Way to Russia Community and Forum

Yaerath · Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 3:42 am Post subject:

Well ppl, the first use of this conversation was "the process of learning english" so I'll to keep on with the idea.
For me It's incredible who fast can slavonic ppl learn languages. They're really good at it. I've noticed how fast they memorize words. I often meet ppl from RUssia, Poland, Moldavia, etc, and they always ask you the main expressions and words in spanish, hello, goodbye, big, little, beatiful...etc, and some important grammar points, and you only have to wait 2 days for most and they'll make whole sentences in spanish. Though sometimes Russians can be recognized because their accent (They make much more emphasis in entonation, some kind of melodical way of pronouncin), their english is nearly perfect.
Well....For me it's very sad to say that in Spain, the process of learning languages and, more exactly, english, it's awful and full of nonsenses. In schools ppl are taught a lot of grammar, verb, sentences information....
But a native english speaker and teacher will know always that we spanish are often horrible at pronouncing. We don't care about it and make some exagerations at it. For example, In spanish the ltter "h" is mute, as it happens in word Hola (hello) but when we have a foreign word, , f.e, Manhattan, we read it has a Russian KH, a very strong sound. In Spanish there's not any difference between b and v, and so we do in english, and I would go on and on and on with all our mistakes....
People study english for ages and then you are taken to one of this trips to learn english to Ireland, UK, etc, and at this moment, ppl realise that they can't get anything from english speakers, and they can't express themselves. Pupils at spanish schools don't practise anything, they just do exercises and more exercises.....It's sad, yea it is.
Of course there're many exceptions, people talented at languages are born everywhere, but in general, you only have to do some journeys to germany, f.e., and you'll notice that ppl that have been speaking spanish for 2 years can have a normal or even long chat in spanish.
Of course this does not mean that spanish is an easy language. Though prononciation is very simple and each letter represents a sound, as in russian, spanish grammar drives ppl crazy sometimes, specially verbs. (In spanish there're 2 modes of verbal times, each one counts with 12, 14 verbal tenses at least) , and pronouns, reflexive, they can change the whole meaning of a sentence. In general spanish is a fluent language, full of expressions, prepositions...Like any other language! But we are still the worst at learning english! That's why it's very nice to meet Russian people and see how hard they work to make their prononciation improve, and how they try to make their speaking more fluent, instead of learning grammar rules.
Besides that, languages are seen in Spain as a non useful subject to study. My friends and in general everybody says I'm crazy to learn Russian by my own! WEll, sorry, I let myself speak too much....Excuse me Wink

Laura

cyndy22 · Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:20 am Post subject:

The fact is- learning languages is an intelligence. We all have strengths and weaknesses in different intelligences and this is from research. (Howard Gardner, Harvard University). Learning languages draws from specifice parts of the brain same as math, architecture, science, or art etc draws from specific parts of the brain. It is complex and people of course have their own genetic predisposition as well as cultural, social, educational and movitational dispositions. Some people are very gifted at languages and others have to work VERY hard. Fore me, I happen to be good at learning languages but I am not in the position where it is really necessary. So while I have taken classes and studied French, Spanish and Russian, I get lazy and find it hard to motivate myself. Americans have it too easy. We expect everyone to know English. I don't think this is good. I happen to think that we should be teaching foreign languages from preschool on since children have extraordinary abilities to pick up languages.

becky522 · Just Starting Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 1

Hi all, i am a grad student in California and I am taking a class about Second Language Acquitsition and was wondering if I could get some help from those of you who know what it is like to learn English as a Second language. basically any information you have about your expereinces would be a huge help. Anything from methods of study to any particluar area of difficulty. Any help would be great. Thanks!

Katyara · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 12:26 am Post subject:

I am 16. I have been studying English for about 5 or 6 years. It's been really hard in the beginning, I even wanted to quit, but my mom and my teacher made me do it, and I am glad they did. I have got so far that I am in America right now. I won a scholarship and went to America for free. I really like it in here, but I have to go home in 3 months.
I still wouldn't say I am good in grammar. Articles and "russianism" of my sentences still bother me.

vorteks · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 1:57 am Post subject:

Katyara · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:04 am Post subject:

Thanx. I am pretty sure your english is better than mine though. I have a stupid question. How do you make the words "quote" or "whoever wrote" show up in your posts??? I tried, it doesn't work.

vorteks · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:10 am Post subject:

usSe the quote button, or the quote tabs on the "post a reply" screen, or the html instructions : ]quote="Poster"] ]/quote]

Katyara · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:20 am Post subject:

Thank you. I will try.

cyndy22 · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:26 am Post subject:

Kataya,
For someone 16 you seem quite amazing. I think its fantastic that not only is your English very good and much better than you realize, but that you took the opportunity to travel to US as an exchange student. That takes courage, motivation and a sense of adventure. It's nice to have a young, intelligent person on this forum. What is the name of the educational exchange program you are involved in? I am considering having a young Russian person like yourself spend an academic year with my family. Our friends who adopted a Vietnamese child had a Vietnamese exchange student last year. She was great too. I think it would be fun and mutually beneficial to speak English and Russian, and learn more about each other's culture etc. And I also want our son to have more exposure to his native country in a variety of ways. Already he is soooo Americanized.

vorteks · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:41 am Post subject:

I hope you found a nice american family, it s very random. My niece just comes back from US, and was not very lucky. She took 18 kilos from the bad diet (she lost them since then)and the family used her more or less as an au pair, even tho she did pay for the rent. Her older sisters had no major problems, but they never really enjoyed the cultural environment.

Katyara · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:18 am Post subject:

I found a really great family, well, no, they found me. I actually don't get a choice of a family when I apply. My placement organization is AYUSA. I like it. I actually wanna gain weight here, I am so skinny. My friends told me to come back fat, but it obviously doesn't work, and now when I am gonna be doing track (practice starts on Monday, February 28th) I can just as easily forget about it. I think it would be cool for you, Cyndy, to host. You might by chance get one of my friends who are gonna apply next year, ha. It is a really good experience for both student and the family.

cyndy22 · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:36 am Post subject:

I would not take advantage of an exchange student and I think I could give someone a nice opportunity to have a positive and enriching experioence of USA. I would treat him or her as family. We live in a nice area, close to New York, Boston, the sea shore and Washington DC. We would take him or her to different places and probably spoil them! That doesn't sound so bad.

Katyara · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:41 am Post subject:

Wow. New York, Chicago, Boston, so cool! Too bad I am not in your family (just kidding). My family is not too much of a travelers, and that sucks! I went to Chicago on a field trip with one of the clubs from school. It was AWESOME!!! I loved it. I swear I will earn some money in Russia and come live in Chicago, I really loved it.

Katyara · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 5:35 am Post subject:

Are you serious??? Shocked

Oh my gosh! Thanx for warning. Too bad you can't see people through the screen of your computer; this way we would know who the person is and how he looks like.

Yuliya · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 5:39 am Post subject:

It might be too late in the thread for this, but if it's not too much trouble, can Alexeis please explain what makes one language superior to another? I'm just curioius. Both American-English and British-English are languages spoken by millions and understood by millions.

Are there some things which can be expressed in British -Eng which cannot be expressed in American-Eng as accurately? Why does breaking off from the original make American-Eng inferior?

The superiority of British to American languages is something we always hear, but no one will ever provide a nice logical explanation as to the reason behind this.

Confused

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