Social Networking and Language Learning By Bea Augustine Do you speak English? Or habla usted espaol?

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Or beszl magyarul? The last one is in Hungarian, a language that is spoken not so often and for the pronunciation of which you need lots of time in practicing in order to speak it right, even without ever trying to imitate an accent or something. I now feel like indulging in language learning, which appears to be a fun activity, apart from the common-sense advantages of being multilingual. Probably now you already know about CEFR the Common European Framework of References for Languages, which attempts to streamline and to standardize language learning and language teaching throughout the continent. Standards are a norm and now multi-linguism finds its way, which might be really fun when one is on an international event, for instance or travelling, of course. Being multilingual or multicultural is just not so extraordinary and still not commonplace. However, even in the job place bilinguals get sought after and remunerated accordingly for their language skills - in particular businesses. Language self-assessment is at times difficult, when the highest level is just native and the previous is something like professional. Levels get very handy when trying to introduce oneself, however, practicing real conversation is what I think counts most, when one needs to communicate some ideas intelligibly and, yet, in an adequately sophisticated way. The greatest fun is when a native tells one that one should not try to write too exquisitely, as this is comes naturally only to natives, as they only can get the feel of what to say. Still, trying to expand one`s knowledge base in the epoch of internet and search engines cannot be more achievable, with the point that one should be a bit conventional in one`s attempts to benefit from online possibilities and should stay off-line at times, to tune in one`s objectives. What we also deem socially acceptable is to be face-to-face whenever possible, be it on Skype, and avoiding thrusting ourselves into the web life, that is so often depicted as lacking real communication or as being destructive to the communication skills of young people. I prefer not to comment on this, as (taking into consideration social networks), I think they have a positive impact on communication skills and on other cognitive abilities, with all the interactivity and supposedly relevant ad content that they offer in order to cater for the various preferences of their subscribers. This way, being offline is now a luxury that we might have never expected it to be some four or five years ago, when it was just normal to have your internet connection at all times, just in case, or to have a PC at the hostel where you stay, in order to catch up with a thing or two on your email account, when travelling. Now, it is just as usual to make sure one has their necessary devices at practically all times, so as not to stay behind or just for the sake of entertainment. Still, what actually gets into the headlines is our increased web presence and the perceived ill-effects or the lack of privacy of being on the internet, while we almost never read about the benefits that the web could provide in learning, for instance.