sariflor Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Interesting topic...But I love languages and anything to do with them English was not really my second language, but my fourth:naughty:. I was raised bilingual Spanish/Catalan, and then moved to The Netherlands at the age of 5 where I was schooled in Dutch, so that was my third. We then moved to Argentina a couple of years later, where everything was obviously in Spanish, but we learned some english at school. I guess I was around 7-8 by then. A couple of years later the family moved to The Netherlands again (different city though ) where I attended the English section of an International school, and that is where I learned it properly. So at that time I had 4 languages going at the same time: Catalan at home, Spanish with certain members of my family who are spanish speaking, like my grandma, Dutch in real life, and English at school. Later on I went to German lessons and also did some French, but I am extremely rusty on them as I haven't spoken them for many years. Even my Dutch suffered a lot!! So I guess I'm back to Spanish/Catalan/English now. That is my story . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamuss Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 So at that time I had 4 languages going at the same time: Catalan at home, Spanish with certain members of my family who are spanish speaking, like my grandma, Dutch in real life, and English at school. OMG you know a lot of different languages lucky you:thumb_yello: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barunka Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 which is what? Czechoslovakia? hehe Yeah, Czechoslovakia... a lot of people think it still exists Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barunka Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 I know what you're talking about.Nothing tops some sport/political/(...) event where they play the anthem of Slovakia instead of Slovenian. Or when they hang out the wrong flag. That's why some people from here want the flag to change. But I'm against it. Though I think all our problems would be solved if we changed the flag that way that there was Slovenia written all over it. Sorry for off topic. exactly Maybe there should be the name of the country on every flag... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romis Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Yeah, Czechoslovakia... a lot of people think it still exists haha they separated when I was in 1st grade of primary school, so for me always was czech republic and slovakia. Anyway, the most known abroad is Praga (Prague) , but I don't have the slightless idea which is the capital of Slovakia. Seems like it was always a step behind its neighbour So you can promote your country if you want to, I'd love to know exactly Maybe there should be the name of the country on every flag... haha I know which is the flag of Slovenia! though it's a small country, but never heard of the slovenian language. I read a novel that happened in Ljubljana. Again, I didn't know the flag of Slovakia, but now that I see it, they look similar There's a lot of flags with blue, and red, and white... Poland and Indonesia (haha just swapped the colors) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah_loves_mika Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 I was wondering the other day, as you do, if English is easy for people to learn as a foreign language? English is my first language but i've been learning French since i was 8 - im ok, but nowhere near fluent and find it quite difficult. But i was just thinking, most of the people who i have met who English is their second language, speak it so perfectly - in fact, better than some English people i know, so i was wondering if it was really easy to learn?? I heard people say that sometimes its difficult because some of the words aren't pronounced as they're spelt and have odd letters in them (like "friend") but then i think it must be pretty easy because we don't have genders for our words or anything. I'm rambling on!! But i just thought that someone might be able to answer my silly little question.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barunka Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 haha they separated when I was in 1st grade of primary school, so for me always was czech republic and slovakia. Anyway, the most known abroad is Praga (Prague) , but I don't have the slightless idea which is the capital of Slovakia. Seems like it was always a step behind its neighbour So you can promote your country if you want to, I'd love to know haha I know which is the flag of Slovenia! though it's a small country, but never heard of the slovenian language. I read a novel that happened in Ljubljana. Poland and Indonesia (haha just swapped the colors) The capital of Slovakia is Bratislava I'm from Czech Republic though, I guess the fact people know more about Czech Republic (well... at least the capital ) is because Prague is such popular place for tourists and Slovakia is smaller... well, 5 milion people live in Slovakia and 10,5 milion in the Czech Republic... I'm not sure if there's anything interesting to say though, nothing is going on in here... Look at the flag of Monaco ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barunka Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 I was wondering the other day, as you do, if English is easy for people to learn as a foreign language? English is my first language but i've been learning French since i was 8 - im ok, but nowhere near fluent and find it quite difficult. But i was just thinking, most of the people who i have met who English is their second language, speak it so perfectly - in fact, better than some English people i know, so i was wondering if it was really easy to learn?? I heard people say that sometimes its difficult because some of the words aren't pronounced as they're spelt and have odd letters in them (like "friend") but then i think it must be pretty easy because we don't have genders for our words or anything. I'm rambling on!! But i just thought that someone might be able to answer my silly little question.... Not a silly question (-: I'd say english is one of the easier languages to learn, but that doesn't still mean it's easy! I believe I won't ever be able to speak it properly And some of people, who write so perfect, might not be as good in talking english as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah_loves_mika Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Not a silly question (-: I'd say english is one of the easier languages to learn, but that doesn't still mean it's easy! I believe I won't ever be able to speak it properly And some of people, who write so perfect, might not be as good in talking english as well... That's true! The one thing i find hard in learning other languages is listening, because sometimes they talk so fast, but my Polish relatives laugh at us English because we talk really slow, apparently.... I have a great interest in language and its great to kind of see your own language from another side, if you get me. If you think i'm making no sense, then feel free to kick me out!! The capital of Slovakia is Bratislava I'm from Czech Republic though, I guess the fact people know more about Czech Republic (well... at least the capital ) is because Prague is such popular place for tourists and Slovakia is smaller... well, 5 milion people live in Slovakia and 10,5 milion in the Czech Republic... I'm not sure if there's anything interesting to say though, nothing is going on in here... Look at the flag of Monaco ... Off topic, but, i saw a TV programme on the Czech Republic the other night and it looks really nice. The city they went to looks so clean and the people who they spoke to were all really friendly.... I just wanted to apologise to them for when our annoying English men go on their stag parties to Prague and cause mayhem.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilek Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 And some of people, who write so perfect, might not be as good in talking english as well... i have no idea who are you talking about:mf_rosetinted: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barunka Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 That's true! The one thing i find hard in learning other languages is listening, because sometimes they talk so fast, but my Polish relatives laugh at us English because we talk really slow, apparently.... I have a great interest in language and its great to kind of see your own language from another side, if you get me. If you think i'm making no sense, then feel free to kick me out!! Yes,listening can be sometimes really difficult... when it comes to english, it's easier for me to understand americans, getting used to british too, though First time I went to England and had to spoke with someone there, I was like ":blink: Errrm.... yeah. yeah." I don't think all english speak slow... o.O I mean first time I saw the mighty boosh, i thought "gosh, this thing should be slowed down like two times" ;-D Don't worry, I know what you mean. I'd like to see czech from somebody else's point of view too, but i don't think anyone would learn it Off topic, but, i saw a TV programme on the Czech Republic the other night and it looks really nice. The city they went to looks so clean and the people who they spoke to were all really friendly.... I just wanted to apologise to them for when our annoying English men go on their stag parties to Prague and cause mayhem.... Any idea what the name of the city was? (-: ... :-D I don't live in Prague, so I don't really care... anyway, apology accepted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barunka Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 i have no idea who are you talking about:mf_rosetinted: Of course, I wasn't talking about you. Or me. Aheeem.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CazGirl Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 the amount of people who speak english on here is incredible. my late nan (who was italian) lived in the UK for more than 50 years but she still had some thick Italian accent. Talking to her on the phone was such an effort, cos her accent was that strong however, i met Robertina at hammersmith this year and she's never lived in the UK, and her accent was BRILLIANT. I said that to her, too. I understood EVERYTHING she said perfectly and I found it odd how she was so clear yet with my nan it was like hitting a brick wall. I was amazed! I'd love to learn Italian but don't have the time for it. We have tapes and stuff but that's just not how I learn, I need actual classes. I'd love to be bilingual! How cool would that be? I think it's super smart, and I feel so guilty when others make an effort and I can only say a few words in foreign languages. over here in the UK, learning another language isn't such a priority because english is the most popular language to learn (with chinese being the most common, apparently!) but we cant just say "oh well because english is SOOOO popular, we'll let everyone else do all the work". Not only that, we do have foreign languages in our senior/high schools, but teenagers dont seem to take it seriously. not in my experience, any way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabelle Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 exactly Maybe there should be the name of the country on every flag... It would certainly make things easier. haha I know which is the flag of Slovenia! though it's a small country, but never heard of the slovenian language. I read a novel that happened in Ljubljana. Again, I didn't know the flag of Slovakia, but now that I see it, they look similar There's a lot of flags with blue, and red, and white... Wow, what novel was that? *is curious* Yup I agree. Those flags really look alike. I actually think it's kinda funny when they confuse us with someone else.:roftl:I know I (probably) shouldn't find that funny but I can't help myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubuciiis Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 so here's my story im 13 now, and i speak English, i don't know how good it is but its possible to communicate with you guys i started to learn it when i was 7 with my granny as a teacher, she was an English teacher when she was younger and i take lessons with her still now it was boring till that time when i understood that without English there is no MFC :roftl: xxx liene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca22 Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 So tell me - if English is not your first language, how did you learn it? How old were you when you began learning English? Are you still taking classes to improve your English? What's your native language? And, do your parents/brothers/sisters speak English? I speak English all the time on the internet, but it's not my first language. I'm Dutch, so my native language is... Dutch I'm still on school, but I've been taught English for 5 years now. But actually I've learned it from television.. I love English movies and series and I always watch them. I've learned a lot from it and also from MFC and other English forums.. My sisters speak English but my parents not.. so I only speak it on the internet. And sometimes I have an English friend in my house.. But I absolutely love the language, I might study it later. I also speak French and German and a little bit of Spanish. I just love languages Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cintia_Jenny Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 so here's my story im 13 now, and i speak English, i don't know how good it is but its possible to communicate with you guys i started to learn it when i was 7 with my granny as a teacher, she was an English teacher when she was younger and i take lessons with her still now it was boring till that time when i understood that without English there is no MFC xxx liene that's so true! and the MFC help me a lot! now, i know much more So tell me - if English is not your first language, 1) how did you learn it? 2) How old were you when you began learning English? 3)Are you still taking classes to improve your English? 4) What's your native language? 5) And, do your parents/brothers/sisters speak English? I speak English all the time on the internet, but it's not my first language. I'm Dutch, so my native language is... Dutch I'm still on school, but I've been taught English for 5 years now. But actually I've learned it from television.. I love English movies and series and I always watch them. I've learned a lot from it and also from MFC and other English forums.. My sisters speak English but my parents not.. so I only speak it on the internet. And sometimes I have an English friend in my house.. But I absolutely love the language, I might study it later. I also speak French and German and a little bit of Spanish. I just love languages 1) I learn by my self, How?? I don't know 2) I start to learn a couple of years ago, when I was 12 or 13 years old 3) I start taking classes this year, but I know almost everything 4) it is Spanish 5) no, they don't, but my little brother is learning at school. I always like the series movies and music in English, so i learn form there I think, like I said is like if I wake up one day speaking english ahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Ana~ Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Interesting topic!! I started studying english even before kindergarden...and from then on i've studied english, until 2 years ago, that the high school decided that the upper levels would take french and no longer english, so i've been taking french. But i'm moving to London this sunday for some months, so hopefuly i'll be very fluent in my speaking and catch a british accent:wub2: :wub2:cause i've only had american teachers and canadian, just once i had a british teacher but he didn't taught us a thing:blink: Plus my parents they both have very good english, they both have lived in England and the U.S, so i've been influenced. And yes, i find it very impressive too, that everybody knows at least a bit of english, and that it is the language with which we can all communicate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sienna Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 the amount of people who speak english on here is incredible. my late nan (who was italian) lived in the UK for more than 50 years but she still had some thick Italian accent. Talking to her on the phone was such an effort, cos her accent was that strong however, i met Robertina at hammersmith this year and she's never lived in the UK, and her accent was BRILLIANT. I said that to her, too. I understood EVERYTHING she said perfectly and I found it odd how she was so clear yet with my nan it was like hitting a brick wall. I was amazed! I'd love to learn Italian but don't have the time for it. We have tapes and stuff but that's just not how I learn, I need actual classes. I'd love to be bilingual! How cool would that be? I think it's super smart, and I feel so guilty when others make an effort and I can only say a few words in foreign languages. over here in the UK, learning another language isn't such a priority because english is the most popular language to learn (with chinese being the most common, apparently!) but we cant just say "oh well because english is SOOOO popular, we'll let everyone else do all the work". Not only that, we do have foreign languages in our senior/high schools, but teenagers dont seem to take it seriously. not in my experience, any way. Well when you live in a country where the language is so small that only 9 million people are talking it you are more or less forced to learn a bigger one, in my case English. To use the internet it’s absolutely necessary. About the accent, I have heard that if you don’t start to learn a language before you are around 6-7 years old you never get rid of your original accent and I believe that’s the true. Not hat you’re not able to talk properly but if you think about it, most of the times you can hear where a person comes from even if they are able to talk fluently. Even I can recognize a Swedish person talking English, that’s funny! Every place has its own accent; I can for example hear the difference between people coming from different parts of my hometown, Stockholm! You said somewhere that you have a difficult time to accept spelling mistakes; does that include us poor souls struggling with this beautiful and strange language? I'm kidding and you know that, I never hesitate to ask when there are things I don't understand and people are very helpful on the MFC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegPL Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Yeah, Czechoslovakia... a lot of people think it still exists haha yeah...wait... you mean it's NOT? Look at the flag of Monaco ... oh you just diggin' a hole... stop messing with ppl heads Not a silly question I'd say english is one of the easier languages to learn, but that doesn't still mean it's easy! I believe I won't ever be able to speak it properly And some of people, who write so perfect, might not be as good in talking english as well... yeah...true...for me it was the easiest language to learn.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cintia_Jenny Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 haha yeah...wait... you mean it's NOT? oh you just diggin' a hole... stop messing with ppl heads yeah...true...for me it was the easiest language to learn.. I loooooove your avatar!! hahhaah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romis Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 I heard people say that sometimes its difficult because some of the words aren't pronounced as they're spelt and have odd letters in them (like "friend") but then i think it must be pretty easy because we don't have genders for our words or anything. That's exactly the reason why they (specialists) say dislexic people usually have trouble learning english. Fortunately Mika spoke it all the time with his family at home (or so I guess ) But being dyslexic he learned french and spanish, and he has some issues with verbs but the pronunciation is quite accurate So I think it's someway easier in that aspect. Anabelle, the novel is called "Veronika decides to die", and the author is Paulo Coelho. I recommend you The Alchemist as well, both are good books PS: I've searched the Monaco flag...oh Barunka you're mean If I'm not wrong, Rebeka lives in Slovakia. Perhaps I made a mistake and thought it was you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allegra Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Friends... now we have a teacher he is a moderate moderator: beautiful, handsome and clever so let's go http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15509 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nielo Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 I speak English all the time on the internet, but it's not my first language. I'm Dutch, so my native language is... Dutch I'm still on school, but I've been taught English for 5 years now. But actually I've learned it from television.. I love English movies and series and I always watch them. I've learned a lot from it and also from MFC and other English forums.. My sisters speak English but my parents not.. so I only speak it on the internet. And sometimes I have an English friend in my house.. But I absolutely love the language, I might study it later. I also speak French and German and a little bit of Spanish. I just love languages My story is pretty similar. Being Dutch, our lessons in English started at age 10. German and French are also, or at least for a few years, obligatory subjects in school. (If you only speak Dutch it's pretty hard to communicate with anyone abroad, so it's necessary to learn how to speak foreign languages. ) I pretty much taught myself how to read/write/speak English by reading the Harry Potter books. I'd read them all (well, I think there were only 3 back then) a couple of times in Dutch, but I really wanted to know all of the English terms, so my dad bought me the English versions. First I'd read a few pages in Dutch, then those very same pages in English. Movies and music have helped me too, plus coming to message boards, which I started doing when I was about 15. ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karolina!. Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 I see, that a lot of people reads Harry Potter. [And that's cool! ;D] I think that in summer I gonna read 1st and 2nd book in english... Because I read them in Lithuanian about... 9999 times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now