My English Test results (Listening-Reading)

[sabasgr68]

Sabas, I'm really impressed with your English - I speak a couple other languages in a very half-assed way, so anyone who can really express themselves in a second language gets a lot of respect from me. I participate in a forum for English learners, and it has taught me a lot about English. English is a strange language; very easy in some ways (we have no genders, very limited declension, almost no cases) and very difficult in others (our spelling and pronunciation are a nightmare, we have a lot of very odd constructions, and we are HYPER-specific about article and tense usage).

Well, that´s how I find it: easy and difficult. BTW, I had to search for the meaning of declension. I think the one thing that has helped me a lot is that I REALLY WANTED to learn English, and still do. And I think that the reason why I get so nervous when I want to speak in English is that I´d like to sound like a native English speaker, and I clearly can´t without having living there for at least 3 or 4 years, and maybe that´s not enough time still. Now that I´m getting that fact, maybe I won´t feel that bad next time I try to talk in English. The important thing is to be understood.

[sabasgr68]

... English is a strange language; very easy in some ways (we have no genders, very limited declension, almost no cases) and very difficult in others (our spelling and pronunciation are a nightmare, we have a lot of very odd constructions...

As an ESL person, the best analogy I could come up for American English is a snap-together erector set. Perfect for tech work, BTW.
That is, relative ease in building something coherent, compared to the rapid rise in complexity of French or German languages.

Separately, I used to work with (American English) technical writers on user guides and instruction manuals, and there is an art to simple and effective English. Easy to read, understand, and also translate in other languages. Think about it next time you open a user manual.

That´s interesting. User manuals are a good example. And I´m that kind of guy that reads user manuals BEFORE trying anything, all the more if I´m totally new to that thing I´m gonna put to use.

[nomadh]

Well done. There was no question that your reading and writing skills were top tier. In fact I don't recall anything ever giving you away as a non native English.
It was also great hearing your speaking. Also very good. Very understandable. Maybe easier for me as a san diegan I hear your exact accent every day. In this area people would just assume you were from Tijuana and lived here sinceyou were about 15 or 20 years old.
No question that I wish I spoke Spanish even half as well as you speak english.