Does anyone believe that we can benefit a lot from subscribing to a forum discussing the topics we enjoy the most? (In our target languages of course :P)
Has anyone experienced their writing and overall language ability improve after joining a forum and being active on it a lot?
Thanks in advance for your responses and advice
I donât think that a forum is a proper place to improve your language skills, besides maybe a bit writing.THere are a lot of non-native speakers participating in the forume and thatâs why some phrases could be with grammmar or stylish mistakes.
The lessons and podcasts from the library can help you much more with improving.
But the forum is a good place where you can share your ideas or discuss someoneâs ideas about the language learning.
Well he or she did write âa forumâ, so I assume he or she meant any forum. I have been thinking about trying to get involved in some discussions on other forums or improve my German writing. I donât see why it would not be good.
@Evgueny
Has posting here on the Lingq forum helped or hindered your ability to express yourself in written English?
@djvbass
Iâve written above: âbesides a bit in writingâ
But only âa bitâ because not all topics here are interesting for me, Iâm sorry.
I absolutely think forums are a great place to practice your target language. Sure, there are bound to be some grammar mistakes and maybe some non-natives writing in the forum as Evgueny pointed out, but I wouldnât let that deter me from practicing the language in a natural environment where natives are interacting with each other. I donât believe those occasional mistakes will be outweighed by the volume of decent native writing you encounter while youâre there.
I think that mistakes in this forum are not the bigger trouble than in other "natives" forums. As for me (and I didnt understand it earlier) the goal of typing here (in target language of course) is to develop my ability of searching proper words and phrases for my messages.
I understand that forum users are not all natives and I don`t learn here how to write right (I mean without mistakes - instead I do it than I read a lot).
I just try to write and express my thoughts.
So I think here is an appropriate place to learn to write.
By the way it seems to me that learning to write helps a lot to learn to speak because than you write you can search a words and phrases in calm way - and gradually you get used to them.
Dear Steve, what do you think about it?
ââŚsome phrases could be with grammmar or stylish mistakes.â
I don´t see that as a problem because âI donât believe those occasional mistakes will be outweighed by the volume of decent native writing you encounter while youâre there.â
As long as you see the correct spelling/whatever more often than the incorrect spelling, you´ll probably remember the correct one. Besides that, you can learn from mistakes, that includes the mistakes that others make.
Of course we can benefit from writing on forums because we canât dedicate our time just with input and also I believe that (for example here on Lingq) natives should try to correct those who are not (only if they have the time of course ).
I have to agree to what Paule says regarding the issue of possible mistakes that we may encounter here. I mean Steve always speaks about the ability to notice and I strongly believe that we should pay attention on what we or others may write so as to figure if it is correct or not .
@Paule89: âyou can learn from mistakes, that includes the mistakes that others make.â
That is assuming you can recognize them as mistakes. There may be grammatically sound phrases that are nonetheless awkward and non-native-like. As a learner, you may assume because they are grammatically correct that they are acceptable and so you pick them up, not knowing they arenât natural expressions.
I guess it really depends on your level. For those closer to beginner levels, it may be best to focus on native comments, but then you canât really follow and join a conversation if you donât pay attention to everyoneâs comments, regardless of their native tongue and level in the target language. So perhaps forum participation is best done after reaching a certain level where you have a language core and the mistakes of non-natives will not influence you.
@MADARA: âI believe that (for example here on Lingq) natives should try to correct those who are notâ
I think that is not allowed here on Lingq, because writing correction is a rewarded service in this community.
@Paule89: âBesides that, you can learn from mistakes, that includes the mistakes that others make.â
I think this observation is right. I noticed in my case I also learn from other mistakes.
@LFJ: "As a learner, you may assume because they are grammatically correct that they are acceptable and so you pick them up, not knowing they arenât natural expressions. ".
But we read not only on forums. And when Im here I assume that messages can have mistakes. And moreover, I understand that mistakes (or vulgarize/simplify-writings, joke-writings and so on) are the part of natives messages.
I`m sure because I see it in my own native language.
Natives do mistakes. Natives do them occasionally and deliberately. Natives do them because they are not perfect-grammar-experts.
@LFJ âThere may be grammatically sound phrases that are nonetheless awkward and non-native-likeâ
That´s true, but I as far as I know it´s impossible to learn something by seeing it once. You´d have to see the same awkward phrase over and over again. I agree that having âa language coreâ might be a good way to âprotectâ yourself. ^^
âI think that is not allowed here on Lingq, because writing correction is a rewarded service in this community.â
Really?
@sdom âNatives do mistakes. Natives do them occasionally and deliberately. Natives do them because they are not perfect-grammar-experts.â
I think a lot of natives simply don´t care.^^
People use resources in different ways, so itâs quite hard to give a straight answer. However, as a native Chinese speaker, I would not recommend people to study my language based on Chinese forums, especially when the participants are mostly teenagers. The language used there is horrible unfortunately.
@LFJ: I was just suggesting that natives who read posts written by us non-natives might try to correct our mistakes if they are willing.
@sdom:What do you mean that natives make mistakes deliberately?Whatâs the benefit from that ?
The thing is that even if a native is about to say/write something and he/she is not sure if it will be correct(it can happen to anyone) they will not use a wrong version unless it comes out unintentionally .
r u ok?
Amirite?
Do you even englihs?
Where da wite gurlz @ ?
Ur 2 edgy 4 me!
such language! much words! many grammar! WOW!
U mispelled mispelled lolz^^
@Paule89: I did really meant that.
@Paule: Maybe itâs a trend now in English speaking countries to speak incorrectly , who are we to judge ?
âMaybe itâs a trend nowâŚâ
It is^^
âwho are we to judge ?â
I´m not judging. ^^
Netspeak can be pretty funny, in my opinion.
I was just ironical towards sdom, I didnât want to scold you or anything.