Friends Abroad – Language Exchange
This is their introduction of the site which I plucked out from here:
Hi, we're FriendsAbroad, an Internet languages company based in the United Kingdom - we're about 30 miles from the centre of London.Our aim in life is to help you and millions of others to improve your language skills.
FriendsAbroad is the language network. Free to join, FriendsAbroad is an online community of millions of users in over 200 countries speaking over 80 languages. So far, it's been a lot of hard work with only small revenues coming from the advertising on the site.
We have lots of exciting changes in the pipeline, and hope that you'll be happy to pay a small amount per year for the additional language learning tools we're working on.
For now though, do join and have fun conversing with people all over the world about whatever interests you! Everything you see here today is free and will remain free.
Want to know more about us: meet the team.
So, in less than several minutes of going through the registration, I am now an official a member of this social site. Why sign up you ask? Well, at first I was curious… as curious as a cat and very much like a moth attracted to the fire. I know too much of curiosity wasn’t a good thing, and it could potentially harm you if not kill you. Ha, I am being overly dramatic here. Thing is, I felt that more good than harm would come out of this one. But then again, let's just see if this could be true.
Secondly, I do hope very very much to be able to learn Japanese. And it seems learning so interactively via the easy to use methods provided by FRIENDS ABROAD, could well be the answer to my quest of learning the language.
They encouraged us (members) to write a few things introducing ourself to other members around the world. And wrote I did… a very very very long intro nothing short of being obscenely long winded. LOL. In my opinion, it looks more suited as a blog post than a short introduction of self. Therefore, I thought, hey, why not post it here for all to have a good laugh at my silliness and at the same time introduce this fabulous site to all. In a way, you will get to know more about me that I have yet to disclose.
Here’s what I wrote to introduce myself:
I am a Chinese woman from Malaysia. A beautiful tropical country with what I consider as... a place with "extreme weather" i.e. it's either too much of rainfall or too dry and sweltering hot. Would really really love to experience snowfall or milder weather elsewhere.
One of the places I longed to visit is Japan. This particular country would and always will be on top of my travel wish list. Why was that, you ask? Things is, I've got this long time obsession with almost anything and everything Japanese. Especially fascinated with the Japanese language, that is. Hence, this is why I am here at FRIENDS ABROAD - to seek the golden opportunity of pickup the Japanese language. I would really love to be able to watch Japanese Anime without the English Subtitles one fine day. Yes, I am a crazed fan of Anime too. Guess I never did grow up. LOL.
Right, I believe I should give you an inkling of my present grasp of the languages I have listed in my profile;ENGLISH
Well, I can speak and write 'passable' English. In fact, I think my written English fares much better than my spoken one. I had to admit that I do have some pronunciation problem. Now, I do not claim that my English’s is prefect, as I do know there's so much more room for improvement. Therefore, what I believe is that, by helping others out in this language... I am also brushing up my own skill at the same time. Who knows, I might even have the good fortune of meeting someone with stronger command of the English language and prosper in it in the end. It is a win-win situation here at FRIENDS ABROAD right? By sharing, in return, we gain. How perfect a partnership.CANTONESE (CHINESE)
The next language I commanded is the Cantonese (it's one of the many Chinese dialects - one of the major ones, anyways). Though, I might be 'pure' Chinese and this is in fact my mother-tongue, I couldn't read/write any of it. To tell you the truth, I even struggle writing my very own Chinese name. Gosh! Uh-huh, I am that bad. The only consolation of mine would be being able to at least speak the language. Phew! So, does this make me any less of a Chinese? I beg to differ.MALAY (BAHASA MALAYSIA)
Malay is the national language of my country, Malaysia. It's the language my country use for its academic system. I was quite good at it during my schooldays. I could speak like a Malay native and write almost like one too. My grades for this subject is very promising... at that period of time. However, things have changed over the years as I integrated myself into the rat race world (corporate world). Where English is the dominant language used for business. And so, gradually, my proficiency of this particular language fades and stunted in the background. Anyhow, I think I still haven't lost touch of it in totality. I could still understand it well enough and also speak and write 'passable' Malay if the need arises. Though I do get mental-block using it sometimes. It's only an understandable weakness, agreed?
OTHER MUNDANE STUFF ABOUT ME:
I own a blog. It’s a place where I could practice my written English and improve my confidence in it. What better way to learn and improve a language than to practice it for real. Don’t you agree?Apart from that, I also love reading and commenting on other people’s blog. It’s another good way of learning the language and improving your ease of use.
So, if any of you are interested or curious about my blog, I welcome you to visit my humble blog at www.ahermitmuse.blogspot.com (my primary blog) or at http://kleiolee.vox.com (my mirror site and social networking site). The name of my blog is, A HERMIT’S MUSE. The reason why I adopted this name is because I am practically a hermit in real life. I am always holed up at home… but it’s due to some personal issues and not exactly what I chose to be. Yes, I am quite a loner… but I do enjoy occasional gallivanting if given a choice.
Another thing about me is that, I am a caffeine-addict. The talk of coffee gives me instant mood lift. It’s almost like I couldn’t live without it.
To All My NEW or SOON-TO-BE or FUTURE ONLINE FRIENDS of FRIENDS ABROAD:
I welcome all with open arms. Therefore, don't hesitate or be shy about writing to me.To those who would be kind and generous enough to teach/coach me on Japanese... I thank you in advance with much gratitude *Bow, bow and bowing even lower*. Domo Arigato Gozaimasu.
Hope to hear from you soon.
If you wanna take a look at how this introduction look on my profile page at FRIENDS ABROAD, click here. Though I am not quite sure if you could actually view it without an account with them.
Lets just see what this impromptu spur-of-the-moment thing brings for me. Hope it hails good returns though. In terms of me being successful in learning a few more Japanese words... good enough to hold a basic conversation, I would be more than happy already.
THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST. Tee hee hee. Just to clarify it before anyone thinks I am writing this for moolah... something I don't do at all. But, I am not saying I wouldn't embark on it in the near future should circumstances permit it.
Comments
Someone was just asking about language practice *moments* ago and there is your post! ;)
I Appreciate all the info you've provided, in case I want to practice my English! ^^ Actually, your written English is excellent. :)
The thing that gives you away is plurals... Like "stuffs" when almost always the "s" isn't needed. I think that Asian languages handle plurals differently, so it's natural for something that is more than one to have an S, right? Funny - the English (British) say "maths" - Americans say math... English is rated as the 2nd hardest language to learn. It's such a grab bag of different historical languages rolled into one! ^^
Soon, you'll be translating the Jpop songs for us! :)
very interesting
im learning Japanese actually..hahaha
fun in a way, but there's always a but..
hahahaa
i shall check it out, when i get up later..
hugss
Wow, that’s a coincidence.
Thanks for your kind comment Mikey. But I do know my English language command is still far cry from excellent. In fact, I could still find numerous errors in this post after re-reading it a couple of times and had to amend it again and again. Thanks for pointing out the singular and plural part. Already rectified the said word as per your recommendation. Will try to keep this in mind. Yeah, I have agree that the “s” isn’t needed in this case as it is already considered redundant. I am particularly weak in my grammar and punctuation especially my spelling. If not with the help of a computer, I don’t think I would be motivated to write at all.
LOL. Me, translating Jpop songs. That, would be a long long way to come ;)
P/S: Please do continue to highlight to me as and when you could, on the mistakes found in my posts. I really appreciate it. Thanks.
Hi Blake, nice to meet you.
Yup, it’s an interesting site worth trying out. Hope you would find it helpful.
Thanks for the kind comment *blush*. But I still believe I have so much more to learn. At least, I must be able to write with ease and confidence unlike now… I am still struggling with my words and spelling.
Peggy,
Wah, you are learning Japanese. So are interested in this language too? How I wish I could just join a normal class like you.
This site would be a good place for you to find someone to practice your lessons with ;)
yea, i agree, ur written english is way better than alot alot of people. I dare say ur written English is better than a lot of native speakers out there.
My Japanese sucks. hahhaa, it's not as easy as it seems.
Anyway, communication is the most important thing - and no right-thinking English speaker is going to have any problem communicating with you at all.
Was I right to remember that you speak Cantonese, not Manadrin?? I have a hard time telling the difference, which I hope doesn't sound like an offensive statement to you. I'm hoping that people can annotate songs as Mandarin, Cantonese, etc. Be most helpful to moi... :)
Btw, I heard that few Chinese airline pilots have passed their (mandantory) English communications exams... (English being the universal Ground Controller language) A teaching opportunity pour vous??
What you have to say is much more important than exactly how you say it. And you always have most interesting things to say and tell about! That's why you are my MUSE! :)
(And your natural modesty is most enchanting too! :))
hmm
how do i add u there???
im a member there
So did you follow any language classes or did you pick it up on your own?
So far, I have only managed to memorize about 10 hiragana characters and 10 katagana characters. Phew! Just like you said... it wasn't easy - especially for someone like me with a goldfish kind of memory. LOL. As for basic conversation phrases, I did managed to force into my brain a couple of the easy ones :P
Ah, this phrase is a must for me.... "Kohi, onegaishimas" - meaning "Coffee please or I would like to have coffee please". LOL, it as survival phrase for a coffee addict like moi. Hahahaha
Yeah, you are right, I speak Cantonese and not Mandarin. Thought I did manage to somehow pick up a few basic lines here and there from watching Korean-dramas (my fav) and also practiced a bit with my 5-year-old son. I am now much better at it :D
Hmmm... annotating the songs... what a great idea and a timely reminder. I must admit that this issue didn't even cross my mind before you mention it here. Great job at reminding us :) (I would like to suggest that you consider putting up a notice at your Lyrics Translation Group as a reminder/suggestion). By the way, the last two songs I posted were in Mandarin (shall annotate it, right after this).
Once again, I thank you for your kind comments and.... for finding moi enchanting and interesting. :))
I am so touched by your sincere and kind comment. It means a lot to me... what great encouragement it was! I shall strive harder than before now :D Thank you.
Now my latest feedback on this language site, FRIENDS ABROAD... two words... too buggy and slow. The site takes ages to load (could also be my broadbandwith prob) and it cuts me off quite constantly (very irritating - got to log in countless time), the chat feature wasn't very stable plus the site's interface wasn't too clear/user friendly. And last but not least, for non-paying members, there is a limit as to how many emails you could send to your potential language exchange partner. Then again, of course, these are only based on my own opinion - I might not be totally right also, as to be fair, there are many factors to consider.
Wishing you all the best in your language quest. And thank you for your kind comment too.
Seriously, I really don't have a clue how to do so. Like what I said to Antimaggie just now... the interface at this language site wasn't too user-friendly. I am quite lost there. LOL
So far, how you find that site? Was it good for you?
hahaha
i am taking japanese in uni at the moment..
i learnt a lot a lot..i have to prepare a speech, to intro myself to the class, in japanese...
it should be fun!!
hehee
Sounds like fun :D
Girl, you are so lucky to be able to learn it at Uni. Having proper learning environment. What blessings it was.
Good luck to you ok.
Meanwhile, I shall push myself harder so that I may be able to converse with you in nihongo in a couple of months time… basic ones at least. It would be wonderful to be able to practice here with a friend. Makes it more fun.
Good luck with your intro.
hajimemashite! yoroshiku ne..
Yousoku desu. Nice to see a fellow Malaysian here. I welcome you humbly and honorably. Thanks for dropping me a note.
It's nice to know you are another nihongo enthusiast, just like me. Btw, are you currently attached to any language center? Or are you picking it up on your own just like me? As for me, I haven't yet made much progress of late due to some other more urgent commitment to attend to. Yeesh, hopefully I wouldn't lost touch with my meager grasp of hiraganas by the time I return full fledge into this daunting yet challenging and interesting endeavour of mine.
Do you have any good suggestion to share with me?
And good luck in making your dreams to study in Japan comes true ;)
Would love to hear from you again kay.
hey, just to let you know that I am continuing my Japanese studies, level 2. I did pretty well in level 1, scored a distinction..hehehe
gonna keep learning it till level 4...and hopefully more and more
good luck with ur learning...
As for moi, I kinda had to shift my focus elsewhere for the last couple of weeks. Hence, didn't practice as much. Hope I didn't lose what I have learned so far.
Don't forget to share any tips on nihongo benkyou with me kay.
Jaa matane.