#4346373 - 03/23/17 05:38 PM
Re: Question for Non native English Speakers
[Re: WileECoyote]
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Ant
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North East, UK
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[Key word here being "spoke". Once you get the basics (by reading, that is) yes, TV and movies pretty much teach you the rest. A lot of knowledge is just how to say X expression in language Y. That's how it worked for me at least. I started with computers at a time when everything was in English, no internet of course, not even a Spanish keyboard. So you learn, dictionary in hand, as you go. "hmmm, so you "run" a program but DOS "runS" a program... second person singular adds a "s" at the end? That's it?" The rest comes from watching The Nanny with subtitles. Nowadays I guess Youtube and the Web fulfills that role. It also helps that, at least from a Spanish perspective, English doesn't have any concept that you didn't know already Japanese would be another matter I'm sure. So at the end, it's easy to learn and you have plenty of material all around you.... one day you can just speak English for some unknown reason. She had already learned the basics in school, therefore she already had a handle on what was being said. Yeah, that sounds more like how I expect. It's not just watching TV shows. It's watching TV shows in concert with doing other things too. I'm doing much of that. Just a bit frustrating at how slow it seems to come. Maybe I'm just a bit dim
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#4346375 - 03/23/17 05:43 PM
Re: Question for Non native English Speakers
[Re: Ant]
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Joined: Jan 2011
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WileECoyote
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Yeah, that sounds more like how I expect. It's not just watching TV shows. It's watching TV shows in concert with doing other things too. I'm doing much of that. Just a bit frustrating at how slow it seems to come. Maybe I'm just a bit dim That is the slow-but-not-boring method. You can also go with the more academic-but-tiresome method, but it is, well, boring. I guess it all boils down to how fast you want to learn vs. how much effort you want to put into it. Watching movies doesn't require any effort other than making popcorn.
Last edited by WileECoyote; 03/23/17 05:43 PM.
When you're feeling sad, just remember that somewhere in the world, there's someone pushing a door that says "pull".
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#4346418 - 03/23/17 09:16 PM
Re: Question for Non native English Speakers
[Re: Ant]
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 209
ADorante
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I got half-way decent in speaking english by trying to imitate Jello Biafra Spoken Word style and singing Iron Maiden songs My contemporary vocabulary stems mostly from modern US comics like Bongo's Simpsons Comics. My prof was surprised how well I could handle our native english-speaking post-docs in conversations. I lost my edge after a few years without practice.
"It's people like you that give people like you a bad name!" - Jessica Jones
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#4346427 - 03/23/17 10:24 PM
Re: Question for Non native English Speakers
[Re: Ant]
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Joined: Jun 2005
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- Ice
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Just wondering how you learnt English and what was the most effective thing you did to learn it? There are an awful lot of non Native English speakers on the internet and I'm always impressed at how well they speak/write English. I've been learning French for a couple of years and now I'm getting a little frustrated as I seem to be stuck at an intermediate level and I'm not really sure what to concentrate on to improve efficiently. English was the language used for 98% of the subjects taught at school. I had reading, writing, and grammar classes. Aside from locally-made programs or shows, almost everything else entertainment-wise was from the USA. Cartoons were 99.999% in english. I loved reading books and it was near-impossible to get a non-english book unless it was about the Filipino culture or folk tales and the like. I was also Editor-in-Chief for my highschool's paper and spent one year again as the EiC in university for a scholarship. Everything nursing-related is in english.
- Ice
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#4346503 - 03/24/17 01:06 PM
Re: Question for Non native English Speakers
[Re: Ant]
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Joined: Apr 2001
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bones
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And I can vouch for Colonel that his English is excellent. Actually meeting with him (and Jayhawk for that matter) you couldn't tell really that English was their second language. Those of you who knew Jstar, he was the same way. in fact I was impressed that he even knew some of our American expressions and used them appropriately. Except for an accent here and there you couldn't tell he was Swede.
My wife was born and raised in Poland and she came over to the US when she was 17 or 18. So, she still has a pretty strong Polish accent. But her English is in many ways better than mine. She studied English in school, but she was taught the Queen's English, so some things were a little fof, like when she asked her teacher for a rubber when she made a mistake on her exam. The American teacher was aghast but then realized she was asking for an eraser, which is called a rubber by the Brits apparently.
For my wife's case, she learned English in school in Poland, then with ESL classes in the US. She said what really helped her was writing English...probably beause it married what she was hearing to what she was seeing. SHe also said watching things like children's cartoons helps because the English is very simple. Finally, there is also actually using it on a regular basis and being immersed in it. I think any of us with a high school language course know about that one.
v6, boNes
"Also, I would prefer a back seater over the extra gas any day. I would have 80 pounds of flesh to eat and a pair of glasses to start a fire." --F/A-18 Hornet pilot
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#4346543 - 03/24/17 03:22 PM
Re: Question for Non native English Speakers
[Re: PanzerMeyer]
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bones
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I think one of the major things this thread has revealed is that since English is the universal language, native English speakers as a general rule tend to be less motivated to learn a second language. Why learn a second language when you can use English almost anywhere?
I was fortunate in that I was raised fully bilingual. I spoke English with my dad and of course in school while I spoke Spanish with my mom and other relatives. I was an unfortunate opposite. My parents spoke Tagalog to each other but English to us so I never picked up Tagalog except for very basic words and bad words (haha always the easiest to learn). I feel silly that I can't speak Tagalog even though I am Filipino but I'm trying to learn it now and need more practice (hint hint, Ice). I have my plate full as it is though with learning Polish and continuing my French and Spanish. v6, boNes
"Also, I would prefer a back seater over the extra gas any day. I would have 80 pounds of flesh to eat and a pair of glasses to start a fire." --F/A-18 Hornet pilot
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#4346548 - 03/24/17 03:49 PM
Re: Question for Non native English Speakers
[Re: Ant]
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Jedi Master
Entil'zha
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Entil'zha
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In my experience so far I find the culture most like the US (in that they are monolingual and don't bother with more than a passing attempt at another) is Japan. Our company is global. I communicate with offices in France, Germany, UK, China, Malaysia, India, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea.
The office I have the most difficulty with is the Tokyo one. None of them are what I would consider fluent in English, and probably only half of them can make themselves understood. Taiwan is not as bad, but it can be difficult to understand what they mean.
The European offices? No problem with English at all. Malaysia seems to do everything in English. China's offices do English and Chinese, but their English is great. Korea is mostly English.
The Jedi Master
The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter
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#4346550 - 03/24/17 03:53 PM
Re: Question for Non native English Speakers
[Re: Ant]
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Joined: Apr 2001
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PanzerMeyer
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Pro-Consul of Florida
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Malaysia used to be part of the British Empire so that explains their affinity for English. Japan is still very much an isolationist society compared to the other Asian countries and immigration to Japan is super, super tiny compared to most other countries. That pretty much explains the lack of interest for the most part in learning a second language.
Last edited by PanzerMeyer; 03/24/17 04:00 PM.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
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#4346619 - 03/24/17 07:14 PM
Re: Question for Non native English Speakers
[Re: bones]
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Joined: Jun 2005
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- Ice
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I was an unfortunate opposite. My parents spoke Tagalog to each other but English to us so I never picked up Tagalog except for very basic words and bad words (haha always the easiest to learn). I feel silly that I can't speak Tagalog even though I am Filipino but I'm trying to learn it now and need more practice (hint hint, Ice). I have my plate full as it is though with learning Polish and continuing my French and Spanish. Anytime you need practice, bones, sabihin mo lang at maguusap tayo sa wikang Tagalog It's quite a funny setup with my boys... my wife and I talk in three languages/dialects, primarily Bisaya/Cebuano because that's the dialect in the region where we were when we met. Our eldest knows Bisaya/Cebuano, English, and Tagalog because my parents and relatives speak Tagalog and most of my relatives (Dad's side) are from Luzon and they speak Tagalog. Our youngest can understand a little Tagalog, nothing of Bisaya/Cebuano, and speaks primarily English. The main reason for this was because he was 2 years old when he came to the UK and was thus "immersed" in the English language for most of his life. He is "studying" Tagalog via YouTube so that he can speak it more and one of his best buds in school is a Polish lad and they teach each other their language.
- Ice
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#4346648 - 03/24/17 08:28 PM
Re: Question for Non native English Speakers
[Re: PanzerMeyer]
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bones
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So Tagalog is the main language in the Philippines while Bisaya/Cebuano is more of a local dialect? More or less. There is another popular dialect there called Illicano (I might have misspelled it). v6, boNes
"Also, I would prefer a back seater over the extra gas any day. I would have 80 pounds of flesh to eat and a pair of glasses to start a fire." --F/A-18 Hornet pilot
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#4346650 - 03/24/17 08:29 PM
Re: Question for Non native English Speakers
[Re: Ant]
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Blade_RJ
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brasil
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Just wondering how you learnt English and what was the most effective thing you did to learn it? There are an awful lot of non Native English speakers on the internet and I'm always impressed at how well they speak/write English. I've been learning French for a couple of years and now I'm getting a little frustrated as I seem to be stuck at an intermediate level and I'm not really sure what to concentrate on to improve efficiently. i started somewhat early becouse my father realized how important that would be in the future,so i was 11 to 12 and this was a time when not everyone could afford a english class,not like today where you have a english school in every corner. At that time, i loved the x-files,and the english school had available to all students a video room, and lucky me they had a whole season there subtitled in VHS,so i would watch the episodes and again trying to make out the words, and i learned that subs dont exactly match what is spoken,but it was a nice helper. So i would sugest,pick something that you enjoy,movie,books,videogames,tv series especially since they use common vocabulary and slangs,and also,dont be lazy if you dont know a word have a dictionary with you,today it is even simpler since you dont need to carry a 2 pound book the size of the bible!!!! And interation with people is honestly the most important, doesnt matter if you have bad engrish,it gets better. So place like this forum and online chats also helped me a lot,and you get to make some friends as bonus. Oh, and oddly enough contrary to what most of you english speakers think, my spoken spanish is intermediary and kinda bad, its not easy to transition to spanish from portuguese just becouse it looks similar in text,only the grammar is easy.
Last edited by Blade_RJ; 03/24/17 08:37 PM.
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#4346662 - 03/24/17 08:57 PM
Re: Question for Non native English Speakers
[Re: Ant]
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Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 49,716
Jedi Master
Entil'zha
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Entil'zha
Sierra Hotel
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Space Coast, USA
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Yes, while I can do a decent Scottish accent there is no WAY I could actually talk like Nesbitt or Baxter in this thread. Understanding is one thing, communicating in kind is another!
The Jedi Master
The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter
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