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> For starters, you have to live in it before you can really speak it. I know plenty of people who haven't "lived in English" before they're able to speak it.
by yosito 5y ago
> For starters, you have to live in it before you can really speak it.
I know plenty of people who haven't "lived in English" before they're able to speak it. But I don't think English is much different than other languages in that the most effective way to learn it is to use it.
- biztos 5y agoSorry, I should have emphasized really. Compared to the other languages I know, the difference between "school English" and "English on the street" is larger. But of course the other two (German and Hungarian) could be exceptions! I have heard the same thing said of Spanish, at least as spoken by the working class in Madrid.
- yosito 5y agoI just noticed your username is Hungarian for sure. Pun intended. :) If you've spoken to a lot of Hungarians, as I have, I think some of the distance between "school English" and "street English" for Hungarians has to do with the distance between English and Hungarian. I haven't noticed any school/street difference with Germans speaking English. Most of the Germans I've met I could swear speak English as a first language. For what it's worth, I speak intermediate "school Hungarian", but "street Hungarian" still feels a lifetime away for me. When I learned Spanish I feel like I went from "school Spanish" to "street Spanish" in 3-5 months.