Yoshie

Interesting story indeed. Lol at th fringe bit. When you spend enough time around an unfamiliar language, it becomes easier to pick it up especially if you are genuinely interested in learning the language.

I think so far I'm being misunderstood. Put it this way, I'm not looking for a proofreader, I just need someone to answer my above question. I just thought that since this is a language forum someone with English proofreading experience might be able to give a response to that particular query.

Just a suggestion, maybe the game could have a multi-player option as well.

You all have shared some interesting tales.

Ahahaahahaha your last statement is hilarious but I definitely would share those sentiments, can't be too careful eh. Lol.

Thanks for the responses. I was not necessarily going to post the information to which I'm referring but I had some queries about it to get a better understanding of proofreading itself. For example, if the script has terms like "gonna", "ya" and "wanna", should you change them to standard English? In other words, how would you correct them?

I can see where some confusion might take place in terms of differentiating between the local language compared to the standard way of speaking. The book might teach you one thing while the people of whatever area teach you something completely different. More vocabulary in the end I guess.

Hey, I wasn't sure where to allocate this post but if it is in the wrong place, please redirect it where appropriate. Thanks in advance. Just wanted to know if anyone on here does proofreading for English?

In my opinion, I would want it to be rectified but as you asked, will the manufacturer bother to fix things like those? It would be best on their part to do so and it would help to prevent both workers and customers from mistaking the wrong wording for the correct way of writing or speaking. I also notice these occurrences from time to time and it's rather annoying when you know what it should be. I think that it might work if it's a group effort. If majority of the customers or so highlight the issue to the appropriate persons then they would be forced to address it but if it's a one-man-approach then you might be unlucky in getting it fixed. Who knows, maybe they don't even have an editor within the company so the packaging comes out sloppy and that speaks greatly to their marketing department if you ask me. Maybe you could get the job?!

Funny I haven't seen anyone mention using vocab/phrase books to assist during your experiences or is that a thing of the past now? I know technology has sped things up quite a bit but I'm just thinking that those simple books help you out a lot when it comes to basic vocabulary and the use of idioms and phrases when interacting with the native folk.

Haha at "though thankfully I didn't end up ordering anything too weird." Just before reading that part I was wondering if that had happened. I guess you were lucky lol. A tutor/translator would for sure be handy if you indeed did.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I can see why both parties in the language exchange process would react the way they do. For example, the way I see it is that the person being taught the new language might express things awkwardly which would probably cause some ridicule on the native's part while the person teaching their language to the foreigner might find it difficult to express what it is they are trying to teach the learner.

I can definitely imagine the frustration especially when it comes to business interaction and so forth. The economics focused translation book isn't a bad idea afterall but yeah, I don't know of any at the moment.

So I've actually tried the app and I like it so far. I'm comfortable with the setup more so because I am familiar with the language I chose to test it which is French. It's fun so far and it indeed challenges your memory skills. Anxious to see the highest level I'll reach. Thanks for sharing.

Just about downloaded it from Play Store. Will see how it works out.

Spit on??!! Why, that's most appalling to hear to say the least. Wow. I do know persons from where I'm from who moved there to teach English. Based on their experiences and what I understand is that yes, they (Japanese) are not necessarily as welcoming as other people from elsewhere but not to generalise at all. I met a Japanese young lady some years ago while I was attending university here in my home country. I was boarding off campus at the time and she came to live at the same residence. She came to learn English and along the way fell in love with our culture. Anyway, she was quite the opposite of the stiff perception that some of them give off. She's actually a sweetheart and we've maintained a friendship ever since, enough for me to call her my dear friend. So I guess it just depends on the types of persons you end up interacting with which is what creates your experience whether good or bad.

I understand what you mean especially when you spoke about the difference between a monolingual native speaker and otherwise. They do tend to speak faster than others which might make you less willing to take on the challenge but you push through nonetheless.

Ha! This situation always makes me cringe because for the most part, I don't like to have to correct someone's speech but at the same time, I don't want them to be mispronouncing their words (for their sake and my ears lol). Depending on the person, sometimes I let it slide but if I realise that I can correct/help them, I subtly do it by repeating the word(s) in the right way ensuring that they don't feel offended. However, with some persons, they'll get offended regardless of your gentle approach. I never want to come across as a 'know it all' so as I said, it depends on the situation.

If you have traveled or lived in a foreign country for an extended period and you were unfamiliar with their language at first, what was your initial experience like in terms of relating to the folk and working around the language barrier? Say you were there for at least a month.

Red lines or not, I continue to write the way I was taught which is the English way. I also try to be consistent with it instead of switching back and forth like some people tend to do. I just ignore the red lines unless it's a definite mistake on my part. I get your point though.

Didn't think of being multi-lingual as a tool against Dementia and such but I guess it makes sense. I do know that it helps when you in foreign countries that speak the respective languages to find your way around and conversing with the natives of those countries. You can even in turn help someone out of their situation whatever it may be, you could help to translate/interpret for them. Also, it helps you to meet new people simply through the different languages and better yet, it grants you work opportunities.

I like this idea a lot. I think it would help to speed up the learning process as well in terms of exchanging knowledge.

I definitely found flash cards to be a must when I studied the French & Spanish and studying on a whole. They help you to break down and highlight the most important pieces of information. When you do that, as you look at the card, you should be able to figure what that specific card is about and this will help you to grasp and memorise the information quicker. Even if you don't have ready-made ones you can make them by cutting pieces of paper and that will work just the same. All the best with your studies.

I haven't been there yet but I've always wanted to go since I was a child. Hopefully things would have cooled down by the time I get there. *Fingers crossed*

Thank you so much. See you around.