anna3101

I totally agree, I just don't think children should start learning English when they are 2 or 3 years old When they are 7 or 10, that's a whole another story altogether.

For me, pure immersion would never work as well as rules + immersion. By rules I mean studying grammar and doing grammar exercises - not just mechanically learning some rules by heart (taking into consideration how many exceptions to the rules we face in most languages, this wouldn't work anyway). But both for me and for those people I tried to teach or the ones I practise with, immersion (or immersion-type books and courses) never did the trick. I'm a firm believer in studying grammar and practising a lot.

But have you thought about the children in question? What if they don't want to learn three languages? What if they are more interested in learning how to count, or how to draw, or whatever? I know people who were completely put off sports, languages or musical education exactly because their parents forced them to do it in childhood. I love learning multiple languages but I think it should come as your own choice and not something you are forced to do. After all, it does take time and effort, even for children, and there are plenty of other, much more important skills they must learn as well.

Muchas gracias para tu gentileza y las canciones! Me gustan! Es bastante dificil decir cuanto tiempo estoy estudiando espanol porque siempre hago pausas. Estudio durante algunos meses, pues no hago nada durante un ano Son muy perezosa pero he apredido de vivir con esto. Ya no me reprocho a mi mismo por no estar una persona diligente. Studio cuando puedo y quiero hacerlo. Estos dias, trato de aprender espanol cado domingo. Tengo un manual de estudio que me gusta mucho. Es destinado para jovenes, e yo soy joven de corazon

Aaa, hai ragione! Ho dimenticato che in italiano non e' "sin" ma "senza". Mi dispiace! Dimmi, gia' hai qualque progetto per vacanze di Natale? Che vuoi fare? Io passaro' Natale e Capodanno con il mio compagno e la mia micia, come al solito Voglio preparare alcuni piatti tipici russi e polacchi, vedere i filmi, giocare sul computer e aprire i regali! E tu? Ciao! Ania

I'll be happy to practise Spanish with you. You'll have a chance to laugh at my mistakes I'm not sure about my level. I can read and understand much more than I can write and talk, so probably I have a different level for each skill. As for the places I lived in - I was born in Ukraine, but my family moved to Russia when I was little. We lived in Siberia for many years and then I spent 7 years living in Moscow. I've heard Russian is difficult to learn but then again, that's what they said to me about other languages too If you ever have any questions, I'll be glad to help you out.

Yes, Belgian accent is easier to understand, isn't it? But I like Dutch also, I think it sounds cool, you just need to get used to it

@Trellum I've never taken this test and I don't plan to, but it was interesting to read about your experiences. And it sounds scary. I'm very nervous about various exams, tests, certifications and stuff like that. Probably that's one of the reasons why I try to avoid them whenever I can. Why did you take it, by the way? Is it necessary to pass it to live in the Netherlands? Or did you need it for other reasons? Next year I'll have to take an official Polish exam (I will try to get Polish citizenship and passing a language knowledge exam is one of the requirements). I already hate the very idea of that

I knew I was addicted when I realized that, comfortably sitting in a pleasantly warm water in the bathtub and washing my hair, I'm simultaneously reading labels on the liquid soap bottle, and shower gel, and anything else that is close enough to my eyes, in all the languages I can understand. Sometimes also those I can't understand. And I do it every single time. Once I see some text, even if it's "Your skin will be soft and moisturized" or some other useless rubbish, I just must read it, compare it to its French/German/Spanish counterpart and ponder about the words I don't know

It's hilarious And sadly, kinda true! Thanks so much for sharing!

@Trellum Or maybe you just need to try a language exchange buddy who is not a native speaker That actually works quite well, especially if the person in question has a higher level than you do. Of course, there are certain things you'll have to ask in the forums - things that only natives can tell you about. But when it comes to motivation and conversation practice, I love exchanges with people who are learners, like me. They have the same passion for the language, and two heads are always better than one.

@Mameha Ciao! Ho cominciato di studiare l'italiano 4 o 5 anni fa ma avevo una sospensione molto lunga. Ho ripreso di studiare quest'anno. Sono felice di farlo Purtroppo, non posso imparare sin interruzione. Sono pigra. Qualche volta voglio studiare regolarmente ma qualche volta non voglio fare niente. Per questo imparare lingue straniere e' sempre un processo molto lungo per me E tu, quante volte studi? Buonasera! Ania

This is really amazing. I officially envy you now. I can't shut up the dialogue inside my head (well, except for sleeping, and even then when I dream I sometimes think along). Yoga and meditation did not help much, or maybe I was just doing them in a wrong way. I think the rare moments when there are no verbal thoughts in my brain are only those when there are sudden and strong emotions present. Panic or surprise give me several moments of linguistic silence. Other than that, it's bla bla bla all the time and sometimes it's just exhausting

@Mameha You've just made my day! Thank you so much for such an awesome post, it must have taken a lot of time, and all of that for the benefit of us, learners... THANK YOU! It's really difficult to remember about chi and che - I keep mixing them up, and I'm really sorry about it. But it was very useful for me to get a reminder about that, and about all other important issues. You rock! Grazie mille!

Hello Ella, I'm going to try and tackle German next year too, so let's go and motivate each other Ania

No, you are not the only one Whenever I'm trying to post something in Italian or Spanish, I practically don't take my eyes off online dictionaries and conjugator sites. It surely helps!

Now that it's the time of 2015 is running out, I thought it'd be nice to look back and say thanks to people, events and ideas that have made this year a really good one. And where else to start if not here? I don't know about you but for me, this forum has been an awesome find. 1. It has helped me to be more motivated. When I see so many people who are really serious about language learning, and very enthusiastic, well, it's contagious! I want to learn too! And that's why I have finally started to learn all of my languages on a regular basis - something that I've struggled with before. 2. I've learnt new things here that were really interesting. Not only about teaching and learning methods (although there's been that too, and a lot of good links to youtube and other sites), but also about other countries and cultures. I have to admit there are countries I didn't know anything about But now I do, and it's all thanks to people from linguaholic. You have opened up my eyes to the fact that there's a whole world out there - something you tend to forget when the media always concentrates on the U.S., E.U and China. 3. Most important thing of all, I've "met" amazing people here! Seeing your posts always lifts up my mood, and that has an overall positive impact on my life I wish so much we could all meet for real one day. We could throw a big international linguaholic party or something What about you? Was there anything new or useful for you around here on linguaholic.com?

Well, I also disagree with this, actually. I'm so thankful to my parents that when I was a child, they let me be just that - a child. Let me play, discover the world, run around with my friends.. These days I see so many children that are literally barely breathing under the weight of their parents' ambitions. English! French! German! Ballet school! Karate lesson! Vocal classes! Skating! Creative courses! It doesn't matter that the poor thing has barely learnt to walk and actually wants nothing but play and just be with parents. It's dragged from one class to another. The mothers seem to be competing between each other who gets to have more activities for their son/daughter. It's so pathetic. I sometimes feel like screaming, "Lady, get a life yourself and leave that unhappy little person be!". When I was a tutor, I once had to teach a boy of about 8. He had exactly that sort of life... I remember once he told me "I just want to play lego. I really do. But I never have time, because mummy says I should learn English, and French, and drawing, and martial arts, and other things." I really don't know why parents force their children to do things they hate. And I don't mean things like eating healthy or brushing teeth, but "additional" stuff that you could do just fine without.

I was an avid Shakespeare reader when I was a teenager. All that drama! Wow! I was just hooked. I read anything I could get my hands on - "Romeo and Juliet", "Othello", "Taming of the Shrew", "King Lear", "Hamlet" and all the sonnets. Now that I'm an adult, I'm not as passionate about Shakespeare as I used to be but I have to make an exception for his sonnets. They are absolutely lovely, though reading them in the original is quite hard. Luckily for us Russian-speaking people, we have an awesome Russian traslation of the sonnets - it's a masterpiece of translation, really. I appreciate the Russian version as much as the original one, if not more (but this is something I will never confess in real life).

I remember sharing one my favourite French songs - "Ces matins" - with my colleague. She liked it and asked me to do a word-by-word translation for her. After I did it, she was so shocked. "But how can it be? That music... I was absolutely sure it's a song about happiness and life being beautiful, and not... well.. all THIS depressing stuff!" So yes, sometimes the tune and even the voice can be misleading. I guess it's what makes a kind of "special" effect - the contrast gets you confused but more attentive to the lyrics at the same time.

Totally agree with you! To say anybody can teach is like to say anyone can perform heart surgery Yes, anyone can probably take a knife and cut a whole in someone else's body but that doesn't mean they will actually cure that person instead of killing them. Teaching requires special skills and most probably vocation too. I've seen the damage bad teachers can do and honestly, it's devasting and horrible. There are so many people on this planet who could be amazing at certain subjects or skills but don't even know about it because they were put off by a cricizing, shouting and useless "teacher". And vice versa! I cannot underestimate the influence of some really great teachers I've had the pleasure of meeting in my life. I wish I could find their address and send them heartfelt thank-you letters...

I've started the practice thread Feel free to join me there so that native speakers can enjoy our mistakes

@Trellum Well, I can't believe it. Trellum is back!! Yay! We missed you here I was even thinking of sending you a private message - was getting a bit worried. I hope you are ok and your Dutch life is going according to the schedule My study book is Polish, so I'm afraid it won't be of much use to you Normally I try to avoid Polish coursebooks because of possible mistakes, but this one seems to be ok - reviewed by a native speaker and properly edited without silly typos and such. If I ever come across a decent international coursebook, I'll let you know.

Ciao Mameha! Mille grazie per le correzioni! Vedo che tu studi il coreano e il cinese. Deve essere molto difficile. Quali metodi/libri utilizzi per farlo? Ti auguro un buon fine settimana! Ania

It's a band called Edlseer and they have a very nice album "Goldene Weihnacht". But the lyrics for any of the songs from it is just not available anywhere I've started with the song that I like a lot and that seemed easier than the rest - "Ich möchte so gerne noch ans Christkind glauben". I did managed to pin down most of the words but not every single one. If I'm feeling brave, maybe I'll share it in the German subforum and someone will be able to help me with the words I'm not sure about. But only if you promise not to laugh! It's really hard for me as I'm only beginning with German, so there's probably a lot of mistakes. On the bright side though, I did learn a lot of words and after trying to decipher what they were singing about, I also know the song by heart. It's amazing just how many times you have to listen to something in order to write it down I hope to try with some other songs from the same album, as there's no place on the whole Internet where I can find the lyrics and I absolutely love those songs.