Do you have any cool/funny stories about learning a foreign language? Or how you didn't know a foreign language and wished that you did?

I'm doing something in school about why it's important to learn (a foreign language)/(foreign languages). Any input by tomorrow would be nice, but I'm also curious about your experiences in learning a new language.

I can speak Vietnamese quite well, but I am terrible when it comes to spelling. Obviously having been taught at an early age, it was easy to pick up. I was then enrolled in Vietnamese school once a week every Saturday until year 11 which I dropped. I felt that I stopped improving after year 7. I had a decent, however not an elaborate vocabulary, and my ability to distinguish between certain accents while writing remained unimproved. That said, I can still hold a conversation with my parents, but sometimes I need to substitute English words in to explain certain things.
Most likely, the lack of improvement was related to my lack of motivation for wanting to learn more Vietnamese. I took it for granted.

Other then Vietnamese I was taught a small bit of Italian. I had no incentive to learn it other then to get good grades for my report. Needless to say, I forgot almost everything I learnt except a few phrases and words.

I guess what I've learnt about taking up a language is that you need motivation. And to get motivated, you need a good reason and something to remind you to keep at it.

Thanks, guys. This is cool and interesting. But does learning another language really decrease Alzheimers and dementia?


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Goliath-Daniel
#1

I'm still learning the Kanji. Kanji is awesome to learn.

I'm a Chinese person, but I don't consider English a foreign language anymore.
However, I consider Putonghua (or Mandarin or Chinese to you people) a foreign language. Since I live in Hong Kong, Putonghua doesn't come naturally. Here in Hong Kong, we speak a slightly-similar but mostly-different dialect called Cantonese. Putonghua was a compulsory subject in our curriculum up to Grade 9.
I used to like Putonghua because I had this hired tutor who used to come to my home and teach me and my sister. That was when I was still 6-11 years old. After that, I started to dislike Putonghua because, you know what, screw it. I don't need Putonghua. It's really boring. All that stuff.
So yeah, now I'm really rusty at Putonghua.
(BTW for you people who don't know, the word 'Putonghua', when broken down, is 'Pu Tong Hua', which means 'original language' in Putonghua/Mandarin)

Quote from N T

Thanks, guys. This is cool and interesting. But does learning another language really decrease Alzheimers and dementia?

Yes it does, because by learning another language, you're making your brain remember a whole new vocabulary, with new accents and new ways to write/say sentences. Learning a new language helps you in a looot of ways.

I have spanish and english at my current disposal, and learning japanese bit by bit.
It's fun as hell, and the thought of being able to increasingly understand a language that would have otherwise looked gibberish to any foreign person keeps me going.

I currently know Malay(Master), English(Intermediate), Arab(Noob), Korean(Noob), Japanese(Noob).
I plan to master them all, and I just need determination lol (except for japanese, im burning to learn that shit)

@Camila, Hm, Thanks for the info, I didnt know that.

Native language: Arabic
Second language: English
I speak both very well.
Trying to learn French and taking basic course at school. I suck at it though :P
I wish I had been taught proper French at an earlier age, I would've mastered it much more easily.

I actually plan to take Korean language classes sometime in the future. And brush up on my knowledge of the culture and the language of Korea. It's just always seemed interesting and the writing style is sort of artwork in itself... Damnit, were's Berlinky or Prana when you need them?

나는 한국 타이핑 및 번역 작업을 시작했습니다하지만 확실히는 여전히 완벽한 미만을 제공합니다.

Quote from Jombo

Who?

Two newbies to the community. Although their animation skills are amazing. They both speak Korean fluently, wich makes sense considering they are Korean.

Berlinky
Prana

I also think that Berlinky is Gumballs girlfriend... idk.

PRANA is SML from FA, not really new.
Berlinky is a friend of his I believe, like seo buki I think it was.
I assume they're from another site.

Quote from Jombo

N T you should read this too. It's also very informative.

It's true that languages aren't really learned in school if you don't try. I took French classes, but I really don't know much French at all. I'm pretty good at Arabic, though, and I was surprised that it was listed as one of the hardest languages to learn. I guess since I just grew up with it.

Quote from N T

It's true that languages aren't really learned in school if you don't try. I took French classes, but I really don't know much French at all. I'm pretty good at Arabic, though, and I was surprised that it was listed as one of the hardest languages to learn. I guess since I just grew up with it.

Arabic is considered tough because:
Difficult to get used to letters. There's actually a letter in it with a sound that is only found in Arabic, ض. You're supposed to say it like Ḍād.
Also read this:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Arabic/Arabic_sounds

Also It has some pretty tough grammar rules.