Learning languages worldwide

Sabrina · Nov 13, 2015

Foreign languages I learned:
English for 13 years (from grade 2 to 12 and 2 years in University)
French for 8 years (grade 5 to 12), slightly frozen now
Spanish for 3 years (Instituto Cervantes). Easier to read/understand than talk-again partly frozen
I read/understand Italian very well (but I find it difficult to speak correctly)
I have super limited knowledge of German.
Because I speak many Latin languages I can partly understand written Portuguese.
Spoken Portuguese is on par with spoken German :laugh:

alebi · Nov 15, 2015

Winnie_20 said:
What a fun thread!
I've probably got most of you beat when it comes to number of languages. That's what you get for living in a tiny country with its own language, and being descendent from a nation of traders. You want to make something of your life? You're gonna end up outside the borders of your country, and you cannot expect anybody to speak your language, so you have to learn the languages around you. I was taught six: Dutch (native), English, German, French, Latin and Greek.

Granted, I cannot speak Latin and Greek, but nowadays I realize how useful they have been, both in my school years, and after. I can read Italian, Spanish and Catalan just because I learned Latin (and, especially with Catalan, French), and when on holiday in Greece, after a few weeks, and realizing that most of the vowels I'd learned had changed into other vowel sounds in modern Greek, I could actually understand the conversations. Heck, the other day I joined a friend at a Japanese speaking class she was taking, just for fun, and within five minutes, I was creating and speaking the same sentences the people in the class were, without ever having learned any Japanese. The secret to that, of course, is not knowing a million words (although it sure is handy), but understanding grammar. ;-)

The only regret I have is that I didn't opt to learn Spanish in school; it was an 'after normal classes' optional class, and at the time I thought six languages was enough. But given how easy it was at that age to learn them all, I should just have done Spanish as well. I can read it okay, but I wish I could speak it just as well.

I have a Dutch friend who speaks so many foreign languages like you (and he easily travel to London, France and German in a couple of hours so he can actually speak those languages). I'm very envious

I've studied French and English and during my high school Latin and ancient Greek but... the last two were not my favourite subjects :laugh:

(at least I can read Greek alphabet). As an Italian, I find easier to understand a written Spanish text instead of verbal conversation (they speak SOOOOO fast :eekn: ), while some years ago I got used to hear Romanian and I've found it also pretty funny

My dream is to speak, read and understand Japanese. I'm very far from fulfilling my dream, I can say and write only the essential, but every time I hear my Japanese friend speaking Italian (she lives in Italy since many years) I get excited and LOOOOOVE so much her accent. I really don't understand while many of you consider an accent as a discriminatory thing, in this particular case I can't help repeating her accent because I find it one of the cutest thing in the world!

Tavi... · Nov 15, 2015

Well guys, I'm afraid this kid has all of us beat. He speaks 20 languages, and he's, gasp, American!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Km9-DiFaxpU&autoplay=1

TrishaG · Nov 15, 2015

alebi said:
My dream is to speak, read and understand Japanese. I'm very far from fulfilling my dream, I can say and write only the essential, but every time I hear my Japanese friend speaking Italian (she lives in Italy since many years) I get excited and LOOOOOVE so much her accent. I really don't understand while many of you consider an accent as a discriminatory thing, in this particular case I can't help repeating her accent because I find it one of the cutest thing in the world!

I actually love accents and have a weird talent for mimicking them. I can actually do several accents while speaking Japanese, which is my party trick (British, U.S. Southern, Russian, and anime style Japanese). However, I'm horribly embarrassed when I try to speak Spanish because my accent is either so completely American to the point that it sounds like I'm mocking Americans who speak Spanish poorly...or it's Italian. I can't speak Italian, other than a few curses I picked up from my dad. My dad does speak some Italian, so I guess I just heard it more than Spanish? I really can't explain it, but it's ridiculous. And my French is terrible. When I had take a term of it in 6th grade, I got my first "B" ever and it was on an oral test saying the numbers 1-20. Apparently, the number four is not pronounced like cat, the number 8 is not pronounced like wheat and nine (neuf, I think?) is not pronounced like Nerf (aka the company that makes foam footballs).

Like I said, I'm great at accents while speaking English, my accent in Japanese is very good, and it's pretty good in Russian for my level. That's probably why my inability to speak Spanish or French with decent accents is so embarrassing to me, lol.

alebi · Nov 16, 2015

TrishaG said:
I actually love accents and have a weird talent for mimicking them. I can actually do several accents while speaking Japanese, which is my party trick (British, U.S. Southern, Russian, and anime style Japanese). However, I'm horribly embarrassed when I try to speak Spanish because my accent is either so completely American to the point that it sounds like I'm mocking Americans who speak Spanish poorly...or it's Italian. I can't speak Italian, other than a few curses I picked up from my dad. My dad does speak some Italian, so I guess I just heard it more than Spanish? I really can't explain it, but it's ridiculous. And my French is terrible. When I had take a term of it in 6th grade, I got my first "B" ever and it was on an oral test saying the numbers 1-20. Apparently, the number four is not pronounced like cat, the number 8 is not pronounced like wheat and nine (neuf, I think?) is not pronounced like Nerf (aka the company that makes foam footballs).

Like I said, I'm great at accents while speaking English, my accent in Japanese is very good, and it's pretty good in Russian for my level. That's probably why my inability to speak Spanish or French with decent accents is so embarrassing to me, lol.

I can't speak German, I only know something like 10 words, but Italians are so used to hear Germans talking our language (given also the presence of Alto-Adige/Sud-Tyrol region) that everyone is able to repeat their funny accent :biggrin:

And I'm saying it with all my heart and respect. The British accent is another one really funny in Italian. And in Italy there are so many dialects that it's really so common to hear someone making fun of another person coming from another area.

I think that when Americans try to repeat the Italian accent (English spoke by Italians), the main trait is our inability to pronounce the "TH" sound correctly :laugh:

(and you have so many TH words :hopelessness: ). My personal trick is to pronounce "the" with D letter instead of T, it's not correct but at least it sounds more similar

. The "R" sound is another tricky one for us but also vice versa (when you want to make fun of English accent go with the R sound and you won't get wrong

).

I want to know which are the other characteristics Americans use when you want to repeat our accent. It can also be useful!

dorispulaski · Nov 16, 2015

alebi said:
I want to know which are the other characteristics Americans use when you want to repeat our accent. It can also be useful!

Here's a good tutorial for Italians trying to speak English like Americans, or for Americans trying to speak American English like an Italian!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GKrnCOJqkE

dia · Nov 16, 2015

Deleted

dia · Nov 16, 2015

Hungarians tried hard for centuries to assimilate Romanians, descendants of Dacians. It was impossible. Romanians were too many and deeply attached to their traditional homeland.
In the deep heart of Transylvania some Romanians speak Hungarian language, just to live at peace with their neighbors. Hungarians don't want to speak Romanian. So, no fears, nobody is assimilating them.
:noshake: For Hungarians, Romanian language is too difficult :sad46: - as all romance languages. Long Live Latin! :biggrin:

I recommend you this documentary to learn about Romanians in Transylvania : Dacians - Unsettling truths - Full movie 2012 [ENG sub] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PBdNU7xAcM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfDfq0w-G34

chasingpolaris · Nov 16, 2015

I was born in the US but English and Chinese (Cantonese) were introduced at the same time in my home. My parents are from Hong Kong but my uncle’s wife at the time only spoke English and she happened to be one of my babysitters. Hence I was lucky enough to get an early start!

I picked up Mandarin in my early teens and can speak it fluently now after 10+ years, but I’ll only use it when I’m forced to. =P I can write and read in Chinese, both traditional and simplified. It’s probably the only thing about myself that I’m actually proud of as I have no other talents to speak of. Lol.

Also took three years of Spanish in high school and loved it. I still remember some verb conjugations and basic greetings. It doesn’t get me very far but I’m always happy when I do recognize a couple of words. My level of Spanish is the same as my level of Korean. I can read the alphabet, recognize some words and names, but that’s pretty much it.

For the past 7 or 8 years, I’ve been studying Japanese. It started off as a hobby, then I got serious about it in college and even more serious now as I’m doing weekly lessons on top of a full-time job. I can’t say that I’m completely fluent in it but I can read light novels and understand about 80-90% of those figure skating TV specials in Japan. I’m getting there!

Someday in the future when I’d love to learn French and Italian. If not, I’d pick up Spanish and Korean again.

Princessroja · Nov 16, 2015

Hm... I learned a smattering of Spanish in grade school, I think a year's worth. Don't remember any of it now, of course. I took French in high school and clepped it in college, with the end result that I have four years of French on my transcripts and can't speak it at all.

I can read a bit though still.

I studied Italian on my own before I visited Italy and the smattering I picked up really did help. Being able to order food and read signs was a huge bonus and made me a lot more comfortable traveling. I'm trying to pick Italian back up now, but French is tempting. I'd rather study Italian, but my husband speaks some French. I don't know *anyone* who speaks any Italian. Whatever I pick to finish first, I'd like to be fluent in both. They're such lovely languages, and I do love learning languages. I'm an editor and a captioner for my day job, so it'd be nice to be able to add translation to that. I'm a loooooooong way from being to do that though, of course.

plushyfan · Nov 16, 2015

dia said:
Hungarians tried hard for centuries to assimilate Romanians, descendants of Dacians. It was impossible. Romanians were too many and deeply attached to their traditional homeland.
In the deep heart of Transylvania some Romanians speak Hungarian language, just to live at peace with their neighbors. Hungarians don't want to speak Romanian. So, no fears, nobody is assimilating them. For Hungarians, Romanian language is too difficult - as all romance languages. Long Live Latin
I recommend you this documentary to learn about Romanians in Transylvania : Dacians - Unsettling truths - Full movie 2012 [ENG sub] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PBdNU7xAcM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfDfq0w-G34

Do you want to start our centuries-old debate here on an international figure skating forum ???

from Wikipedia( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transylvania) We learn this version in Hungarian school, maybe you learn another version what is better for the Romanians..

"It is a subject of dispute whether elements of the mixed Daco–Roman population survived in Transylvania through the Dark Ages (becoming the ancestors of modern Romanians) or the first Vlachs/Romanians appeared in the area in the 13th century after a northward migration from the Balkan Peninsula.[6][7] There is an ongoing scholarly debate over the ethnicity of Transylvania's population before the Hungarian conquest (see Origin of the Romanians).
John Hunyadi, voivode of Transylvania in the 15th century

The Magyars conquered much of Central Europe at the end of the 9th century. According to Gesta Hungarorum, Transylvania was ruled by Vlach voivode Gelou before the Hungarians arrived. The Kingdom of Hungary established a partial control over Transylvania in 1003, when king Stephen I, according to legend, defeated the prince named Gyula.[8][9][10][11] Transylvania was occupied by Hungarians in several stages between the 10th and 13th centuries[12][13] Between 1003[dubious – discuss] and 1526, Transylvania was a voivodeship in the Kingdom of Hungary, led by a voivode appointed by the King of Hungary.[citation needed] After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of János Szapolyai which, in 1571, was transformed into the Principality of Transylvania ruled primarily by Calvinist Hungarian-speaking princes. However, several ethnic groups lived in this principality the most numerous being the Romanians, along with a significant German minority. For most of this period, Transylvania, maintaining its internal autonomy, was under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire..."

I don't know what is the truth, even the historians do not even know for sure .. but a certainty, 2.5 million Hungarians lived in Transylvania circa 20 years ago .. Transylvania was annexed to Romania with the Trianon peace treaty (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Trianon) in 1920.
And, for example Nicolaie Ceausescu made every effort to assimilate the Hungarians. Perhaps you've heard of the violent destruction of the Hungarian villages. I know the situation is much better today. But you don't forget about Funar, former mayor of Cluj Napoca.. Do you know the greatest king of the Hungarians, King Matthias ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Corvinus) was Romanian? .. ...that text is on Matthias's birthplace in Cluj ( https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._Má...ia/File:Kolozsvar_Matyas_kiraly_szulohaza.JPG )....

You are right we learn very hardly in foreign language, because the Hungarian language is very different. The Romanians easily learn in French, Italian, Spanish..

That is true many hungarians didn't speak in Romanian because they live in little Hungarian villages and they don't want to learn!! But I disagree with it, if they live in Romania they need to know the Romanian language, too.

el henry · Nov 16, 2015

alebi said:
I can't speak German, I only know something like 10 words, but Italians are so used to hear Germans talking our language (given also the presence of Alto-Adige/Sud-Tyrol region) that everyone is able to repeat their funny accent And I'm saying it with all my heart and respect. The British accent is another one really funny in Italian. And in Italy there are so many dialects that it's really so common to hear someone making fun of another person coming from another area.

I think that when Americans try to repeat the Italian accent (English spoke by Italians), the main trait is our inability to pronounce the "TH" sound correctly (and you have so many TH words :hopelessness: ). My personal trick is to pronounce "the" with D letter instead of T, it's not correct but at least it sounds more similar . The "R" sound is another tricky one for us but also vice versa (when you want to make fun of English accent go with the R sound and you won't get wrong ... ).

I want to know which are the other characteristics Americans use when you want to repeat our accent. It can also be useful!

It also depends, Alebi, on what kind of Italian accent you are trying to replicate.

Many Americans use an exaggerated vowel sound, which is not actually how many Italians speak the own language. Also, Americans tend to think that if they drop a final vowel on an Italian word, they are pronouncing it like "Real Italians" (mozzarell', locatell', or my own favorite growing up, Gob-a-gol, which I did not know was spelled "capicola" until I got to college.)

Of course, this is dialect. The hubby lived in Naples for four years, from age 10 to 14. They had a maid, not because they were so rich, but at that time (early 60s), Italy was unfortunately not rich. The maid would scold hubby when he dropped a vowel. "O signor minore, non parliamo come gli operai!" Even the maid wanted him to avoid "lower-class" dialect. :laugh:

dia · Nov 17, 2015

Thank you for admitting Hungarians do not want to learn Romanian even if they need to.

You started the debate on this forum when you said Hungarians are assimilated in the neighboring countries (and you made reference to Romania) which is not true. Hungarians have more rights in Romania than the Romanian majority. They can enter the university much more easily because they have special slots allocated to the Hungarian minority, and they can, of course, opt for the slots allocated to the rest of the candidates as well.

From your quotation I see how much Hungarians conquered around Europe.
This is why Romanians were not allowed to have schools in Romanian language, for centuries, even if they always formed the majority in Transylvania. Maybe Romanians were not organized as "the Huns -a confederation of warrior bands-, ready to integrate other groups to increase their military power" (see Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huns), but that doesn't mean they did not exist within the territory of Transylvania as your textbooks teach you in Hungary.
Some of the Romanians accepted to become Hungarians: they took Hungarians names, learned Hungarian and later even accepted to change their religion in what is now known as the Greek-Catholic Church (since 1700), just to be able to go to school and to be allowed to build Romanian schools. Finally, even after so many concessions, those Romanians didn't get any rights for the vast Romanian majority, which continued to live in slavery. Since 1848, Hungarians "introduced laws that the language used in education and in local offices was to be Hungarian " (see Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Trianon). That is called assimilation.
So, the Treaty of Trianon is an act of historical righteousness.

The idea is that Romanians had to live in the space that bordered three big powers: the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Habsburg (later Austro-Hungary) Empire. They balanced among these three Empires, made concessions but they preserved their language and traditions.

Because you mentioned it, I want to ask you: Let's not talk about the crimes of the communism. Ceausescu was hated by the Romanians themselves, he was a real disaster for that country.

And also let's also not talk about the territories and the population lost. After the WWII Romania lost Moldova to the Soviet Union. Romanians were given only four days to leave, or they had to become Soviet citizens. Millions could not leave in such a short time. They remained there and many of them were deported to Siberia. That's a page of history we have to accept now as a wrong that has been done, and there is nothing we could do or change about it. Within 50 years under Soviets, Romanians in Moldova forgot their history, but they preserved their language and that's still okay.

Please let's live in peace and harmony and let's not complain about the assimilation of Hungarians in Transylvania in the 21st century because that's a false claim. :sad46:

plushyfan · Nov 17, 2015

dia said:
Thank you for admitting Hungarians do not want to learn Romanian even if they need to.

You started the debate on this forum when you said Hungarians are assimilated in the neighboring countries (and you made reference to Romania) which is not true. Hungarians have more rights in Romania than the Romanian majority. They can enter the university much more easily because they have special slots allocated to the Hungarian minority, and they can, of course, opt for the slots allocated to the rest of the candidates as well.

From your quotation I see how much Hungarians conquered around Europe.
This is why Romanians were not allowed to have schools in Romanian language, for centuries, even if they always formed the majority in Transylvania. Maybe Romanians were not organized as "the Huns -a confederation of warrior bands-, ready to integrate other groups to increase their military power" (see Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huns), but that doesn't mean they did not exist within the territory of Transylvania as your textbooks teach you in Hungary.
Some of the Romanians accepted to become Hungarians: they took Hungarians names, learned Hungarian and later even accepted to change their religion in what is now known as the Greek-Catholic Church (since 1700), just to be able to go to school and to be allowed to build Romanian schools. This is called assimilation. Finally, even after so many concessions, those Romanians didn't get any rights for the vast Romanian majority, which continued to live in slavery. Since 1848, Hungarians "introduced laws that the language used in education and in local offices was to be Hungarian " (see Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Trianon).
So, the Treaty of Trianon is an act of historical righteousness.

The idea is that Romanians had to live in the space that bordered three big powers: the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Habsburg (later Austro-Hungary) Empire. They balanced among these three Empires, made concessions but they preserved their language and traditions.

Because you mentioned it, I want to ask you: Let's not talk about the crimes of the communism. Ceausescu was hated by the Romanians themselves, he was a real disaster for that country.

And also let's also not talk about the territories and the population lost. After the WWII Romania lost Moldova to the Soviet Union. Romanians were given only four days to leave, or they had to become Soviet citizens. Millions could not leave in such a short time. They remained there and many of them were deported to Siberia. That's a page of history we have to accept now as a wrong that has been done, and there is nothing we could do or change about it. Within 50 years under Soviets, Romanians in Moldova forgot their history, but they preserved their language and that's still okay.

Please let's live in peace and harmony and let's not complain about the assimilation of Hungarians in Transylvania in the 21st century because that's a false claim. :sad46:

Sorry, I really don't want to started this debate. You and me watch the history from own view of point. So what I wrote that is the truth for me. We know many unjust things what happened in the past, happens even today. But I'm not among those people who want to the revision ( they are the hatred nationalists by me) or behaving rudely in Romania and always indicates that they are at home. As I said I hate them, I don't care of the revision or the autonomy of the Szekelys( ancient Hungarian people). I want to live in peace with everybody, I'm watching the future. Plus we are in the European Union, we can live, work, or buy houses everywhere if we have money.

Interesting the Huns weren't Hungarians according to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The nationalists wanted to think that. Maybe that is similar mistake as your Dacia idea. (But we have name Attila as was the name of the Hun's head...)

So you calm down I like your country, I adore Cluj. I will go to Cluj, will be Plushenko's Kings on Ice whow in December.

And probably everything will be better year after year.

p.s.: you wrote: So, the Treaty of Trianon is an act of historical righteousness. -you think it. But for the Hungarians this is the greatest tragedy of our history. We lost the 2/3 of the historical Hungary. Many historical memorial places, buildings, went to the neighboring countries not to mention the millions of Hungarians.

dia · Nov 17, 2015

plushyfan said:
Sorry, I really don't want to started this debate. You and me watch the history from own view of point. So what I wrote that is the truth for me. We know many unjust things what happened in the past, happens even today. But I'm not among those people who want to the revision ( they are the hatred nationalists by me) or behaving rudely in Romania and always indicates that they are at home. As I said I hate them, I don't care of the revision or the autonomy of the Szekelys( ancient Hungarian people). I want to live in peace with everybody, I'm watching the future. Plus we are in the European Union, we can live, work, or buy houses everywhere if we have money.

Interesting the Huns weren't Hungarians according to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The nationalists wanted to think that. Maybe that is similar mistake as your Dacia idea. (But we have name Attila as was the name of the Hun's head...)

So you calm down I like your country, I adore Cluj. I will go to Cluj, will be Plushenko's Kings on Ice whow in December.
And probably everything will be better year after year.

p.s.: you wrote: So, the Treaty of Trianon is an act of historical righteousness. For the Hungarians this is the greates tragedy of our history. We lost the 2/3 of our country. Many historical memorial places, buildings, went to the neighboring countries not to mention the millions of Hungarians.

:agree:

Enjoy your stay. I recommend you to visit Brasov, and the first Romanian school in Scheii Brasovului. It's a very touching place.

I left Romania 10 years ago and live far away.

Have fun at the Ice Show. :yay:

P.S. We live with out tragedies as well.

plushyfan · Nov 17, 2015

dia said:
:agree:

Enjoy your stay. I recommend you to visit Brasov, and the first Romanian school in Scheii Brasovului. It's a very touching place.

I left Romania 10 years ago and live far away.

Have fun at the Ice Show. :yay:

P.S. We live with out tragedies as well.

:agree:

TrishaG · Nov 17, 2015

alebi said:
I can't speak German, I only know something like 10 words, but Italians are so used to hear Germans talking our language (given also the presence of Alto-Adige/Sud-Tyrol region) that everyone is able to repeat their funny accent And I'm saying it with all my heart and respect. The British accent is another one really funny in Italian. And in Italy there are so many dialects that it's really so common to hear someone making fun of another person coming from another area.

I think that when Americans try to repeat the Italian accent (English spoke by Italians), the main trait is our inability to pronounce the "TH" sound correctly (and you have so many TH words :hopelessness: ). My personal trick is to pronounce "the" with D letter instead of T, it's not correct but at least it sounds more similar . The "R" sound is another tricky one for us but also vice versa (when you want to make fun of English accent go with the R sound and you won't get wrong ).

I want to know which are the other characteristics Americans use when you want to repeat our accent. It can also be useful!

It's funny that you mention the R sound because I think that might be what switches me to an Italian accent when i speak Spanish since both languages roll their Rs. When i think of the Italian accent, I think of the cadence. The youtube clip that Doris linked to called it musicality. Also, there is a distinctly Italian way to place the stress within words. It seems like it's usually the second to last syllable. Between my inflection and the way i stress syllables in my pronunciation, my accent sounds Italian instead of Spanish.

Now, if i'm speaking English with an Italian accent, I roll my Rs and do the Italian cadence and stresses, but i also add an extra vowel at the end of words that end in consonants. For example, "because" becomes "becaus-eh". Those are the main aspects that come to mind when i think of the Italian accent. I do also pronounce the "th" sound different (again, as the youtube video demonstrates), but i never really thought about it before, lol.

Because accent mimicry is a natural talent of mine, i don't really analyze the different letter sounds; that part is just instinctive to me once i hear the accent enough to pick it up. I learn accents by listening to them, either in real life or through movies and tv. I've had to work on gaining conscious control of not speaking in accents when i'm speaking to someone with a different one than mine. It used to be out of my control, and i would just switch over to the accents i was around. My British friend's mom would even say, "oh, she's gone British on us again, hasn't she." However, my first job out of college was an inside sales position (meaning i didn't travel, but would call clients from my office). My territory included New York, Georgia, and Tennessee. I didn't want to sound like a New Yorker one time when speaking to my NY clients, and then the next time sound Southern bc I'd just gotten off the phone with someone in Georgia, lol. That wouldn't seem very genuine and i didn't want customers to think i was trying to sound like them so they'd trust me, or as a gimmick to get sales.

As El Henry mentioned, there are different types of Italian accents, but i'm not sure which one i do. I'm 4th generation Italian and my family had lived outside of Rome, so I'd guess that that's the accent i use (since that's the pronunciation of Italian i hear from my dad). Also, there is an American Italian vernacular that developed from Italian immigrants. Mozzarell and gabagool are American Italian words, as is one my family says a lot - spagootz (spaghetti). Here's a link to a list of American Italian words, with an explanation at the bottom on how the pidgin language developed: http://americanitalian.net/ Might be interesting for the Italian speakers in this thread.

bartlebooth · Nov 17, 2015

Thank you for the link, TrishaG. Very interesting indeed. Most of those words derive from Southern Italian dialects (since most of the immigrants were from Southern Italy).

CaroLiza_fan · Nov 18, 2015

Just saw this story being shared on Facebook, and I just HAD to post it to this thread:

http://www.irishnews.com/news/north...and-accent-voted-sexiest-in-the-world-326967/

Personally, I'm not convinced. For me, there are many accents that are much nicer. Not least Liza Tuktamysheva's... :love:

CaroLiza_fan

bartlebooth · Jan 22, 2016

I bump up this thread because I got my Certificate of Proficiency in English! I'm very happy because I prepared the exam all by myself (well, after 8 years of studying English in school and some other English courses I took later on).
I got As in Use of English and Listening, B in Reading, C in Writing (we didn't have much time to write the assignments - one of the texts I wrote was about figure skating!), then I did horribly in the Speaking part, but all in all it was enough to pass, and I shouldn't complain, but feel motivated to improve my terrible speaking skills instead.
I'd like to thank this forum where I can read so many articulate posts and articles, pick up new idioms and listen to interviews and commentaries. It all helped me very much! :thank:

Learning languages worldwide

Sabrina

alebi

Tavi...

TrishaG

alebi

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl

dia

dia

chasingpolaris

Princessroja

plushyfan

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.

dia

plushyfan

dia

plushyfan

TrishaG

bartlebooth

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA

bartlebooth

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