Literacy

[Thunda]

Originally Posted by noodle

Thank you, Amnell.
The languages in the order I’ve learnt them; Berber/Kabyle (mother tongue), Arabic, French and finally English. Though, I must admit, my English is better than my French (according to exam results and the level of confidence I have using them).

lucky bastard you are man.

[MissMisa]

Originally Posted by noodle

hehe. Thank you. You're too kind. I guess it should be expected from someone that has lived in the UK for 11 years.

Yeah I guess so, but still it's impressive. I'm not so good at languages, I dropped any form of learning language in school years ago. I did French and German for a short time but I never really got into it.

[zachart]

well i am not going to take any languages... i am just sticking with english!!!

[noodle]

Originally Posted by Thunda

lucky bastard you are man.

hehe. Why do you say that? Your level of English is extremely impressive too for someone that doesn't live in an English speaking country.

Originally Posted by MissMisa

Yeah I guess so, but still it's impressive. I'm not so good at languages, I dropped any form of learning language in school years ago. I did French and German for a short time but I never really got into it.

In fact, I'm not good at languages either. The only reason I know these languages is because it was an obligation, i.e. I had to learn them, otherwise I wouldn't be able to live the country I was living in.
I done 5 years of German in England, but because I wasn't in Germany and/or I didn't need to use it daily, I didn't learn anything.

[MissMisa]

Originally Posted by noodle

In fact, I'm not good at languages either. The only reason I know these languages is because it was an obligation, i.e. I had to learn them, otherwise I wouldn't be able to live the country I was living in.
I done 5 years of German in England, but because I wasn't in Germany and/or I didn't need to use it daily, I didn't learn anything.

Ah is that so? I've never been in another country for more than a couple of weeks, so I've never really had that kind of opportunity. I am possibly taking a gap year in which I'd want to travel and stay a few months in various countries so hopefully my language skills will diversify then

[noodle]

Originally Posted by MissMisa

Ah is that so? I've never been in another country for more than a couple of weeks, so I've never really had that kind of opportunity. I am possibly taking a gap year in which I'd want to travel and stay a few months in various countries so hopefully my language skills will diversify then

Yeah, you should!... It's amazing how quick you can pick up a language if you HAVE to use it. As you have some knowledge of German and French, if you go to France or Germany for a couple of months and don't use any English, you'd notice a huge improvement!

[Amnell]

Wow, that's awesome, noodle!

If I could go to Spain or Japan and study the respective languages in those places, I would die happy XD . As it is, my grasp of Spanish grammar is great, but my vocabulary is so bad that I couldn't hold a conversation with another speaker if my life depended on it, and I'm just starting on Japanese. Fortunately, langauge comes fairly easy to me (unlike math).

I'm jealous XD

[MMM]

Originally Posted by noodle

That's strange... I can't say I've ever thought any less of someone that didn't use proper English or correct grammar.

I rarely ever write correctly on a forum. This is not due to the fact that I am illiterate, it is simply, laziness! English is my fourth language, therefore, even with my advanced/fluent level, I find it too much of a hassle to write using perfect English. The way I see it is; if you guys can understand me, then it’s enough. I am not writing anything formal, so, where is the need to make sure that every comma or capital letter etc is included?
On the other hand, I do understand your grievances when it involves people speaking in a language that cannot be called “English”, i.e. “i cnt w8 4 my bd”. “I can’t wait for my birthday”. If I’m honest though, I can’t say I’ve come across anyone that speaks in that manner on this forum. I’ve been able to understand everything people have said, on a grammatical level that is

EDIT: Can someone please explain what "A grammar Nazi" means exactly?

It's not necessarily about thinking "less" or "more" of a person, but I find it harder to take someone who write like "b4 i 8 XOXO" than someone who writes normally. Most of the time I assume they are a teenager, and usually that's that.

There are a few people whose spelling is so bad I sometimes can't understand what they are saying, but that also to do with the fact their thoughts are so fractured that I woudn't be able to understand it if it was spelled correctly.

Noodle, I have never thought anything negative about your spelling and grammar. I think you are actually one of the better users of English here.

[MissMisa]

Originally Posted by MMM

It's not necessarily about thinking "less" or "more" of a person, but I find it harder to take someone who write like "b4 i 8 XOXO" than someone who writes normally. Most of the time I assume they are a teenager, and usually that's that. .

I'm normally the same. I don't assume it's a teenager for the pure fact I'm 17 and that would be slightly hypocritical, but I usually think it's some random 12 year old who stumbled acorss this forum on Myspace, I've seen it advertised on there previously.

[AmbeRz]

I hate it when people write big paragraphs but dont use punctuation so the sentence never seems to end then you end up getting all confused cause they suddenly start talking about something else when your still thinking about the sentence you just read i mean is it really that time consuming to put a couple of commas in there?.....and I like using capital letters in the correct places, it makes it look neater. xD