Hello. My name is Jill Soles and I live in Vancouver, Canada. My interest in languages began at a very early age. I began speaking French in kindergarten and continued my education in French until grade 12. After graduating from high school, I continued my studies at Simon Fraser University. While there, I earned an undergraduate degree in French Literature. I also spent two years studying and speaking Spanish. My many years of studying languages have led to my desire to help others learn my native language - English. I have a certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language and I hope to pass on some of what I have learned through The Linguist system.
Although I have spoken French for most of my life, I find it quite difficult to communicate in a French speaking country. For example, two years ago I traveled throughout Europe. In the French speaking countries that I visited, such as France and Belgium, I sometimes had difficulty communicating because their accent was different from mine. Similarly, they sometimes had difficulty understanding my accent. Also, my vocabulary wasn't as vast as theirs, so I didn't always know the right words to use. Some of what I would say was correct, but it wasn't how they would say it. I didn't sound natural. In order to sound like a native speaker, it is important to spend many hours listening to how they speak. By listening, you will learn new words, phrases and the correct pronunciation of words. Phrases are extremely important if you want to sound more like a native English speaker. Phrases are several words grouped together that have a specific meaning. If you separate the phrase into individual words, the meaning will not be the same and the sentence may not even make sense.
I believe that reading is also a great way to learn new words and to improve your understanding of phrases. Because books, articles, stories etc. provide you with a context in which events are taking place, you are often able to figure out what a word or phrase means simply by reading the complete sentence. Also, it is not always necessary to understand every word in order to comprehend the general meaning of a sentence. In short, the key to learning a new language is to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.
