Language

I’m thinking of learning to speak Mandarin, but from a business perspective I’ve herad business people in China usually know English. I’m just not sure of the justification for spending so much time to learn a lanugage when in reality you probably won’t be fluent anyway. I know President Obama and a lot of major businessmen don’t speak anything other than English.

Learning a language is a good mental exercice. It teaches you humility (something Americans are often short of). But most of all, it opens your mind to another world.

Why is it that in most Italian communities outside of Italy, the Italian language quickly dies out? What is the reason for this? Italians are so close-knit and we always so proud of being Italian. Even in USA you see all the proud Italians….but how did the language die out like that?

I find it very disappointing as well that in a country like Argentina where over half the population is Italian that the Italian language never gained any sort of importance.

All other diasporas speak their languages

Because italian people tend to blend fast in the country where they go plus as italian language is not very used abroad they tend to teach the local language to the childrend

Even if you try speaking false , due to magic you will be unable to do so ! Tell me what would be the consequences of this special skill you have acquired ?
Edit – I think 100 % truth looks impractical and impossible , that is why we have learned to speak "white lie" which is better than truth !

There are two ways of answering this.

First case, where you speak the practical truth i.e what appears to be truth to you. The result will be you will be hated and at times find yourself at very uncomfortable situations.

Second case, philosophicaly speaking, there is we don’t know the Absolute Truth, most of the time. Say, you say your mobile technically "rung" but it was in silent mode. Did you lie? Your friend claims he saw an accident happening and you report it believing it to be true. Was it really a truth?

I am encouraging my children to learn spanish because so many jobs now require you to speak both!
How do you feel should the US continue to have 2 languages? Canada does and other countries….
IT costs alot to teach the spanish kids entering the public school system english and alot of schools dont offer the english kids spanish! but it keeps them from getting jobs.
If Mcdonalds can hire a bilingual teen over one that speaks only english you know who will get hired.

This is a great question. One of the important aspects of a united country is a single language. You mention that French and English are both spoken in Canada, but there are divisions in Canada that follow linguistic lines. There are 2 languages spoken in Belgium, and there are divisions in that country, too. In fact, the only country I am aware of that speaks several languages without noticeable division is Switzerland.

Throughout the history of the USA, one language (English) has always been used for government, education and business. There had to be one only language or the country would have become a hodge-podge of languages because of the many countries of origin of foreign-born Americans.

In past years, immigrants to America were only too eager to learn English to become a part of the country. Only recently, with easy international transportation and communication, has immigrants’ desire to use their native language become an issue.

I strongly disagree that Spanish (or any language other than English) be used for official, educational or business purposes in the US. I know many new arrivals have difficulty with English, but that has always been the case. People learned English because it was necessary to get ahead, and that is needed to maintain a united country.

This does not mean that one should not learn other languages. Of course, everyone should. But knowing several languages is not the same as having to use it in everyday life in this country.

Hi All,

My son has a new daycare teacher (its a home daycare) that speaks mainly spanish. She has been teaching my son spanish words. I know that this will be good for him in the long run, but I would rather him wait another year or 2 before he is taught spanish. We speak english only in our house. I just feel like because he is still learning to speak english, the spanish learning should wait. Am I being paranoid? I just don’t want him coming home and pointing at something, and saying what it is in spanish, but not knowing what it is in English. Is it too early for him?

if you would rather him wait, ask her to please use english only around him. She should respect that.
But i dont see anything wrong with it. My 2 1/2 yr old knows just about as much spanish as english. Learning spanish in no way slowed down his english speaking. he’s just going 90 miles an hour in 2 languages instead of one

I want to smooth out my southern accent a bit and someone said learning french does that.

Learning any language can help you smooth an accent if you work on it. Singing lessons will help, as well. Basically, the idea is that you’re learning pure, unadulterated (un-accented) sounds that make up words, whether those words are English or another language. It takes effort, and/or a skilled teacher. A speech therapist could help you, as well, more accurately.

What are some available sources on the internet, TV, radio etc that I could use to learn French at home?

Hi Lovable Nocturne,

That’s nice that you want to learn French. There are many ways to learn from home. However there are very few ways to learn effectively. You could find some free content (like the french.about.com mentioned in another answer), listen to some french radio or watch french tv shows (like TV5 on cable) but I haven’t met anybody yet who learned french this way in a reasonably short time.

My advice is to get yourself plugged into a program that will allow you to have some sort of tracking system to make sure that you will learn French as a kid would do it. Listen to French CD but make sure you associate that with the transcripts and more importantly with pictures and real situations. This will help you remember.

Many up to date French language software have that included with lessons, interactive quizzes and games.

Lets say someone has a type of untreated ADD(attention dephysite disorder)yet he or she is trying to learn something that requires a lot of concentration and focus.

What are some things that help with maintaining focus and concentration?If you have ADD,your more then welcom to throw your .2 cents in

does that "someone" need a hug?

than ask bob saget!

I need to learn and speak the language with people & I need to do it cheaply.

Find a Portuguese or Brazilian girl/boyfriend.
That’s the quickest way to learn.

I would really like to learn german and I’ve been teaching myself for a while now.
I’m already signed up for livemocha and I’m currently saving up for Rosetta Stone, but in the meantime what are some other sites for me to visit to help me along the way?

Try:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/

http://www.babelnation.com/german/courses/index.html

http://www.german-grammar.de/grammar/content/english_german_table_of_content.htm

http://www.utils.ex.ac.uk/german/abinitio/