2006-09-02 21:48:11 · 8 answers · asked by French_hector 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
I meant Lose. Sorry for Pappy that I seemed to offend by my mistake. English is not my mother tongue and I speak Italian and Spanish as well. And of course I speak French...
2006-09-02 22:57:32 · update #1
You don't exactly lose it, it just goes into hiding. But seriously, only constant practice keeps you fluent, by practice I mean speaking. Listening and reading is not enough.
2006-09-02 21:55:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What you lose over a period of time, is the vocabulary part of it. The grammatical knowledge remains almost intact.
To keep in touch with a learned foreign language without putting any special efforts you can
Use yahoo in that language.
Listen to songs.
Watch their TV prgrammes, if available in your country.
Chat on web,
etc etc
2006-09-03 12:06:24 · answer #2 · answered by Ashok Pipal (India) 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My girlfriend's family is Chinese. A lot of them used to speak various dialects of Chinese as their primary language. The majority of them barely remember any Chinese at all anymore.
My Staff Sergeant in Iraq is Filipino and when he came to America, he learned English simply from watching T.V.. Eventually, though, his primary language deteriorated and now he speaks almost Filipino at all.
I had two friends that went out to Iraq with me who spoke Chinese. To maintain their language skills, they would often talk to each other in Chinese.
Hope that this helps,
Nicholas
http://www.iConfessional.com
2006-09-03 04:53:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You have to practise. Reading and listening are not enough...they are passive activities.
I suggest that you get a pen pal, or find a cultural centre near you. You could also take classes.
2006-09-03 05:44:57 · answer #4 · answered by mbm244 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
good question..,i can see your point here..
without speaking or listening to it,it can be hard after time..
so,i read foreign books,watch television in other languages than my own..
2006-09-03 04:53:21 · answer #5 · answered by byciclerabbit 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you don't practice a second or third language for you, you will lose it.
2006-09-03 06:45:25 · answer #6 · answered by Taivo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
impossible. you lose any language abilities if you dont practice them, including your native language.
2006-09-03 04:52:55 · answer #7 · answered by yuhannaboulos 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Contact Yahoo and tell them to fix your spell check.
2006-09-03 04:54:35 · answer #8 · answered by pappy 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋