WTFF : Why I do a mental blocking on english ? Help me !!

[Tripitaka]

I found Pimsleur to be rubbish for both Arabic and Farsi.

Rosetta Stone + Conversing in chosen language 24/7 is the best method.

edit: Being married to a fluent speaker of both makes it a damn site easier though.

Works well for Mandarin and quite frankly that's the only language I'm interested in learning, horses for courses I guess.

[Tupin]

The only way to get better at a language is practice it. Practice it and use it whenever you can.

[persia]

And sing God Save the Queen


6. Lord grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring
May he sedition hush
And like a torrent rush
Rebellious Scots to crush
God save the King (or Queen but not really been sung since we had a king for obvious reasons)

[desiv]

I'm not sure why you are having problems.
We have very simple rules.  Such as:

i before e
except after c

OR in sounding an A as in neighbor and weigh...

...

OR their..

:-)

And that's just a spelling rule.  Imagine the "exceptions" we have for grammar..  ;-)

It's a wonder anyone speaks English..  ;-)

desiv

[TheBilgeRat]

bajillion, bazillion, gazillion, jillion, squillion, kabillion, googillion, umptillion, zillion....
Got a higher grade on £nglish?

ooh, a squillion!  that's a great word for an indeterminately large sum!


Mind if I borrow?

[ajlwalker]

@persia

Just because Franko is banned doesn't mean there are no Scots left.  I'll be as rebelious as I like thank you very much. I find it intriguing that of that dirge you pick the only verse that has been deleted.

As for the topic.  I was always lead to believe that English was easy to learn.  So far as I can tell about 1/3 of it is French anyway.

I haven't studied any French for over 20 years, but oddly I am better now than I was then.  I put this down to spending some time in a French speaking country and having an appreciation of French film.

[Cosmos Amiga]

Thanks all for the reply :


>Watch British and American movies in their original language

Yes, good idea, but most of the time actors talk very (VERY) fast...


>Rosetta Stone & Pimsleur method

Maybe interesting, I'll see...


>Come and live in the UK for a year, that should do it

Yes, of course, the best way !


But I'm talking about a mental blocking first.
Explanations : Sometimes (very rare), this blocking left my head (I feel it), and so I have a better english understanding, but the blocking come back after a few moment (I feel too)...

So my first goal is to remove this blocking, I'll progress in english after I think...


Any ideas ??

[TheDaddy]

Learn Latin and you are on your way

[utri007]

Thanks all for the reply :


>Watch British and American movies in their original language

Yes, good idea, but most of the time actors talk very (VERY) fast...

Answer is subtitles. http://www.opensubtitles.org/en DON'T use Frensh subtitles use English subtitles. This is how it doesn't matter that actors talk fast. AND forget British movies first, American english is like simplified English easier to understand

[ck007]

Answer is subtitles. http://www.opensubtitles.org/en DON'T use Frensh subtitles use English subtitles. This is how it doesn't matter that actors talk fast. AND forget British movies first, American english is like simplified English easier to understand

There might be a reason why "American English" is simplified...

[carls]

Thanks all for the reply :


>Watch British and American movies in their original language

Yes, good idea, but most of the time actors talk very (VERY) fast...

But I'm talking about a mental blocking first.
Explanations : Sometimes (very rare), this blocking left my head (I feel it), and so I have a better english understanding, but the blocking come back after a few moment (I feel too)...

So my first goal is to remove this blocking, I'll progress in english after I think...

Any ideas ??

To a non-native speaker, native speakers always do seem to speak very fast. To me, this is especially obvious with Spanish. But that's where the subtitles come in. First, use French subtitles just to get a feel for it, then switch to English subtitles. Start with big-budget Hollywood movies. People tend to speak quite clearly in these movies. Also, I recommend the TV series Mad Men. It's very dialouge- and character-driven, but not as fast-paced as for example The West Wing.
I'm a big lover of British English but the many accents can be hard to get your head around at first. Start with something that's intended for an international audience, such as Harry Potter (yes, really).
Now, I'm in no way a psychiatrist but as for the mental blocking: To me it sounds like you're just having a slight psychosomatic manifestation of your frustration in not being as fluent as you want to be. To get rid of this blocking feeling, I still believe practice is the key.

[Lord Aga]

Yes, good idea, but most of the time actors talk very (VERY) fast...

But I'm talking about a mental blocking first.
Explanations : Sometimes (very rare), this blocking left my head (I feel it), and so I have a better english understanding, but the blocking come back after a few moment (I feel too)...

So my first goal is to remove this blocking, I'll progress in english after I think...

You might want to start with cartoons instead of movies. The language tends to be a bit simpler because of the kids. Great opportunity for language learners

And as a foreign language professor I can tell you about your blockage. It's there because you are trying to translate your thoughts in your head right before you speak. It is usual for beginners. The trick is to soak up as many phrases as you can. Then you'll just be pulling entire sentences out of your brain instead of trying to translate word by word Think compiler VS interpreter

English is the easiest language in the world. It does not have noun cases (only saxon genitive). And it does not have noun gender changes. Only that bunch of past/perfect tenses can be somewhat tricky to comprehend. And it is all around us. You hear it all the time. I reached a pretty good level myself as a kid, playing with my ZX Spectrum Haven't learned much in schools though...

[persia]

God Save the Queen was our anthem until 1984, when the dirge (Advance Australia Fair) won out in a national competition.  I like the bit about the Scots, although I would have written more about pinching pennies...

Some dropped verses frm Advance Australia Fair include:

Should foreign foe e'er sight our coast,
Or dare a foot to land,
We'll rouse to arms like sires of yore,
To guard our native strand;
Britannia then shall surely know,
Though oceans roll between,
Her sons in fair Australia's land
Still keep their courage green.
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.

and

When gallant Cook from Albion sailed,
To trace wide oceans o'er,
True British courage bore him on,
Til he landed on our shore.
Then here he raised Old England's flag,
The standard of the brave;
"With all her faults we love her still"
"Britannia rules the wave."
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.

We really sort of sucked up to the Empire for a while....

@persia

Just because Franko is banned doesn't mean there are no Scots left.  I'll be as rebelious as I like thank you very much. I find it intriguing that of that dirge you pick the only verse that has been deleted.

As for the topic.  I was always lead to believe that English was easy to learn.  So far as I can tell about 1/3 of it is French anyway.

I haven't studied any French for over 20 years, but oddly I am better now than I was then.  I put this down to spending some time in a French speaking country and having an appreciation of French film.

[nicholas]

You might want to start with cartoons instead of movies. The language tends to be a bit simpler because of the kids. Great opportunity for language learners

And as a foreign language professor I can tell you about your blockage. It's there because you are trying to translate your thoughts in your head right before you speak. It is usual for beginners. The trick is to soak up as many phrases as you can. Then you'll just be pulling entire sentences out of your brain instead of trying to translate word by word Think compiler VS interpreter

English is the easiest language in the world. It does not have noun cases (only saxon genitive). And it does not have noun gender changes. Only that bunch of past/perfect tenses can be somewhat tricky to comprehend. And it is all around us. You hear it all the time. I reached a pretty good level myself as a kid, playing with my ZX Spectrum Haven't learned much in schools though...

Farsi is even easier than English, none of that gender nonsense at all.

Arabic on the other hand is the hardest language I've ever come across.

[HenryCase]

@Cosmos
You might want to register on this site, I reckon it could be a great resource for learning a language when it launches:
http://duolingo.com/

[actung_bab]

I teach you am a expert ;-(