pesic87

Great song and I am checking it out now. I like it so much. I have learned Spanish from the soap operas that have been shown on TV here for decades, and I learned how to read it afterwards, but I still unfortunately can't really manage to talk in Spanish. But I understood a great deal of the song.

Writing/typing is a process that requires only your own side, meaning you are not being judged by anyone else, but you. If you type in some program/software, then your typing even can get easily corrected, or else you can easily see your mistakes. However, when it comes to talking, speaking out loud, in a foreign language, there are multiple things to be considered. First and foremost is the way you actually pronounce words. Second, it is your smoothness, your ability to speak a language with a flow, without many pauses, or some sounds that do not belong in a thought you are trying to convey. Third, yes you can talk out loud to your own self, in the mirror, or just sitting in the room, and practice it, but you will also be judged, but this time by your own self, and some people are too self-judgmental, which may result in creating some fear connected to speaking, so at some point because of this fear, people tend not to use the spoken language in the manner they should, being afraid of their own shortcomings. Fourth, if you speak in public, or in a group of people, or just with one friend, again, you might be judged, this time by them.

I am not sure about catsup, I honestly heard it only in the Simpsons. In my country, they teach us to say ketchup. Nothing different is used here to refer to the same thing. I am just guessing catsup is just either some slang or a joke, maybe a way to play with the pronunciation of the word ketchup.

From Doctor Who: “Through crimson stars and silent stars and tumbling nebulas like oceans set on fire; through empires of glass and civilizations of pure thought, and a whole, terrible, wonderful universe of impossibilities. You see these eyes? They’re old eyes. And one thing I can tell you, Alex… Monsters are real.” – The Doctor

Check vs. cheque Follow the link that I put here. It is very well explained what the difference between the two words is. I have never ever used the word check, but only cheque, so far..

Very nice idea indeed. I wonder what administrators and forum admins might think of it. Probably much more job for them, plus maybe they would need more work on the website like including the translate button. But, I like that idea. Maybe then people whose native language one is trying to learn could also come up with some ideas how to acquire it faster, and they could provide feedback, etc.

I come from Serbia and my keyboard has letters/keys in Latin on it. Latin letters - Serbian and Croatian keyboard And the Cirilic one: Serbian keyboard-Cirilic letters Mine looks like the first one.

Hi there Miguel! This is a great place for any language learner. You will enjoy it here, learn a lot and feel free to share. I have acquired a lot of knowledge, shared mine, and just find this website as a source of great direction even in teaching a foreign language. There is everything for everybody. Enjoy

Of course! Without any doubt. I as a teacher of English, have been using pictures to teach English to children, also with some grown-ups. Some people are visual, just like I am, and a picture will always stay more stuck to my mind, than a word would. It is also a great idea to have associations like you mentioned in your post. For instance, what we with sports, was using pictures side by side, or matching them, having sports on one side, and tools people use for the sports, like baseball on one side, and bat on the other picture; tennis on one side and racket on the other, or court, too.

I actually believe this to be a good idea. Yes, working with teachers is way better if your aim is to be more serious about the language in question that you are trying to acquire. However, if you want to both feel comfortable, relaxed and also get to the core of a language from the point of view of an ordinary person speaking that language as his or her native, then I am sure this is a very nice idea. I would myself try out that application.

Yes, I can relate to this thread in a very common sense. As I was growing up, English was a mandatory second language from the 3rd grade. We first got introduced to English in the kindergarten, mostly through songs, and small games. Then, It became a bit serious in primary school. From the 5th grade, we had the Russian language introduced to us, and the whole idea of learning a foreign language got a very different turn. It was also a mandatory one, and one had no choice whether or not one would learn it. So far we all thought that learning a language was such great fun, but once the Russian language was introduced, the teacher approached us in a rather serious manner. Perhaps, the fact we were older contributed to that. In my high school, I was introduced to the French language, that was, too mandatory, whilst at the University, I studied Greek. All I am saying is that, I would prefer if the language was introduced at some earlier stages in a child's development, adding to that that I would also prefer for the languages introduced to be mandatory, not a choice though. The younger we are, the better we acquire any language, given that we have all the means and opportunities to learn the language in question.

Actually, thinking in a foreign language does eliminate feelings and emotions, or if not, it just puts them a bit further from the whole perception and experience. It distances oneself from perceiving life and situations in life way too emotionally, as one would do if thinking in his or her mother tongue. It is strange, but I can tell you one example. If I say 'I love you' in English, which is my second language, to my boyfriend, it would not carry the same emotional 'burden' as it would if I told the same thing to him in my mother tongue. I simply feel is deeper and it is more real and true to me. I have been using English as my second language, to process my thoughts, even having dreams in English, too, for many years now. The language just wrapped its roots around my cognition and emotions, too. It improved my cognitive skills and competences, yet, at the same time, it somehow does not have the same effect on my emotional side, especially in similar examples as the one I have mentioned in the 1st paragraph.

It is a very helpful way that can mean a great deal to a language learner. Even if you were a very proficient language learner, meaning you are familiar with all the vocabulary assets, grammar and rules, in a very proficient way, it does not mean that your spoken language would be as efficient and as fluent. Therefore, it is a must for every learning individual to have language assessment at some point. They will get the feedback from a native speaker on their fluency, their pronunciation, use of grammar, etc. so that they can improve. As simple as that. I think this idea is brilliant, and I myself have had quite a lot assessments like this throughout my language acquisition.

Of course the teacher is a very important person and plays a paramount role when one acquire a language. He or she is responsible for the process of teaching, the progress of their students, as well as the right guidance. Yes, you can pick up a language on your travels, and you can perhaps use plenty of applications to learn a language, but a human touch to all of that, especially from a good pedagogical professional is something very important. Teachers are equipped with enough knowledge, and experience, to know how to recognise the best ways a person can go through a language and learn it in the best possible manner. Plus, teachers come with different approaches, which they have acquired through their education, and just know which principles to use in a class.

I would not say it like that, but rather It is our duty to care for the one, who has suffered. or It is our duty to care for him, because he suffered. or It is our duty to care for him, for he suffered. ('for' here replacing 'because'). Your sentence is a bit archaic, I believe it can be found in some of the older scriptures, for example, the Bible, if I am not mistaken. I am not sure it is grammatically incorrect, just semantically does not seem to be in the right way.

We used to have those transcription exercised at the university. We would be hearing dialogues or just an excerpt from an article on the computer, and would try to do the transcription. Well, this was a professional transcription I am writing about. We also did the thing where we would turn the transcription into a text. But you said you were not talking about the professional transcription, but rather writing down what you hear. I have done that for English words to some people whom I tried to teach English to, but they were not familiar with the academic/dictionary transcript language. It usually turned out to be very helpful. Plus I remember when I first encountered the language, I used to write this over the words in a book, so that It would be easier for me to learn how to read it.

In my native language Serbian, you say 'I love you' as 'Volim te'. 'volim' is a verb coming from the infinitive 'voleti', meaning 'to love'; 'te' is a pronoun, meaning 'you'. In case you want to say 'I love you' to many people in the group, you should say 'Volim vas', here 'vas' being a pronoun for the the second person plural, 'you'. I hope I helped.

I love to use my hand writing when It comes to writing in my diary. I know there are many people who nowadays keep their diaries in e-forms, but I guess I am just an old-fashioned kind of a person, so I always turn to my pen and paper. When it comes to writing letters, poetry or anything that does not require long writing, I tend and like to use just my hand writing. However, when it comes to writing long essays, or research papers, doing translations, etc.typing comes in handy. It does so, because it is faster, clearer and no one has to struggle reading my hand writing.

There could be plenty of reasons behind this; perhaps she does not want you to learn Spanish so you won't be able to understand when and if talks about you with her Spanish friends, and you happen to be around; she could not be very good at teaching you the language, so she does not want to get embarrassed; perhaps she just does not want to waste her time on that, because she simply does not see it as something necessary to do at the moment; or she might not take you seriously enough that you are really willing to put your time and energy to it..It could be anything. Nevertheless. you can always try to find some other resource, other than her..

I only wish I could communicate with everyone in their native language, but if I had to choose, I would choose: 1.English: it is my second language and I love expressing myself in it 2.Serbia: well, my native language has to be included because it is just lovely, too 3.Russian - because it always reminds me of some fairy tales and sounds great to me 4.Spanish: I already understand it, just need to learn how to speak. 5.Icelandic- I love how it sounds, and I already know how to read it.

Unfortunately, I have never had a chance to live in another country for enough time to pick up a language, but I lived for 2 months in Bulgaria. We had some language lessons there and I learned a bit about understanding the language. It is after all very close to my own language, and so many words are similar to Serbian, so It was not that hard to understand, certainly with the help of some lessons and a teacher. But, I wish I lived in a country like Iceland, so that I could learn Icelandic. Once I started learning it because I was in love with a boy from there, and it seemed like a great challenge to me! I loved it. Unfortunately, the love was gone, so was the will to learn the language..

Ya! Yes of course we can be friends. I wish I knew how to say that in Kipi.

English is the official language in many countries due to the simple fact of conquering the land..These counties are plenty, such as: Singapore, Malta, Liberia, Zambia, Kenya, Ireland, Grenada, etc. Therefore, English will remain an international language for who knows how long. If Chinese can spread its influence to as many countries as English has so far, maybe then it can 'rule' the world as an international language. So far, the fact that many people are studying Chinese can't and does not mean that it will get to the point when it would be the most spoken language in the years to come...I really doubt.

Haha this is awesome. I need to tell you you are putting my mind at ease now - meaning, I would love if everyone would learn your language and then we all would be equal in some respect, talking the same language. Since it takes so little time to learn, everyone would be able to learn it. Now, we just need to create one country and we can all move there, too! Wouldn't that just be great? @Eli Stutz you are just awesome! Need to tell all my friends about this.

Yeah, good for you! I was actually wondering if you have a Facebook page, or whether you are on twitter or maybe Google +. It is a great way to expend, since this is a great forum to learn, share and get to know about languages. Good job and I will certainly go straight to Facebook and give you my like.