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Linguaholic

wolfette

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wolfette last won the day on July 28 2016

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  • Native tongue
    English
  • Fluent in
    Spanish

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  1. Spanish is useful to me in every day life because I have a friend whos first language is Spanish. Sometimes he might not understand the English for something so I help him in Spanish to understand. I also find it useful when listening to songs that have Spanish lyrics because I'm able to understand the majority of these songs. I find this helpful as it adds to my enjoyment of the song.
  2. I find songs are a great way to learn new songs in a language that you already know some of. I find that I can usually work out what some of the words are at least if I already know what some other words are. I've also translated the lyrics of songs in other languages to learn some new words and phrases as well. I find this is particularly effective if I like the song because I'll therefore remember the words and the meaning of them.
  3. I tried to take it seriously but it was difficult because I didn't get on with my teacher's style of teaching in French in particular. I did take learning Spanish much more seriously though because I have a Spanish friend and helped him to learn English through what I knew about Spanish, so I had more of a motivation for learning Spanish than I did for learning French at the time. I think if given the chance to go back to school to do languages though I would do so. I think now I'm older I'd appreciate the opportunity more than I did then.
  4. I don't know that this is really a tool, but I'll often look at the ingredients list on products in different languages so that I'm able to pick up a few words that way. Sometimes tourist information centers also have information in multiple different languages. I'll also read books in the language I'm learning too. Alongside the English version if possible. That way I'm able to get a feel for what it should say and then I can read it in English and make sure I understood it correctly. If you're willing to use the computer to look up movies or TV shows in your chosen language you could sit and watch that on somewhere like Youtube too.
  5. I tend to do this in my head. I'll think in a different language and make myself think that way. I'll try to think about what I'm going to do that day and plan it out in my chosen language, or plan what I'm going to cook. If I go to the grocery store I've been known to have a list in a different language too. And I can draw little pictures as guidance if I feel like I'm going to need it. That way I'm encouraging myself to talk in that language even without there being someone else there to practice the conversational elements with.
  6. I was like this with French. I just couldn't concentrate on learning it from the teacher I had originally so I decided to quit and focus on something else instead. Now I feel like if I was to go back to French though I might be better able to understand it and what's being said. I think I'd probably pick it up faster now too. And one day I may go back to it. But as I'm unlikely to go to France any time soon I'd rather focus on the languages that I'm more likely to use more often.
  7. I would if it was a country I wanted to live in and felt I could be at home in. For example, I wouldn't learn a language like Greek just for a job, because Greece isn't somewhere I'd particularly like to go. But Italian or French I would be willing to consider learning for a job. First and foremost though I'd learn because I want to learn the language and would actually get to use the language regardless of whether I went there or not.
  8. I really struggled with learning French but I put that down more to my teacher than anything else because she was so set in me learning the language HER way that I wasn't able to learn the way I needed to learn to understand. I ended up struggling even with basic conversation when I was learning it from her. Since though when I've looked into learning more of the language it's been a lot easier for me to pick up and understand. So while I did struggle a lot with French, it did get a lot easier being able to learn it how I learn better instead.
  9. That's a great way of learning more words. I think reading recipes in their native language or at least finding recipes that are authentic can definitely be useful when it comes to learning languages as well as about the culture of a place. I'm thinking about getting a few recipe books in different languages myself, actually. I'll definitely have to try it out and see how much I can understand.
  10. I like the idea of using names that aren't English, personally. I actually have a dog called Carlos, for example. I'm not Spanish, but speak it, and he knows commands in English and Spanish too. I also call him Charlie sometimes, so I suppose he sort of has two names. An English and a Spanish one. As for names for people, I love the name Francesca, and I'd definitely use that for a girl, even though it's not an English name. I don't think anyone would have any real issues pronouncing it. I probably wouldn't go for a really rare name in another language though unless the meaning was exactly right and I thought it would be very easy to pronounce.
  11. 1. English. (I live in England, so this one would be necessary to live here, I think.) 2. Spanish. (My friend is Spanish so it makes communicating with him much easier. I also love Spain and hope to go soon!) 3. Italian. (I just love the language!) 4. Korean. (Again, I love the language!) 5. Polish. (I have several Polish friends and feel it could be useful to speak Polish, although they're all completely fluent in English so I've never picked up many Polish words from them)
  12. I would say it's possible to learn the basics at least of a language in just 90 days. If you're speaking it all the time, listening to it all the time, writing it and reading it throughout those 90 days then you're much more likely to pick up more than you would if you just looked at it briefly a few times a day or a few times a week. The more practice you get with the language the more likely you are to learn more of it in a shorter period of time. I highly doubt you'd be completely fluent in that time, though.
  13. Accents in languages have always made learning them difficult for me. Even within my own country accents can be very diverse and I find this also has an impact on how much I understand, even in my own language. I have friends with many different accents and this has helped somewhat. I'm getting better at understanding different accents now than I ever used to be. But certain accents I find really hard to understand still especially when people are speaking fast and it makes picking out the words, especially in a language I'm not very familiar with, much harder.
  14. I taught a guy English when he didn't speak any English, and I spoke only very basic Spanish (his native language). We were able to communicate through drawings. He'd write and say his word for an item and I'd write and say my word for an item and we were able to communicate that way and his English and my Spanish gradually got better to the point where we can both communicate with each other, and others, in both languages now. It may not work for everyone and was quite time consuming. Some words such as tenses was difficult to get across but that only came when we both knew more of both languages anyway. Items like calendars and clocks can be great for learning numbers and time too. You'll probably need a few basic words or phrases in their language to make it work well though. For example, needing to know the word for both languages, in both languages. And, depending on the language, you may need to know certain symbols or the alphabet and numbers in their language too.
  15. Do you find it easier to learn a language from someone that has an accent that matches the language you're trying to learn? For example, if you're learning English do you prefer the person you're learning from to have an English accent? Or would it not make much difference to you? I didn't think it would matter, and when I first began to learn Spanish I was learning from an English person. My accent in Spanish was then difficult to understand to native Spanish speakers. However, when I learned more Spanish from my friend that is Spanish I found my accent became better in Spanish too and therefore it was easier for me to be understood. I also found it easier to understand when Spanish people are talking to me (rather than English people speaking Spanish).
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