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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| Gollum87 Diglot Newbie Yugoslavia Joined 3883 days ago 31 posts - 46 votes Speaks: Serbian*, English Studies: Italian | Message 1 of 7 14 February 2014 at 10:51am | IP Logged | ||
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Hello everybody..
Please, forgive me if I make some mistake.. I am far from being good in languages, and I know that.. I am a native speaking of Serbian.. English is my first foreign language.. I grow up watching Disney movies, and later, I learned it in my school.. But I want to learn more and to be able to speak it well.. Because I understand about 80-90% when listening, but when I try to speak, it gets very hard.. in those rare moments, I always think that my speaking is bad, that its gonna sound stupid, and I am making mistakes... But one guy from Australia has told me that my English is not that bad, and that if I learned it, I could speak it well.. There are so many words I have forgoten in few years of not working on my English, and now, I dont know where to start... Whats your advices, and what you think about my English? Is it bad? Be honest please :) I've been learning Italian for 7 months, because I really want to learn it.. it's my favourite language after English, and I like Italy very mouch.. I go to the classes and learn it on my own listening to some audio tapes and learning from books, listening to Italian music.. But I know I am sooo far from understanding it like I do understand English, and about speaking, now it seems like I will never be able to speak it but I won't give up.. The problem is.. I don't know if it is good idea to learn both at the same time.. Italian, and English.. Or I should focus on Italian now, and leave English for future, or better idea, to focus on improving my English and start learning Italian after.. But what if I forget the most of my Italian bases if I stop learning it now (because, after all, I am just a beginner) ? I find this forum very useful and hope will found many answers here... It looks very strange finding out that so many users here are fluent in so many different languages, and I am not even fluent with English, and far from being a speaker of Italian.. but I believe and hope that it is never too late to start learning new things (I'm 26)... I beleive that if you want something very much, and give your best, you will make it :) I just hope I will find a best way to learn it well and save my time (I've learned French in school for years, and I can't even say a simple sentence now... and so many others have the same problem).. Thank you all.. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5478 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes  Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 7 14 February 2014 at 11:33am | IP Logged | ||
Your English has a few small mistakes (for example, I would write "grew up", not "grow up"), but it's perfectly understandable. My guess is that if you understand 80–90% when listening, but you still struggle to speak, then what you really need is some speaking practice. Some people are lucky, and they seem to be able to speak without much practicing (like Richard Boydell). Or if you don't mind a bathroom metaphor, these people keep drinking and drinking the language and eventually it all has to come out somewhere. But for me it wasn't like that. I could understand almost everything my wife said to me in French, and I could say a few phrases spontaneously, but I couldn't really talk without making a huge effort. So one day, I decided I was going to speak to my wife in French. The next two weeks were hard, really hard—I felt like my brain was melting and I had to search for every word. But after two weeks things got easier, and after six weeks I could speak naturally (but not necessarily correctly). All I needed to get started speaking was to start talking to people. Then I did a lot of writing on lang-8, which helped me learn how to say important things, and the other people there helped correct my mistakes. So if you understand a whole lot of English, but if it doesn't want to come out of your mouth, then maybe you need to just start talking to people. It will be rough at first but you'll get better. You may feel stressed or embarrassed, but don't let that stop you. All you need to do is keep going. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4855 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 3 of 7 14 February 2014 at 12:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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You clearly understand English well, despite the minor mistakes. Another small mistake
is that you ask for "advice", not "advices". Advice is like "water" or "sugar"; no matter how much of it there is, it all comes in one bowl. Have you considered buying a textbook written in English for learning Italian? That way you can work on your new language while getting practice in English. A benefit of this is that you won't be translating Italian back into Serbian. Another option would be to watch Italian movies with English subtitles, and English movies with Italian subtitles. As to whether you should stick with English alone, or do both, the only limitations are your time and your desire. It looks like you really want to do both, so if you have the time, then do both. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6543 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 4 of 7 14 February 2014 at 2:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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Unless you need to improve your English really fast for work, do both. You seem to love Italian as much as I love Finnish.
For specific advice, see the various articles here. And yeah, English is funny like that with advice - even though it can be replaced with "normal" words like tip or recommendation. If you happen to like football, you can watch it online in Italian ;) especially now that Vidić might be coming to Serie A soon... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hungringo Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 3934 days ago 168 posts - 329 votes Speaks: Hungarian*, English, Spanish Studies: French | Message 5 of 7 14 February 2014 at 2:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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Your English is perfectly understandable but even a non-native speaker - like me whose English is far from being perfect - can notice your minor mistakes. I think what you really need is a good comprehensive grammar course. If I were you I would go through series like Cambridge English in Use (you could do that in 3-6 months) and then would crack on with Italian. Good luck! Edited by Hungringo on 14 February 2014 at 2:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Gollum87 Diglot Newbie Yugoslavia Joined 3883 days ago 31 posts - 46 votes Speaks: Serbian*, English Studies: Italian | Message 6 of 7 15 February 2014 at 12:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you all for your answers :)I think I will learn both at the same time.. English
and Italian..I don't know about other countries, but here in Serbia, we don't have a smart way of learning languages in schools.. and bad results can prove that.. English is the first foreign language in every school, French, German or Russian are the second language in schools (which of those three you'll have as a subject depends on school)... And years of having those languages as school subjects don't make a good speakers at all... I always had a good marks in French, but in school, we never practiced our speaking.. we did all tenses and grammar rules but we never spoke, we never listened... I think it was just wasting of time and energy.. and all what I have learned in French I've forgotten... So, there really is no other way but learning by yourself... I believe one hour a day for active learning of English, and another hour for Italian are enough for now to make some progress and move on... Since I live in the big city (Belgrade), I use my time in buss (from work to house) to listen to lessons, and not just wasting time by listening to radio or looking out of the window.. Edited by Gollum87 on 15 February 2014 at 1:54pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6543 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 7 of 7 15 February 2014 at 2:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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Sounds great :)
Since you already know English, it's less important to work on it every day. I think at your level writing at lang-8 is a good idea, btw. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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