When I try to speak English, words don't come out right. How can I speak fluent English?
Most likely you are afraid of making a mistake.I suffered the same in learning Spanish, and I see it as one of the greatest obstacles for my English students. One of my students recently told me he was in a store and wanted to ask in English, "What is the price of this item?" He planned it out perfectly in his mind, walked up to the attendent, and said "wutprsths?" When the attendent (obviously) did not understand, so my student just said "price," and got the answer he needed.Often we may say "I don't mind making mistakes, I know no one is going to throw tomatoes at me" but deep inside we feel that it is something terrible to speak poorly, and so are terrified of saying something wrong. As a result we overthink what we are trying to say, analyzing the grammar and syntax instead of just pouring forth concepts. This makes speaking very awkward. This can even happen when you are alone, speaking to yourself, because you constantly doubt if what you said is correct (I speak from experience)!Polygot Sid Efromovich points out that we are trained from youth to shun the feeling of having done something wrong, but in learning languages we must seek it, because that means we are crossing into new territory and learning. (See the video below, 29:00)When you are writing you can take time to think about how words should be organized - you cannot while speaking. So you just have to go for it. Spit the words out, and if they are wrong, that's OK. One successful English learner told me that making mistakes was the best learning tool, because he was so embarrased he remembered the correction!From my own experience and research and watching others, I believe the only solution to your problem is to listen to and speak a lot of English. It has to be a natural process that you don't think about, which will only come with lots of practice - as with any skill, from baseball to piano playing to speaking.
Do you ever get accused of using "big words" to "sound smart" when it's just your normal vocabulary?
My sister used to accuse me of doing that, but fortunately most of my friends are intelligent enough that it seems normal to them. Sometimes I wonder if being able to spell correctly, and use proper grammar, will someday be called 'showing off'!
When I hear spoken Spanish, I can't understand anything?
Okay there are five ways to do this (I've personally done all and speak native sounding spanish now having first started studying it in school 20 years ago). 1) Music - Listen to Spanish music. There is dance, electro-merengue, rock, hip-hop you name it. Pick music you like, download the music, find the lyrics (letras) online and then memorize them while singing to the music over and over. Great way to start filling up that vocab and improve listening comp. 2) Novels - Read pop fiction in Spanish. Not Cervantes or other classics. I mean read top 10 fiction books. Don't worry if you don't understand everything, just try to mouth the words in a native sounding accent and in the characters voices until the language really starts to flow in your head ... 3) Watch a movie in Spanish over and over - Cartoons dubbed into Spanish are my favorite. Puss n Boots is hilarious in Spanish. 4) Do a language exchange - speak to a real live Spanish speaker for 30 minutes twice a week in exchange for 30 minutes English time. This really helps -- but it is hard at first. Male and female speech patterns in my view differ more than accents, so build variety by alternating with a male and female convo partner. Country of origin isn't that important. 5) Live abroad - you have 20 countries to choose from. You can rock up to PR without a visa. Spain is beautiful. So is Costa Rica. Mexico is magical. Living with a family there helps. I chose Spain with a study abroad company called CIEE. They are still around. If you go this route, remember to ditch the English speakers and really try to go native! good luck
What is the importance of medical terminology in the medical field?
If you are not able to understand and/or to speak the terminology, you could very, very well be a danger to patients. The words can be broken down into shorter words that mean a specific thing, and learning them is extremely important. What if the Dr. tells you the patient has a uvular edema, and you don't have a clue as to what that is, or what tests need to be run? Terminology is not as difficult as it seems, at first, and it should really be deemed a real second language, I think! Your job could be to WRITE down on referrals what the patient has been diagnosed with. Reading doctors' writing is not the easiest thing to do, and you may need to ask the doctor. So, if the doctor TELLS you and that is not a word in your vocabulary, you can't spell it, and the insurance people deny the insurance, who is to blame? If you are a patient, yourself, I say to learn the medical terminology, for your own safety. Since my children often had strange conditions, I learned all the terminology that a certied medical assistant learns, while my own son was in college for it. I quizzed him, and knew all the answers as well as he did, when he graduated top of his class! It was even suggested that I take the tests and become certified, as well. I did not do this, only because I didn't want to steal ANY of my son's well earned thunder! As to medical 'talk', when you are asked to explain to a patient how to take their new medication, and you aren't aware of how many pills to take, now often, and orally or otherwise, because you do not know how to read the doctor's ' shorthand, you could cause a great problem by explaining the prescription not correctly to the patient who is trusting you to know the exact meaning of the medical shorthand. Medicine is a wonderful field, and I hope that you learn your medical vocabulary, and go on to help people all your life!
Has a hearing problem ever been mistaking for ADHD?
MY SON HAS BEEN TOLD HE HAS ADHD BUT HE CAN'T STAND LOUD NOISES HE PUTS HIS FINGERS IN HIS EARS EVERYTIME THE NOISE LEVEL REACHES TO HIGH I NEED SOME INSIDE HERE PLEASE HELP!
What does it mean to be fluent in a foreign language?
A person who is fluent can read, write and speak the language. But a 6th grader can do that in a language, so true fluency requires a level of command that lets you reflect a decent education, excellent vocabulary, ability to use proper verb tenses and idiomatic phrases with some facility. I have spoken with US citizens who say they are fluent Spanish speakers and their pronunciation is abysmal, they misuse words, and can't conjugate a verb in normal speech. America West had a translator make signs to use in initiating new airline service between Phoenix, Arizona and Mexico City. They had signs that said "El ano del Mexicano", which was supposed to mean "the year of the mexican, but the word "ano" should have been spelled "año". The little diacritcal mark omission turned the phrase into "The Mexican's anus." That is not fluent.