 Return to the ENGLISH Archive | Forward to the Current ENGLISH Forum |
| Nevertheless | Tuesday 22nd of February 2005 03:16:46 PM |
| Inverted English. - I've been trying to learn english for 2 years on my own and i easily say i do read i do write but can't speak. Its not with the prononcuation. The matter is i can't build sentences long. Why? Because english language is comletely has completely inverted sentences except short sentences. So at last i've been a short sentence using man. This is unfortunate and i don't know the way to convert this to a positive conclusion. Thanks for your insterests.. | |
| thervoy | Tuesday 22nd of February 2005 04:35:51 PM |
| -
Hello! I see, that you have real problem with building sentences. I assume it is because you try to translate everything you want to say in memory. Many people think that's necessary, and sometimes really is -- at the very begining. But later it slows you down and may cause other problems, like transferring patterns from your native language. My advice for you is that you should try to forget about turkish anytime you do anything in english. I know it is easy to say, but I've made it. It comes with practice. Read books, newspapers, etc. Do not try to translate everything you do not understand. It is painful, slow, discouraging method and I find it waste of time. Additionally it doesn't help you forget about your native language, because looking words up in dictionary helps your brain to link native and foreign words, so anytime you'll see english word you'll think it's meaning in turkish. Words doesn't translate 1 to 1, so in this case you have to remember what equivalent of turkish word you can use in english in that particular situation. This is tiresome and complicated and it is another reason why you should forget about turkish and not use dictionary too frequently. Hope that helps :) | |
| Ulven | Tuesday 22nd of February 2005 05:03:15 PM |
| - That's some advice , Thervoy, that I am working on. I'm a native English speaker learning French to the point where I'm in need of fluency, rather than using a dictionary to know a word's "1 to 1" meaning. It is a hard concept to get used to. I try to think not in language, but in ideas. I try to think of the image, concept and emotion I want to express, instead of what words I want to express. It sounds funny to say "forget about words", but it is true. The idea comes first, the words come second. I'm in the same position as you, Nevertheless, but with French. When I'm relaxed, I can speak quite well. But usually, I get caught in that "1 English word = 1 foriegn word" trap. Sometimes all I need to do is UNfocus, as strange as that sounds. I try to just sit back and observe the language as it passes by, rather than trying to [i]tackle it[/i]:)lol. | |
| javad2000 | Friday 08th of April 2005 09:48:18 PM |
| - Try to write down the text of a film.
I know it's a real time-consuming work, but I myself did it several times and it was really useful for my problem which was the same as yours. Javad | |
| tinkerb | Saturday 09th of April 2005 10:50:25 AM |
| -
Reading aloud from books can also be very helpful, because you can train your brain to pick up the syntax. The film idea is even better because you are working with listening skills. In the case of English, movies are widely available. In the case of languages with little or no teaching materials, reading aloud is a great way of focusing on pronunciation, intonation, and "passively" learning syntax. | |
