ornstein

Grammar. Absolutely. My one true bane. Whenever I speak in other languages, I try to be very cautious with the conjugations of words. But after all is said and done, I then realize the few (or more) grammatical errors I just made. It makes me think, "shoot! I shouldn't have said that! Think before you speak!" Unfortunately, I never do, haha. As Bruce Lee once said: "Don't think. Feel." Which is basically the level I want to be in all the languages I learn. 

Haha, no worries. There are many others that are like-minded. But in the end, all that matters is that you're motivated to learn a language. Which is excellent! And I hope you do go to France one day - so, good luck!

As for my reason, it's quite simple. Enriching myself; and by that I mean to become more wiser, to be more understanding of other cultures and their mindset. How and why they think in a certain way. It's truly something fascinating to me. Also, knowing many languages gives you an advantage over many people (in terms of communication). So whenever I need to say something discreetly, the extra languages truly do come in handy.  

34 minutes ago, fcuco said:

Last year Duolingo was getting rave reviews all over the place, it appears that all the fuzz went away. I, for once, would like to get to know a person that was actually able to speak the language that they were learning fluidly by using Duolingo alone, even working as a translator as that appeared to be the idea behind Duolingo's business model.

I used it for a while, but I simply grew tired of it, the thing is that I don't know how much of it was my fault for not taking it seriously and how much was Duolingo's fault for not being engaging enough. In all honesty you could have intensive language classes with a certified instructor daily and if you don't make the effort to actually learn and practice you are going to be wasting your time, so I guess you can't blame the tool. but I believe the thing is not as popular as it was before, meaning that all those claims of people being fluid after a few months were fabricated or exaggerations.

I used Duolingo before, here's how I view the app: I only see Duolingo as a "fair" way to strengthen your knowledge in grammar and learning new words. My main issue with the app is context and practical use of phrases. Most of the sentences that were presented to me I deemed them to be little to no use. And for individuals like myself that want to embrace a new culture and interact with native speakers of any language, utilizing these language apps won't do you any good. Which is what made my interest in apps similar to this one fade. However, in the end, it all depends on what you're searching for. My desires are simply not met by these applications

On 4/21/2016 at 2:46 AM, fcuco said:

Muy buen vocabulario, algunas palabras bastante complejas. Gramática buena.

Algunas notas:

"la mayoría de mi vida", el "por" sobra.

"nunca me he fijado"

"la gramática del español"  Para nombres propios: "la casa de Pedro" para sustantivos: "la casa del hombre" o "la silla de la gata"

"Quiero fortalecer mi destreza"  (I want to). También sirve: "Quisiera fortalecer" (I would like to)

Realmente me impresiona tu vocabulario.

Don't worry too much about "tildes", native speakers barely use them unless they are writing more formal letters or they are in a work or school setting.

¡Por fin! Pensé que nadie iba a corregirme. Estoy agradecido por su ayuda. Y gracias por el cumplido. ¿Cuál es tu idioma materno?

Here's one that I know:

Echo / Hecho 

Echo: Siempre echo los papeles a la papelera.

Hecho: El hecho es que hemos solucionado el problema.

Don't forget "¡buen provecho!"

¡Bienvenida, amiga! I'm very impressed with your knowledge on languages - truly. I myself am passionate about languages. However, my approach to it requires hands-on learning rather than learning by reading endless paragraphs as to how each word (or anything) functions. It gets boring, you know? Haha. I'm curious about your Spanish; do you speak Latin or Castilian Spanish?

Welcome to the forum, friend! Japanese is great. Thanks to video games, I'm capable of saying their catchy words. Here's one of my favorite quotes from Iori of 'King of Fighters': "Sono mama shine!"

Últimamente durante mi tiempo libre, me gusta pasar el dia viendo videos en como decir frases en otros idiomas. Yo vi un hombre que habla "xhosa" mostrando como pronunciar las palabras. En este idioma, utilizan la lengua para hacer diferentes sonidos de clic. Dependiendo cual clic ellos hacen, el significado de la palabra se cambia - y les voy a decir que esto no es facil de hacer, jaja (bueno, para mi, no es). ¡Es algo que me fascina!

¡Hola, que tal, amigos! Como yo fui criado americano, (por la mayoria de mi vida) nunca he fijado en como funciona la gramatica de español. Por esa razon, quiero que fortalece mi destreza en hablar y escribir bien. Estoy consciente que cometo errores gramaticales (sé que me faltan los tildes tambien), asi que si ven que hay algo mal con lo que tengo esctrito, avisame - lo agradeceré mucho. Gracias.

P.D. Y otra cosa que quiero mencionar es que puedo pronunciar las palabras en español con facilidad. Asi que mi presencia aqui no es un cuestion de "si puedo decir las palabras o no," es un cuestion de hablar correctamente.