I am not sure what to learn. I started learning French a while back, it was quite hard. Haven't officially given up but I've not studied it for over a year now... I still can understand very simple texts, but can hardly speak it, and man the dictation is a pain in the a$$! I'm not sure to continue French or start a new one, like German, or Italian?
What do you think?
Any practical reason, or just to challenge yourself?
In my case, living in southern California, USA, Spanish is almost a must. No other language would be of any use....well, maybe some Asian languages, but Spanish sound easier
Sent from my coffee pot.
Well, you already have the advantage of being bilingual, so you could probably learn faster than someone like me. The little bit of Spanish I do know gets me by, but I'm just too embarrassed to speak it. I never feel like I'm saying it right.
Sent from my coffee pot.
TheSkinnyDrummer said:
Any practical reason, or just to challenge yourself?
In my case, living in southern California, USA, Spanish is almost a must. No other language would be of any use....well, maybe some Asian languages, but Spanish sound easier
Sent from my coffee pot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, we have on our Country Spanish as 1st language and English 2nd. I've heard on other countries that spanish is a must, contrary to french.and Portuguese as 3 or 4 years ago.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium
John McClane said:
Agreed, we have on our Country Spanish as 1st language and English 2nd. I've heard on other countries that spanish is a must, contrary to french.and Portuguese as 3 or 4 years ago.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is tricky for me though was being raised on the east coast. The Spanish they teach there is the Puerto Rico dialect. When I moved to California, I realized how different it is. So the 4 years I spent learning Spanish is almost of no use now. Ahh well.
Sent from my coffee pot.
m1l4droid said:
Spanish is necessary for America but I don't see myself going there. I prefer Europe.
I'm thinking of these languages:
1. French, I know a little (very little, but still), It's a nice language, but quite hard.
2. German, I don't know why but I like it. Easier than French too.
3. Italian, I like it. Easier than French.
I'm not really into Spanish...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My ancestry is German. I've been interested in learning it.
Sent from my coffee pot.
French is a matter of getting the specifics down. It's kind of odd at first in that different endings on verbs are pronounced the same way, having to add consonance only if there's a vowel following certain words, using possessive adjectives that modify the thing they are possessing, not the owner. Just starting it but I love it.
I think Spanish will be my next language because I have a number of friends from South America. Going to learn German eventually because I must visit the home of the VW Audi Group someday.
I would ask to learn spanish.. or italian.. i love both of these languages..
Don't forget to hit 'THANKS' if I helped..
Sent from my Xperia Pro using XDA
John McClane said:
Agreed, we have on our Country Spanish as 1st language and English 2nd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The US is on its way to that. Lol
As a native german, learn german but i think italia is a nicer land because of the wheather
m1l4droid said:
1. French, I know a little (very little, but still), It's a nice language, but quite hard.
2. German, I don't know why but I like it. Easier than French too.
3. Italian, I like it. Easier than French.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel like you should probably finish French, once you know one language the second one that is similiar (like French and Italian) is much easier. I know a fair bit of French and could pick up basic Italian (enough to get by) within a few days.
85gallon said:
The US is on its way to that. Lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
San Diego is leading the charge.
Sent from my coffee pot.
French...
It isn't that difficult
For a challenge though, try arabic...
Typed on a small touchscreen
Try Irish but I doubt they teach that over in the US. And no matter what they say, ITS NOT GØD DAMN GAELIC!
Its quite easy to learn apart from the verbs, they may be difficult
You are all fools. Chinese, learn Chinese. You won't regret it in 20 years when the whole west is named "The United States Of China".
Also, it's a HUGE plus to have chinese as a second or third language when you want to find a highly paid tech job in Singapore or whatever.
LordManhattan said:
You are all fools. Chinese, learn Chinese. You won't regret it in 20 years when the whole west is named "The United States Of China".
Also, it's a HUGE plus to have chinese as a second or third language when you want to find a highly paid tech job in Singapore or whatever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that's a good point
But those tech geeks won't be staying in the East for much longa!
I bet they're gonna make a device to telaport em to the WEST!
Sent from my Xperia™ PLAY using TapatalkHD
If you want some challenge, try Portuguese. Verbs in English have 3 possible ways, and most of them applies to all the pronouns. In Portuguese, you have AT LEAST 9 different verbs times and one for each pronoun ( Me, you, he/she, we, them and he/she ( plural))
Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk 2
You teach me some more arabic and I'll teach you french
Felimenta97 said:
If you want some challenge, try Portuguese. Verbs in English have 3 possible ways, and most of them applies to all the pronouns. In Portuguese, you have AT LEAST 9 different verbs times and one for each pronoun ( Me, you, he/she, we, them and he/she ( plural))
Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All I need to know is "Where are the whores?" for when I go to Brazil!!
85gallon said:
All I need to know is "Where are the whores?" for when I go to Brazil!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's all the Secret Service cares about apparently
Related
Made a site ... based off Jim Brousarrd (if you don't know who he is or what he did, check out the main site before heading to the forums).
http://www.therealpatriot.net
If you have already seen the video... would love to have you come in and join our discussion.... Direct link-->http://therealpatriot.net/cgi/forum
Thanks guys! Hope to see ya around!
Wow... honestly thought that what he did was pretty controversial. I mean.. even if you don't join the site... would love to hear what you guys think
Into politics? Are you kidding? I got kicked off the at&t forums... how's THAT for 'into politics'?
(didn't mean to hijack your thread... but could not resist the bait!)
FoneJunkie said:
Into politics? Are you kidding? I got kicked off the at&t forums... how's THAT for 'into politics'?
(didn't mean to hijack your thread... but could not resist the bait!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL.... well don't have AT&T, but have heard some of the horror stories and saw something on the news that if you "talk bad" about them, they will drop you as a customer or something? That's hilarious in my book.
momentarylapseofreason said:
LOL.... well don't have AT&T, but have heard some of the horror stories and saw something on the news that if you "talk bad" about them, they will drop you as a customer or something? That's hilarious in my book.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be Sprint>>>
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/SprintDumpingCustomers.aspx
AT&T just has over sensitive forum moderators with inadequacy issues. FoneJunkie and myself were banned because of "political correctness". Our crime was we objected to having a Spanish language forum. I have nothing against the language or culture. All cultures and people to me are interesting, fun to be around, and find something to learn from. I just want people who choose to LIVE in the USA to learn to speak the language so we can communicate. That's not to much to ask is it?
Anyway, enough of political correctness and on to politics.
ME FOR PRESIDENT!!!
GWelker62 said:
That would be Sprint>>>
I just want people who choose to LIVE in the USA to learn to speak the language so we can communicate. That's not to much to ask is it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From Wikipedia, indigenous languages
North America is notable for its linguistic diversity, especially in California where it alone has 18 genetic units consisting of 74 languages (compare to the mere 4 genetic units in all of Europe: Basque, Indo-European, Uralic, and Turkic). Another area of considerable diversity appears to have been the Southeast; however, many of these languages became extinct from European contact and as a result they are, for the most part, absent from historical record. This diversity has been and continues to be very influential in the development of linguistic thought in the U.S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From Wikipedia, USA:
English is the de facto language of American government; Spanish is the second most common. English, Spanish, French, and Hawaiian are officially recognized by various states.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the United States has no official language at the federal level
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do so, please make it "real" English, the Queen's English.
Professor Henry Higgins: There even are places where English completely disappears; in America they haven't used it for years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back on topic (therealpatriot.net):
One of the first phrases on that website, the first that jumps into my eye:
"The Land of the Free"...
There are over 16,000,000,000 people, about 250,000,000 live in the USA, so the rest of us, 15,750,000,000 are the poor souls living in the lands of the unfree? the oppressed? Don't you see that that phrase "the land of the free" is very insulting to the rest of the world, ignorant, short sighted, denying our rich histories, cultures and political systems?
Maggy said:
If you do so, please make it "real" English, the Queen's English.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROFL... I second that. An English comedian (can't remember his name) was talking about how everybody says he has an accent. He says since he speaks the Queen's English, it's everybody else has an accent. I have to agree.
Maggy said:
Back on topic (therealpatriot.net):
One of the first phrases on that website, the first that jumps into my eye:
"The Land of the Free"...
There are over 16,000,000,000 people, about 250,000,000 live in the USA, so the rest of us, 15,750,000,000 are the poor souls living in the lands of the unfree? the oppressed? Don't you see that that phrase "the land of the free" is very insulting to the rest of the world, ignorant, short sighted, denying our rich histories, cultures and political systems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your insulted because you are adding a word into that line that isn't there.
It is "The Land of the Free"....
NOT "The only Land of the Free".
And speaking of indigenous languages, neither English or Spanish is indigenous of the Americas. From Mexico (and slowly moving north) on down, Spanish is the language of their conquerors. Most of the culture is influenced by a country thousands of miles away. And of course most should know the history of the English speaking people and their relationship to Native Americans. And you French guys... all you got was some of Canada and south Louisiana.
Your insulted because you are adding a word into that line that isn't there.
It is "The Land of the Free"....
NOT "The only Land of the Free".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not, I did not, you did, you did. The phrase is unfortunately not :
"A land of some of the free"
I just ate A big apple, that's something else than THE Big Apple
(I hope, if not, then my tummy is about to explode)
And you French guys...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moi, je ne suis ni Français(e) ni guy. I'm a Dutch girl.
Maggy said:
The phrase is unfortunately not :
"A land of some of the free"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That might be a better way to put it.
Maggy said:
Moi, je ne suis ni Français(e) ni guy. I'm a Dutch girl.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dutch girl??? I've heard some stories about you Dutch girls.
And of course "you French guys" was directed at.... well... French guys.
I'm Dutch and Irish myself. But here lies the problem with your argument. The term "Land of the Free" isn't arrogant. It's the truth (though that is being taken away more and more everyday). We have more rights then *most* other countries right now. You are playing with semantics.
How many other countries have what we have? We, as America do have our problems. Education is crap, many other countries have better health care than us, and we have this terrible habit of messing with other countries when we need to focus more on our own.
Even though we do have our shortfalls, the world is looking on us for those and not for all the good we do. We pass out more money to other countries than anyone else, we DO take in an unprecedented number of new citizens, and we are trying to work on our shortcomings.
So... with all the problems we currently face, do I love my country? Yes I do. I wouldn't have joined the military in order to risk my life to defend it if I didn't. My site isn't designed to belittle other countries. My site is designed around patriotism. It is also there as a open forum to discuss people that disagree with me.
momentarylapseofreason..... I like the way you think.
I want to add something to it too. I think we (USA) have the best form of government out of any country. But it has one major flaw, if I can call it a flaw. It is the fact it requires men and women of integrity and honesty to run it. And well, we are in short supply of that.
is that why you are in prison?
Rudegar said:
is that why you are in prison?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in prison (aka marriage) because of stupidity.
a politician in germany is working on a fix
http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t77380.html
"“A marriage should terminate automatically after seven years”, she told attending journalists."
momentarylapseofreason said:
The term "Land of the Free" isn't arrogant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not "Land of the Free" but "THE Land of the Free" is the point of discussion
We have more rights then *most* other countries right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's very hard to judge. But lets look at some examples:
I do not have the right to carry a fire arm and I'm very glad with that situation. If I face a situation of inhumane physical suffering, I do have the right to die and doctors do have the right to help me with that last wish. I have the right to grow, buy, smoke cannabis. Every 4 years I have the right to vote for 2eKamer (compare to US Senate, more or less), I can choose from hundreds of candidates throughout the entire political spectrum, even a party for animals is actually represented in parliament. I FEEL much more free than if I would have to live in the US. But probably much less free than lots of people in Africa, Asia, South America, Australia who can walk their whole life without crossing roads, without even being able to imagine a traffic jam, who can build their hut wherever they please, who can eat whatever they can grab.
You are playing with semantics.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, great game
We pass out more money to other countries than anyone else,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not at all true per capita, nor in % of gross national product
quote from Wikipedia, official development assistance:
The United States is the world's largest contributor of ODA in absolute terms ($15.7 billion, 2003), but the smallest among developed countries as a percentage of its GDP (0.14% in 2003).
we DO take in an unprecedented number of new citizens,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some quotes from Wikipedia, Immigration
The EU, in 2005, had an overall net gain from international migration of +1.8 million people. This accounts for almost 85% of Europe's total population growth in 2005
After 2000, legal immigrants to the United States numbered approximately 1,000,000 per year.
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world
democracy chart
http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/DEMOCRACY_INDEX_2007_v3.pdf
giving food to the poor countries chart
http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Debt/USAid.asp?p=1
best city to live in
http://www.citymayors.com/features/quality_survey.html
most expensive city to live in
http://www.citymayors.com/features/cost_survey.html
Have to love people that quote Wikipedia like it's the damned bible. It's written by people like you and I.
Oh.. and one other thing. Why don't you find THIS on Wikipedia; You say Spanish is the second most spoken language in America. It is now!? Because all of the illegal sons of a *****es come here and expect hand outs.
Wow, you have the ability to smoke cannibas? That's your argument? ROFLMAO. Answer me this.... If your country is so much better than America, so much easier... Why aren't people from European nations moving there instead of here? Our Polish/Russian/Serbian immigration is staggering lately.
Gwelker, the reason that we are having troubles with our government is because it is black & white. When was the last time you read about what the green party, constitution, independent or libertarian party stood for (much less voted for one).
MARK MY WORDS:
"Until Americans realize that this is not a 2 party system, we are ****ed"
End of story.....
So... wanna bring this over to my forum?
Rudegar said:
best city to live in
http://www.citymayors.com/features/quality_survey.html
most expensive city to live in
http://www.citymayors.com/features/cost_survey.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love Switzerland... but if you look at cost of living in any of the cities up top, it's outrageous. I have several friends high up at Siemens that I visit in Germany all of the time. I would take that or Switzerland over the Netherlands any day. However, it is still expensive. Taxes are outrageous in comparison.
GWelker62 said:
That would be Sprint>>>
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/SprintDumpingCustomers.aspx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't have the time to look it up earlier... but http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-Censors-Customers-Negative-Opinions-88010
Sprint only drops users calling X number of times a day to customer service... AT&T is actually dropping customers that just talk bad about them
of people who dont speak english naturally, yet have the patience to learn such a difficult language. im always impressed and flattered by foreigners who speak incredible english with great grammar and sentence structure, especially when people like me who have trouble getting the rules straight when we already should know them. what makes learning english even more incredible is that there are over 1,000,000 words in the english language (most arent used anymore but they still can be). german comes in at a very distant second place with just over 300,000 words. and most english words have at least five other words that mean the exact same thing. random english words fact: there is no single word in english for "the back of the knee". anyways, its great to hear people speak english as their second language. so, kudos (slang for "congrats") to all you non english speaking people who have the incredible patience to learn something that does not come naturally to you. i do hope to learn german one day, because i have family in germany; and maybe even learn russian too. again, thanks to all aspiring linguists around the globe.
p.s. sorry if i use words that are big/fancy. i have a bad habit of doing that.
Thank you, I feel flattered as a foreigner and I think my decent english is due to watching a lot of television. Like talk shows and movies. Actually imo english is easier to learn than dutch or french etc. because most foreigners grow up with hearing english stuff around them. This almost never the case in England nor America. It's just the universal language, so there's less need to learn extra languages.
Sent from my HTC
I´ve learned as a second language due to my mother is teacher/translator English/French.
Remember when I was a kid watching the movies in English, even if I did not understood a single word.
I consider I speak quite well (much better than my writing skills)
shoemeistah said:
Thank you, I feel flattered as a foreigner and I think my decent english is due to watching a lot of television. Like talk shows and movies. Actually imo english is easier to learn than dutch or french etc. because most foreigners grow up with hearing english stuff around them. This almost never the case in England nor America. It's just the universal language, so there's less need to learn extra languages.
Sent from my HTC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, there are absolutely no errors in your English. God I wish I was that linguistically skilled. English is that common in other countries? I never would have guessed that. By the way, I absolutely love Europeans. I think they are the most pleasant people to be around (at least I think they are). I've only been to Europe once, but my dream is to visit every country in Europe. There is just something so wonderful about Europe. Anyways, you Europeans keep being awesome!!!
For example my mother moved to the US from the Czech Republic in the 80's, she grew up around many other languages and now speaks 9 (I cant name em all if i tried). And All 3 of her children (myself included) speak English to her, English for her is a second language but we speak to each other easily and she even thinks in multiple languages now. I have a lot of respect for her
It's not just in Europe and the US where English is the 'universal' language! Don't forget us down under (eg. Australia and New Zealand). I never realised how hard English would have been to learn until I did French in Year 12, especially given that English technically my equal first language. I speak Cantonese at home, for those who are interested. It's a real shame that, in Australia, another language isn't something that it required to graduate from high school (college in British and American English?) though. It's amazing how some people can speak so many languages. I wish I had that ability... And or patience.
winmofreak said:
kudos (slang for "congrats") to all you non english speaking people who have the incredible patience to learn something that does not come naturally to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. It's not so hard if you're using it for some 30+ years...
And you must remember that main language used in computers is english... so anyway I had to learn it better when I selected my profession... which originally was computer programming.
For me English in my 3. language. We have our own language in the Faroe Islands that is only spoken by some 60-70.000 people in the whole world. Our 2. language is Danish. But TV is the main reason that mostly everyone in the Faroe Islands speaks English quite good. My son is 3 years old now and has already started learning some English. All the cartoons he gets to watch are in English.
M_T_M said:
I had to learn English fast 'cause saying "Yo quiero job" only took me so far in this country
Thanks for the motivation and kind words anyway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not even going to touch that issue... BIG hot button issue... But yeah, you've got a good point, when you need to learn something in order to survive, you're going to learn it fast.
I was forced to learn Engrish, at gun point.
Hello,everyone.I am just a Chinese Junior High School student and want to practise English in the forum,of course,I am very interested in Android OS though I haven't had an Android phone yet.I hope I can make friends with the memebers.
Age:14
Birthplace:Hebei Province,China
Certainly,I am a boy!
Welcome to the forums.
are you going to get an android device soon?
Welcome to forums
Read, Search, Respect and Enjoy!
Age 200 yrs
Birthplace: México City
Sex: Yes!
betalove said:
Hello,everyone.I am just a Chinese Junior High School student and want to practise English in the forum,of course,I am very interested in Android OS though I haven't had an Android phone yet.I hope I can make friends with the memebers.
Age:14
Birthplace:Hebei Province,China
Certainly,I am a boy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
betalove said:
Hello,everyone.I am just a Chinese Junior High School student and want to practise English in the forum,of course,I am very interested in Android OS though I haven't had an Android phone yet.I hope I can make friends with the memebers.
Age:14
Birthplace:Hebei Province,China
Certainly,I am a boy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't normally say anything, but since you said you are wanting to work on your English, I'll do some peer editing
Just a couple things:
-practice
- When you do punctuations in English, you add a space after them and before the next word. It makes it easier for others to read and separate your thoughts and ideas.
I'm certainly impressed though, your English at 14 is far better than my Chinese at 21
Welcome to the forum, you will make many friends here.
Your English is excellent by the way (BTW).
Welcome to the forums. Yes your English is good for a 14 year old, don't want to say that its excellent (for motivational reasons).
And as someone above me said, please use the spacebar after commas and other punctuation.
Orb, you playa.. made my laugh yet again 'Yes!' Haha
Join Team Llama!
That is all. Good Bye.
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDApp. Pure Madness.
betalove said:
Hello,everyone.I am just a Chinese Junior High School student and want to practise English in the forum,of course,I am very interested in Android OS though I haven't had an Android phone yet.I hope I can make friends with the memebers.
Age:14
Birthplace:Hebei Province,China
Certainly,I am a boy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
welcome to the forums. You should join Team LLama . We need a Ninja to learn ninja skills to take over XDA.
hey, im a 12 year kid in the US that has nothing to do ever (because I get straight A's easy) so i go on xda and hack the crap out of my android. btw, i speak chinese too( go bilingual people) as my parents only know chinese so ummm yeah... welcome to xda!
kevina90 said:
hey, im a 12 year kid in the US that has nothing to do ever (because I get straight A's easy) so i go on xda and hack the crap out of my android. btw, i speak chinese too( go bilingual people) as my parents only know chinese so ummm yeah... welcome to xda!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What sick teacher is giving you an "A" in English?
Poor grammar,
Horrible Punctuation,
I don't even see a single capitalized word in any of your run on sentences!
FAIL FAIL FAIL!!!!
T.C.P said:
welcome to the forums. You should join Team LLama . We need a Ninja to learn ninja skills to take over XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You fail too!!!!! Ninjas are Japanese!!!!!!
DAILY DOUBLE FAIL!!!!
kevina90 said:
hey, im a 12 year kid in the US that has nothing to do ever (because I get straight A's easy) so i go on xda and hack the crap out of my android. btw, i speak chinese too( go bilingual people) as my parents only know chinese so ummm yeah... welcome to xda!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nice , now ya get banned for not bein 13
fail #3
and u even write it in ur sig
fail #4
telegraph0000 said:
What sick teacher is giving you an "A" in English?
Poor grammar,
Horrible Punctuation,
I don't even see a single capitalized word in any of your run on sentences!
FAIL FAIL FAIL!!!!
You fail too!!!!! Ninjas are Japanese!!!!!!
DAILY DOUBLE FAIL!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
damn u are right!! I meant Learn Kung Fu panda
urbanengine1 said:
Welcome to the forums.
are you going to get an android device soon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh,you know Chinese people are not as rich as American people.I think I am too poor to get an android device.Maybe you can send one to me.
Thank you,I will.
If I make a mistake,I hope most of memebers (not all) can forgive me.
I believe I can learn a lot of useful things from the forum that is full of cool hackers and developers.
betalove said:
Oh,you know Chinese people are not as rich as American people.I think I am too poor to get an android device.Maybe you can send one to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
betalove said:
Thank you,I will.
If I make a mistake,I hope most of memebers (not all) can forgive me.
I believe I can learn a lot of useful things from the forum that is full of cool hackers and developers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you type with punctuations, use a space after the punctuation. A good way to learn this is to use Microsoft Word and see everything that's underlined green and red. Usually it comes with explanation.
That said and done, your written English is alright but from my understanding of Chinese English users, your spoken English will be more useful to get a good first impression. While I do advice reading of English materials from the standard package of magazines and newspapers (Reader's Digest, for one), learning to listen and speak the language will be more difficult. One thing I can suggest is to listen to English news broadcast from either Britain or the USA. Listen to the way they speak, and try to follow their tone. Inflection (the emphasis on which syllable to stress on) is another danger for non-native speakers. On a side note, training in music helps here because you know what to hear for
As a multi-linguist, I also caution against the use of translating words directly from one language to another. You will lose the grammatical structure and the nuances of the language when you do that. While it may get you started, the way English speakers speak English and the way non-English speakers speak English is different and almost immediately noticeable.
As someone who has helped a lot of non-English users get proficient with the language, I recommend several tools:
1. Google Translate <- translate major languages as well as the pronunciation.
2. Google Chrome <- highlight word, right-click, search!
Last but not least, welcome to XDA!
Age: 25
Birthplace: Somewhere in Malaysia, Malaysia
Certainly, I am a boy! <- FTW!
And @orb3000... he's 14, so
SEX: right hand
/the internet is for pr0n
booyakasha said:
I wouldn't normally say anything, but since you said you are wanting to work on your English, I'll do some peer editing
Just a couple things:
-practice
- When you do punctuations in English, you add a space after them and before the next word. It makes it easier for others to read and separate your thoughts and ideas.
I'm certainly impressed though, your English at 14 is far better than my Chinese at 21
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your praise and suggestion. I think I am quite weak in English if I want to be a programmer. I will do my best.
sakai4eva said:
When you type with punctuations, use a space after the punctuation. A good way to learn this is to use Microsoft Word and see everything that's underlined green and red. Usually it comes with explanation.
That said and done, your written English is alright but from my understanding of Chinese English users, your spoken English will be more useful to get a good first impression. While I do advice reading of English materials from the standard package of magazines and newspapers (Reader's Digest, for one), learning to listen and speak the language will be more difficult. One thing I can suggest is to listen to English news broadcast from either Britain or the USA. Listen to the way they speak, and try to follow their tone. Inflection (the emphasis on which syllable to stress on) is another danger for non-native speakers. On a side note, training in music helps here because you know what to hear for
As a multi-linguist, I also caution against the use of translating words directly from one language to another. You will lose the grammatical structure and the nuances of the language when you do that. While it may get you started, the way English speakers speak English and the way non-English speakers speak English is different and almost immediately noticeable.
As someone who has helped a lot of non-English users get proficient with the language, I recommend several tools:
1. Google Translate <- translate major languages as well as the pronunciation.
2. Google Chrome <- highlight word, right-click, search!
Last but not least, welcome to XDA!
Age: 25
Birthplace: Somewhere in Malaysia, Malaysia
Certainly, I am a boy! <- FTW!
And @orb3000... he's 14, so
SEX: right hand
/the internet is for pr0n
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's very useful. Thank you very much!
i think i will learn more english than phone knowledge.
my mobile is meizu m9 and i cant find much of it.
reading books and novels taught me good English
The best thing I know to do is to start asking questions and never stop.
Sadly, too many of us here in the U.S. don't care and don't take pride in being able to write properly.
I know I'm new here (in fact I'm *brand new* as of today) but if you have questions, I'm certain there's others on here like me who can help.
Remember: we learn by doing.
I learned English at a strip joint.
Assuming you're in China, get a girlfriend who can't speak Chinese.
Join more activities with people from different countries.
I'm not a proponent of the "immersive" approach to language education, tbh. I don't believe it really works all that well, and I do believe it is an extremely resource-intensive, inefficient approach.
But then again, that's just me talking.
I just got rosetta stone for arabic. The pronunciation is killing me. Can't vouch for it though, just started it.
Cable television helped a lot with my english, back when I was in school (20 years ago)
boborone said:
I just got rosetta stone for arabic. The pronunciation is killing me. Can't vouch for it though, just started it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
need help?, I am a native
@clown, yup movies, movies and more movies without reading subtitles
husam666 said:
need help?, I am a native
@clown, yup movies, movies and more movies without reading subtitles
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll keep that in mind, thanks. I'm saving up for a backpacking trip to the Middle East. That is is some beautiful land and culture yall have out there. Just so much untouched land. I've backpacked around America, but never been outside the US.
EDIT There is one thing that you can help me with. Besides Al Jazerra, what other news sites would be good to watch/read to learn more. Also, do you know of a good way to learn the alphabet and writing? Thanks.
boborone said:
I'll keep that in mind, thanks. I'm saving up for a backpacking trip to the Middle East. That is is some beautiful land and culture yall have out there. Just so much untouched land. I've backpacked around America, but never been outside the US.
EDIT There is one thing that you can help me with. Besides Al Jazerra, what other news sites would be good to watch/read to learn more. Also, do you know of a good way to learn the alphabet and writing? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
here's one http://www.alarabiya.net/
with the alphabets, sry idk.
husam666 said:
here's one http://www.alarabiya.net/
with the alphabets, sry idk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man
best advice is to hang out with people who speak the language you want to learn, Then ,read out load every day that language (gets your mouth used to saying the words). That was the biggest help for me
SciFiSurfer said:
I'm not a proponent of the "immersive" approach to language education, tbh. I don't believe it really works all that well, and I do believe it is an extremely resource-intensive, inefficient approach.
But then again, that's just me talking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Immersion is pretty well proven to be the fastest way to learn a language actually. I studied Spanish for 5 years in high school and college and learned more Japanese in the first six months I lived in Japan without studying for one minute than I learned in 5 years of Spanish classes.
Btros said:
Immersion is pretty well proven to be the fastest way to learn a language actually. I studied Spanish for 5 years in high school and college and learned more Japanese in the first six months I lived in Japan without studying for one minute than I learned in 5 years of Spanish classes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's my question on that point: Do you attribute immersion itself, or that by living in Japan you had a credible "need to know" as opposed to a merely arbitrary academic requirement and/or interest when you were still in school?
SciFiSurfer said:
Here's my question on that point: Do you attribute immersion itself, or that by living in Japan you had a credible "need to know" as opposed to a merely arbitrary academic requirement and/or interest when you were still in school?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*the bold
What's the difference? Not sure what point you're trying to make. Please explain.
Btros said:
Immersion is pretty well proven to be the fastest way to learn a language actually. I studied Spanish for 5 years in high school and college and learned more Japanese in the first six months I lived in Japan without studying for one minute than I learned in 5 years of Spanish classes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't agree more, they taught us hebrew in my school and I can barely understand that language
sent from a parallel universe
SciFiSurfer said:
Here's my question on that point: Do you attribute immersion itself, or that by living in Japan you had a credible "need to know" as opposed to a merely arbitrary academic requirement and/or interest when you were still in school?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
boborone said:
*the bold
What's the difference? Not sure what point you're trying to make. Please explain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, I think that is the point of immersion - that you are forced to find ways to communicate in the native language. The best advice I ever got about learning Japanese in Japan was from a fellow American - he saw me keep looking in my English to Japanese dictionary and told me to throw that thing away and get a Japanese to English one. Instead of looking up words in English and then trying to say the Japanese word I saw there, I would listen to the Japanese speaker telling me something, look up the word IN JAPANESE and then find the meaning on my own in English.
Using the words I learned in an authentic context day after day was the only way I learned to use them naturally.
boborone said:
*the bold
What's the difference? Not sure what point you're trying to make. Please explain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, just like Btros said, he took Hebrew in school and can't function at all in it. The difference is that when you take a language in school, unless you actually have a personal passion for learning another language, or that language in particular, you don't really have a need-to-know and so you don't really learn it.
Btros said:
I agree, I think that is the point of immersion - that you are forced to find ways to communicate in the native language.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose one could stumble through this sort of process, but it just seems like a very painful one. For one, how can you look up words in a language you don't know? I mean, if I were listening to a Japanese speaker, I'd have enough of a time trying to hear the individual words, let alone ever attempting to reconstruct their spelling and, from there, look up the meaning of the word.
Without at least some formal instruction, how can someone actually know what they're listening to? It's not like any of us native speakers speak. like. this. when. talking. to. other. people. in. the. real. world. and yet, without conversations being had in that manner. we native speakers speaklikethiswhentalkingtootherpeopleintherealworld and that is basically impossible, aurally, to pick apart when you don't have vocabulary.
SciFiSurfer said:
Well, just like Btros said, he took Hebrew in school and can't function at all in it. The difference is that when you take a language in school, unless you actually have a personal passion for learning another language, or that language in particular, you don't really have a need-to-know and so you don't really learn it.
I suppose one could stumble through this sort of process, but it just seems like a very painful one. For one, how can you look up words in a language you don't know? I mean, if I were listening to a Japanese speaker, I'd have enough of a time trying to hear the individual words, let alone ever attempting to reconstruct their spelling and, from there, look up the meaning of the word.
Without at least some formal instruction, how can someone actually know what they're listening to? It's not like any of us native speakers speak. like. this. when. talking. to. other. people. in. the. real. world. and yet, without conversations being had in that manner. we native speakers speaklikethiswhentalkingtootherpeopleintherealworld and that is basically impossible, aurally, to pick apart when you don't have vocabulary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should work in politics or better yet, samsung pr
"ah yes, that's a nice question, hey look over there"
I really want to learn a new language therefore I am searching for the ideal way to do it
and what better place is there than xda to ask!
where there are so many people from all around the globe!
so do you know any good place to begin? like any specific...
software
website
app
any other
Not sure how good rosetta stone is.
If you've got time and money, you can check out EF. I'm considering this as we speak.
Do you have a tablet, an iPad perhaps? There are a few "good" (never tested them myself ) apps for learning languages for a tablet.
My best bet is Google Translate. Although, it mixes up and messes up the words at times, it can actually be pretty effective.
Dark Mage66 said:
My best bet is Google Translate. Although, it mixes up and messes up the words at times, it can actually be pretty effective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But can it also learn you the grammar of a new language? I sometimes translate something from a foreign language to Dutch (just for the fun of it) and it doesn't make much sense most of the time....
Google translate won't really teach you that good.
Sent from my T959 using XDA App
iynfynity said:
Google translate won't really teach you that good.
Sent from my T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use Anki for Japanese, or so I've been told.
Best way to learn it is to uproot yourself and live there. Do not speak your own native language, only theirs and soon you'll get the nuances.
livemocha.com
How much is rosetta
Sent from my X8 using XDA Premium App
pimsleur is a great language learning program its jsut audio cds
chat
use skype, to add the person who from the country speak the language. Then you can learn from him.