aviendha

"Going up to the spirit in the sky" is one I have heard from a song. I have also heard the term "dancing on my grave" as related to "walking over my grave" but have never had that one fully explained to me. From what I can glean I am guessing it's some sign of disrespect?

I periodically hear the phrase "apples to oranges" to say that you cannot fairly compare two objects/people who are vastly different from each other. "When life throws you lemons, make lemonade" to imply when something in your life goes sour, make the best of the situation by turning it into a good thing.

I have heard of the single word instances of this, but my mind is pretty blown away by how many sentences there actually are! I wish I were clever enough to develop some of my own! This is a random question I am sure, but is there a technical term for when a word creates a new word when spelled backwards? For example, how "stressed" is transformed into "desserts". To contribute to the palindrome list... Rotor Civic Deleveled

I know this is a simple one, but "ya'll" for "you all" is a common one in Texas. "Bless your heart" is one I saw mentioned in a previous post, but I have always heard it used as a polite way to basically seem to be empathizing with a person you find has been acting foolishly. Single word differences like "coke" to encompass all available sodas versus "pop" from parts of the north I have been to are always interesting as well.

When I took Japanese in high school I really enjoyed catching the errors in translation on Anime. It never occurred to me to use it as a learning tool on the way up, though, it just became something that was accessible once I understood more of the language. I think I might experiment with it and see if it helps.

I love Agatha Christie's murder mysteries - the books tend to be a shorter length too so a much easier read! I also like Michael Crichton and if you are trying to dig deep into a pretty epic series, Robert Jordan has some great work.

So far I have only dipped in with Duolingo, which has been great for vocabulary, but not so much for learning grammatical rules. I want to work up to the point of being able to speak directly with people because I do agree, using it as frequently as possible is the best...but getting to that point at all has been a hang-up for me.

Do you all personally find it better to watch with or without subtitles, or a combination of watching one way first and then repeating the process?

Hi there, Does anyone know if there are any pen-pal type programs with Spanish speakers from other countries? I had a friend in France that I wrote back and forth with when I studied that and it helped immensely. Email would be fine, but I like the old-fashioned snail mail. Something about holding the letter physically and being able to review it makes my brain work a little harder and retail the information better. Thank you!

I have heard the comparison that French, Spanish and Italian are more like second cousins than close relatives...they go back to the same family tree, and will have quite a bit in common, but still have their own individual family life. I took French in college and while I fell out of practice in it, many of the grammatical rules do transfer over quite nicely. I am thankful for that as it is getting tougher to learn new languages the older I get.

I love this idea. I have been learning very basic basics for a little over a month now and I would love to know more about the ways people actually interact as well - traveling for me is not just about learning a language and using it, local customs and idioms would also me extremely valuable to know.

The hint for using "de el" only when "el" is a pronoun - thank you! I am always messing this one up. Thus far I have only used Duolingo, which involves no explanation for the grammatical rules...you just jump right in. I really appreciate this insight.

Hello! I just joined moments ago and am looking forward to find new ways to learn. I am in my early 30's, live in Texas and have finally decided that learning Spanish will significantly improve my life and function in this area and in my job force. I freelance, so taking an actual class is out of the question (a phone call tonight could have me on the road tomorrow); thus far I have been using apps and occasionally, a friend to help me here and there. I look forward to more human interaction and to building my confidence! Thank you!

I took French in college (I wish I had maintained it); my professor said he could always tell when someone used Google translate and to what degree (the full sentence vs just a snippet, etc). We lost major points if we used it. I tested this theory out once and indeed, he could tell. I never did it again!

I was not even aware it was available on a PC and will definitely have to investigate - thank you for sharing! I have not had any qualms with the app, though, and thus far it has been my primary tool for learning. I am looking to expand at this point, so I figure any avenue to practice in has to be a good thing.