i think i will learn more english than phone knowledge.
my mobile is meizu m9 and i cant find much of it.
reading books and novels taught me good English
The best thing I know to do is to start asking questions and never stop.
Sadly, too many of us here in the U.S. don't care and don't take pride in being able to write properly.
I know I'm new here (in fact I'm *brand new* as of today) but if you have questions, I'm certain there's others on here like me who can help.
Remember: we learn by doing.
I learned English at a strip joint.
Assuming you're in China, get a girlfriend who can't speak Chinese.
Join more activities with people from different countries.
I'm not a proponent of the "immersive" approach to language education, tbh. I don't believe it really works all that well, and I do believe it is an extremely resource-intensive, inefficient approach.
But then again, that's just me talking.
I just got rosetta stone for arabic. The pronunciation is killing me. Can't vouch for it though, just started it.
Cable television helped a lot with my english, back when I was in school (20 years ago)
boborone said:
I just got rosetta stone for arabic. The pronunciation is killing me. Can't vouch for it though, just started it.
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need help?, I am a native
@clown, yup movies, movies and more movies without reading subtitles
husam666 said:
need help?, I am a native
@clown, yup movies, movies and more movies without reading subtitles
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I'll keep that in mind, thanks. I'm saving up for a backpacking trip to the Middle East. That is is some beautiful land and culture yall have out there. Just so much untouched land. I've backpacked around America, but never been outside the US.
EDIT There is one thing that you can help me with. Besides Al Jazerra, what other news sites would be good to watch/read to learn more. Also, do you know of a good way to learn the alphabet and writing? Thanks.
boborone said:
I'll keep that in mind, thanks. I'm saving up for a backpacking trip to the Middle East. That is is some beautiful land and culture yall have out there. Just so much untouched land. I've backpacked around America, but never been outside the US.
EDIT There is one thing that you can help me with. Besides Al Jazerra, what other news sites would be good to watch/read to learn more. Also, do you know of a good way to learn the alphabet and writing? Thanks.
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here's one http://www.alarabiya.net/
with the alphabets, sry idk.
husam666 said:
here's one http://www.alarabiya.net/
with the alphabets, sry idk.
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Thanks man
best advice is to hang out with people who speak the language you want to learn, Then ,read out load every day that language (gets your mouth used to saying the words). That was the biggest help for me
SciFiSurfer said:
I'm not a proponent of the "immersive" approach to language education, tbh. I don't believe it really works all that well, and I do believe it is an extremely resource-intensive, inefficient approach.
But then again, that's just me talking.
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Immersion is pretty well proven to be the fastest way to learn a language actually. I studied Spanish for 5 years in high school and college and learned more Japanese in the first six months I lived in Japan without studying for one minute than I learned in 5 years of Spanish classes.
Btros said:
Immersion is pretty well proven to be the fastest way to learn a language actually. I studied Spanish for 5 years in high school and college and learned more Japanese in the first six months I lived in Japan without studying for one minute than I learned in 5 years of Spanish classes.
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Here's my question on that point: Do you attribute immersion itself, or that by living in Japan you had a credible "need to know" as opposed to a merely arbitrary academic requirement and/or interest when you were still in school?
SciFiSurfer said:
Here's my question on that point: Do you attribute immersion itself, or that by living in Japan you had a credible "need to know" as opposed to a merely arbitrary academic requirement and/or interest when you were still in school?
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*the bold
What's the difference? Not sure what point you're trying to make. Please explain.
Btros said:
Immersion is pretty well proven to be the fastest way to learn a language actually. I studied Spanish for 5 years in high school and college and learned more Japanese in the first six months I lived in Japan without studying for one minute than I learned in 5 years of Spanish classes.
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Can't agree more, they taught us hebrew in my school and I can barely understand that language
sent from a parallel universe
SciFiSurfer said:
Here's my question on that point: Do you attribute immersion itself, or that by living in Japan you had a credible "need to know" as opposed to a merely arbitrary academic requirement and/or interest when you were still in school?
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boborone said:
*the bold
What's the difference? Not sure what point you're trying to make. Please explain.
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I agree, I think that is the point of immersion - that you are forced to find ways to communicate in the native language. The best advice I ever got about learning Japanese in Japan was from a fellow American - he saw me keep looking in my English to Japanese dictionary and told me to throw that thing away and get a Japanese to English one. Instead of looking up words in English and then trying to say the Japanese word I saw there, I would listen to the Japanese speaker telling me something, look up the word IN JAPANESE and then find the meaning on my own in English.
Using the words I learned in an authentic context day after day was the only way I learned to use them naturally.
boborone said:
*the bold
What's the difference? Not sure what point you're trying to make. Please explain.
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Well, just like Btros said, he took Hebrew in school and can't function at all in it. The difference is that when you take a language in school, unless you actually have a personal passion for learning another language, or that language in particular, you don't really have a need-to-know and so you don't really learn it.
Btros said:
I agree, I think that is the point of immersion - that you are forced to find ways to communicate in the native language.
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I suppose one could stumble through this sort of process, but it just seems like a very painful one. For one, how can you look up words in a language you don't know? I mean, if I were listening to a Japanese speaker, I'd have enough of a time trying to hear the individual words, let alone ever attempting to reconstruct their spelling and, from there, look up the meaning of the word.
Without at least some formal instruction, how can someone actually know what they're listening to? It's not like any of us native speakers speak. like. this. when. talking. to. other. people. in. the. real. world. and yet, without conversations being had in that manner. we native speakers speaklikethiswhentalkingtootherpeopleintherealworld and that is basically impossible, aurally, to pick apart when you don't have vocabulary.
SciFiSurfer said:
Well, just like Btros said, he took Hebrew in school and can't function at all in it. The difference is that when you take a language in school, unless you actually have a personal passion for learning another language, or that language in particular, you don't really have a need-to-know and so you don't really learn it.
I suppose one could stumble through this sort of process, but it just seems like a very painful one. For one, how can you look up words in a language you don't know? I mean, if I were listening to a Japanese speaker, I'd have enough of a time trying to hear the individual words, let alone ever attempting to reconstruct their spelling and, from there, look up the meaning of the word.
Without at least some formal instruction, how can someone actually know what they're listening to? It's not like any of us native speakers speak. like. this. when. talking. to. other. people. in. the. real. world. and yet, without conversations being had in that manner. we native speakers speaklikethiswhentalkingtootherpeopleintherealworld and that is basically impossible, aurally, to pick apart when you don't have vocabulary.
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you should work in politics or better yet, samsung pr
"ah yes, that's a nice question, hey look over there"
Related
Last week I was watching a US TV program in which I noticed that several people from all over the US pronounced "Houston" as "How-ston". How stunned I was. Just like in 1995, when I ordered a bunch of routers and my supplier wanted me to believe that "row-ter" was the correct pronunciation.
I'm old enough to remember those historical words "Houston, the Eagle has landed". Houston sounded like you-ston from Neil Armstrong's mouth, and the whole world knew what he was talking about.
Remember that song "Get your kicks on Route 66"? Route, not rowte.
It didn't take much Googling to find out that these changes in pronunciation are the deliberate work of ignorant language purists who believe that English should sound as if there are no foreign influences whatsoever. Route and Houston sound too French by their opinion, English does have the ou that sounds like ow (indeed, like in "sound") so lets put that pronunciation wherever we can...
The very English unavoidable word YOU as far as I know is in no dialect ever pronounced as "yow". Yes, it is historically related to the French "vous".
So, should you perform the same rape to it as to Howston and rowte?
Take an etymological dictionary and see: every word in any language has its roots in other languages. The original English language was Gaelic, then came the Saxons, then the Romans, next the Normands and Vikings, then French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese influences etc. It's a historical fact that victors in wars and successful business nations have a dominant influences on other languages.
If native English speakers start trying to deny that by raping their own language and turning it into something artificial it might well end up on the pile of artificial, hardly spoken, rudimentary languages like Esperanto, Interlingua and Ido.
Route, You, Router, Houston. They all sound the same in English. However we got to the English language, as you mentioned, then that is it.
If Americans or other countries want to pronounce them differently then that is their choice, but as long as you know what you want to say and how, and the various ways of saying it differently...
Any changes you want to make won't happen overnight though. I could take generations to get it right, if indeed it was ever wrong, as there are always going to be cultural differences.
Of course, I'm probably just wibbling here. So I'll go back to the forums
HNY BTW
Elwyn M3100 said:
Any changes you want to make won't happen overnight though. I could take generations to get it right, if indeed it was ever wrong, as there are always going to be cultural differences.
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Happy New Year to you and all
I do get the impression that the US is actually trying to create its own language overnight. And I'm very sorry to see/hear that more and more native speakers of the Queen's English are actually very susceptible for US influences.
I think that the US's influence on language is more prevailant than we would probably like to think. Mostly down to satellite news coverage and worldwide distribution of media...
Elwyn M3100 said:
I think that the US's influence on language is more prevailant than we would probably like to think. Mostly down to satellite news coverage and worldwide distribution of media...
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...US software with US spell checkers, US help files, US voices in games and so on. There probably are US citizens who seriously believe that Roman columns are clumsy copies of US examples and that the Egyptian Sphinx and pyramids are clumsy massive copies of luxurious Vegas hotels, they invented freedom and democracy and history started on the 4th of July 1776, give or take some primitive pre historical European events.
Yes, IKWYM Maggy
I would be interested in the result if America had to pay $9 a gallon of petrol or diesel and $4 a gallon of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). I think this roughly works out correct by the exchange rate?!
that sounds funny. i also hate the fact that some americans pronounce iraq like I-rack or I-ran for iran... just ridiculous... the whole world & the population of those countries says ee-rack or ee-ran. geez, just listen to yourselves speak! heheheh
Maggy said:
...US software with US spell checkers, US help files, US voices in games and so on. There probably are US citizens who seriously believe that Roman columns are clumsy copies of US examples and that the Egyptian Sphinx and pyramids are clumsy massive copies of luxurious Vegas hotels, they invented freedom and democracy and history started on the 4th of July 1776, give or take some primitive pre historical European events.
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ahahahahah TRUE!
eternal respect for such consolidated msg!
respect!
Elwyn M3100 said:
I would be interested in the result if America had to pay $9 a gallon of petrol or diesel and $4 a gallon of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). I think this roughly works out correct by the exchange rate?!
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I'm sorry, but I don't believe that's anywhere near funny. The US idea of free trade still means the US has the right to sell US goods to whom they approve as buyers at the price set by the US; the US has the right to buy what the US believes it needs at the price set by the US. Countries who don't like to play by those rules shouldn't be surprised if the US finds an excuse for war...
Maggy said:
like to play by those rules shouldn't be surprised if the US finds an excuse for war...
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US always finds excuse for a war that they did want to, if you want example look at Iraq, the reason was so-called WMD but it was just myth than fact, where in North Korea there are nuclear weapons that I'm considered WMD but they didn't take any action (yet, but look like they wont)
You say eether and I say eyether,
You say neether and I say nyther;
Eether, eyether, neether, nyther,
Let's call the whole thing off!
You like potato and I like potahto,
You like tomato and I like tomahto;
Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto!
Let's call the whole thing off!
But oh! If we call the whole thing off,
Then we must part.
And oh! If we ever part,
Then that might break my heart!
So, if you like pajamas and I like pajahmas,
I'll wear pajamas and give up pajahmas.
For we know we need each other,
So we better call the calling off off.
Let's call the whole thing off!
You say laughter and I say lawfter,
You say after and I say awfter;
Laughter, lawfter, after, awfter,
Let's call the whole thing off!
You like vanilla and I like vanella,
You, sa's'parilla and I sa's'parella;
Vanilla, vanella, Choc'late, strawb'ry!
Let's call the whole thing off!
But oh! If we call the whole thing off,
Then we must part.
And oh! If we ever part,
Then that might break my heart!
So, if you go for oysters and I go for ersters
I'll order oysters and cancel the ersters.
For we know we need each other,
So we better call the calling off off!
Let's call the whole thing off!
you say potato i say tomato
I say patat, tomaat, vanille, chocolade (I'm Dutch).
Hello, I have a few questions for the numerous people that live over in the UK.
1. What are common phrases you say every day?
2. What are some uncommon phrases you don't say every day?
3. Why do you drive on the left side of the road?
4. Do you all visit these..... places for phones?? This is a quote from Demon_Man, a british person
Demon_man said:
Just had a right laugh nice weather so walked to town, went in Carphone Whorehouse and said i need the Internet settings for android on virgin and he took my phone to check the settings and just looked at it didnt no what to do, the same in Virgin media lol, only use i have actually found for Android on my leo so far to confuse the shops LMFAO
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That's it. Thanks!
1. What are common phrases you say every day?
Bloody, ****e, Pint, One more Pint, Wanker, Give me one more pint B***, Hell
2. What are some uncommon phrases you don't say every day?
Elevator, Garbage
Lol, I'm not British.
EDIT: Sorry if my stereotypes offended any of you brits
Haha, I'm sincerely hope that our British forum users are not offended by this thread! As much as we poke fun at British English, I'm sure you guys find our American English just as funny!
One more question to be added for the brits!
Why do you guys add extra useless letters to your places names?
Eg. Leicester Square is pronounced "lester square" rather than like it's spelled (ie "le-sester square"). And Gloucester Road is pronounced "gloss-ter road" rather than "gl-ow-sester road".
Lol. For some reason this thread brought this quote to mind: "Austria! Well, then. G'day mate! Let's put another shrimp on the barbie!" Gotta love Dumb and Dumber.
No offense intended, just interested in the British peeps over here. Especially demon_man's phrase. What is that translated to american???
I find your questions offending. You have insulted Detroit. tsk. tsk. tsk. OMG! My Detroit home-bois! told me where I can go to get my line-up. Gonna look sexy again tomorrow!
1. What are common phrases you say every day?
I don't tend to say any phrases as such, I guess I am boring like that.
2. What are some uncommon phrases you don't say every day?
Garbage, Trash. (Its Rubbish....) I don't know. If I don't say them everyday, how am I going to remember them.
3. Why do you drive on the left side of the road?
Because this is the correct side to drive on, given a vast percentage of people are righties, it makes sense to always be able to have your strongest arm on the wheel? (My left arm dislocates at the shoulder quite often, so thats my excuse)
4. Do you all visit these..... places for phones?? This is a quote from Demon_Man, a british person
I find myself reguarly visiting Carphone Whorehouse to see what the latest stock is and avaliability. Sometimes you may have to pay a little more then other places, but I find it is often worth it.... I believe another term would be brothel?
Anymore questions?
Basically converted to US...
Went inta da carphone Pimphouse [email protected] yer, yo [email protected], shot up a few homers and da crew...bro...ho da look in at...
PurpleSmurfLlama said:
Hello, I have a few questions for the numerous people that live over in the UK.
3. Why do you drive on the left side of the road?
That's it. Thanks!
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I know this much: they (we) drive on the "wrong" side because of the Romans. They used to carry their weapons right hand while on horses and as they've gone past each other they could fight! The same principle applies today while going up and down stairs or on pavements.
PurpleSmurfLlama said:
Hello, I have a few questions for the numerous people that live over in the UK.
1. What are common phrases you say every day?
That's it. Thanks!
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People on radio interviews say "To be honest..." a lot, as if they never are the other times! They also say "I don't mean to be disrespectful but..." meaning exactly the opposite. Footballers also say "I have a calf..." or "I have an Achilles..." meaning they have something wrong with them. I then say "Really? when did you discover that? Mine were always there anyway." They also say "I mean..." a lot. The oldies say "Please!" and "Thank you" a lot. Footballers and other athletes always talk on the third person while talking about themselves. And they talk about the weather a lot.
wovens said:
I know this much: they (we) drive on the "wrong" side because of the Romans. They used to carry their weapons right hand while on horses and as they've gone past each other they could fight! The same principle applies today while going up and down stairs or on pavements.
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So if the same princple applies today.... then your saying when you drive up and down roads in your cars, you carry a weapon in your right hand so you can fight other cars that pass you? Very interesting indeed!
captainstu72 said:
1. What are common phrases you say every day?
I don't tend to say any phrases as such, I guess I am boring like that.
2. What are some uncommon phrases you don't say every day?
Garbage, Trash. (Its Rubbish....) I don't know. If I don't say them everyday, how am I going to remember them.
3. Why do you drive on the left side of the road?
Because this is the correct side to drive on, given a vast percentage of people are righties, it makes sense to always be able to have your strongest arm on the wheel? (My left arm dislocates at the shoulder quite often, so thats my excuse)
4. Do you all visit these..... places for phones?? This is a quote from Demon_Man, a british person
I find myself reguarly visiting Carphone Whorehouse to see what the latest stock is and avaliability. Sometimes you may have to pay a little more then other places, but I find it is often worth it.... I believe another term would be brothel?
Anymore questions?
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So, you guys dont talk in sentences? More like words with long pauses?
Another question for you
What are some common animals you see everyday?
They murmer. Have you seen those movies. You can't even tell what they're saying! Subtitles pwease?
G1BRICKED said:
They murmer. Have you seen those movies. You can't even tell what they're saying! Subtitles pwease?
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I've never watched a british movie!
I think i'm going to move to the UK to pick up their awesome accent
No man. Even in American movies they'll be like
"Bloody day chap. Look at the weather!"
And it'll be strait murmors.
PurpleSmurfLlama said:
I've never watched a british movie!
I think i'm going to move to the UK to pick up their awesome accent
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i probably think they would ban you from UK
Diamond_dawg said:
i probably think they would ban you from UK
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Really?!?!?!?!
Why is that?
PurpleSmurfLlama said:
Really?!?!?!?!
Why is that?
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Because they have more securities I think. You cannot take any of there things.
CRACING said:
Because they have more securities I think. You cannot take any of there things.
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Are you saying that I am a.... "theifer"????
im from old blighty lol.
answers are (with tranlations)
Aye = Yes
Nah = No
wanker = Chronic masturbater
its carphone wharehouse, (wear - house)
we not add letters to words we just find easier ways to pronounce them.
glasgow is pronounced glas - go
and best till last we get phones free on contract
wooo hoooo proof ? just got a x10 from free and i pay 20 gbp a month
of people who dont speak english naturally, yet have the patience to learn such a difficult language. im always impressed and flattered by foreigners who speak incredible english with great grammar and sentence structure, especially when people like me who have trouble getting the rules straight when we already should know them. what makes learning english even more incredible is that there are over 1,000,000 words in the english language (most arent used anymore but they still can be). german comes in at a very distant second place with just over 300,000 words. and most english words have at least five other words that mean the exact same thing. random english words fact: there is no single word in english for "the back of the knee". anyways, its great to hear people speak english as their second language. so, kudos (slang for "congrats") to all you non english speaking people who have the incredible patience to learn something that does not come naturally to you. i do hope to learn german one day, because i have family in germany; and maybe even learn russian too. again, thanks to all aspiring linguists around the globe.
p.s. sorry if i use words that are big/fancy. i have a bad habit of doing that.
Thank you, I feel flattered as a foreigner and I think my decent english is due to watching a lot of television. Like talk shows and movies. Actually imo english is easier to learn than dutch or french etc. because most foreigners grow up with hearing english stuff around them. This almost never the case in England nor America. It's just the universal language, so there's less need to learn extra languages.
Sent from my HTC
I´ve learned as a second language due to my mother is teacher/translator English/French.
Remember when I was a kid watching the movies in English, even if I did not understood a single word.
I consider I speak quite well (much better than my writing skills)
shoemeistah said:
Thank you, I feel flattered as a foreigner and I think my decent english is due to watching a lot of television. Like talk shows and movies. Actually imo english is easier to learn than dutch or french etc. because most foreigners grow up with hearing english stuff around them. This almost never the case in England nor America. It's just the universal language, so there's less need to learn extra languages.
Sent from my HTC
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Dude, there are absolutely no errors in your English. God I wish I was that linguistically skilled. English is that common in other countries? I never would have guessed that. By the way, I absolutely love Europeans. I think they are the most pleasant people to be around (at least I think they are). I've only been to Europe once, but my dream is to visit every country in Europe. There is just something so wonderful about Europe. Anyways, you Europeans keep being awesome!!!
For example my mother moved to the US from the Czech Republic in the 80's, she grew up around many other languages and now speaks 9 (I cant name em all if i tried). And All 3 of her children (myself included) speak English to her, English for her is a second language but we speak to each other easily and she even thinks in multiple languages now. I have a lot of respect for her
It's not just in Europe and the US where English is the 'universal' language! Don't forget us down under (eg. Australia and New Zealand). I never realised how hard English would have been to learn until I did French in Year 12, especially given that English technically my equal first language. I speak Cantonese at home, for those who are interested. It's a real shame that, in Australia, another language isn't something that it required to graduate from high school (college in British and American English?) though. It's amazing how some people can speak so many languages. I wish I had that ability... And or patience.
winmofreak said:
kudos (slang for "congrats") to all you non english speaking people who have the incredible patience to learn something that does not come naturally to you.
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Thank you. It's not so hard if you're using it for some 30+ years...
And you must remember that main language used in computers is english... so anyway I had to learn it better when I selected my profession... which originally was computer programming.
For me English in my 3. language. We have our own language in the Faroe Islands that is only spoken by some 60-70.000 people in the whole world. Our 2. language is Danish. But TV is the main reason that mostly everyone in the Faroe Islands speaks English quite good. My son is 3 years old now and has already started learning some English. All the cartoons he gets to watch are in English.
M_T_M said:
I had to learn English fast 'cause saying "Yo quiero job" only took me so far in this country
Thanks for the motivation and kind words anyway
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I'm not even going to touch that issue... BIG hot button issue... But yeah, you've got a good point, when you need to learn something in order to survive, you're going to learn it fast.
I was forced to learn Engrish, at gun point.
Hello,everyone.I am just a Chinese Junior High School student and want to practise English in the forum,of course,I am very interested in Android OS though I haven't had an Android phone yet.I hope I can make friends with the memebers.
Age:14
Birthplace:Hebei Province,China
Certainly,I am a boy!
Welcome to the forums.
are you going to get an android device soon?
Welcome to forums
Read, Search, Respect and Enjoy!
Age 200 yrs
Birthplace: México City
Sex: Yes!
betalove said:
Hello,everyone.I am just a Chinese Junior High School student and want to practise English in the forum,of course,I am very interested in Android OS though I haven't had an Android phone yet.I hope I can make friends with the memebers.
Age:14
Birthplace:Hebei Province,China
Certainly,I am a boy!
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betalove said:
Hello,everyone.I am just a Chinese Junior High School student and want to practise English in the forum,of course,I am very interested in Android OS though I haven't had an Android phone yet.I hope I can make friends with the memebers.
Age:14
Birthplace:Hebei Province,China
Certainly,I am a boy!
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Click to collapse
I wouldn't normally say anything, but since you said you are wanting to work on your English, I'll do some peer editing
Just a couple things:
-practice
- When you do punctuations in English, you add a space after them and before the next word. It makes it easier for others to read and separate your thoughts and ideas.
I'm certainly impressed though, your English at 14 is far better than my Chinese at 21
Welcome to the forum, you will make many friends here.
Your English is excellent by the way (BTW).
Welcome to the forums. Yes your English is good for a 14 year old, don't want to say that its excellent (for motivational reasons).
And as someone above me said, please use the spacebar after commas and other punctuation.
Orb, you playa.. made my laugh yet again 'Yes!' Haha
Join Team Llama!
That is all. Good Bye.
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDApp. Pure Madness.
betalove said:
Hello,everyone.I am just a Chinese Junior High School student and want to practise English in the forum,of course,I am very interested in Android OS though I haven't had an Android phone yet.I hope I can make friends with the memebers.
Age:14
Birthplace:Hebei Province,China
Certainly,I am a boy!
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welcome to the forums. You should join Team LLama . We need a Ninja to learn ninja skills to take over XDA.
hey, im a 12 year kid in the US that has nothing to do ever (because I get straight A's easy) so i go on xda and hack the crap out of my android. btw, i speak chinese too( go bilingual people) as my parents only know chinese so ummm yeah... welcome to xda!
kevina90 said:
hey, im a 12 year kid in the US that has nothing to do ever (because I get straight A's easy) so i go on xda and hack the crap out of my android. btw, i speak chinese too( go bilingual people) as my parents only know chinese so ummm yeah... welcome to xda!
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What sick teacher is giving you an "A" in English?
Poor grammar,
Horrible Punctuation,
I don't even see a single capitalized word in any of your run on sentences!
FAIL FAIL FAIL!!!!
T.C.P said:
welcome to the forums. You should join Team LLama . We need a Ninja to learn ninja skills to take over XDA.
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You fail too!!!!! Ninjas are Japanese!!!!!!
DAILY DOUBLE FAIL!!!!
kevina90 said:
hey, im a 12 year kid in the US that has nothing to do ever (because I get straight A's easy) so i go on xda and hack the crap out of my android. btw, i speak chinese too( go bilingual people) as my parents only know chinese so ummm yeah... welcome to xda!
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nice , now ya get banned for not bein 13
fail #3
and u even write it in ur sig
fail #4
telegraph0000 said:
What sick teacher is giving you an "A" in English?
Poor grammar,
Horrible Punctuation,
I don't even see a single capitalized word in any of your run on sentences!
FAIL FAIL FAIL!!!!
You fail too!!!!! Ninjas are Japanese!!!!!!
DAILY DOUBLE FAIL!!!!
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damn u are right!! I meant Learn Kung Fu panda
urbanengine1 said:
Welcome to the forums.
are you going to get an android device soon?
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Oh,you know Chinese people are not as rich as American people.I think I am too poor to get an android device.Maybe you can send one to me.
Thank you,I will.
If I make a mistake,I hope most of memebers (not all) can forgive me.
I believe I can learn a lot of useful things from the forum that is full of cool hackers and developers.
betalove said:
Oh,you know Chinese people are not as rich as American people.I think I am too poor to get an android device.Maybe you can send one to me.
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betalove said:
Thank you,I will.
If I make a mistake,I hope most of memebers (not all) can forgive me.
I believe I can learn a lot of useful things from the forum that is full of cool hackers and developers.
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When you type with punctuations, use a space after the punctuation. A good way to learn this is to use Microsoft Word and see everything that's underlined green and red. Usually it comes with explanation.
That said and done, your written English is alright but from my understanding of Chinese English users, your spoken English will be more useful to get a good first impression. While I do advice reading of English materials from the standard package of magazines and newspapers (Reader's Digest, for one), learning to listen and speak the language will be more difficult. One thing I can suggest is to listen to English news broadcast from either Britain or the USA. Listen to the way they speak, and try to follow their tone. Inflection (the emphasis on which syllable to stress on) is another danger for non-native speakers. On a side note, training in music helps here because you know what to hear for
As a multi-linguist, I also caution against the use of translating words directly from one language to another. You will lose the grammatical structure and the nuances of the language when you do that. While it may get you started, the way English speakers speak English and the way non-English speakers speak English is different and almost immediately noticeable.
As someone who has helped a lot of non-English users get proficient with the language, I recommend several tools:
1. Google Translate <- translate major languages as well as the pronunciation.
2. Google Chrome <- highlight word, right-click, search!
Last but not least, welcome to XDA!
Age: 25
Birthplace: Somewhere in Malaysia, Malaysia
Certainly, I am a boy! <- FTW!
And @orb3000... he's 14, so
SEX: right hand
/the internet is for pr0n
booyakasha said:
I wouldn't normally say anything, but since you said you are wanting to work on your English, I'll do some peer editing
Just a couple things:
-practice
- When you do punctuations in English, you add a space after them and before the next word. It makes it easier for others to read and separate your thoughts and ideas.
I'm certainly impressed though, your English at 14 is far better than my Chinese at 21
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Thank you for your praise and suggestion. I think I am quite weak in English if I want to be a programmer. I will do my best.
sakai4eva said:
When you type with punctuations, use a space after the punctuation. A good way to learn this is to use Microsoft Word and see everything that's underlined green and red. Usually it comes with explanation.
That said and done, your written English is alright but from my understanding of Chinese English users, your spoken English will be more useful to get a good first impression. While I do advice reading of English materials from the standard package of magazines and newspapers (Reader's Digest, for one), learning to listen and speak the language will be more difficult. One thing I can suggest is to listen to English news broadcast from either Britain or the USA. Listen to the way they speak, and try to follow their tone. Inflection (the emphasis on which syllable to stress on) is another danger for non-native speakers. On a side note, training in music helps here because you know what to hear for
As a multi-linguist, I also caution against the use of translating words directly from one language to another. You will lose the grammatical structure and the nuances of the language when you do that. While it may get you started, the way English speakers speak English and the way non-English speakers speak English is different and almost immediately noticeable.
As someone who has helped a lot of non-English users get proficient with the language, I recommend several tools:
1. Google Translate <- translate major languages as well as the pronunciation.
2. Google Chrome <- highlight word, right-click, search!
Last but not least, welcome to XDA!
Age: 25
Birthplace: Somewhere in Malaysia, Malaysia
Certainly, I am a boy! <- FTW!
And @orb3000... he's 14, so
SEX: right hand
/the internet is for pr0n
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Click to collapse
That's very useful. Thank you very much!
I believe in language almost religiously. I spent a third of my life studying it, scrutinizing it, creating it--and spent even longer using it--pushing its limitations, exploring how it works, because I want to know how to use it best. Language is how we organize, how we help each other. Or don't. And when we don't, it's often because we can't help each other, we don't have a mutually understood language, and without that, it's difficult to feel the empathy necessary to move us. If we're on this planet for any reason at all, I believe it's at least to help one another. And that puts language right at the heart of human purpose. Our languages are our culture, our laws, our education and information.
I came to a point where I felt like there was little left to explore. I had to create. And I dedicated my life to writing, to using what I'd learned, and use it best. Mark Twain is one of my favorites. He revolutionized how we write by glorifying the way that we actually talk. He loved the sound of local accents, and adored the charm of his own. His work is directly, though not fully, responsible for the shift in how the world treats education. It was only available to the upper classes, but when literature changed, so did where we thought education would benefit.
That's the power of language. That's what each and every language user can do, and does everyday. But there are problems, like I said. We often misunderstand, often intentionally. I'm writing this mostly in the hope that I can put a few thoughts in your head to play with, so I won't bother trying to change people's intentions. But the misunderstandings--what can we do about them?
I don't believe in a global language. I don't believe we should have one. I love language, not hate it, and I want to keep alive every possible means of telling a story. A global language encourages people to leave their regional languages behind. There are six thousand languages on this planet, and the five largest are spoken natively by 2 billion people. Twenty languages die every year. That means the last person to speak that language natively passes away. Many of those languages were never written down, never recorded. Our ancestors, the grandparents of your and my grandparents-plus-a-few, told each other--in languages we will never know, never see, never hear--how their day went. Think about that. New languages are born, we call them creole languages, in as little as twenty years--a single generation. Surprisingly fast, but not a rate that stops the downward trend. And yet, if we did stop it, we would halt all the progress we are making by growing global languages.
That's just one of many problems the world is facing with communication. It's not even the most pressing, just one of the most interesting. In Mark Twain's time, he invested in a machine called the automatic typesetter, which failed where the linotype succeeded, because a problem they faced was the labor it took to put out a newspaper on a daily basis. A funny little anecdote: Alexander Bell approached Mark Twain about investing in the telephone as Twain was investing in any nifty invention he thought would turn a profit. Twain apparently thought to himself, "Well, I'd have one, and my publisher would have one, and the newspaper--but where's the real market?" And turned down the opportunity to invest in the telephone.
That anecdote brings me to the thrust of my point. Yes, surprise, I have one. The telephone, it turns out, is the answer to a whole host of problems we've been banging our heads on tables about. Nobody would have reasonably guessed that in as little as five years ago. We have the tools to translate languages in almost real-time conversation. This will only improve. We communicate with thousands of people at once, almost no matter where we are or the time of day or how else we're multi-tasking. Not just with our voices, but with our text, and even our faces and our hands. Deaf people use phones. Think about that. Even people who refuse to socialize, who refuse to talk to other people, could easily find a reason to get a tablet or a smartphone.
I summarize the portal news on XDA TV each week. A lot of people wonder why I do that. They either don't think I fit or don't think it's what I should focus on. But in a world where the answer to so many problems I'm passionate about fixing is in my pocket, and the fact that whether or not those answers will come to fruition has a lot to do with what happens on this forum, I simply must be a part of it. I believe in xda-developers, in all of the reasons a person would come here, from developing to using, and I believe in the results of that process. You make our communication better, making our languages better. I'm writing this to thank you for those efforts, and for letting me tell people about them.
Jeff
i believe in the power of language- the beauty of words- the essence of a sentence, a paragraph or even the smallest simplest piece of writing- the word itself- which holds much meaning.
i am a writer and an artist and i have seen -how- over the years- those i mentioned above- have lost their meaning, changed, clashed, combined, simplified. many people just do have TIME devoted to such powerful, amazing and important concepts such as these. reading has become hurried- many just do not have the patience or the attention span. Charles Dickens and many other amazing authors- my favorite, gothic literature, wrote glorious masterpieces- having depth, detail- just so much more than novels of today- because those readers- DID not have television, computers, mobile devices, anything else attention grabbing. their time was definitely simpler and a time when language was at its height. now- unity of language comes from what we have at our hands- the internet, our devices- tablets, phones, mp3 players, etc.
to me, i see many simplifying- shortening- decreasing anything that has to do with writing or language. i feel so many just want the easier simpler path and i do fear as you wrote- we are missing out on so much. even i am guilty of this. i used to ONLY text- now i call my peoples, for i feel, they are missing out on MY MEANING- when i text. i hate shortening words- i like writing "ha.ha.ha.ha.ha" or "oh.my" instead of the "lol" or "omg."
my roots- deep in the sticks PA- there are so many eccentric red.neck.methods and particular dialects- which i fear- as i age- i lose (probably because i am getting older and my brain is turning into damaged goods of forgetfulness- and well i live in south.florida- the cornucopia of peoples).
language is an amazing beauty- that i will never conquer- for that i am grateful. i believe in what you do here on xda- many need it. cliff and spark notes are so popular- people search the internet looking for the summary to books of yore- but i believe, deep within, that xda unites many from all over. there is a tech advantage- simple words power/run/etc our devices- bring people together- and we all take moments- read the forums, the private messages, the newest thread- me, i read every single page of a rom i am interested in. i love when people go above and beyond helping new people, i love the arguments- because therein lies passion for a simple device- we all cherish, adore and LOVE!!!!
i am addicted to mobile device technology. the more i know- the more i understand- the happier i am. if it were not for xda- jeez- i probably would have lost my mind last year. my sincere thanks go to everyone here on xda- there is so much knowledge, such deep rooted interest, passion and incredible awareness from so many- xda begins my day and ends my day!!!
thank you- for your words, ideas, thoughts, and everything you do for xda. for your words- your notion- your very thread- has initiated your very concept. that- my friend, is a beautiful thing!!!!
Sadly the telephone has done more harm to the written language than anything else i could mention. Txt spk innit!
As of what I know, there are currently 2000 lanuages that are spoken by less than 500 people all over the world. It will be a shame to lose so many lanuages. What I think is that the Modern times made more people speak english, and I can see that on lots of people combining English while they are speaking Hebrew, and it makes me feel bad. Is this what we want? I don't think that we encourage the use of different languages when not all languages are available for devices. For example, Windows only has 35 languages. As for Droids, I can't get the phone to use hebrew as UI OS without flashing another ROM. There are languages that aren't even learnt today, such as Yidish and Ladino (both jewish languages).
I think we could do more to help with this, but we should know where we are headed to.
DirkGently1 said:
Sadly the telephone has done more harm to the written language than anything else i could mention. Txt spk innit!
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Not sure I agree. There is a big plus from texting. Although much of the earlier texting was a basic shorthand, and a lot is communication was thought based rather than form based. The one thing that email, texting and alike did was, it recharged the written word again. Before email/texting the Cell phone was making people more verbal, then the email and then texting brought new life back into the written word.
The one thing that is a decided disadvantage with younger people is the inability to know the difference between correct written form and slang form. So much so, that most of the college grads that work for me write @ a 6-7 grade level ( and they graduated ? go figure). This is what most people who know how to write complain about poor understanding of language. A simple example : "get off the bus" vs "exit the but" The first is informal and a unique use of the language to imply action (phrasal verb) vs the correct written form. It is OK to use either, the problem to me with most people is that they do not know the difference or why........ that is the failing in our modern education..........
All this rant will not change many but if a few pick up the idea of how language is a form of logic just like math with formulas and rules like math, then maybe some will want to know more......... one can hope............
oka1 said:
A simple example : "get off the bus" vs "exit the but"
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I hope you mean bus. Otherwise, hmmmm
I agree 1000% on this. So many beautiful languages that die out every day.
oka1 said:
Not sure I agree. There is a big plus from texting. Although much of the earlier texting was a basic shorthand, and a lot is communication was thought based rather than form based. The one thing that email, texting and alike did was, it recharged the written word again. Before email/texting the Cell phone was making people more verbal, then the email and then texting brought new life back into the written word. )
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Right, writing to communicate real-time is brand new, and its own thing. Literature won't be affected much. On the other hand, because people are speaking through text in real-time, literacy is through the roof. More people can read and write today than ever before, and that's thanks to chat rooms and texting.
On another point you made, I wouldn't worry about people choosing to use more words than necessary. We do that in speech all the time, and rather than a failure of modern education, those variations in word choice are one way that languages change. They always have changed, and always will. We're just more aware of it now than we were.
As of what I know, there are currently 2000 lanuages that are spoken by less than 500 people all over the world. It will be a shame to lose so many lanuages. What I think is that the Modern times made more people speak english, and I can see that on lots of people combining English while they are speaking Hebrew, and it makes me feel bad. Is this what we want? I don't think that we encourage the use of different languages when not all languages are available for devices. For example, Windows only has 35 languages. As for Droids, I can't get the phone to use hebrew as UI OS without flashing another ROM. There are languages that aren't even learnt today, such as Yidish and Ladino (both jewish languages).
I think we could do more to help with this, but we should know where we are headed to.
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Languages mixing is also pretty natural, always happened, just not at the rate they are now. The cool thing about xda and how it can help is that anyone can make the UI you need. Yes, you need to flash it, but then, you could build a Hebrew ROM from stock and make Google, Motorola, Samsung, HTC, or whoever aware of it in hopes that they'll include it. Google published a blog recently about how Africa is a surprisingly fast-growing continent of Android users, probably in response to the fight between Arabs and Blackberry. At any rate, I'm sure they're more than happy to have people do the grunt work for them in bringing new languages to OSs.