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

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? [B]As soon as I was able to play a pokémon game, so at about 8 years old. I'm good at deriving the meaning of words by their context, so while my pronunciation was probably very off at points, I understood most of the words. There was also television, things like The Simpsons helped as well. I do consider myself pretty much fluent. By the time I was actually taught English in school there wasn't really much for me to learn, especially at first.[/B] 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? [B]I suppose I can usually type it better, since I do it more often and have started learning it without any pronunciation, but I can't say my oral skills are way behind my written skills.[/B] 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [B]Daily. I usually slap some English in my everyday conversations. I feel that some things just sound so much better in English than they do in Dutch.[/B] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? [B]The typical redneck accent. It makes me cringe. Also people who can't speak proper English, they can drive me insane.[/B] 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? [B]Video games, mainly Pokémon, as well as television. [/B] 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? [B]It depends, when I'm alone I do a lot of thinking in English, and it's usually very fluent. It's like practising. There are also times where I'm with friends and I'm thinking in English and I can't find the Dutch translation of a certain word. :v:[/B]

1.When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? -[B]My first language was English. My parents wanted me to be fluent in English rather than Malay. So I learned Malay later on in life. And yes I consider myself fluent in English.[/B] 2.Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? -[B]I can do both.[/B] 3.How often do you use English when not on the Internet? -[B]I use it very often. Unless I'm talking to my Malay friends.[/B] 4.Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? -[B]Yes. People who think English is useless and people who can't speak or type proper English[/B] 9.If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? -[B]Television, books, videogames, the internet and my parents[/B] 76.(Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? -[B]I think in English.[/B]

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? [B]Don't quite remember, 6-8 years old, I believe, but I also learned a lot before that, mainly from watching movies. Would consider myself fluent.[/B] 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? [B]I'd imagine I'm a little better at typing, mostly because of my accent, which sounds strange[/B] 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [B]Rarely, but some times it has been useful.[/B] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? [B]Not really[/B] 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? [B]As I said, I begun to learn a lot through movies, but we also had it in school.[/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 Swedish, and Danish to an extent. I can read both, and I can read some German as well, even though it's not a scandinavian language. I cannot speak any of them.[/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, but mostly Norwegian I think. When I am aware of it I seem to switch to English, but when not thinking about it I normally use Norwegian.[/B]

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? [B]Learned it in fifth grade in school, but I had a good basic knowledge even before from god knows where. And yes, I speak it fluently.[/B] 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? [B]My gramar is pretty weak, I speak better than I write.[/B] 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [B]Sometimes at conferences or events.[/B] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? [B]Irregular verbs. And "then" and "than"[/b] 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? [B]I learned most of it in movies and I perfected it together with the Janus Syndicate. They always pointed out my bad pronunciation in a harsh but amusing way... I miss the old time ) ;[/B] 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? [B]Bit of both.[/B] Also: I speak fully without an accent! No "Zhe dog did go zhis way" or "Mai schnitzel goes dat way." People who know me or have seen machinimas starring me in it can confirm this.

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? When I was a baby. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? I can do both, I am skillful v:v:v 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? All the time! :dance: 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? The people who speak it

[QUOTE=<Insert Name>;33493259] 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? I sometimes think in english. And there are moments when I could've sworn I saw an english youtube video with german language and the other way round.[/QUOTE] ^ THIS. 1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? [b]My first english lessons were in the 4th grade I would consider myself fluent when writing posts like this, although speaking fluently is still hard for me[/b] 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? [b]As above - typing and reading is alot easier for me Understanding spoken english is harder than reading english texts[/b] 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [b]There are the occasional people asking me what a word means Otherwise i don't use english at all when i'm not on the net.[/b] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? [b]I hate having to pronounce 'R' as in 'Rocket', it sounds so weird.[/b] 5. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? [b]^ THIS - Why do i notice myself thinking in english so often?! I'm at the computer like 6 hours a day - maybe i should lay off the net a bit? :v:[/b]

It's kind of weird how English is slowly subsuming nearly every other language.

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? [B]I just kept playing games in English, forced me to pick it up somewhat. I consider myself a fluent speaker of English, I make about as many fuckups in English as I do when speaking Danish.[/B] 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? [B]It's a bit back and forth, depending on how I'm feeling, typically it's roughly the same though.[/B] 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [B]Rarely, however I spend about as much time on the internet as I do off of it.[/B] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? [B]No, I consider it easier than other languages the regular school tried to teach me, such as German.[/B] 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? [B]Primarily through interaction on the internet, and having a dictionary in my lap at all times when I was younger. Also via Playstation 1 games.[/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]No, I don't get what these other scandies say at all.[/B] :v: 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? [B]Bit of both, however I need a few seconds swapping between each, or I get all confused and speak a broken mixture of both. Regarding speech that is. When alone or on the internet I also think English, so one might argue that my 'native' tongue could be considered English rather than Danish, this is also reflected in my tech college grades. I also know words in either language that I don't quite know how to explain in the other, and sometimes I forget a word in one of them.[/B]

[B]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now?[/B] I feel a bit fluent, but opera's spell check may have spoiled me a bit lately. [B]2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa?[/B] I think I can write it as fluent as I write in Norwegian, but I have problems speaking it, because I can't sometimes find some words spontaneously and I have a bit too native accent. [B] 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [/B] I don't use English a lot normally, apart from school of course. [B] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of?[/B] Not really. When you learn a language since you are about 6 years old, you end up getting good at it some way. [B] 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult?[/B] I learned it on school, it was difficult in the start like any other new language, but it got easier when I learned it better. [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 Swedish and Danish, but Finnish and Icelandic are too different. I find it a bit weird that we don't understand a lot Icelandic because it once in history was our main language, but it got changed over time. There is a lot of story on how it changed, pretty interesting as well in my opinion. [B] 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both?[/B] I usually think in Norwegian, but English for me is not a "secondary" language which I have problems thinking/speaking/writing in, but it is more like a "secondary main" language and it is being taught all over Europe by law, still, our teachers in any other subjects still speak in our native languages.

[QUOTE=LiquidNazgul;33493209][B]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now?[/B] I was born with the slightest bit of television to guide me through my childhood. As soon as I started being coherent both in Hebrew and in what was around me (around the age of 3, 3.5), I started being fascinated with the fact that I can't understand some shows in my telly. I was then very quickly introduced to English and my mother gave me an alphabet practice book - which in retrospect ironically made me learn the English alphabet before I even learned the Hebrew alphabet. I kept watching shows in English (As I grew it mainly evolved to ye olde Cartoon Network and Discovery Channel), and I was also swept into the English world - and [B]finished[/B] Half Life for the first time when I was about 5 or 6. From then on it was just constant exposure to English that improved it little by little. I am now fully fluent in English. [B]2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa?[/B] Normally I can type English better than I speak it, but if I speak it long enough to return to my comfort zone I speak English fluently with a hint of a scandinavian accent (so I've been told, even though I'm from Israel) [B]3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [/B] Almost not at all. [B]4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of?[/B] I do have a couple of weird things. One being I unusually favor English over Hebrew, the other being I'm actually better in English than Hebrew nowadays. [B]9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult?[/B] Refer to question No. 1 [B]76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? [/B] I think in English, unless I very recently spoke in Hebrew.[/QUOTE] Fuck yus

[QUOTE=DOG-GY;33530179]"a" versus "an" depends on whether or not a vowel is part of the object you're referring to. "an apple" "a car" "a bird" "an ice cream" "a drink" the exceptions to this to this is when an object with a name starting with a consonant sounds like a vowel when spoken, IE "an xbox" "an honest man" the other exception being when the name of an object starts with a vowel but sounds like a consonant when spoken, IE "a one-eyed guy" "a union" [url]http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/591/1/[/url] [editline]1st December 2011[/editline] I'm gonna go through some posts and write up responses to troubles with english.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=DOG-GY;33530502]The biggest problem it seems people have apart from easy mistakes like pronunciation or spelling is using tenses. I looked over this resource, and it basically covers everything you need to know about tenses. It's not too hard once you figure out how we use the words in context. Someone said having gender differentiation between people sounds silly to them. In response here's a hypothetical scenario. I'm telling a friend about a girl I saw in the park. Using "her" and "she" I can say things like "She walked past me." "Her hair was dark." If we didn't have that, it would have to be "The girl walked past me." or "The girl's hair was dark." Really it's a good way to refer to someone without having to constantly say "the girl" or something similar.[/QUOTE] The problem isn't that we can't learn it, it is because a lot of people can't get used to it when we have the same word for a and an and is and are. At least in Scandinavia as far as I know we also don't say "I am doing ...", but we say "I doing ..." so we have a grammar a lot different than yours which makes it a bit hard to get used to the English grammar. This might be a bit hard to explain to a person who knows a language fluently, through.

When I was young (around 5 or 6 years old), I used to think every Dutch letter was different in English. I only knew about three words: "Yes", "no" and "hello". "Hallo" is Dutch for Hello. I thought that every Dutch "a" is an English "e". For the Dutch "Nee", the "ee" in Dutch would be "o" in English. The "yes"/"ja" was harder :v:. Really, I thought learning a language is getting to know which letters are which in the other language. Once you know the different alphabet, you're a fluent English speaker :v:. Oh me and my weird theories back then :v: 1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? I knew three words when I was 5 or six years old. In 7th grade we started English lessons. You learn very basic English. But the telly also teaches people some. I consider myself fluent. In the past few years I've focused on pronunciation too. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? I'd say my typing is better since I can correct any mistakes. You can't press backspace in casual speech. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? Often. Reports I write in Uni are in English. Some books I read in uni are written in American English. As a computer science student I often use English terms since the Dutch equivalents are either shit or non-existent. 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? In Dutch there are two words for "you". "U" and "jij". The difference between the two is that "u" is used to address adults or people with status whereas "jij" is used for peers. I've gotten used to it, but I used to think it's weird that even the president would be addressed by with "you". That and grammar rules that are very different than Dutch/German/French ones. 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? School and internet. Mostly internet though. 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'm not Scandinavian, but I know Dutch, English, German and French. 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? Both. It's weird. It depends on the subject. When I think about American politics, computer science things or things like that it's in English. My shopping list for tomorrow is thought about in Dutch. And if you have anything else to add by all means do. English is an important language. Not knowing it can cause great problems.

[B]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now?[/B] 2nd grade. I came to United States without knowing a single word or letters of the alphabet. Yes. [B]2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa?[/B] vice versa [B]3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [/B] Daily [B]4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of?[/B] Grammar :v: English is such a weird language. [B]76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both?[/B] My native tongue. Korean. If I forget the word in Korean, in english :v: It's weird...

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? When I was like, seven or eight? idk. Environment full of english + A child's curiosity = English. Well, I would consider myself to be fully fluent atm. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? Speak it. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? Quite often. I'm a teacher. 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? Not really a problem for me, as I got used to them, but for other brazilians vowel sounds sure are a pain in the ass. 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? You could say I got bombarded with stuff in english when I was a kid. Oh, and the internet and videogames. Got my first computer and internet when I was eight. Couple of years later, I got the hang of it. 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? English. weirdest thing ever, sometimes I even mistake english for portuguese and people go all "uh dude what are you saying." 92. Do you have an accent? Most people say I have some sort of scottish slash british accent.

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? Third grade. Not fluent but not bad either. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? Depends. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? Almost daily 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? The word Three. When I say it, it just sounds like Tree. :( 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? Movies, games, dad, school, and mostly by working.

[B]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now?[/B] When I was like 6-8 years old I guess, only knew a few words back then. School started teaching it on the 3rd grade. I think I'm pretty good, but I still make mistakes. [B]2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa?[/B] I think I can type it better. I can speak English too, but not as well as I can type it IMO. [B]3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet?[/B] Never, except on the English classes. [B]4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of?[/B] Can't think of anything. [B]9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult?[/B] I did learn it from school, but I think most of the learning was done by playing games, browsing different forums and going through the dictionary. [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 a little bit, that's about it. Finnish is very different from other Scandinavian languages, well, Finland isn't really a part of Scandinavia. Extended Scandinavia I believe. [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 my native tongue.

[b]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now?[/b] Around third grade I believe. Our school back then had this experimental system too which let you take classes at your own level. I was good at English so I was always a grade higher in the English class meant for the older kids. (An older kid could also have a lower grade of English if they are struggling to catch up etc.) I would consider myself fully fluent now. [b] 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa?[/b] I constantly type in English but I still think I am better at speaking. [b] 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? [/b] Mainly when being sarcastic or saying something silly. Which I tend to do a lot. [b] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of?[/b] The spelling of words such as tough and though. Which are completely retarded. [b] 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult?[/b] I just played a lot of videogames, like a lot of people around these parts. Mainly MMOs like Runescape and World of Warcraft helped me since you have to constantly communicate with other players. The English courses at school have not taught me anything since the sixth grade. Or so it seems. I am 18 now so that was quite a while ago. [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 only speak Swedish but I can understand Danish and Norwegian. Sort of. I am not a native of Sweden though, born here but both of my parents came here from Iran, so naturally, I speak Farsi. [b] 76. When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both?[/b] I mainly think in English, strangely enough.

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? 7 years, and yes. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? I type it better. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? Nearly never. 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? Unlike most people, the word definitely is easy pie for me (It is just de-finite-ly, jeez how hard is it to understand word structures) 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? I learned it from wikipedia when I was 7 years old, I didn't have any difficulties. 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? I sometimes think in English. It does help if you know latin [editline]9th December 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=4NGRY MUFF1N;33644222] 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? The word Three. When I say it, it just sounds like Tree. :( [/QUOTE] Why can't you just remember to say "free"? Actually it is more like "dfree"

[QUOTE=uitham;33645140]1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? 7 years, and yes. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? I type it better. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? Nearly never. 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? Unlike most people, the word definitely is easy pie for me (It is just de-finite-ly, jeez how hard is it to understand word structures) 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? I learned it from wikipedia when I was 7 years old, I didn't have any difficulties. 76. (Got this idea from Yzoo) When thinking, do you think in your native tongue or English, or a bit of both? I sometimes think in English. It does help if you know latin [editline]9th December 2011[/editline] Why can't you just remember to say "free"? Actually it is more like "dfree"[/QUOTE] But with my accent it sounds completely different and/or retarded.

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im from brazil, 21 never had a single english class 1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? When i was 16 and started playing diablo 2, my compatriots players were fucking lame so i had to start playing with amerifaggots. Fluente at reading and listening, not so much at typing and no fucking clue speaking. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? type better than speak, actualy never spoke english to any1 so im clueless. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? Everyday reading books from my graduation course at college 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? not much about language but their fuckimg imperial system sucks, YOU FUCKING CUNTS Y U NO SI, fucking sucks to be converting the goddamn units everytime i need to use an english book 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? I had a dictionary at the side of my computer and that was about it... everything i did not know i would just look up on it and, since i was 24/7 on the computer typing with americans, i learned realy fast, and it was very peace of cake, english are easy.

1. When did you start learning English? Would you consider yourself fully fluent now? Around age 10. Fully fluent. 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? Pretty good in both. 3. How often do you use English when not on the Internet? Never. No one here speaks english. 4. Anything particularly weird or frustrating about English you know of? Stupid amount of useless tenses like perfect, normal or whatever blabla 9. If you didn't learn English from school, how did you learn it? Was it difficult? By playing RPGs on a computer. That's what got me really motivated. Other than english I am also fully fluent in Latvian and Russian, not very fluent but ok is also German.

[QUOTE=Jewsuses;33657896] 2. Can you type it better than speak it, or vice versa? type better than speak, actualy never spoke english to any1 so im clueless. [/QUOTE] I had the same problem with Swedish. Since the only time I ever use it is online, if i actually tried to speak it, my pronunciation would be horrible.

[QUOTE=jeimizu;33668413]I had the same problem with Swedish. Since the only time I ever use it is online, if i actually tried to speak it, my pronunciation would be horrible.[/QUOTE] What have you done to get better? I'm thinking about traveling trough europe next year and i realy need to be speaking fluently till then...

Jag talar melko hyvää english with many different words från erilaisista languages