Teen Forums - Teen Chat, Teen Help, Teen Advice & Support

Chewbie · 31-01-12, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syrian

That's how you learn, mate.

See, now you will never forget the verb " fall " again.

By the way, I'd like to give you a piece of advice. Personally, when I'm reading around the forums and being active around, I always concentrate on the language of the native speakers posts, and I notice their manners of saying things. Sometimes, they teach me fantastic terms or manners of saying particular things or thoughts that I normally suffer to phrase them out. Seriously, at times, I think one might need years of living abroad to get those. So, how about getting them in your home behind your monitor, only with a little more effort and concentration at reading?

Yes. I usually learn by watching YouTube videos in English, and by reading. It's OK. I think I already know English grammar pretty well, but I lack vocabulary.

Uroborus · 31-01-12, 06:34 PM

I feel the same way with Spanish. I grew up speaking it, but I live in the USA so I obviously speak English a lot more. Usually forming a sentence in Spanish takes a little while.

But whenever I go to a Spanish-speaking country, I involuntarily get thoughts in Spanish and it can make me make mistakes in English and even say stuff in my semi-Colombian accent. I'll end up saying stuff in English the way it would be said in Spanish.

Language can be a tough thing, but ultimately it's all about recognizing symbols. Words are symbols made of sound that convey concepts. Learning a language is about learning how to recognize the symbols, the concepts, and using them in one's thoughts, memories, and communication.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chewbie

Yes. I usually learn by watching YouTube videos in English, and by reading. It's OK. I think I already know English grammar pretty well, but I lack vocabulary.

Picking up vocabulary in English isn't too hard from a Spanish-speaking perspective. A lot of the more obscure/sophisticated words used in English come from Latin, and thus can be very similar to the Spanish word/root. Like the word "odious." It means hateful, and it's got a common root with "odiar."

Chewbie · 31-01-12, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uroborus

Picking up vocabulary in English isn't too hard from a Spanish-speaking perspective. A lot of the more obscure/sophisticated words used in English come from Latin, and thus can be very similar to the Spanish word/root. Like the word "odious." It means hateful, and it's got a common root with "odiar."

I usually understand new words in English when I read them (sometimes context helps), but I can't really use them without knowing them first even if they were similar to Spanish (I may try to guess, but maybe I'd end up saying "pregunt" instead of "question", for example [Spanish for "question" = pregunta], or things like that).

Uroborus · 31-01-12, 07:06 PM

I see what you mean. I do the same kind of thing with Spanish. English and Spanish are related, but they have different direct mother languages, so in the more common words, there really isn't much of a pattern one could use to find the equivalent in the other language.