0_0 WHoaaa!..that was a HARD slap on the cheek. OUCH! i don't think that was really nice..even though you want to get a point through. Can't you say it more nicer ...or not even say anything?

And Lera, i don't care if you can't spell..or it's the spell checker. i enjoy having you in this forum!^_^
YUP..Ooh! Happy Wendsday you guys! i'm having a good day..

I agree with Schoolgirl. I also enjoy having you Lera in this forum. Just be yourself girl and try to spell a little better next time so everyone can easily dig in to whatever it is that you want to say next time.

Lera,
With so much difficulty with spelling, do you have any problems with reading? Sometimes there is a connection.

That is interesting that you would say that Kippsix. I struggle with spelling and I was behind a lot in reading at school. I had a lot of trouble with comprehension. My niece (the one I got the flute for) is like a replica of me and how I was in school, so I am hoping she does well on the flute.

She very well could do great on the flute. For some kids music is a wonderful complement for helping build synapse connections in the brain that actually boost academic performance.

On top of that, music may be the opportunity to excel at something, and will in turn build her confidence and self-esteem, therefore promoting a fertile ground for other areas of improvement.

I personally love to read, and read voluminously. I can spell without problems, but math and I sometimes struggle. It's a goood thing that I have had four kids, because I keep relearning Algebra and Geometry (as I assist my dyslexic children through it). I think I'm finally getting pretty strong at it. In highschool when I originally took those courses, I just did whatever it took to get my required "A" for a grade. I focused on the "how" to do it, but didn't really get into the depths of "why" it is done that way.

My kids are building my analytical mind.

Mrs. Carbo!
Long time no hear from! I was just wondering about you last night.


hello! I have been very busy with finals and essays at uni. ()

WOW, there's no doubt..you could spell!! that's really good!..that's way better than me..i'm the worst speller in the world! ...yup, i could tell the weird speller thing is off

<Added>

i lOVE math too..and science. AND the weird thing is i'm also REALLY artistic.and a music person. Usually a person is REALLY good at one thing..arts or math(science). BUt i guess i'm stronger in one..i have no clue.
OH, and Mrs. Carbo...yea, finals stink. I studied so much..i'm in highschool,..so the finals were not so bad. OH BOY,..i bet universities..are different..GOOD LUCK:)

Hey, i noticed ppl who are in fine arts do really good academicly..well, in my school. So i bet you're going to be REAlly good.

Schoolgirl, I believe that music and math (and languages btw), do share a (nice) part of our brains. Being gifted in math could probably help in music (though not necessarily in arts in general). Or this is maybe urban legend stuff?

I welcome Lera to the world of no-auto speller people!.

Much better so. The problem with bad spelling is mainly that others (like me) have difficult understanding what is being said. Native speakers could guess, but English is not my mother tongue and for me it's not so easy.

Regarding the time required to learn a foreign language, it took me some 9 years to learn English when I was child - teenager. So I enjoy writing carefully and as best as I can.

I usually have my posts checked with the Eudora spell checker before posting. Not a 100% guarantee of perfection, but it helps. Word also has a good spell checker (but mine is in Spanish...)

I wish I could learn *ANY* language in four months to that level! I can spak/read/write more or less 5 languages (Spanish, English, French, Italian and 50% German). But it took me my whole life to learn them!

uh..yea. math and music goes GOOD together..i understand.BUT.from what my bio teacher said, there's 2 sides...one person can be REALLY artistic..and the other one is very scientific. One person can be good at both..but more dominant in the one side.

A LOT of teachers told me about this..not only my bio. Spanish..english. i bet you heard about this...
it's just like the greek gods..dioynus(sp?) and apollo. something we talked about in english

This is information that I learned in the many Linguistics courses I have taken. (I have a BA in Linguistics)

Children moving to the US (or any other English speaking country for that matter) learn conversational English in about one year. Academic English takes on average about 2-5 years to acquire. Learning another language is the easiest before the age of 12. People who learn a language before the age of 12 are more likely to speak like a native speaker of that language (and are often considered to be native speakers). After the age of 12 it is harder to learn another language and speak like a native speaker (It is not impossible it's just less likely).

Schoolgirl. I can’t really understand what your teacher is saying. To me, Math and Music are quite different in concept and implementation. Music can be intuitive especially in the case of most people who play guitar but it is also quite technical in the case of sight reading or technique improvement. To improve in Math on the other hand requires understanding of its concept. I mean to me it is more on the logical path. A person who excels in Algebra may find difficulty in understanding calculus. I guess the reason for this is because some people, like me, concentrate more on how to do it and not on why it is done in certain ways. Once a person understands the ‘why’s’ he will be able to connect it with other concepts and be able to apply to different areas. My point is there are certain formula that yield the same results even when not written in absolute perfect prescription. I may be wrong but I think the same does not hold true in classical music.

Erin, I agree with you. I can read and write Chinese characters and understand Mandarin, Malay and Hokkien but it just sounds weird when I speak them. People can instantly establish that I am not local. I live in a country that has English as its national language and also has Malay, Chinese and Indian languages but I can’t fathom why people always ask me whether I am local. Maybe it is due to the fact that even their English has its own syntax.

Tessa, I think the basic difference between a native and a foreign speaker is accent and not syntax. The second is (relatively) easy to learn, but a foreign accent is almost impossible to get rid of. But perhaps it's different in Chinese and other Asiatic languages.

I have that problem in Madrid; I speak Spanish with the right words for this place, but people with a "good ear" will identify my country of origin just after I utter only a few words. And my mother tongue is Spanish!.

Concerning the relationship between music and math, it may be urban legend or not; I have read that the some brain structures are shared (or active)with both activities.
Of course there is the artistic aspect of music as in any other art; this may be based on the other hemisphere of the brain as math and analytic reasoning could be.

But music in particular has a complication in that it must be rhythmic and I find this is close to the mental counting and division process.

Also intonation is done (when achieved..) automatically after proper training.

But we do not know how our brain perceives (and enjoys) playing in tune the tension and other harmony issues in general.

We just "feel" it.

But you probably know that the physical theory of music and harmony is based on intervals that are based on a rather complicated series of fractions.

Maybe a training in math could help in developing this wonderful ability. Or may be it is just the other way: such a born gift could make simpler the learning and understanding of math.

We do not know and it is not important as long as we can enjoy one, the other or preferably both!

Jose Luis, there is an intonation in chinese language and dialects that is just very hard to apply. Certain words may have exactly the same sound when spoken normally like English but produce different meaning when proper intonation is applied. I also know that most locals here have perfect writing and spoken English. The problem sets in when some locals relax their English into Singlish. It’s perfectly okay except that sometimes I find myself altering my sentence construction in order to adapt. Such as, we normally say ‘What do you want to eat?” Here they would say that as “You want to eat what?” There are also times that I feel some connecting verbs are missing when I hear locals talk to each other. So I think my problem does not lie in accent alone.

As to music/art and math, I do not contest the technicalities in music that can actually be quantified. My point is music gives more freedom. It may also be argued that one cannot be wrong in their interpretations, such as one can write/play different variations of a piece be it classical, jazz, etc. I would compare it to extrapolation. I can try to predict a certain outcome that is beyond a given range but in the end my answers would still have to be absolute. Except from a very few mathematical areas/concept, math to me is about absolute outcome. It always has a benchmark of rightness or wrongness. But of course this is just my observation, still quite limited. But I agree with you. It’s only that I know some people who are actually excellent in math but have higher interest in music playing. I know a university professor who is also a very good ‘baroque’ musician. He told me that he likes physics because it is a challenge but he likes music more because it is a tangent of a challenge and EQ enhancement. In this light, I think the claim that a person cannot be as good in art as he is in music is questionable and will be very enlightening to explore. In the end, I think it all depends on our own object of enjoyment.

In this light, I think the claim that a person cannot be as good in art as he is in music is questionable and will be very enlightening to explore.

This should be art as he is in math. Sorry.