It's actually WAY easier to learn language as a toddler than as an adult.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulclem
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It's actually WAY easier to learn language as a toddler than as an adult.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulclem
I learned English and Hungarian exactly like that. As an infant languages are more absorbed than learned.
There is a sequel to this that works as follows: English became my mother tongue because we lived in England when I was a small child during the Second World War. For this reason, too, I never mastered Swedish as a mother tongue, and Hungarian became less and less a mother tongue, as I moved out of the family and in to working life.
This is very true, the longer one leaves learning a language the more difficult it becomes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreamwoven
I had a neighbour in England, a German woman, who had two little girls; they would speak together in German which the mother forbade them to do as the language was frowned upon in post-war Britain. I thought her action was silly given that she was damaging their chances of becoming bilingual.
Any language is difficult, either it's your mother tongue or any foreign one. Depends on what you want to do with it. Say, become a journalist/writer/tv-reporter. Even to a well-educated native speaker it sometimes proves impossible.
If you want, for instance, to read novels, watch movies, listen to the radio in English, understand and enjoy it, I fail to see any difficulties with it, just like millions of other non-native speakers who truly acquired the language.
Speaking seems to be the main concern though. You need to practice everyday, and if you do have some people, preferably adequate speakers, with whom you can talk on a regular basis, you aren't likely to encounter any problems. Apart from pronunciation. As for me, I'll never stop polishing it, seems like a life-time process...
One more thought: Actually it's difficult not to learn English. Nowadays you have everything you need for this purpose.
Yes, August, I have to agree with that. You hear it all around you, including popular music, which must have done wonders for youngsters learning English!
Not for the English.
English is an imprecise language. That's why it's easy to learn but not easy to master.
Languages like German have far more words and far more specific words. With English, a word can carry so many meanings.
Take the word "Permissive" for example. "This was a very permissive policy". "He was a very permissive person". What the heck does that even mean? They permit things? They're easy going? They're lax on rules? They're mild-mannered? They're tolerant?
This is a very good point, Inverted.
If you like to be meaningful ,without wanting others to notice,then learn english.they will notice how cunning you are; I adored english while not a native .
Permissive just means permissive!
You have to think british, meaning being cunny,and thus polite.with the same token you can say whatever yu like,just say it with a bit of sarcastic or uncertain manner, job done .