Non-native English speakers

[Pella]

I am a native speaker of American English.  I'm migrating toward Canadian English, slowly but surely.

I'm curious about our non-native English speakers.  The language can be difficult to learn, even when it's your first.

If English is not your first language, which is it (second, third, etc.)?  How/When did you learn it?  Did you learn English in your own country, or did you travel somewhere to learn it?  Have you ever lived in an English-speaking country?  Among the non-native speakers you know, how good is your English?  What else do you want us to know about your English skills?  Inquiring minds want to know!

[Marsu]

If English is not your first language, which is it (second, third, etc.)?  How/When did you learn it?  Did you learn English in your own country, or did you travel somewhere to learn it?  Have you ever lived in an English-speaking country?  Among the non-native speakers you know, how good is your English?  What else do you want us to know about your English skills?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Had to quote so I don't forget half of the questions.

Second language. School, starting from fifth class (~10-11 y/o, nowadays they start way earlier). Never been to America and not for more than three days in total to England. My English is better than most peoples English here (sorry), but even the biggest idiot in my age or younger can communicate in English.
Uhm... Thanks for being nice, but English is easy, just as about every european language. Once you try Japanese, you realize that.

[Pella]

Uhm... Thanks for being nice, but English is easy, just as about every european language. Once you try Japanese, you realize that.

I have tried Japanese, domo arigato.  I lived there for two years.  Then again, I was on the Navy base most of the time, so I didn't get as much opportunity to learn as I would have if I had lived and worked among the Japanese every day.  Still, I got to pick up tiny bits here and there.  A very interesting language, indeed.

I said that English can be difficult because it is such a mixture of other languages, and is inconsistent even within itself.  Spelling, pronunciation, and idioms can trip up even an accomplished native speaker.  It is not for the faint of heart.

[Fippe94]

Well, in english, you only have "the", unlike in swedish where we have "den" and "det" which means the same, but there is no real rule which one is for which word, so you have to learn it for every word basically. It's easy for us who were raised with it, since it comes naturally for us, but it's really hard for those that learn swedish later in life.

[Dm]

I am a native speaker of American English.  I'm migrating toward Canadian English, slowly but surely.

I'm curious about our non-native English speakers.  The language can be difficult to learn, even when it's your first.

If English is not your first language, which is it (second, third, etc.)?  How/When did you learn it?  Did you learn English in your own country, or did you travel somewhere to learn it?  Have you ever lived in an English-speaking country?  Among the non-native speakers you know, how good is your English?  What else do you want us to know about your English skills?  Inquiring minds want to know!

I seriously doubt whether English is my Second or Third language. I had contact with English third (After my first, Portuguese, and the one I heard later, Spanish.) I, however, learnt English quite fast, and I still need to study and perfect my Spanish as it is nowhere near the level of my English right now. I can get my point across in Spanish pretty well, speaking or typing, but I feel like I take too long to type messages in Spanish and that I should know it more (as I actually have to use it more In Real than English due to a few reasons.) But back on topic!

I am seriously unsure how I learnt English or when did I learn it. All I know is that ever since I was 12, more or less, I have typed the same way as I do now (With a few modifications -- For example, now I know the differences between "Then" and "Than".. finally.) I guess that the way I honestly learnt english was probably through computer and television shows itself - Since little, I'd watch shows in english and read (I love reading, although I don't think I classify as a bookworm...) the subtitles. Computer gave me practical use. (Such as reading game rules.. and typing.. and etcetera.) Of course I started with the "Ur, urs, u" and the usual, but I had the luck of finding a chat that actually used correct grammar, developing my own English.

I have never went into an English-speaking country, much less another country at all.

About comparing myself with other people from my own country, I'd have to say that I have considerable skill in English. Most Brazilians I know have deplorable English skills, except for a select few that I have seen over the internet; most people I have met in classrooms and such also had difficulties with English, and even after doing a few English Courses in the country, in practical use I'm still over them.

As for a bit else of my English skills... When I talk to myself in real, I often find myself talking in English. I can read something in English without even noticing that I'm reading it (I.E -- I easily forget I'm not reading Portuguese in a while.)

I also have little knowledge of the technical uses and rules. If someone asks me, for example, "Why do you use "an" before "apple"?", I'd probably take quite a bit to reply. (Not that specific question, others.)

Last but not least, I seem to have a hard time when I'm translating things from English to Portuguese. When I look at a word in English, I know what it means, I can think of several other ways to say the same thing, but I still cannot give a definite translation to Portuguese without stretching the message a bit. This happens both for me being too used to English to the point that I know more of it than I do Portuguese, in a way, and for the fact that English words have way too many meanings once you get to use English more.

[RavingRabbid]

I can understand english pretty well, and I can't remember since when actually. I often miss the right word here and there, but what I write is generally understandable. Unless it is a ruleset.

Also, I always keep a strong Italian influence while speaking, and mix up words.

[Absol]

Well, Latin is the real hard one, if you ask me.

English is my second language, i've learned it by myself (and sometimes in school) for 10 years atm. I dare say my english is somewhat above average for my age and my place.

Example of common english phrase used by my friends:
"i'm sorry i late, i taking shoes from grandma home"
"i will gonna miss you" <- freaking jarring

For example of how i do it, just read my regular posts.

[Higurashi]

If English is not your first language, which is it (second, third, etc.)?  How/When did you learn it?  Did you learn English in your own country, or did you travel somewhere to learn it?  Have you ever lived in an English-speaking country?  Among the non-native speakers you know, how good is your English?  What else do you want us to know about your English skills?  Inquiring minds want to know!

English is my second language. I started learning not long after learning Swedish. I was probably around 4 years old. I started playing tons of video games when I turned 6-7, which helped a TON. School was 100% repetition for me, but that's helpful too. I've never lived in an English-speaking country, only Sweden and China. Among the non-native speakers I know, I was always the mentor. I was the best in the history of my school, and I taught both my teachers and classmates.

English was never hard for me, partially because my uncle and aunt lived in the States when I was a kid, but mainly thanks to video games. They gave me a very strong interest in English, and if I was interested in something as a kid, I learned ALL about it. Objectively and globally speaking though, the idioms are the hardest part for sure. No other language is influenced so much on a global scale; it picks and chooses expressions from every other language thanks to how widespread it is. Language has always been like this: it evolves with use, nothing else.

However, even if the idioms can be tricky and make no logical sense, many languages are so much harder grammatically speaking. As Fippe mentioned, Swedish grammar is pretty much arbitrary, which is incredibly infuriating for immigrants and kids growing up here. Same goes for the rest of the Latin and Germanic languages to a lesser extent (though English is based on a Germanic foundation, it has become more consistent over time). Chinese on the other hand seems to be a very practical language, and it's also easy to create your own funny expressions that still manage to make sense (I once heard a taxi driver say he thought a hospital ate the other hospital).

[Demonite]

Try Indonesian! There's no even gender of nouns!

Maybe I've learnt English since I was a kindergarten kid, you know, by singing "happy birthday" or "my bonnie lies over the ocean~". Formally, I started it when I was a first grader. My English tests were always perfect (in the FIRST GRADE, remind you. when everything you said just like "this is a pencil"). Later, my school brought in English speakers. I could hardly understand to English native teachers, but at least, I could understand Americans and Australians. Next, I learn English from animes, obviously. I think I should learn more. I don't think I'm more capable than my peers. And I think I can write better than my teacher. Let's see, my English teacher writes the word "writing" in "writting" or "structure" in "skeleton"... Can't be helped, though. I made my mistake sometimes, of course. And then I bought an English novel. I wanted to learn more. Even my dad said, "YOU CAN READ THIS!?" but hey, I'm not that stupid. I can't speak English fluently. I just don't like how I speak in English. You guys from Indonesia must know that kind of "accent". So, I rely on my writing skill. Because everyone on the internet prioritize the grammar, I became strict to myself in writing English or maybe anybody else.

I still need some improvement in English. Maybe, I should take more English lesson. After I graduate, I'm planning on improving my English and starting learning Russian. I've learned a bit about Russian. I've memorized the cyrillic alphabet (YAY!), but it has gender for nouns.

[Pella]

Wow!  The response has been better than I hoped!

So far, we have seven responders: a German, two Swedes, a Brazilian, an Italian, and two Indonesians.  If my count is correct, two studied English in school, and four taught themselves using various methods.  (Fippe94 chose not to provide details.)

Although I'm more internationally minded than most people from the States, I'm learning a bunch from your responses.  Please keep them coming!

[Fippe94]

Ok, I guess I should write something too.

I started learning pretty early, and I have always been one of the best in my class. I mostly started to learn from and because of video games, and I usually had an english dictinonary when I played Pokemon Silver when I was little It is my second language, and now I can read and speak it pretty much fluently (for everyday use at least) except for the occasional word or spelling that I am unsure of.

[Demonite]

Come to think about it, there should be more indonesians in this forum... I wonder where they are...