[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]FriedChicken<br><font size=1>The Almighty</font> wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I think it's sooooo sad that most Americans don't know another language.
Did you know that only 60% of the American people have a passport? I think thats really sad.
Another useless fact. The first female gouvernor of Texas didn't allow people by law, to learn a second language. She said: "If english was good enough for Jesus Christ, it should be good enough for us"
No kidding`1[/QUOTE]
It's not necessarily sad if they don't use it. In fact, English is becoming a universal language of sorts. It would be wonderful if the entire world could conform to one language, regardless of what it is. It would promote unity and internationalism in the world.
In fact, should this occur, it's likely that the figure as to how many people own passports would greatly increase - not only for the US, but for every other country in the world as well.
You know, I've even heard that it's more like 20% of Americans who own a passport. But you have to consider that travel is very expensive. A passport is not required for travel to Canada or Mexico, I don't believe. Therefore, any international travel an American would make would be far overseas. Very, very expensive, especially for a one or two week vacation.
As far as your last fact, I don't believe it to be accurate. A state governor cannot make that decision. I believe the argument was whether or not Spanish should be used to educate Mexican immigrants, or if English should be the standard. Also, the statement was not a reference to Jesus speaking English, but rather the English used in the King James Bible. While it is granted that this is a stupid reason, there is certainly much room for reasonable discussion on the debate.
Also, the odds of such a quote simply being made up out of dead air are quite high.
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Actually, a passport is now required to get into Canada now. Congress passed that law last year. You can still drive across without one until 2008, but anyone who flies in needs one. And after 2008, you'll need one no matter which way you go into the Great White North.
I can't speak for Mexico though
I can't speak for Mexico though
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]CMU HistoryGirl wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Actually, a passport is now required to get into Canada now. Congress passed that law last year. You can still drive across without one until 2008, but anyone who flies in needs one. And after 2008, you'll need one no matter which way you go into the Great White North.
I can't speak for Mexico though[/QUOTE]
Ah, I see. I wonder what effect that may have on how many passports are issued. Of course, it doesn't do much in the way of learning another language, since half the country speaks English anyway (I think).
I can't speak for Mexico though[/QUOTE]
Ah, I see. I wonder what effect that may have on how many passports are issued. Of course, it doesn't do much in the way of learning another language, since half the country speaks English anyway (I think).
as a major, im going to be a translator/interpetator
as of now i know italian spanish and french. i will be learning arabic starting this semester.
what i can tell you is have her learn them completely separately. my mistake was to learn italian and spanish at the same time. i guess its good practice so you really get the feel between the languages. luckily spanish and french are quite different, but what i find is sometimes if i spend too much time in one language, i forget the other, THEN it gets confusing.
i also reccomend if its possible to get her to watch her favorite films in her desired languages, preferably overdubbed. also to expand her culturally, have her point out some differences (examples: being celebrations in that country or traditions) and i know theres some people here that can recommend good movies about those, whether comedy, drama, action, or just fiction. this way she will also hold an interest. i would hate to watch a film thats not my style, i would lose interest in both the story line and learning the words. Same with books. so i highly recoomend that.
programs are always nice to learn bit by bit. if you ever get her the chance when shes more fluent, get her to talk to an actual native speaker, that is non judgmental (which means wont laugh or put her down if she makes a mistake). as long as you give her permission to talk to them (making sure they aren't predators and such, since she is young) then its ok. theres plenty of place to do that, and who knows maybe theres a fan on here her age she can talk to.
i love languages, theyre so much fun. and thers plenty of easy way to learn. if shed like help with begginners stuff id be more than happy to help you how to teach it to her :-) more spanish as of now since its been a while with french haha.
as of now i know italian spanish and french. i will be learning arabic starting this semester.
what i can tell you is have her learn them completely separately. my mistake was to learn italian and spanish at the same time. i guess its good practice so you really get the feel between the languages. luckily spanish and french are quite different, but what i find is sometimes if i spend too much time in one language, i forget the other, THEN it gets confusing.
i also reccomend if its possible to get her to watch her favorite films in her desired languages, preferably overdubbed. also to expand her culturally, have her point out some differences (examples: being celebrations in that country or traditions) and i know theres some people here that can recommend good movies about those, whether comedy, drama, action, or just fiction. this way she will also hold an interest. i would hate to watch a film thats not my style, i would lose interest in both the story line and learning the words. Same with books. so i highly recoomend that.
programs are always nice to learn bit by bit. if you ever get her the chance when shes more fluent, get her to talk to an actual native speaker, that is non judgmental (which means wont laugh or put her down if she makes a mistake). as long as you give her permission to talk to them (making sure they aren't predators and such, since she is young) then its ok. theres plenty of place to do that, and who knows maybe theres a fan on here her age she can talk to.
i love languages, theyre so much fun. and thers plenty of easy way to learn. if shed like help with begginners stuff id be more than happy to help you how to teach it to her :-) more spanish as of now since its been a while with french haha.
I know.. Indonesian. The most terrible fucking language in the entire world. Damned Australia...or specifically my school.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]iGSM wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I know.. Indonesian. The most terrible fucking language in the entire world. Damned Australia...or specifically my school.[/QUOTE]
You learned Indonesian?
I've been learning Japanese and French at my school
You learned Indonesian?
I've been learning Japanese and French at my school
I did, I did. I'd like to learn Spanish just...so I can be posh.
I agree with what has been said about starting to learn two foreign languages simultaneously. It's not helpful at all.
Language courses can be expensive and still really bad. I am not familiar with courses you can buy in the USA but my experience is that such courses can lead you into a dead end street. If possible you should take at least some conversation classes in a school or from a private teacher. The teacher gives you the feedback you need to work on your personal mistakes and difficulties. You learn so much faster and more efficient if you have a teacher who corrects your mistakes at an early stage.
Language courses can be expensive and still really bad. I am not familiar with courses you can buy in the USA but my experience is that such courses can lead you into a dead end street. If possible you should take at least some conversation classes in a school or from a private teacher. The teacher gives you the feedback you need to work on your personal mistakes and difficulties. You learn so much faster and more efficient if you have a teacher who corrects your mistakes at an early stage.
i know two languages: english and filipino/tagalog. so, i'm bilingual. and, filipino is really close to some spanish words.. just sharing. :)
If you're American, you don't really NEED to learn other languages because you hardly ever travel to Europe, of course.
But learning other languages helps understanding other cultures and that's something Americans would IMO really need.
Here in CR everybody can speak second and third language - although usually not really well. We're FAR behind Holland or Scandinavia.
Funny how the knowledge depends on geography. People in northern Europe can usually speak English perfectly, people in central and western Europe can speak quite well (except for French, they are too proud :-) and people in southern Europe usually can't speak foreign languages at all.
But learning other languages helps understanding other cultures and that's something Americans would IMO really need.
Here in CR everybody can speak second and third language - although usually not really well. We're FAR behind Holland or Scandinavia.
Funny how the knowledge depends on geography. People in northern Europe can usually speak English perfectly, people in central and western Europe can speak quite well (except for French, they are too proud :-) and people in southern Europe usually can't speak foreign languages at all.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]YourValentine wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I agree with what has been said about starting to learn two foreign languages simultaneously. It's not helpful at all.
Language courses can be expensive and still really bad. I am not familiar with courses you can buy in the USA but my experience is that such courses can lead you into a dead end street. If possible you should take at least some conversation classes in a school or from a private teacher. The teacher gives you the feedback you need to work on your personal mistakes and difficulties. You learn so much faster and more efficient if you have a teacher who corrects your mistakes at an early stage. [/QUOTE]
My course is exactly like that.
Once the students are already able to understand some stuff, teaches start explaining only in English, then they stimulate you to speak English instead of your native language (Portuguese, as we're all brazilian), and then they correct the mistakes and try to eliminate your foreign accent as much as possible.
There are optional conversation classes once a week for "advanced" students, and once now and then instead of "proper" conversation classes they give us phonetics classes, another attempt to eliminate our foreign accent.
I take Spanish lessons on the same school, but I'm a "newbie". The teacher has been doing exactly the same as English teachers, except he's been explaining things ONLY in Spanish since the first day, instead of waiting for us to become "advanced" students, as Portuguese speakers can understand Spanish pretty easily. I asked him about the advanced books, and he told me there are optional conversation classes just like in English.
So I think there are language courses that are actually worth it. But you can't rely just on them. In Spanish I'm learning the grammar much quickier (maybe because part of it is pretty much the same as Portuguese, or maybe because when I started studying Spanish I was more mature than I was when I started studying English), but my vocabulary has been developing MUCH slower than my English vocabulary was developing on my first semester, and Spanish is much closer to my native language than English, and I'm pretty sure I can blame lack of use, as I use my English often on the internet, but never used my Spanish out of school (except to show off at home, haha).
Language courses can be expensive and still really bad. I am not familiar with courses you can buy in the USA but my experience is that such courses can lead you into a dead end street. If possible you should take at least some conversation classes in a school or from a private teacher. The teacher gives you the feedback you need to work on your personal mistakes and difficulties. You learn so much faster and more efficient if you have a teacher who corrects your mistakes at an early stage. [/QUOTE]
My course is exactly like that.
Once the students are already able to understand some stuff, teaches start explaining only in English, then they stimulate you to speak English instead of your native language (Portuguese, as we're all brazilian), and then they correct the mistakes and try to eliminate your foreign accent as much as possible.
There are optional conversation classes once a week for "advanced" students, and once now and then instead of "proper" conversation classes they give us phonetics classes, another attempt to eliminate our foreign accent.
I take Spanish lessons on the same school, but I'm a "newbie". The teacher has been doing exactly the same as English teachers, except he's been explaining things ONLY in Spanish since the first day, instead of waiting for us to become "advanced" students, as Portuguese speakers can understand Spanish pretty easily. I asked him about the advanced books, and he told me there are optional conversation classes just like in English.
So I think there are language courses that are actually worth it. But you can't rely just on them. In Spanish I'm learning the grammar much quickier (maybe because part of it is pretty much the same as Portuguese, or maybe because when I started studying Spanish I was more mature than I was when I started studying English), but my vocabulary has been developing MUCH slower than my English vocabulary was developing on my first semester, and Spanish is much closer to my native language than English, and I'm pretty sure I can blame lack of use, as I use my English often on the internet, but never used my Spanish out of school (except to show off at home, haha).
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]<b><font color = "crimson"> ThomasQuinn wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I know I learned English the easy way: I watched kids' tv on BBC, and then when I could grasp it a bit, I started reading little easy English texts, and went from there.
I think that is still the best way, but it takes time. Lots of time.[/QUOTE]
Exactly the same way i learned the language.
Watching Super Channel, MTV, Sky and BBC.
I think that is still the best way, but it takes time. Lots of time.[/QUOTE]
Exactly the same way i learned the language.
Watching Super Channel, MTV, Sky and BBC.
Learning English by TV is very similar to what we call "natural language acquisition" which is how you learn your native language - by listening to people and communicating with them. Children in countries with many TV programmes in English language do in fact speak better English than children from countries with only few English programmes or children who do not watch much TV at all.
However, this is not an option for other languages or for adults who want to learn a less universally spoken language. Your school seems to be very good, Rafael - provided you also have translation lessons which are important for the understanding of the different language structures and "written formulation" classes (essays etc) which are important to practice your writing and spelling skills as well as your skills to explain yourself in the foreign language in a non-conversational manner. Also, culture and communication classes are very desirable to enable the students to express themselves in a way that is acceptable for the culture whose language we study. Here on QZ I see examples of cultural misunderstandings each day.
However, this is not an option for other languages or for adults who want to learn a less universally spoken language. Your school seems to be very good, Rafael - provided you also have translation lessons which are important for the understanding of the different language structures and "written formulation" classes (essays etc) which are important to practice your writing and spelling skills as well as your skills to explain yourself in the foreign language in a non-conversational manner. Also, culture and communication classes are very desirable to enable the students to express themselves in a way that is acceptable for the culture whose language we study. Here on QZ I see examples of cultural misunderstandings each day.
Some people say watching soap operas is a good way to learn languages as there is very little action, they speak slowly, and the camera is usually focussed on the actor(s) face. My niece is a sign language interpreter, and when she sings songs to her two-year-old son, she signs also, so he always has his right hand up wiggling his fingers. It is so cute! I don't know what languages are being offered in USA classrooms, but French doesn't seem too practical to me (not that a language has to be practical.) I know lots of people who took four years of French, never "used" it, and looking back, thought it was a waste of time. That, of course, isn't anyone's fault - it just didn't happen. Decades ago, taking French had a kind of romantic mystique to it. Being that China is modernising rapidly, and the population is huge in numbers, Chinese dialects are the "in" thing for business majors to learn.
I know Romanian (native language) , English (excellent), French (very good), Spanish (a little bit) and now I want to learn either Bulgarian, Czech or Serbian.