Multilinguists...

[iCe]

Dammit... learning a second language is a beech... but kind of fun... I find myself saying things like:

Pero why?

It's raining gatos and peros aqui!

Escuche aqui muther... uh.. well... we can leave that one alone or insert la pera

I figure that most people will not like this but... in my opinion... Spanish should be part of the school curriculum from Grade K or 1 through at least 8. I wouldn't make it a requirement for passing... but it should be taught IMHO. When I was at Delicate Arch last year, I met a Belgian couple and their kids. They all spoke numerous languages... and they started learning them very young... It's a lot easier to teach young kids things than it is not so young kids... Down the long road, it will be good for a child to know another language.

I remember a lot of what I learned in 3rd grade Spanish class... which was a while back but I have hell remembering yesterdays lesson

[Daniel Bates]

I'm technically a kid, and I have enough trouble learning a second language myself. Maybe I'm just lazy.

[iCe]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

I'm technically a kid, and I have enough trouble learning a second language myself. Maybe I'm just lazy.

Probably

nah... I don't think that's it... I think that once you are "programmed" for a certain language... it's hard to wire your noggin for another. If you learn them somewhat simuiltaneously while the wiring is still fresh it becomes more second nature. When prompted by the voice on the audio, I can usually respond more or less correctly within a few seconds... usually... but in real life, when I am listening to a convesacion... I get behind very quickly... and once that happens there is no catching up

[KdLaneJr]

Interestly enough, studies have shown that kids raised bilingual don't do as well in school as non bilingual kids. I've never read of any studies covering multilingual kids.

While I did well in school when taking spanish classes, I'd have to pursue a self paced program on conversational spanish to ever get remotely close to bilingual.

I usually find myself translating to english instead of listening in spanish.

[iCe]

Originally Posted by KdLaneJr

Interestly enough, studies have shown that kids raised bilingual don't do as well in school as non bilingual kids. I've never read of any studies covering multilingual kids.

While I did well in school when taking spanish classes, I'd have to pursue a self paced program on conversational spanish to ever get remotely close to bilingual.

I usually find myself translating to english instead of listening in spanish.

Well... that might be more of an indicator of environment than whether or not being bilingual causes a drop in the ability of a person to learn...

I'm trying to work through a Pimsleur audio course. I ripped all of the CD's to MP3's and stored them on my Sansa (iPod wannabe thingy). I like the course but I hit a snag on the last lesson. I can't quite tell what they are saying in a couple of cases. I need to see the spelling of the word

Exactly! That, I think, is where I get lost...