English is not my native tongue,how to understand the strange slangs?

@yeyelee (370)
China
September 24, 2010 11:10pm CST
Till now i have just made only one friend at mylot and added her on my msn.Because my poor english,i don't know how to express my real meanings,once i made her feel bad,so sorry for her. I dare to say i know most words needed in communication,but i just don't understand various slangs and oral expressions,the meaning of which often makes me feel at a loss.Because the peoole beside me are all non-english speakers,so i feel it's so hard to improve this problem.Have you got any good methods to deal with it? Watch movies? Feel free to share with me. Some indigestible sentences or phrases: You have a lot of nerve. Don't give me your shoot. mean business Drop dead. Of course, i have understood the meanings of these sentences.But i often got confused when encountering other ones.LOL,it seems most slangs are foul language.
1 person likes this
8 responses
@adhyz82 (36249)
• Indonesia
25 Sep 10
same as you, my native tongue is indonesia but i do believe if i always practise my english, i can become understand about english..slow but sure
1 person likes this
@adhyz82 (36249)
• Indonesia
25 Sep 10
ya, mylot here you can practice your english yeyelee
1 person likes this
@yeyelee (370)
• China
25 Sep 10
Slow but sure.Hoho,i needs more practices too.
@ynahh1 (454)
25 Sep 10
I do have a problem understanding foreign languages but i started to overcome it. In our school we have subjects like American and British literature and call center fundamentals where we learn to speak as slang as they are and as accented as they do.I try to work in a call center and and teaching online where my clients are foreign i try to adopt the way they speak and practice it to pronounce i also bring my handy dictionary so if ever i don't understand the word i looked into it.Its very natural for us to be an apprentice in this situation what we need is constant practice and embrace all the possibility of learning somehow at the end you learn.I hope this would help you thanks.
1 person likes this
@yeyelee (370)
• China
25 Sep 10
You're a diligent "apprentice",and you have English surroundings to practise what you learnt from books.I believe one day you could communicate as fluently as native English speakers.Thanks for sharing your learning method and story,i'll cherish every possibility of study.
@webearn99 (1742)
• India
25 Sep 10
It is all about having conversation with these people on regular basis. You will know the meaning of these phrases automatically, if not directly then by association. Please check some of your discussions I have left a comment in one of them which is in African American style. Your English is good! and slang is not foul language, but language of the street! Of course there are Bad words there in a slang.
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@yeyelee (370)
• China
25 Sep 10
I have seen that comment,your word is so colloquial and jumpy,makes me unaccustomed.It seems i must practise speaking more with native English speakers.But i'm afraid this demand could hardly be meeted.Hope i could improve it on mylot.Thanks for your suggestions.And thanks for pointing out my misunderstanding about slang.Happy mylotting.
• China
25 Sep 10
This is a question confusing all foreign language learners .Only a tiny number of people can speak flunt second language without going oversea .In other words, the language circumstance is indispensible if you wanna learn a foreign language .Mylot offers us some kind of language circumstance.Maybe not as good as we thought ,but at least we can meet mother language speakers here .There is a saying goes ,practice makes perfect .Doing more practice is definitely helpful for learning a foreign language .If you keep practising speaking english ,you will finally get it .Maybe not easily ,maybe not as quickly as movies and television portray ,but you can get it . Good luck ,bro !
1 person likes this
@yeyelee (370)
• China
25 Sep 10
Hoho,thanks for your suggestions,i'll practise more on mylot.
• Philippines
25 Sep 10
my native language isn't English as well. i learned English in school (of course. lol) and by watching anime with English subs. those helped me improve my English and be familiar with slangs. the ones doing the subs could be the people who's native tongue is English. but "Don't give me your shoot" is something i read for the first time. so strange to me. i always read "You have a lot of nerve" in some anime series that i watch.
1 person likes this
@yeyelee (370)
• China
25 Sep 10
Haha,maybe i like movies more than anime.Thanks for your opinions. Don't give me your shoot means others talk rubbish to you,it's equal to "don't give me your shi**t".
@xtmlove (402)
• China
25 Sep 10
Hi, yeyelee. I want to say that I have the same problem as you. You know both of us want to improve our english, but it is very difficult. Just as you said, the biggest problem that we lack the surroundings to communicate with others in english. So we feel it is difficult to communicate with a foreigner whose first language is english, not mention their slangs. But don't depressed to this problem, we should face with it. Maybe we can find some good methods on mylot very soon. Good luck!
1 person likes this
@yeyelee (370)
• China
25 Sep 10
Hoho,I believe that's just the reason why we come here.So we should pay more attention to the comments with slangs or oral expressions.My friend,thanks a lot for your encouragement.Hope our english could achieve a higher level one year later.
@IsisGreen (554)
25 Sep 10
Post the ones you don't understand on here. Native English speakers will help put them in more standard English for you. Watching films with subtitles might also be useful. All the best.
1 person likes this
@yeyelee (370)
• China
25 Sep 10
I just wanna know whether there is a fast method to understand all kinds of slangs.From what you said,i'm afraid i have to learn them one by one.Thanks a lot.
• United States
25 Sep 10
First I would like to say that everyone has that problem when not speaking in their native tongue. And it can also be very hard for you to improve your English speaking when you are not around people who are native speakers. But I feel that you need to tell this person that you have difficulties with expressing curtain English idioms and have that person help you improve. It seems to me, that you have the basics down and can understand a lot more than you perceive, but just let the person know that that you having trouble. You shouldn't feel bad. It is completely understandable. Yes, you could watch tv shows, but I always feel that it is wise to have a person to talk to, who knows the language and can better assist you in understanding. With slang like the ones you demonstrated above are slang that depends on the content of which you are talking and how well the conversation is going. Some slang is not all foul language, it can be clean and respectable. Slang for me, when I speaking to my friends is like communication just between us. Some slang can be understand by others and other time the slang we use, is just slang we use among each other that only we understand. If you looking understanding the slang of any language, it best that use can have a person to know the language and can help you. Like I said before, just let the person know and go there. I'm sure they will understand and be willing to help you improve your speaking. Have you let the person know of your difficulties? If not, you should. Besides, if you ever need help. I am a native of English and I would be willing to help you improve you English, so that you can continue to talk to this person.
@yeyelee (370)
• China
25 Sep 10
Thanks a lot.I explained to her at that time,and she accepted my apologies. You means i could find a person to talk with?Maybe talking face to face is impossible,i'm trying to communicate with other native English speakers through MSN these days. You're so kind-hearted,thanks for your kindness,i'm afraid the jet lag would be a big problem.I plan to enrich myself first.Thank you.