask him about it. I have no idea why they use "zed" instead of "z".