Re: USAGE: hate = jealous (was: Re: YAPT: Dutch ij and ui)

Carsten Becker wrote:

> English is my L2, and the teacher I had during the first 3 years
> actually only dealt with grammar. It was quite a pain for me to learn
> all the basic grammar stuff back in 1997! (I was 11 in 1997) At school,
> we aren't taught practical, everyday English that much :( Actually, you
> are trained to *write* good English, but you're not very much prepared
> to be able to have everyday conversations.
It's amazing that languages are still taught that way.  It's how I learned
Spanish back in the 50s. Although I was #1 in my Spanish classes, when I
stepped off the plane in Madrid I was utterly tongue-tied, and couldn't
understand a word of what people were saying. Spanish speakers have often
said that my spoken Span. is "bookish". (Though at the height of my fluency,
I was immensely flattered when someone asked what country I came from!?)

 You somehow pick up the more
> colloquial expressions rather from the internet or from songs than
> learning them in school.
That, or from "conversation" classes, which in the old days didn't happen
until you were in College/Univ. where native speakers were more available.
Also, in those days, there were few native Spanish teachers at the high
school level-- that has changed now, fortunately.

(In any case, Carsten, your English is _very_ good now :-))))

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