basicamenteyo

Benidorm, Benicassim, Murcia...

 

definitely... nope. I meant South

 

As soon as he doesn't come to La Coruña again, I'm ok

You are right... but still, East

Yeah

 

as we've read... he needs to come to the South

You mean East

Yep, I think it's a free gig as well, since his fb page removed the link to buy tickets... but let's wait, maybe they are not ready yet!

 

Anyway... in 2012, the prices were really cheap, so..

And most likely there´ll be a second date in Spain, right??

At first Mika´s FB attached a link to buy the tickets, and then removed it and created just an event... that makes me think it´s probably free... maybe one of those performances outdoor (which I would not appreciate, I rather have him singing in a proper and well conditioned venue even if I have to pay for a ticket).

This is not a big festival, so in case there are tickets for sale, they won´t be that expensive. Students got lower prices last year. Let´s wait for proper info.

I have never given this any thought. And that's the thing - if you can absorb grammar by a sort of osmosis you never think about it and it's not a struggle. That's why it's difficult to answer some of the questions that you ask other than saying "this is right" and "that is wrong". I don't construct a sentence based on conscious rules and that's why learning a second language is so difficult (for me) as an adult. All of these conscious thoughts about grammar are just a huge roadblock rather than an aide.

 

It would be much easier to just learn to say...

 

 

 

"The car red" or "The cars reds". In the same way I learned all those English dialect quirks that we don't have in Canada or that you never even see in writing in the UK.

I think I don´t get it, sorry

Of course it´d be much easier if I just could change "car" for "coche" and that´s it.

You are right, our minds work in a way when we learn a language, and so then, learning a new language is quite complicated. My son, for the record, is learning two languages at a time, Spanish and Valenciano, but they have the same way of making sentences, so we just have to change "coche" for "cotxe".

Now I´m starting to speak in English to him. Mostly in the mornings, before going to school, cause I´ve been told that his brain is more receptive at that time of the day (LOL) and I realised the other day, how this new language is working on him. Now he already knows what to do when I say: "brush your teeth, wash your hands,take your sleeves, put the sandwich in your bag, let´s go" etc. So I was helping him to put his sweater on, and so his t-shirt sleeves wouldn´t roll up, I told him: "Asier, take your sleeves" and he did it. And right after that, I asked: "what´s a sleeve?" and he looked at me like and said: "how on Earth am I going to know what´s that?" Same happened when I asked about "teeth". He knows what to do when I give him these orders and he never confuses "brush your teeth" with "wash your hands"... and that´s something I don´t understand. Probably he is so young that his brain may be able to learn three languages at a time (tho I seriously doubt it). I don´t know... and I don´t have a logical explanation for this.

This is why I think they should teach you to think in another language using your own language first. I think it would be a lot quicker to adjust to and then you would just have to learn to substitute foreign words for your own (ie literally translate). I can do the last bit but I can't think in French grammar.

 

I had to do that "thought adjustment" living in South Africa and the UK although obviously it's less extreme than jumping from English to a romance language.

I think it´d take a lot of time and effort to make us think in "english" using my language. I mean... you see, the sentence "the red car" is quite simple. Well,first of all we don´t have an article (the "the" here is called article) which works for every word. "car" in spanish is male. And the adjective is NEVER before the noun... In English, adjectives don´t vary. So, this simple change: "the red cars" would make a total different sentence in Spanish. See:

The red car

El coche rojo.

The red cars.

Los coches rojos.

I can´t learn how to think that way using Spanish There are things I learnt to do. For example, in this sentence:

"The people I worked with"

The fact that you place the "with" at the end of the sentence is the oddest thing I ever saw Since I have nothing similar in Spanish, I learnt this and I do it naturally now (ok, most of the times, please, don´t post here the 9825189278927 posts where I made typos ), but there are many many things, most of them the phrasal verbs that I still need to stop and think in order to do it fine.

It´s better when I can write, since it´s the way how I learnt this language and the way how I most use it. But for the certificate I´ll have to do two speeches. And even though I now talk to my wall, and try to "work out" my brain, I think it´s really complicate, and unless the subject is Mika, I´m not sure I´ll be able to do it fine

The speech of the last year was about Vivien Westwood, so maybe I still have a chance about Mika

So, please, don´t hate me if I start asking here like crazy

It's the "things" you want to be calmer so the conditional tense relates to this.

 

I'd probably say "I decided to leave, wishing things would be calmer when I got back".

 

Actually I would probably use "hoping" rather than "wishing".

Oh Thanks Silver. I bet that being English speaker I might sound dumb, but I don´t "think" in English yet, so I need to translate almost everything, and it´s clear that literal translation is always the worst.

Even though "calmer" is correct, I feel like the sentence would sound less awkward if you used "more calm" instead. Also saying "it" instead of "things" just sounds better to me.

 

I decided to leave, hoping it would be more calm when I got back.

 

You also don't even need "-er" or "more" next to calm. Since the situation you were talking about wasn't even calm to start with.

 

I decided to leave, hoping it would be calm I got back.

 

Again, it just sounds more proper to me this way.

I just chose the worst possible way, huh?

Thank you very much, I´ll try to be more logical in the future.

Nah, who am I kidding? I´ll rely on this thread for the future I can´t be logical, since it´s not my language and it all sounds fine for me as long as it makes sense... That´s why I´ll ask a lot of things here

I'd use would

hmm that's a really awkward sentence..

i would say: ' i decided to leave, hoping things would be calmer when i came back/ when i returned'

 

in your example above 'would' is the better option, however - 'were' would be very incorrect..

Thanks! I see... so the conditional should affect to "things" instead of the comeback. Ok. It´s totally different in Spanish, jeez, this is so hard

"Undone" doesn't mean the same thing in "Dr John" either

I think undone in Dr John means "very sad"... aka crying desperately

Aaaand.... so a new question (no need to say I´m preparing my certificate, right?).

Let me explain the situation. Two people are arguing and one of them decides to leave before things get worse. So the sentence is:

"I decided to leave wishing things were calmer when I would be back"

But I´m not sure about the use of "would" here. Would it be better to say: "I decided to leave wishing things were calmer when I were back" ?

The first one would be the literal translation from Spanish. I don´t know if you need more context...

'Not done', definitely

I would have said "not done" or "to do". Would "to do" have been correct too?

Yes! I personally would probably say, "to do still" or "still to do" but just "to do" could work.

Thank you very much!

A new one: when you are checking a list of things you should have done, and you did one, you can say:

"-buying food to have dinner: DONE" ??

And then, if the task is not done, is this correct?:

"-buying food to have dinner: UNDONE"

(Undone sounds to me like crying desperately )

Maybe "not done" is better?

For me there is something missing now. He always looks great but he looks like someone else.

Ross Gellar??

I do too...

 

Can we please talk about something other than the man's hair? Please:aah:

Don´t worry... if he follows the normal way of ageing for many men, it will arrive a time when there´ll be no hair to discuss about and then you´ll miss all this talk about curls So, enjoy it while you can

Rosa I'd say it's the same thing. I don't think politeness is a factor.

But in the second one, the "order" of the words it´s altered... I mean... first thing we are taught is that in English, the order is "noun-verb" when the sentence is affirmative.

Is this "order alteration" normal in conditional sentences? I know it also happens in sentences like "no way was I going to do that again"... but... is there a rule I can remember?

Ok, let´s see if I can explain myself about this question...

This sentence: "If I had worked it would have been easier for me" is right, ok? but then, this other sentence: "Had I worked it would have been easier for me" is ok as well?

Do they mean the same? Is the second one a politer way to say the same?

No, you're not... Strangely, besides the clothing, he looks much like he does right now in this video:fisch:

Yes, in fact in those photos from The Enfoires, he looked like 2007 Mika...

Still, I think he looks more handsome now than in 2007. And for me, about his hair, the longer the better...

Am I the only one thinking that ageing suits him so well?

If I can give you a tip, when you listen to an english movie, put the english subtitles as well, it will be easier to follow:thumb_yello:

My TV has only the option of Spanish subtitles LOL

I can understand Mika's French better than other people's too.

 

Rosa we would have a hard time communicating. All I ever heard in South Africa was "What??" "What??" and they are English speakers.

Actually I had some a hard time talking to Rose... Hi Rose!! and even Kath and Vicky... I´d say I understand better to all those non-English speakers, I mean, people who their first language in not English. Of course, I know it´s because we all use a plain English with less slang or common saying, I know that, but I also think that we have a more "international" accent.

I understand Rox quite fine, but again, she´s french

You understood me!

Most of the times!! And when I didn´t I just pretended

Oh dear I really can't believe this. Although I saw a very long and interesting discussion on a gay blog about Mika and sexuality in general that I think dated from the time when the bisexual story came out. There were many bisexual men saying that bisexuals often come out as gay because it's easier since there is so much pressure and biphobia within the gay community. Maybe if Mika had been more unequivocal when the bisexual story came out I could entertain that possibility (that he's just saying he's gay because he's in a long term relationship with a man and everyone insists you label yourself as gay in that situation). But he was so obviously skirting the issue in 2009 and now he is being very clear so I tend to believe him now.

 

 

 

I can barely remember which is which sometimes. Some words you would never say in Canada - like braces for suspenders or lift for elevator. But there are other words that just aren't as common but I expect other Canadians to get the meaning - like dodgy or knackered. But with the last group I sometimes can't remember if they are even Britishisms or not. When I grew up most of my friends were either born in Britain or their parents were but I would think the latest gemeration are fully Americanized and would find these words old fashioned, if they knew them at all.

Oh yes, sorry, I forgot to add the right after that "gay" issue

I can´t distinguish among American and British not even in the accent. In fact I find odd to understand anyone who is not Mika And now I´m serious. Maybe it´s just cause I´m used to listen to him, but I understand almost the 100% of he says, but then, I watch a film (either American or British) and I don´t get a f*ck

I still have time since the exams are on May and June... LOL

Well that's the other thing, I don't identify with it anyway. The internet has a way of making one feel a freak for having a normal childhood, being fairly social and conforming to society because that's what humans do to feel like they belong. I mean I guess I have fairly radical ideas that don't make me fit in on a certain level. I am an atheist, I don't like babies, I think working is for suckers, etc. but I don't feel the need to spend my life railing against it.

 

It makes me sad for Mika that he still expresses what sounds like a deep sense of unbelonging because the qualities that made him not fit in as a child are what make him such an interesting adult.

 

 

 

That's how I felt even with British English. My parents used to watch Coronation Street and I couldn't understand half of what was going on. It's not just the accents but the vocabulary and the cultural references. I didn't even realize how much of it I was mssing until after I'd lived in the UK. Your mind has a way of just filtering out what you don't understand - at least I find that with television.

Could it be then that many people don´t understand the word "gay" and they filter it out of their minds? That would explain why many still think he is bi...

And now, seriously... It´s a good explanation. For my exam, I have been told I should NOT use "americanism" cause I´m applying for a Brittish English certificate. And now... I´m not sure if the English I know is more American or Brittish... LOL *ready to screw it up*. I´ll try to remind it´s braces instead of suspenders. I´m pretty sure it´ll be usefull

And then we moan when people find similarities between Mika and other singers

It is. It's slang and it's an insult. The fact that the word has other meanings is totally overshadowed by the fact that it's also such a harsh insult. Which is how I feel about the word freak. I mean look at the synonyms for it in that definition - mutant, crackpot, weirdo, deviant, aberration. Who would want any of these words to be associated wiith Mika or Mika fans? Yes there are also innocuous meanings like eccentric, maverick, nonconformist - but I think freak is just a poor word choice to express those qualities in a person.

"mutant" and "deviant" are... yeah, then I think it´s what I understand at first. I can say I´ve learnt English here, and so, I´ve learnt the meaning that "we" give to the word in this community... I never thought of freak in the way you just said. Now I do. I don´t consider myself a freak (not even in the great and positive meaning of the word) and of course never called myself a Mika freak...

....

Now it sounds so disturbing...

Seriously, the more I study this language the more I realise that I won´t be able to speak it correctly unless I move forever to an English speaking country. I wonder whether Mika has a spare room

Ha I like his hair. I think my niece had that colour once. Now it is some shade of orange/red/purple. Seems to change on a weekly basis.

 

He reminds me of Ross Gellar. And someone else I can't put my finger on.

You mean Monica´s brother??

As poisonyoulove says we use it that way too, but I don't know, it's just all sounds like an insult to me. Even that kind of freak I just associate with losers.

 

And to me there is just no getting away from the other meanings which are blatant and harsh insults. Fag means cigarette in British slang but wouldn't it be incredibly awkward if Mika sang "Love is a drug and you are my fag"...?

 

Maybe the whole freaks and geeks culture has become more mainstream now and a point of pride for many but in my generation it was an insult any way you look at it. I would never ever self-identify as a freak and if someone called me a freak I'd slap them.

 

LOL until this moment I thought fag was the slang for gay LMFAO

nice hair colour

Why the ?