Non-Native English Speakers: how u lrn engish? - General

[QUOTE=barttool;33507983]Another grievance I have with english is the fact that you use the same pronoun for animals as you would for objects. Why?! :( I call my cat a "she", because she's a living thing.[/QUOTE] That's grammatically correct. English considers all objects to be neutral by default, but if you feel strongly affectionate about something it will get elevated to gender status. If you love your cat so much you should call her "she" :3: The same applies to ships.

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? - I started learning English in my early days, around 6 or so. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? - I can type it better than to actually speak it. I get words mumbled sometimes when I speak it. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? - Everyday. 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? - None at all really.

Finn here. 1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? Started learning it in school back in 3rd grade. Already knew a bunch of English beforehand due to video games such as Runescape and Pokémon games. I am mostly fluent. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? My vocabulary is probably a bit better when I'm typing because I get more time to think about what I'm typing. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? Almost never. 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? Having different pronouns depending on the gender of the person you're talking about. I'm talking about he/she. In Finnish there's just one word, "hän", and it applies to either gender. I was very surprised when I found out about how this he/she thingy works (in 3rd grade) and I still think it's silly. 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? I did learn a bunch at school but also from video games. I don't really know how exactly I learned it. 75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that? Not a scandinavian, but I can speak some Swedish. I'm not fluent at all in Swedish but I'm ok-ish at it. 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? My verbal thoughts are almost always in English.

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? Ever since I start attending school really. I tend to think that I am fluent, although I can't control which accent I use. When I'm with Egyptians I speak in an Egyptian accent, when with people who speak American i speak American, when with English people I use to speak British. I can't control it! 2. Can you type it better than speak it. Yes, but only slightly 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? All the time when I'm alone, I sometimes spout game quotes when with my friends, I also found a Zambian at school who spent a few years in Australia and doesn't speak Arabic, so I talk to him in English. 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? Yeah, if Americans were originally from Europe how come they got their own accent? 5. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Mostly movies, But TF2 helped me grasp the concept of accents. I never knew the difference until I played this game. (Does that mean TF2 is educational?) Was it difficult? No. 6. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? Both.

[B]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now?[/B] Started early, first had contact with English before kindergarten, via cartoon network. In kindergarten we had this incredibly silly little 'extra class' sort of thing where all we did was learn words like 'car' and 'dog' and sang the 'Head and Shoulders' song all day. In the end I guess the language just stuck with me through different cartoons, shows and videogames. I don't like making positive assumptions of myself, but I haven't met anyone, in real life nor on the Internet, who would say that I'm not fluent. [B]2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa?[/B] I speak better than I type, probably because 95% of the message conveyed during conversation is done with body language, intonation, tone et cetera. I've never really had any issues speaking neither, it just comes more naturally than typing. [B]3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [/B] Relatively often. Amongst friends we often speak in English, and everything else is 80% English considering how often my English teacher sticks me in different speaking competitions. [B]4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of?[/B] Not really, no. I'm just so used to the language that the only issues I ever have in language classes are with other languages. [B]9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult?[/B] I gained a working vocabulary before 4th/5th grade, and fluency shortly after that. It was a subconscious process that started when I managed to turn on the TV one day and turn to channel 33, Cartoon Network. Essentially I started bothering my mother with questions like [What does "(word here)" mean]. Eventually my little brain started piecing different sentences together based on what it'd heard from the TV and computer. It was only when I started paying attention in English classes (especially grammar, though I still don't have that down 100%), that I noticed that I'd pretty much accidentally figured out the language in my head, before doing any serious studying with it. So to answer the question, I can't say how easy or hard it was, as I wasn't aware that what I was doing was correct or incorrect. Everything just fell into place. [B]75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that?[/B] Well, none. My native tongue is Estonian, my most proficient tongue is English, I'm studying Russian and Spanish. And really, I only know of one other person in my circle of friends that has actively studied another Scandinavian language, that being Swedish. [B]76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? [/B] Mostly in English.

1. 3rd grade was when my english learning started. 2. I can both speak and write fluently. 3. I sometimes use english when not on the internet. 4. The most frustrating thing about english is that with the world rotating around the united states, everyone is obliged to speak it while every native english speaker can (with good reason though) say that they have no need for another language. 75. I speak a bit of svenska too. 76. Native tongue

[B]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now?[/B] I started learning English because I lived in the US as a two-year-old. My mother tongue was some kind of bastardised version of English crossed with Norwegian. [B] 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa?[/B] I can speak it quite well, in an informal setting. However, I think typing/writing comes more easily to me. [B]3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet?[/B] Very often, I'd say. I don't use it in conversations with my friends (only when telling jokes or recalling some scene/sketch in an English comedy show etc etc), but my work/education does need quite a lot of English terms and phrases. [B]4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of?[/B] Not very. English encompasses pretty much any need for language, something I feel Norwegian sometimes lack. [B]9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult?[/B] Due to my very early childhood I picked it up quite naturally. As the years went my.. in-grown language faded out, but I rather took it from games/internet/films. [B]75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that?[/B] I am Norwegian, and so I can understand most of both Danish and Swedish (Swedish is the more convenient one, due to the extremely uncomfortable way of speaking Danish). Norway was formerly in a union with both. I can decipher some Icelandic words when written down. By the way, isn't Norway, Sweden and Denmark Scandinavian? It feels pretty strange calling Finland and Iceland scandinavian as well. [B]76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? [/B] Both [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavia[/url]

[b]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now?[/b] In school when I was six years old. I consider myself fully fluent today. [b]2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa?[/b] In general, I'm a better writer than speaker. That applies to English too. I'm decent at speaking but I got a pretty heavy accent. [b]3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet?[/b] Not very often, unfortunately. [b]4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of?[/b] No. [b]9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult?[/b] I did learn basic English from school, but I learned the rest from the internet. [b]75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that?[/b] I know Swedish and can understand Norwegian and Danish slightly. [b]76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both?[/b] Depends on the context. A bit of both, I'd say.

[QUOTE=barttool;33500531] Ustedes (you) [B]van[/B] ustedes [B]fueron[/B][/QUOTE] Isn't it fuisteis and vais?

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? [b]I started getting interested in the language when I was around 4 and watched alot of english subtitled movies, I'd always ask my dad what they were saying all the time until he got tired of it and just told me to watch the movie :v: I loved the phrase "3, 2, 1, go!" because of all the racing games I played, mainly Colin McRae for the PS1 I believe. Then it took me quite a while (until I was 12) to get used to the grammar differences and rules. (eg: Swedish always has lower case "i"s. "So i kept typing like this all the time whenever the English word i comes up.") I would definitely not consider myself fluent in any way, especially not my pronounciation and speech.[/b] 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? [b]I type better than speak it, my accent is horrible and I cannot pronounce some words properly[/b] 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [b]Never unless I have an English class in college, twice a week[/b] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? [b]Not that I can think of on the top of my head, I enjoy reading and speaking English alot.[/b] 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? [b]I learnt MOST of it from movies and video games, I'm apparently a fast learner with most things so it wasn't very difficulty once I got used to the words[/b] 75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that? [b]As Swedish is my mother language, I can decipher Norwegian quite well because of how damn similar they are, I just can't write or speak it, I have a little more trouble with Danish however because at that point it just varies too much from Swedish[/b] 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? [b]Both, 80% of the time I think in English however.[/b]

I'm a native English speaker but because I moved to Greece I'm trying to learn Greek, and holy fuck it's a difficult language. Saying some of the words can be so difficult, the easiest being Yasas which means hello or goodbye.

Sort of ironic that the person rating OP as dumb is called "TheForeigner" :v:

[QUOTE=JohanGS;33511020]Isn't it fuisteis and vais?[/QUOTE] Yeah, well, it depends. In most spanish speaking countries (all of latinamerica) people use the pronoun [B]"Ustedes"[/B] instead of [B]"Vosotros"[/B]. Ustedes is a modern pronoun (Much like in french [B]on[/B] being more common than [B]nous[/B]). In Spain however, people tend to use more vosotros and so, they conjugate verbs in the way you pointed out. For instance: Vosotros [B]sabéis[/B] (to know) [B]Camináis[/B](to walk) [B]Habláis[/B] (to talk) Something worth pointing out, similar to French, there are the pronouns [B]usted[/B] and [B]vos[/B], usted is a second person pronoun used when talking to someone you ought to respect (a teacher, your boss, an important figure, etc..). [B]Vos[/B] used to mean the same but since people stopped using [B]vosotros[/B], vos is now only used in some countries like Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Honduras and some regions of Venezuela and Colombia, yet they use it when talking to a regular person (a friend, family, etc..) and they use "usted" for talking politely.

[QUOTE=Glorbo;33494205] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? -Your FUCKING EXCEPTIONS [B]FUCK[/B] Hebrew is a very neat and organized language, since it hasn't changed much in the last 3000 years. For example, If you give me the old testament in Hebrew, or any old Hebrew text for that matter, I can read and understand about 98% of it right away, and the other 2% from context-The only difference across the years is the Grammar, not the actual words and expressions, so it's more like a different dialect than a different language. English has changed so much that I doubt I, or even you, can read something written only 400 years ago and properly understand it. English has a lot of leftover bullshit in its grammar and spelling, and it pisses me off. [/QUOTE] Ahahaha, in my experience french is worse.

[i]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now?[/i] -Age 5. It was a disney VCR that with sing-along songs taught me "mommy", "daddy" and "how are you?" :v: I consider myself kind-of fluent, but not quite enough yet. [i]2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa?[/i] -I speak way better than I type. I don't know why, it's the opposite in my native language. [i]3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [/i] -University. I'm studing languages. And when I talk/rant to myself (see 76) [i]4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of?[/i] -They way people, even teachers, pronounce things here in Italy. For example everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, say "chew" instead of "two": one, chew, three, four :v: [i]9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult?[/i] -Well.. Let's say that beside school, which taught me well, I learnt much from songs and subtitled movies. [i]76. When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both?[/i] -Fun question. When I have to type or talk in english I think in english. I often happen to talk to myself in englsh after seeing a subtitled movie or having listened music for a while. :v: Happens the same for german and spanish, but yeah when I rant to myself I rant in english. :v: And what the fuck, 1,2,3,4,9,76? :v:

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? Started learning at kindergarden and no, not fully fluent but enough to get shit done. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? I think I can speak better once I warm up and adopt scot-welsh mixture accent to hide my horrible estonian one that's almost impossible to rid of. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? occationally when chatting with me friends 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? past perfects and preset inperfects kind of stuff, like all of them. Never bothered to learn them at all and I have never needed to. Managed to pass all tests and exams without knowing a thing about them. 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? Mostly I learned it from vidya and movies with older friend teaching me. I remember learning the word "match" from RA2 when I ran around yelling "Don't play with matches" and then my friend told me what match meant. 75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that? not scandinavian but can understand and speak some fin 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? Both, depending on subject or mood.

I'm slightly jealous. Non-native English speakers can write/speak better then I can and the only country outside the US I've been in was Canada, and not even a full 20 miles into it! Sentence construction is my mortal enemy.

I lived in Japan and I spoke English at an international school. I learned it in a few months and I still speak it quite fluently.

[QUOTE=barttool;33507983]Another grievance I have with english is the fact that you use the same pronoun for animals as you would for objects. Why?! :( I call my cat a "she", because she's a living thing.[/QUOTE] For animals sometimes it is hard to differentiate the sexes, so it's safer to call them 'it'. At first glance a female cat is indistinguishable from a male cat. If you know the sex of the animal it's correct to call them 'he' or 'she'.

[quote] 1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? [b]When I was like five or six, and watched my older brother play Half-Life. I'd say it's fluid enough.[/b] 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? [b]None is particularly hard, but I still think it's easier to type it than speak it.[/b] 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [b]I've caught myself thinking in English for no apparent reason. But apart from that, no.[/b] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? [b]Some accents, such as Scottish.[/b] 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? [b]I joined FacePunch in 2006. Back then I had the equivalent of a C in English. In 2007 I had the equivalent of an A. The Internet, movies and games help alot.[/b] 75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that? [b]Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians understand eachother pretty well. The grammatical structure of the three are identical to eachother, just slightly different words and accents.[/b] [/quote]

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? Learned basics at school, started playing wow, learned the actual language there, started playing blockland and learned grammar and spelling from there I would say I can speak it fluently 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? I would say it's about equal 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? Very rarely 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? nope 75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that? I only know danish. 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? It's a mix..

[B]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now?[/B] - At a very young age, when I got my gameboy color and pokemon yellow came out. [B]2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa?[/B] -Hm, good question. If someone had asked me this a couple of years ago I'd say I prefer writing, but now they're both pretty equal. [B]3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [/B] -More often than I speak and write in my own native langugage. It happens when your significant other speaks english as well. [B]4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of?[/B] -Nothing really, I have more troube spelling in swedish at this point. I pretty much never write in swedish at all, so when I finally do have to write something down, I sometimes fuck up. [B]9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult?[/B] -I started learning english by playing lots of videogames as a kid. We started with english early on in grade school, but by the time we did that I knew more than they thaught me and it continued like that until I finished my education. I learned everything from games and internet, and I had a period in my life where I read tons and tons of books and fanfiction pretty much 24/7. [B]75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that?[/B] -I understand norwegian and danish well, then again I'm half-danish and was spoken to in danish by my grandma constantly, so no wonder it got stuck. I can't speak either of them though. [B]76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both?[/B] -Since I used to write a lot, I've thought in english for many years. My dreams are almost always in english, unless by some weird stroke of luck I start speaking polish, swedish or french randomly in them. It happens. But I still count things in swedish, oddly enough. I quietly mutter "ett, två tre, fyre... etc" instead of "one, two, three, four..." Not sure why, hah.

[QUOTE=LiquidNazgul;33493209]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now?[/quote] Lived in Ireland for a year, 98-99 I think. Lost the accent, but not the skill. Still fluent. [QUOTE=LiquidNazgul;33493209]2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa?[/quote] Type it, I suppose. I'm not really a bad speaker either, but my current accent might make it a bit hard to understand. [QUOTE=LiquidNazgul;33493209]3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet?[/quote] I speak English jokingly with my mom all the time. [QUOTE=LiquidNazgul;33493209]4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of?[/quote] I never learned the grammar rules, just to speak fluently, so if there's ever a grammar-related question in school etc I have to think hard about it. [QUOTE=LiquidNazgul;33493209]9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult?[/quote] Answer for the former is up there. I frankly don't remember whether it was hard or not, it's been over ten years. One of the first phrases I learned was "Would you pass me the milk, please?" [QUOTE=LiquidNazgul;33493209]. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that?[/quote] Swedish, Danish and Norwegian are practically the same language, with some minor differences. They can hold up a casual conversation with each other quite easily. Finnish comes from a completely different language family, but we have compulsory Swedish education here. I suck at Swedish, however. [QUOTE=LiquidNazgul;33493209]76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? [/quote] A bit of both, but mostly in English I guess.

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? Third grade, I was completely terrible, I even hated it a bit. Now, yes. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? Type. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? Very rarely. 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? I guess the rules that apply for all words except those 11 thousand exceptions. I have no problem with that though since I don't know any of the rules. 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? Internet. I was still pretty horrible until I got to Facepunch. Thanks to Garry's grammar nazi regime back then I improved massively. 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? It happens, mostly regarding topics that I almost exclusively discuss in English. Though knowing your native word and thinking about it knowing what it is and not the english word is annoying. Vice versa is even worse.

[QUOTE=LiquidNazgul;33493209]As a linguist I've found it fascinatingly fascinating that Facepunch has an unusually large population of people that can speak English well AND it's not their native language, since many other forums I haunt are full of people who can't speak it, or type it anyway, to save their own lives (and a few of those people were native English speakers, go figure). I also think it's cool that the Scandinavian nations, along with Germany and Holland (of which Facepunch also holds an unusually large number of) all basically indoctrinate their kids at a young age to speak English. Hell I think they do this in many other European countries but in those nations in particular it seems almost everyone there has at least a smattering of English. Not so much in France or Spain, for whatever reason. And in America? Well I think that's self-explanatory. So now, non-native English speakers, if that's the correct name, I'm hoping you can answer some of my probing-ing questions: 1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? 75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that? 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? And if you have anything else to add by all means do.[/QUOTE] I'm a german guy living in norway,so I learn both english and norwegian right now. 1. Started learning it in 3rd grade, yes I would. 2. I'd say type it better than speak, but only because I don't get to speak a lot. 3. Not often, only in school. 4. The pronounciation of some words was pretty hard at the start, and some grammar doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but nothing apart from that. 9. Learned it from school. 75. Not scandinavian, but I get a sense of what you mean, swedish and norwegian are pretty similar and for someone who can speak norwegian it's pretty easy to understand basic swedish. 76. Bit of both.

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? When I was young. And sure, you can say so. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? Type/write because I have a not-very-noticable accent. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? All the time, I never use my motherlanguage on the internet :V 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? Nothing, really. 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? I... honestly don't know. I guess it's because of the environment I'm living in. 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? Both, actually, but it depends on the current environment I'm sitting in.

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? [B]Around third grade, which would make me..9? I would say I am fluent enough although there is always room for improvement.[/B] 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? [B]Writing has always been my stronger side. I rarely get to practice speaking english so the first few hours before I get accustomed to the pronunciation will sound a bit garbled. [/B] 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [B]As a complete language? Almost never. In the form of loose phrases? Daily. [/B] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? [B]Not that I can think of, no.[/B] 75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that? [B]I don't really know any other scandinavian languages, but as swedish/norwegian/danish is (to a certain degree) mutually intelligible there's no real reason for learning the grammar and such.[/B] 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? [B]Both, depending on context.[/B]

1. When did you start learning English [B]At the age of 5 or 6[/B]? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? [B]No[/B] 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? [B]I type better than I speak it[/B] 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [B]Seldom[/B] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? [B]Nah[/B] 75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that? I can read and understand the other Scandinavian languages (they are really similar!), but I'm not as good as speaking them 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? A bit of both

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? When I was about 3 or 4, my family bought cable TV and one of the channels that came with it was Cartoon Network. Obviously, it was English only. I was hooked ever since. Fully fluent - I'm not really sure. I can talk with no problems with someone else who speaks English, but I sometimes still have problems getting certain phrases or names for things (mostly related to food). 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? I think I can type it better, but that's because I'm kindof shy in real life I suppose. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? I think in English most of the day. 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? I suppose it's not really related to English itself, but I hate the way gangsters or idiots on the internet destroy it. Can't remember the example that makes me rage the most right now. 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? I used to watch every show I could on Cartoon Network even though I didn't understand anything. My mom noticed I seemed to like the language and set me up for English course in kindergarten, then in the first two years of elementary school. After that, I knew English best out of my school, even kept correcting the teachers sometimes, which got me into a truckload of problems usually. 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? explained in 3: I think in English mostly.

[B]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? [/B] 3 years old, and yes. [B]2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa?[/B] I think I'm better at written English, but only because I don't have that many people to speak it to. [B]3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [/B] Scarcely in full sentences, although I can't help but to wedge a word or two into an Arabic sentence every once in a while. [B]4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of?[/B] Well, I got used to it. Arabic is much more expressive though. [B]9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult?[/B] My grandpa was a ship captain who spoke English to me amongst other languages. (Spanish, Latin, etc.) Later on, I picked a lot from movies. When I grew up I started reading English literature. Our schools don't offer that much. [I]75. For Scandinavians, kinda off-topic but: how many other Scandinavian languages do you know? I ask because apparently more than a few of you guys can speak at least one or two other Scandinavian languages with at least basic conversation level. Do you get a sense of that?[/I] [B]76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? [/B] Bits of both. Strangely enough, it also happens subconsciously in my dreams.