Comme des milliers de personnes, recevez gratuitement chaque semaine English only
All your questions about the English language, no French allowed.
Thinking in a 2nd language...
Message de rockpoetry posté le 06-06-2005 à 09:38:47 (S | E | F | I)
Hi everyone,
I am Rockpoetry, an old (and kind of discreet
) member on Anglaifacile. I am a native French speaker, and I started learning English at the age of 9 in primary school. That is when I completely fell in love with the language (
)
Ok, so that was just a little introduction of myself; but the real point is not about me (of course,- it would be so selfish!). I just would like to discuss with you about languages (not only English).
I know that it is better to go to the country where the language is spoken if you really want to speak it very well. Sometimes, I wish I were fluent, but I have never had the opportunity to go on an immersion trip.
So the questions are : (some may look a bit weird I guess)
1/When do you feel fluent or good enough for a conversational level ?
2/Do you sometimes dream in a 2nd language ?
3/If you are fluent can you always find the right word in the 2nd language to express what you want to say?
3bis/If you are not fluent yet, do you try to think in the 2nd language ?
4/Do you have English, Spanish,...friends with whom you can share your passion for the language ?
5/ If you want to say anything else about that, feel free to add a 5th part
Have a nice day !
Message de rockpoetry posté le 06-06-2005 à 09:38:47 (S | E | F | I)
Hi everyone,
I am Rockpoetry, an old (and kind of discreet
) member on Anglaifacile. I am a native French speaker, and I started learning English at the age of 9 in primary school. That is when I completely fell in love with the language ()Ok, so that was just a little introduction of myself; but the real point is not about me (of course,
- it would be so selfish!). I just would like to discuss with you about languages (not only English).I know that it is better to go to the country where the language is spoken if you really want to speak it very well. Sometimes, I wish I were fluent, but I have never had the opportunity to go on an immersion trip.
So the questions are : (some may look a bit weird I guess)
1/When do you feel fluent or good enough for a conversational level ?
2/Do you sometimes dream in a 2nd language ?
3/If you are fluent can you always find the right word in the 2nd language to express what you want to say?
3bis/If you are not fluent yet, do you try to think in the 2nd language ?
4/Do you have English, Spanish,...friends with whom you can share your passion for the language ?
5/ If you want to say anything else about that, feel free to add a 5th part
Have a nice day !
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de dakir, postée le 06-06-2005 à 12:45:35 (S | E)
1- When you master the language you are speaking, you can speak Fluently but you can communicate even if you don’t master it…..(like me for english)
2- Dreaming in a second language when asleep ? I don’t think so but it is a good way to do when awake, then you can imagine all kind of responses
3- I don’t know because I don’t speak english fluently and I think that it is a bit difficult to always find the right word even in the native language, imagine in a second language //
- 3bis- Yes, I try to but I always find myself thinking in the language I master which makes me
4- Yes, many friends : it is
5- I want just to say that I am a new member on "Anglais facile" and that I learned too much in this site. I even changed the level I had put in my file (it was intermediary level). I discovered(
I first studied English for 3 years when I was 15 in a high(
(Many mistakes(
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Edité par serena le 06-06-2005 23:19
Most of them are typing mistakes. You're welcome!
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de aimen7, postée le 06-06-2005 à 14:54:20 (S | E)
Hello rockpoetry and dakir,
That's a very interesting subject.
Dakir, you are wrong when you say that you don't speak English fluently.
The way you express yourself shows right the contrary. When you don't find "the right word" (immediately when needed), doesn't mean that you aren't speaking the language fluently. The same situation happens also when using the mother language. There are other aspects to consider(grammar, syntax, appropriateness of words...).
"The right words", as you say, you certainly know them , they are stored in your brain. The problem is that you don't have enough opportunities to practise.
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de aimen7, postée le 06-06-2005 à 20:27:06 (S | E)
Hello rockpoetry,
To help you find answers to your questions, I wanted to say a few things.
I guess we dream in the mother language. To dream in a 2nd language, we must be bilingual (at least from childhood),I suppose either that we must be used to the cultural aspect of that language.
Dreams are linked to the environment which surrounds us(language, people, culture, place...).
About fluency, I don't always find the words I need to express myself, but I manage by using synonym expressions(as we do in the mother tongue).
Thinking in a second language needs a lot of practice. I personally use some specificities of English rather easily sometimes, (passive voice, present perfect continuous, or agglutinating adjectives before a noun...)
What is essential in fact is to make oneself understood.
Good evening.
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de serena, postée le 07-06-2005 à 00:05:11 (S | E)
Hello rockpoetry,
1) I'm fluent at any conversation in any language when I feel good, at ease with the person I'm talking to. When I know I won't hear sarcastic remarks, I feel free and speak without fearing making mistakes. Then indeed, I hardly make mistakes.
2) What Aimen said about this question is really interesting. She's right when saying the surrounding influences our dreams. I think it also depends on the dream. For instance, if I dream one day that I'm speaking with Traviskidd, it'll surely be in English !
. Seriously, I sometimes dream in English, mostly when I have to go to the British embassy for administrative grounds. 3) Hard to be sure to find the right word. It comes up according to the subject, the feeling and maybe the person you are talking to. But I can say I can't always find the right word, for sure. Then I use to use synonyms too, or another way to express what I mean exactly. (I'm talking here about English. In French, I've no problem finding the right word.)
4) Yes I do.
5) I agree with all have been said above. Dakir and Aimen gave details and explained well what, I think, concerns languages.
6) I suppose we'll appear in "Voici" magazine next week ?
Thanks rocky !! Hope I said useful things.
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de jardin62, postée le 07-06-2005 à 05:49:03 (S | E)
I love English and my garden so much that I can't always find the French word for my plants and flowers :
- I know someone who regularly loses his temper when I say (for example) : ' Look the water lily is coming back' instead of 'nénuphar'.
- The same thing happens in class...But my pupils know and give me the translation: ' la craie'
- Fortunately I don't think I dream in English...
- As everyone else, I speak fluently when I feel at ease with the person I am talking with => no problems with friends!
-Otherwise I would stammer!
and become stupid...
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de rockpoetry, postée le 07-06-2005 à 09:53:41 (S | E)
Good morning everyone !
Well, I am very glad to read all your points of view. Thanks to you all for taking part ! Actually, I just wanted to know how fluency in a 2nd language could be defined. As I cannot really speak English fluently yet, I wondered the way my brain will manage that so I can develop my fluency a little bit more each day (
) That's all!Dakir : 1/ Aimen is kind of right, I think your English is quite good ! Well, maybe you are not fluent yet, but the way you can express yourself shows your proficiency ! 2/dreaming when you are awake means daydreaming, is that right ?
but when you are a front of a mirror, where is the magic ? in that case, maybe it is better to dream/ or daydream with someone you like 3/ I agree, finding the right word at the right time is not that easy, even in the native language ! 3 bis/good, if you try ! because, the more you will try to think in English, the more quickly your fluency will be developped ! 4/you are lucky to have many friends who can help you, I am sure it helps a lot to improve your English (which is already quite good as I said) !5/ You, a new member of AnglaisFacile ? oh, welcome to you ! Anyway, good luck!
Aimen: 1 + 3 / Now I can share your point of view. Finally, being fluent doesn't not really mean finding the right word right now in the 2nd language. Because as you said, even in the native one, it is not always that easy, yes, the right words are somehow stored in the brain ! (perfect image !) 2/ I guess you are right again : how can I dream in the second language if I am not bilingual ? by the way, I have never dreamt in English ! moreover, it is true that dreams depends on our environments. 3 bis/ So, as it seems, for you, thinking in English is sometimes kind of easy when you are used to using specific forms. Well, of course, I guess it is the same for me, and as you said, what matters is to be understood by the people. Good
Serena: 1+3/ I love your answer number 1 : I didn't think about how oneself feels at the moment they speak. What you said definitely makes sense and I hadn't thought of that ! feeling at ease-feeling-at-ease....hmm...yes, that is so true in fact. That's good to use synonyms as Aimen said. Well I guess this is what we all have to do when we don't know the right word
2/ Wow! you are kind of lucky to dream in English sometimes ! I wish I could !! but yes, indeed, as Aimen said, dreams depend on our environment. 4/ Good, I imagine that is obviously true since you work with the British Embassy as it seems and because you also have some skills in Spanish (according to your profile). 5+6/ Everyone had a good point of view to share, thanks to you all !! "Voici Magazine" ? isn't it for VIP ?!? maybe you Serena are a VIP but I don't know it yet! ! To be continued...Jardin : You obviously love English since you are an English teacher
but that's quite funny to read how sometimes you get confused with the English name of your flowers Okay, maybe I have a suggestion for you : you just have to put a label near your flower with the English name on it. I am sure, you won't forget how to call your Water Lilies for example ! (I love water lilies, by the way ). You don't dream in English ? are you sure? but as you are an English teacher I thought it could have been possible ! or maybe, you dream in English but you just don't remember your dreams hehe.. Yes, we are more likely fluent when we feel at ease with the people we are talking to. Definitely true as everyone said. Anyway, all I know is that sometimes we just can't control ourself : stammering can happen to anyone! I guess it depends on our personality, whether we are shy or not, our mood etc (but that would be another kind of story to tell right now, another kind of interesting debate hehe)
Have a sunny day ! (with lots of beautiful flowers in your (English) gardens
)Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de lucile83, postée le 07-06-2005 à 16:23:08 (S | E)
Hello,
I have been able to speak fluent English since the age of 15, and of course I love it. I am an English teacher and I am talking English all day long with my pupils; when I come back home I go to “anglaisfacile” and I go on talking English; I am used to meet people who speak English; I must say I think in English when I imagine an exercise because it is easier for me; I must say I think in English as soon as I wake up and very often I know I dreamt in English; I even succeeded to mix English and French last year when I worked with another international website because when I had written an item in a given language I realised it was in English instead of French, and I had to do it all again !! and it was true for the other way round !
Never mind I love English ! I think you knew that.
See you soon
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de rockpoetry, postée le 07-06-2005 à 16:43:23 (S | E)
Hello Lucile,
Your post was really really really funny to read for me
. Thank you for taking part in the discussion So I suppose that sometimes it happens that you easily find "the right word" in English before thinking of the French one. Well, I suppose that this is what happens sometimes to anyone who has been learning English for years (like me, at times, I just can't say the French word "artificiel" --> to me the first word which comes up to my mind is "fake" -maybe it seems much more meaningful to me ! : so I say "c'est fake !" which is a weird mix I know)See you
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de serena, postée le 07-06-2005 à 17:06:48 (S | E)
Hi rockpoetry !
Me, a VIP ?? Hummm......not such a bad idea, you know.
.....No, I'm not at all. And I prefer my little private life.
Your post is so pleasant to read. Thank you.
I just want to tell you that I don't work at the British embassy. Well, I got to do translations for them in the past, that's all
. Now I go there when I need something for passport or something like that. And as they always send me to the embassador's office, I wonder, the day before going there, what we'd talk about, how I'd feel and so on. So I dream in English, you see ? .... You're right when saying our emotions have a great part in our behaviour. But I can tell you, there are so cool faces that even the proudest person will stammer if he tries to talk to them. Everything is relative.
Great topic, by the way.
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de ruofei, postée le 07-06-2005 à 19:18:52 (S | E)
Hello
R.Poetry Thank you very much for your nice topic and the answers you gave to each member...
Reading through each message was great! Cheers everyone!
Here is my humble
experience: 1) You don’t really need to be fluent to have a conversation. I don’t speak Chinese that well but can “discuss” fairly fine with natives (repetition, body language and a greater concentration on each part are required though!).
[I’m not sure I’m answering your question here…]
2) You don’t have to be bilingual to dream in English. I’ve dreamt in English a couple of times. BUT the thing is, usually, there’s no voices in my dreams….It’s like I direct silent movies in my sleep
!!3) Even though you’re fluent, you can’t always come up with the right word, and, as it was pointed out above, it does happen too in your mother tongue. A concrete example, I sometimes think up the right words for my native English mates and some non-native French friends sometimes find more appropriate words than the ones I mention.
4) Aimen is one of those I can talk and ask about any language topic. The both of us are very much interested in linguistic and language acquisition matters (aren’t we?
). Now, not everyone learns a language because they enjoy studying the learning and working out process of it. They usually do so because they simply want to communicate, which is everybody's first purpose, right?5) My 5th part is: I wouldn’t /cannot claim to be a bilingual, even though there are some topics I feel more like expressing in either language. When it comes to talk about linguistic subjects and grammar, I feel my vocabulary is broader in English only because I’ve read so many books in English about those). What else? When I study Chinese or when I’m talked to in Chinese, I always think/translate in(to) English (don’t ask me why!). However, when expressing what’s in my heart
and the way I feel about people and situations, French is the language I’d rather speak . Each language has its own ways to express emotions, love and likex. And now I know that you shouldn’t say “I like you” to an American if you don’t plan to go out with him!6) I’m sure you won’t hold a grunge if I add a sixth part
! Mixing words up doesn’t mean that you’re fluent. It all depends on what you’re learning, practicing or reading (but also what you talked about the days back) at the time of speaking. Now, the question is: what is to be considered as “fluency”?
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de rockpoetry, postée le 07-06-2005 à 23:49:25 (S | E)
Good evening !
There is so much to read
great ! I am glad you enjoy this topic !I am actually telling
I guess the long post from Ruofei could put an end to my questioning ;-)
Ruofei : Thanks for taking part
(always a treat when I read your lines!)1/I like your example you gave with Chinese : ) (also because I have been learning Chinese for 2 years, though I am still a novice !) I wish I could have the same feeling soon ! Your answer fits my question correctly, don't worry
2/
Oh, my god, I would looove to know what sort of silent English dreams you have : ) [ silence, we are shooting !!]3/ Sure, I love your example…So I guess when I meet soon in reality one of my English pen pals of Canada (whom I met on Anglaisfacile
Cheers !), sometimes she will be able to find the "right words" in French for me, the one I cannot find, and also true for the other way round as you mentioned …(great…I am kind of happy to imagine that theory !) –ok, but it depends on my pen pal’s language level too : ) –4/ Good ! I didn’t know you love talking about any language topic, especially with Aimen (I like the way I am learning of the relationships bit by bit on here…"who knows who on Anglaisfacile", and as far as I am concerned, "who is virtually friend with whom" etc
) Yep, communicating is finally the first purpose, of course... : )5/ Hey, to me you are bilingual ! there is no doubt !
but ok, it is true that it depends on the topics…so, we can consider that you are more or less close to bilingual : ) You are funny : so, as it seems, you prefer to think in one language more than the other one ? and sometimes turn one into another one, good… (it sounds magic how you can juggle with that ) Well, I suppose some languages convey a more powerful meaning to some words. And, I mean for example, it is not always easy to find a good translation for a Chinese word. (hmm a little bit hard to explain the whole thing, but nevermind…even in French it would have been tough!)6/ thanks for the 6th part, you are welcome to it
yes…you are definitely right, mixing words up doesn’t make somebody fluent for that…but finally again, it depends on the things that happened lately. What is to be considered as "fluency" ? maybe the way you deal with your thoughts without getting confused too much…hehe
Serena : so..you are not a VIP ? oh..I am disappointed. Too bad !
but now it is nice to know a little bit of your occupation ! (Virtuality helps to keep secret some parts of our private life, fortunately !) and now, yes, I see that you can dream in English, and that makes me laugh to imagine that actually ! at last, I love the way you said that "there are so cool faces that even the proudest person will stammer if he tries to talk to them" so true ! "Everything is relative." You couldn’t find a better conclusion to that topic ! (I guess we are going on a new tangent here… Who took philosophy at college ? -by the way, good luck to all the students this year ;-)Good Bye ! (Sweet (English) Dreams!
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Edité par serena le 08-06-2005 03:09
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de serena, postée le 08-06-2005 à 03:23:57 (S | E)
. Same to you ! English dreams will be sweet when we're not to talk to a VIP.
Once more thanks for this delighful and so interesting topic.
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de aimen7, postée le 08-06-2005 à 10:00:16 (S | E)
Good morning everybody,
Before closing the subject, I wanted to suggest a brief definition of language fluency in a 2nd language.(a questionable definition, of course).
To be fluent in a language, we should master the four language skills, although we don't have a perfect mastery neither in the first language nor in the 2nd.
Understanding is the easiest to acquire(least demanding), writing is the most difficult(a specific knowledge is required). That' true ruofei(Hello
), people want to learn a language in order to communicate(logical). In the world of work, companies need fluent speakers, fluency is a requirement on curriculum vitaes, there are even famous language tests(ex: TOEFL) which certify fluency,etc...By fluency, we generally mean oral fluency. Yet does fluency require these four abilities?
-To understand someone in any meaningful context (does this imply the knowledge of the cultural context of the language?).
-To speak intelligibly, approaching native-like speech.
-To grasp the explicite and implicite message in a text.
-To write meaningfully.
Besides, what about the cultural knowledge linked with language fluency.
Ruofei, you spoke of "silent English dream", where the context is present(you see the impact of the cultural aspect) and the words absent(why?).
Well, a lot of interesting questions. Yes ruofei, I enjoy talking about languages and sharing ideas with you and the members on the forum.
Thanks rockpoetry for this topic.
Have a nice day everybody.
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de bobine, postée le 08-06-2005 à 10:39:54 (S | E)
Hello,
I don't speak a good English; I have learned English as a second language at school twenty years ago. This year I have decided to go back learning it to go to the university, so I try all the things to speak, to write and to improve it.
Learning English take all my attention so I dream sometimes in English !! yes, it's very interesting, in my dreams I speak very well even though in the day I search all my words. My English teacher says English dreams show the words are in my mind and I have just to find them.
I have decided to go in England next year, it's a nice idea but I'm very afraid.
Thanks to correct my mistakes, I'm sure they are a lot , I beg your pardon but this morning I can't find good sentences
have a nice day
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de celbaz, postée le 09-06-2005 à 02:05:35 (S | E)
Hello Rockpoetry,
1° Being fluent, THE QUESTION. I'd like to be, and I guess I am sometimes, when the conversation is simple and when I feel easy with the person. I used to work as a secretary in a large company and what I found the most difficult was to talk on the phone with somebody from somewhere far in Texas or California... or London. Ah, voices on the phone ! When the conversation was over, I knew is I had been fluent !
2° My English was poor at school (after 12 years..., no comment) and I went to England for a year as an au pair to improve it : bad French accent, lack of vocabulary and shyness at the beginning. One day, I awoke and realised that I had dreamt in English : I was very happy because I felt I was really doing good !
3° The right word : as said in the other posts, sometimes it comes right like in the mother tongue, sometimes not.
4° I have an American brother-in-law - a nice guy - and a sister who teaches English (both do it in France) and I appreciate very much talking with them. I speak French with my sister, he answers in English, so we have to continue the conversation in his language. After a few minutes, it's easier for me even if they notice my mistakes, especially in grammar, and I believe I think in English.
5° My add to your post, is there a French word for fluent ????????????
6° How to keep fluency after years without going to English speaking countries from time to time ? As Lucile said, Anglais Facile is a need and a must !
Take care !
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Edité par celbaz le 09-06-2005 02:06
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Edité par celbaz le 14-06-2005 02:05
Thanks Ruofei for translating fluent : I suppose I was tired when I asked that question ("anglais courant demandé"!)
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de ruofei, postée le 09-06-2005 à 08:31:20 (S | E)
Hello celbaz!
A french word for fluent? Hum....Let's say that we French speakers use an adverb instead of an adjective:
She is fluent in English = she speaks fluent English: elle parle couramment.
As for the word "fluency", I guess we would simply translate it into "aisance"
....
What do you think?
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de rockpoetry, postée le 09-06-2005 à 09:34:27 (S | E)
Hi,
I just wanted to say that I enjoyed reading all the following thread of the discussion - thanks Bobine and Celbaz for taking part
- (where is the end of that topic ?...) and also, thank you to you Serena, because you corrected me (I looove being corrected )by the way, Ruofei, you gave a good definition for the word "fluency" ;-)
Have a great day !
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Edité par serena le 10-06-2005 14:47
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de traviskidd, postée le 09-06-2005 à 22:51:41 (S | E)
I am a native English-speaker (I'm sure you're all shocked to find that out!
). Unfortunately I don't consider myself to be fluent in any other language, although my French is good enough so that I could probably get by in a French-speaking country as long as I am able to consult a dictionary from time to time and the people I talk to are willing to speak slowly to me. I have yet to visit a French-speaking country, however (unless you count Canada, but I have never been to Quebec), and I would love to visit France one day.1) I would consider myself to be fluent in a language if I am able to understand and be understood by a native speaker without either of us having to ask the other to repeat himself or speak slowly. Also, if I am fluent, I shouldn't need to consult a dictionary except in the rarest cases.
2) I never dream in another language. Actually, I'm not sure I even dream in English. My dreams (at least, what I can remember of them) are simply sequences of thoughts. Sometimes those sequences are coherent, sometimes they're not.
3) I am not fluent in a 2nd language, so I guess this question doesn't apply to me!
3b) I do often try to think, and talk to myself, in French. Of course, it's my version of French, which is quite different from correct French, especially where irregular verbs and the gender of nouns is concerned; for example, I might say something like this to myself:
Qu'est-ce que je vais faire aujourd'hui? Je dois acheter des nouveaux lunettes! Maintenant je veux m'asseyer. Où est mon chaise?
4) I have no French friends in real life, so unfortunately I can't practice and improve my oral French. But as for written French, I have made quite a few friends on this site, and I feel that I have learned a lot here that I would never have learned in a French course at school, or for that matter on English-speaking sites devoted to learning French.
5) Even though my version of French contains a lot of errors, I do think that I am pretty good at thinking in French, that is to say, I am fairly able to pass directly from thought to French, without first passing through English. I believe this is an important and necessary step to becoming fluent, but unfortunately it is far from sufficient.
I agree with everyone else: great topic!
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de rockpoetry, postée le 10-06-2005 à 09:05:00 (S | E)
your point of view was nice to read, and you are very funny Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de aimen7, postée le 10-06-2005 à 09:59:54 (S | E)
Hello everybody,
What you say in your introduction traviskidd is very important. I quote:"I don't consider myself to be fluent in any language, although my French is good enough so that I could probably get by in a French speaking country...".
I personally thought that if my English was "good enough", that is correct enough, it meant that I was almost fluent. That's not right in fact.
Fluency would take place if I am ready and find it easy to combine words together unconsciously, to express my thoughts(as I do it in French). Actually, I use the type of English I have learnt at school. It has been corrected by my teachers. They interrupted me and corrected.
They taught me how to talk without making mistakes but I haven't reached fluency yet. I mean it cannot be acquired only that way because there are mistakes that my teachers can't help me correct. These mistakes are those done when I try to produce sentences in my mind, to express what I want to deliver. That is the way I build my speech myself. Thus to be fluent I should work on that kind of mistakes.
I won't be fluent If I concentrate only on the grammar mistakes. I have to take into account production difficulties as well.
That's why I think that speaking with native speakers in essential to reach fluency because in a conversation they may interrupt me but in a constuctive manner, that is in the content of our talk, within the conversation itself. That would help me elaborate my speech better, in a natural way, through communication in fact.
Thus fluency is "aisance" or readiness to communicate freely, not merely mastering the grammatical aspect of the 2nd language.
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de celbaz, postée le 14-06-2005 à 02:30:27 (S | E)
This topic was a great success, congratulations Rockpoetry for the idea.
As far as I am concerned, of course I write to give my point of view but even more, to express myself in English... First I read all the posts, then I try to gather ideas and write with my Word software, I verify if my writing is correct, then copy and paste... and send !
I suppose a lot of members do it like that, and we are very grateful when the topic is interesting and gives us the opportunity to have a good reflexion !
take care !
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de rockpoetry, postée le 16-06-2005 à 16:55:58 (S | E)
Hello Aimen and Celbaz,
_ First, I have just read your very interesting point of view of you, Aimen! Actually, this is quite funny and strange for me because I realised that I finally feel the same way as you about the fluency I cannot reach yet... I hope it is just a question of time to reach it, but...Anyway, at least we can consider that we have reached the advanced level ! Also, I totally agree with you when you say that it is better to practice our English with English native speakers who can correct you during the conversation. The problem is to find those people. Where are they ? Personally, I wish I had some anglophone friends down my street. But I am not that lucky nowadays ! Chancing upon an anglophone person round the corner is unlikely to happen...So I guess the Internet has become a good alternative in some ways. We are lucky nowadays to live in the Internet and e-mails generation... Concerning the mistakes you you make, I see they are few, so it means you can manage very well !
_ Thank you Celbaz, actually, this topic is interesting because everyone here shares the passion for the English Language...
you all had a great point of view, and anything you can say may help each other to improve their skills (of course, I am talking to the non-fluent yet people!). And the way you do in order to respond to the topic is perfect...! (1/read others' posts, 2/gather all the ideas, 3/ just express yourself (and check before all the mistakes!) !)Anyhow, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect !
Have a nice day !
Réponse: Thinking in a 2nd language... de broom, postée le 08-07-2005 à 21:42:20 (S | E)
I don't know. It is not easy to answer you. I don't think I am fluent as I have been
Anyway, I think you are fluent when you can talk or write in another language without searching your words.
Sadly (unfortunately), I can't answer
See, there is a whole bunch of mistakes in my comment. ;)
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Edité par serena le 09-07-2005 01:55
Not so many mistakes.
As for me, you're lucky you can't remember your dreams.
INDISPENSABLES : 