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Harold Williams VOICE OF THE WORLD
New Zealander Harold Williams was listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s greatest linguist. He is said to have spoken over 58 languages fluently as well as some of their dialects – Swahili, Hausa and Zulu among them. This amazing polygot was said to "read grammars as others read detective stories". He was the foreign editor of The Times; described as the "the most brilliant foreign correspondent" his generation had known, he "knew everyone and everything … and was always at the point of greatest interest and risk." Williams' editorials on foreign affairs were regarded as the authoritative version. His personal qualities and his expansive knowledge, particularly of Russian affairs, led to associations with some of the most influential people of the time, from statesman, to writers such as H.G. Wells and Hugh Walpole (also born in New Zealand).
Wir certainly are not striving for the goal to break the record of Herold Williams but it's good to know what human being is capable to achieve. We each have our own method to learn foreign languages, sometimes it could be very useful if we could share our own experience with each other and get positive synergy effect. So please share your knowledge, experience and even learning tools with each other. Thank you.
26/05/2010 18:52
+ 3
Wed, 05/26/2010 - 21:46
lunaS2 (23)
I speak:
English, Spanish, French, Portuguese (Brazil)
I learn:
German
Busuu berries :
31995
busuu Challenge
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Hi people!!! I'm Amélie and I love foreign languages (obviously ^^'). Well.. hm.. I don't know if it will be helpful for me later, but i'm really interested in learning languages, so I started with English and Spanish at school, then German in high school.. I was studing Spanish at the university (literature and civilization) <--- a bit boring XD and finally I found this website. I love it!!! it's really cool because I can learn easily (and freely ^^).. I'm still learning all those languages and now i'm trying Portuguese (wow! I didn't think I would do it, but actually, Portuguese is not so difficult --> sounds a bit like Spanish x) hihih!
26/05/2010 20:46
+ 3
Wed, 05/26/2010 - 23:41
R-polyglot
I speak:
English, Spanish
I learn:
German, French, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Japanese
Busuu berries :
65538
busuu Challenge
You and R-polyglot will have to complete 3 units in 24 hours in order to win 50 busuu-berries !
Remember, doing a busuu Challenge requires a bet of 50 busuu-berries, so make it count!
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Hi Amélie, salut! Since you know Spanish very well, then learning Portuguese should be easy :) Later, after you learn Portuguese, you should try learning Italian too!
I did the reverse: I knew Spanish (and English) since birth and I learned Italian because it was easy. Then I tried to learn Italian and Portuguese together, but it was very confusing... so, I learned Italian (on my own) a bit more, then I felt comfortable to learn Portuguese :) Now I am reviewing French, German, Italian and Portuguese here at busuu, and I am learning other languages, as well :)))
Regards, René
26/05/2010 22:41
+ 5
Thu, 05/27/2010 - 15:42
lunaS2 (23)
I speak:
English, Spanish, French, Portuguese (Brazil)
I learn:
German
Busuu berries :
31995
busuu Challenge
You and lunaS2 will have to complete 3 units in 24 hours in order to win 50 busuu-berries !
Remember, doing a busuu Challenge requires a bet of 50 busuu-berries, so make it count!
We sent an email to lunaS2! lunaS2 has 24 hours to accept and start your challenge!
Remember you can only challenge one user at a time!
ohh that's a lot of languages! great!! :D and yes, Spanish helps me a lot with Portuguese; I stopped learning italian because, as you say, it's confusing.. maybe i'll start again later.. ^^'
-Amelie
27/05/2010 14:42
+ 1
Wed, 05/26/2010 - 23:36
R-polyglot
I speak:
English, Spanish
I learn:
German, French, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Japanese
Busuu berries :
65538
busuu Challenge
You and R-polyglot will have to complete 3 units in 24 hours in order to win 50 busuu-berries !
Remember, doing a busuu Challenge requires a bet of 50 busuu-berries, so make it count!
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I am bilingual (English and Spanish) so this helps me learn other languages. I have a method that works (I can learn lessons - reading, listening and I can repeat phrases) but depending on the language, I have good reading comprehension or poor reading comprehension.
My listening comprehension in most languages is not very good.
Here is my method: I borrow a learning book from the library and also audio CD. Then I go online and continue to study there. Using this method I learned French and Esperanto (intermediate level), Italian, Portuguese, German, Czech, Bulgarian, Russian (about A2 level). I am now learning Japanese and Chinese (difficult languages).
My listening and reading comprehension in French, Esperanto and Italian is good, it is okay in Portuguese and Russian, it is poor in German, Czech and Bulgarian.
Does anybody know how to improve listening and reading comprehension? Thanks!
26/05/2010 22:36
+ 2
Thu, 09/30/2010 - 14:41
(43)
I speak:
English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Chinese
I learn:
English, Spanish, German, French, Turkish
Busuu berries :
210720
I am from India, and my native Language is Telugu. For Telugu people, they can have good books from Dayanada Alamuri, for English Learning, He has written a book from Telugu to English learning, in a bilingual approach. also. Which is very usefull and good tool for our people to know how to pick up english in a bilingual approach.
30/09/2010 13:41
0
Fri, 10/01/2010 - 22:45
(43)
I speak:
English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Chinese
I learn:
English, Spanish, German, French, Turkish
Busuu berries :
210720
I am English and learnt (?) French at school but have forgotten more than I knew to begin with ! I lived in Italy for 3 months 30 odd years ago and this gave me my love for Italian I also speak a (very ) small amount of German, Chinese and Gaelic (Scottish). I have found one of the best ways to learn (apart from Busuu of course) is through magazines and newspapers, also if you can get hold of them puzzle books (crosswords particularly) in the language of choice. These help with reading comprehension and vocabulary.
To answer you René I find the best way to increase listening comprehension is foreign language DVDs with English subtitles. That way you can try to follow by listening alone but have a "crib sheet" if you get stuck. Hope this helps.
Meiann:-)
01/10/2010 21:45
+ 1
Tue, 10/12/2010 - 09:13
z2010 (33)
I speak:
Russian
I learn:
English, German, Polish, Chinese, Czech
Busuu berries :
3078
busuu Challenge
You and z2010 will have to complete 3 units in 24 hours in order to win 50 busuu-berries !
Remember, doing a busuu Challenge requires a bet of 50 busuu-berries, so make it count!
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Remember you can only challenge one user at a time!
I think that if want to get really good at a language you should study with a teacher, at least some of the time. You need someone to correct your mistakes... and make you study regularly:) Especially, it's true about difficult languages that are very different from your native one (for example, Chinese), because you need at least to be shown the right direction. No matter how great this site (and I'm crazy about it) or any other resources may be, very few people can become fluent speakers without any professional help. I'm a teacher of English, so I know what I'm talking about:)
However, you can teach yourself conversational skills from scratch quite easily. I would recommend you audio courses by Pimsleur - they exist for almost all the languages I think. I listen the Italian course every morning, as I drive to work. And I'm really making progress. Try it!
18/11/2010 13:15
+ 1
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 21:56
(43)
I speak:
English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Chinese
I learn:
English, Spanish, German, French, Turkish
Busuu berries :
210720
I agree that a good teacher is ideal but it is not always that easy to find a teacher, or the time or (a big problem for a lot of people) the money to pay the teacher!
I think a lot of people use busuu because of the above and we need to think laterally to achieve our ambitions of fluency. At least we can (and do ) help and encourage each other.
heydude00001
Harold Williams
VOICE OF THE WORLD
New Zealander Harold Williams was listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s greatest linguist. He is said to have spoken over 58 languages fluently as well as some of their dialects – Swahili, Hausa and Zulu among them. This amazing polygot was said to "read grammars as others read detective stories". He was the foreign editor of The Times; described as the "the most brilliant foreign correspondent" his generation had known, he "knew everyone and everything … and was always at the point of greatest interest and risk." Williams' editorials on foreign affairs were regarded as the authoritative version. His personal qualities and his expansive knowledge, particularly of Russian affairs, led to associations with some of the most influential people of the time, from statesman, to writers such as H.G. Wells and Hugh Walpole (also born in New Zealand).
Wir certainly are not striving for the goal to break the record of Herold Williams but it's good to know what human being is capable to achieve. We each have our own method to learn foreign languages, sometimes it could be very useful if we could share our own experience with each other and get positive synergy effect. So please share your knowledge, experience and even learning tools with each other. Thank you.
lunaS2 (23)
Hi people!!! I'm Amélie and I love foreign languages (obviously ^^'). Well.. hm.. I don't know if it will be helpful for me later, but i'm really interested in learning languages, so I started with English and Spanish at school, then German in high school.. I was studing Spanish at the university (literature and civilization) <--- a bit boring XD and finally I found this website. I love it!!! it's really cool because I can learn easily (and freely ^^).. I'm still learning all those languages and now i'm trying Portuguese (wow! I didn't think I would do it, but actually, Portuguese is not so difficult --> sounds a bit like Spanish x) hihih!
R-polyglot
Hi Amélie, salut! Since you know Spanish very well, then learning Portuguese should be easy :) Later, after you learn Portuguese, you should try learning Italian too!
I did the reverse: I knew Spanish (and English) since birth and I learned Italian because it was easy. Then I tried to learn Italian and Portuguese together, but it was very confusing... so, I learned Italian (on my own) a bit more, then I felt comfortable to learn Portuguese :) Now I am reviewing French, German, Italian and Portuguese here at busuu, and I am learning other languages, as well :)))
Regards, René
lunaS2 (23)
ohh that's a lot of languages! great!! :D and yes, Spanish helps me a lot with Portuguese; I stopped learning italian because, as you say, it's confusing.. maybe i'll start again later.. ^^'
-Amelie
R-polyglot
I am bilingual (English and Spanish) so this helps me learn other languages. I have a method that works (I can learn lessons - reading, listening and I can repeat phrases) but depending on the language, I have good reading comprehension or poor reading comprehension.
My listening comprehension in most languages is not very good.
Here is my method: I borrow a learning book from the library and also audio CD. Then I go online and continue to study there. Using this method I learned French and Esperanto (intermediate level), Italian, Portuguese, German, Czech, Bulgarian, Russian (about A2 level). I am now learning Japanese and Chinese (difficult languages).
My listening and reading comprehension in French, Esperanto and Italian is good, it is okay in Portuguese and Russian, it is poor in German, Czech and Bulgarian.
Does anybody know how to improve listening and reading comprehension? Thanks!
(43)
I am from India, and my native Language is Telugu. For Telugu people, they can have good books from Dayanada Alamuri, for English Learning, He has written a book from Telugu to English learning, in a bilingual approach. also. Which is very usefull and good tool for our people to know how to pick up english in a bilingual approach.
(43)
I am English and learnt (?) French at school but have forgotten more than I knew to begin with ! I lived in Italy for 3 months 30 odd years ago and this gave me my love for Italian I also speak a (very ) small amount of German, Chinese and Gaelic (Scottish). I have found one of the best ways to learn (apart from Busuu of course) is through magazines and newspapers, also if you can get hold of them puzzle books (crosswords particularly) in the language of choice. These help with reading comprehension and vocabulary.
To answer you René I find the best way to increase listening comprehension is foreign language DVDs with English subtitles. That way you can try to follow by listening alone but have a "crib sheet" if you get stuck. Hope this helps.
Meiann:-)
z2010 (33)
I am Russian and learning Deutsch und English/
English I began to learn at kindergarden und mien Großvater lehrte mich Deutsch
Oksana_S (29)
I think that if want to get really good at a language you should study with a teacher, at least some of the time. You need someone to correct your mistakes... and make you study regularly:) Especially, it's true about difficult languages that are very different from your native one (for example, Chinese), because you need at least to be shown the right direction. No matter how great this site (and I'm crazy about it) or any other resources may be, very few people can become fluent speakers without any professional help. I'm a teacher of English, so I know what I'm talking about:)
However, you can teach yourself conversational skills from scratch quite easily. I would recommend you audio courses by Pimsleur - they exist for almost all the languages I think. I listen the Italian course every morning, as I drive to work. And I'm really making progress. Try it!
(43)
I agree that a good teacher is ideal but it is not always that easy to find a teacher, or the time or (a big problem for a lot of people) the money to pay the teacher!
I think a lot of people use busuu because of the above and we need to think laterally to achieve our ambitions of fluency. At least we can (and do ) help and encourage each other.
Good luck to all of us!!!