anna3101

Hello Blue, and welcome! I hope you enjoy your time here and meet a low of fellow linguistic lovers Ania

But I have to admit, even obsolete, it does look pretty to me. When I was at school and the technology was not so far advanced, I dreamed of learning shorthand. It sounded romantic, like a thing out of spy novels or something I think it still may be useful but only for private notes or stuff like that. For any official/work tasks surely a recorder would do a better job.

It looks like most people have these words in their speech. I don't like fillers - but, on the hand, I think they are still better than "Erm...", "Hmm.." or just a long awkward pause. And surely it is much better to overuse "like" or "lovely" than swear words. Unfortunately, I often hear people talking on the streets that use "sh..." or "f..." as a filler and it sounds so awful.

I also somehow cannot get used to audiobooks. I've tried a couple of times but it didn't work for me. It's not the same thing as reading with your eyes and actually seeing the words. Probably a good way to learn a language though, in terms of pronunciation and intonation.

Thanks a lot, foolsgold! I actually have two of their songs on my player right now - "Guten Tag" and "Aurelie" - and I really like those. Thanks for mentioning their other popular songs, I'll be sure to look for them.

It looks like if there's one thing common, it's English and the importance of knowing it. It's both good and bad I think. I know some people who are really good in what they do but don't speak English so it's more difficult for them to find a decent job. The problem is, here in Poland employers do not always need English-speaking people - but they always put "excellent English" in the job offer! And then the person finds out they are never going to use English anyway. It's something I can't understand and really dislike a lot.

I wonder if native speakers can really feel the beauty of their own language. Can they be objective when they discuss its grammar and vocabulary? Are they the best judges for what's "the best" and '"the worst" in their culture? I'm a native Russian speaker and I've met people who really enjoyed studying Russian. But I could never really understand them. I cannot look at my native language from the point of view of someone who's only just discovering it. Also, when it comes to giving advice about the cultural bits, my point of view will be heavily influenced by what I've learnt while growing up, by what's acceptable or not in Russian society, by my political views etc. Now that I live in Poland, I feel the same "cloud" covering my eyes when it comes to Polish. I remember how it looked to me when it was still "foreign" and how now I take it for granted. I'm no longer a very good judge of just how difficult or easy a certain grammar issue may be. What's your opinion about native vs non-native speakers? Who is more objective? Who's more likely to give you good insights and recommendations?

I was thinking about this not such a long time ago. I remember that several times, both in real life and on the Internet, I heard people say something like "I used to really like the books of X, but now that I've read his biography I no longer like that author". I've had the same happen to me a couple of times: really enjoyed the book but when I discovered some ugly facts about the author, I just couldn't look at the book with the same eyes. Is it important for you? Do you care what kind of person wrote the book you were reading, in any language? Have you ever felt disappointed when you learnt unsavoury details about the author's life or his/her views?

Etymology is very interesting. When there's something unusual about the word's origin, it really helps me remember the word.

It's the same in Russian and Polish. You can reply to "thank you" with "please" - proszę / пожалуйста - or you can humbly say it was nothing (nothing to thank you for) - nie ma za co / не за что.

"Tawdry" (something you might say with regards to cheap, flashy jewellery) has an interesting story to it. Apparently, it comes from "Saint Audrey", who died from throat tumor. She believed it to be a punishment for her youth when she wore frivolous lace necklaces. Later on tawdry meant just that - lace or silk necklace - and with time it acquired the present-day negative meaning. Here's an interesting article about this word: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/tawdry.html

I've always wanted to, but somehow never found the time... which probably means I lack the motivation. Nowadays it's so much easier to record someone speaking, so I'm guessing shorthand is not that popular anymore. Or am I wrong?

Thanks a lot for the corrections!!

It's a pity that a lot of paper books are so expensive. I also love reading the old-fashioned way, with paper books. But now I'm really accustomed to reading ebooks on my smartphone because you can have a whole bunch and the phone weighs next to nothing, whereas real copies are sometimes incredibly heavy. That said, I still always try to buy a paper copy of favourite books, to put them on my shelves and just be happy they are with me

They for sure do, I've seen course books in Business French, Business German and even Business Russian around here.

Yes, exactly. It's like in Canada or in Belgium. The official language of Spain is Spanish but in Catalonia region it's Spanish and Catalonian - both have the same official status.

I hope you'll join us someday. By the way, love your avatar!

Hello Charlie, Welcome to the forum, I'm sure you'll find a lot of like-minded people here who are also doing their best to study Spanish! ¡Buena suerte! Ania

Of course they do, but then in most countries you still learn your own language's grammar, orthography etc. There's a lot of useful material there that could be used by someone learning the language as their second. The only prerequisite is, of course, you should know the language fairly well before trying to immerse yourself in the school programme.

Does using mnemonics for other purposes count? Thanks a lot for a great post, somehow it never came to my mind that you could apply those tricks to languages! I rely on mnemonics a lot in my daily life, mostly to remember important phone numbers or pin card codes, and whenever paper/phone is unavailable (like in the shower or when I'm trying to sleep) and some ideas or errands come to mind that must be done the next day. For numbers I use associations (1 - someone is alone, 4 - harmony and balance, 5 - my friend's birthday month etc) and to remember what to buy or what to do the next day I use stupid images. For example, if I must remember to reply an email, buy tomatoes, take my cat to vet and read an article about farming, I imagine something absurd, like a big tomato with a cat's tail trying to send an email on a farm

Yes, I know they are Belgian but that's probably what makes it easier for me.. They had one of the girls replaced some time ago, with another one from the Netherlands. When I watched some interviews,I could more or less understand the Belgian ladies, but the Dutch one, although with a pretty Dutch accent, was always very hard to understand

Catalan is the language spoken alongside Spanish in Catalonia (a region in Spain). When I was there many years ago, I saw a lot of street signs in Catalonian and I remember that it looked pretty similar to Spanish and French. As far as I know, there's also a part of Spain where they speak Galician, and then of course the Basque (wouldn't know about it if it were not for the separatist movement).

Now I can see I'm not the only one with that problem! Here the books are also very expensive, especially if they come from abroad. The only option is to buy second-hand, that's what I normally do.

Czarina, Business English is the kind of language people use for work: emails, presentations, negotiations etc. In fact, it's, well, good old English but the focus is on words like "targets", "suppliers", "manufacture", "budgets", "retail", "HR department" etc. Normal English coursebooks cover a wider array of topics, while Business English books concentrate only on what may be useful for you while you work in the office/do business with foreign partners/go on business trips and so on.

Thanks a lot for sharing, Sefrah98! Unfortunately, I was not able to look at the site - it says "your access is limited" or something like that