Danny Said:

Do people generally reflect their parents?

We Answered:

wall-of-text

anyways, all the things you mentioned are not neccessarily negative things. They may not be perfect (who's childhood is?) but overall they were good parents. You sound very smart and productive and I think they did a good job. Dont bash your parents for everything they did that you didnt like. They are just human and did the best they could.

You cant blame everything on your parents. At some point, you have to take responsibility for yourself.

And what you asked doesnt apply to everyone. YOU are not your mom and dad. Yo can love them and learn from them but you are still your own person with your own education and your own mind.

Salvador Said:

How can I improve my comprehension skills?

We Answered:

For me, how I do well for English, be it comprehension, writing or speaking, is by reading.

To me, reading helps a lot in improving your English writing or comprehension skills as you're exposed to different usages of English. Thus, reading is the best way to improve on your skills.

Examples of reading will be reading storybooks, especially those famous books like Harry Potter or Twilight. Those really helps. Also, read newspapers or even magazines, as the articles are in English and it improves your reading and writing skills. It does improves on your comprehension skills as well, because you'll have to understand.

If you dislike reading, another way will be start speaking good English. This will result in your speaking skills be better. And it will benefit you in the future as your writing skills will gradually turn out better as you will not use wrong usage of words if you speak proper English.

Take a step and start small. Start by reading first as it'll improves on your writing and of course, your comprehension skills. Remember, when you're reading the stories, please read with understanding and don't just browse just for the sake of reading. It goes the same for comprehension.

Hope it helps. (:

Carole Said:

How do you make friends with girls?been trying all my life.17, but failed to do so, feel like suicide at times?

We Answered:

A guy, at times i can feel depressed but thats normal. never look back in the past, it's not good to have regrets so just forgive yourself and live life with no regrets.

Make a myspace or face book and just hit up girls and thats a way like mentioned before to make friends or camaradas(assuming you speak spanish).

Go out play some sports go the park and see if you can join a basketball/soccer game, or whatever you play.

It's not good to to drugs, I think marijuana once in a while isn't bad, like i myself sometimes we gather up and smoke a blunt and get high have fun but it's not something to depend on or to do everyday, like beer I drink alcohol at parties but like it says on the beer bottle itself "Todo Con medida" (Modelo Especial) or in english "Know your limit."

Everything should be done with moderation, now i don't mean do every drug with moderation.

Vicodin/oxycontin like you mentioned are prescription pills like I bet you know, they are prescribed to people for certain things like oxycontin are pain relievers for people who have severe pain.

It's better to leave those drugs for what they're ment to.

...Also the other answerers posted good advice. well good luck, and if I were you go back to that restaruant and talk to that one girl and be like hi sorry i left rather quick your good looks made nervous or something like that, and get her number or give yours to her. I bet you she's probably still wondering if you'll return.

Ruby Said:

I learned English and I sound American. I wish I sounded English. How can I change my accent?

We Answered:

try what the others suggest and also:

-find brits and spend time with them.
-watch british movies.
-listen to british songs
-read out loud books by british authors exaggerating the british pronunciation (try it, it can be fun, though you might annoy people around you :P).
-watch bbc america or something similar on tv (or find british shows on youtube - this might help http://www.youtube.com/user/bbc?blend=1 - watch whatever you like, and watch them regularly).

don't stress about it, it is natural for it to change depending on where you are or who you are with. if you are in the US or surrounded by people from the US it will sound american. if you are in the UK or surround yourself with brits it will sound british. it has happened to me as well. so just practice.

ps.- software is also an option but all this solutions are relative since people tend to speak according to how the others around them do. so if it so important for you to keep it, just do all of the suggestions we have given you regularly, since going to the UK is not an option. good luck!!!

Wesley Said:

Any "do it yourself" curriculum for speech therapy ?

We Answered:

You do need to read up on this yourself; speech therapy works better anyway if the parent works with the kid at home in between sessions, so if you could do it all yourself, you'd be saving yourself the drive.

Is it possible to talk to the speech therapist your son is seeing and get some suggestions? You don't have to say you are going to hs him. Is it possible to sit in on a session to see what she does?

You might also be able to contact a college that has this type of speech therapy course and ask the head of the dept what books you could read to work with your son.

You might also be able to spend money for just a FEW sessions with a different therapist, and explain to this person that you cannot continue the sessions but would like to know exactly how to work with him at home.

I can't help you with the expressive speech delay, but I can offer some advice on how to work with the unclear speech, and believe me you can do better with him at home than any speech therapist on this. Here is what you do: Pay attention to his speech for awhile and determine EXACTLY what sounds he cannot say. There are probably only 2 or 3. Then make 3 lists of words for each sound; one list should contain words beginning with that sound, then a list of words ending with that sound, then a list with that sound in the middle. Don't spend more than 3-5 minutes each day working on this, and make it FUN and be really positive. You work on one sound at a time, and don't progress to the next sound till he is almost done with the first sound; 'r' sounds are the hardest. Start with the first list, of the words that start with the sound. Say them and have your son repeat them correctly. If he can do this, great; your speech therapy is going to be eaaasssy! If he can't, then say the word/sound sloooowly and see if that helps. If this doesn't help, then notice EXACTLY how your tongue and lips are when you say the sound correctly; say the sound incorrectly as your son does, and tell him to make the sound, and point out that his tongue is next to his bottom teeth and his lips are making an 'o' [or whatever], then tell him to make the sound correctly he needs to put his tongue by his top teeth and make his lips skinny and straight. If he can't do this, then don't overwork it on one day - just try a little bit every day and he WILL be able to get it. When he can, progress through your 3 lists. After awhile start making sentences with the words, and make sure it is about stuff he likes. When he can make the sound well in therapy, then you can have him just talk to you in therapy, and you can correct that sound if he misspeaks. After that you continue with the sound in therapy, and correct that sound in everyday life. When he is consistently saying that sound correctly, taper off the therapy on it. If he is really quick at relearning how to speak, don't quit therapy too soon, or he will relapse. He might relapse anyway, in which case you just work on the sound/s in the car here and there and he will get it.

Good luck! Hope this helps.

Diana Said:

Any "do it yourself" manual for speech therapy?

We Answered:

I was a speech-language pathologist in the schools for two years. Here's my advice:

When he started getting speech therapy, you should have had to attend a meeting where they wrote out a plan (IEP) of what his goals are in speech therapy. If these goals were well written, you would be able to know pretty much what they were doing and work on some of them at home. You can also schedule a meeting with the therapist and ask what you can do at home. If she is disinterested in talking to you, a phone call to the principal or the districts speech pathology supervisor may help you out. At the next IEP meeting (they happen every year, but you can call one earlier if you would like) you may ask to have goals written for work at home - just be sure to let the therapist know you want to do this so she has time to think about it.

If he were homeschooled, the district would still be required to provide therapy if you wanted it, but probably you would have to bring him to the same school and see the same therapist. You can decline it anytime you want.

Based on the general information you gave, you may try things like playing Simon Says and reading aloud from very simple books for his comprehension. Anything that requires him to listen, but try to make it fun. Unclear speech is difficult because there are so many causes and problems that I don't really know what you would need to work on. Some kids, all it takes is making them aware that each sound in a word is important. Playing with rhymes is good for this. Looking at the goals on his IEP should help there. Speech therapy isn't hard, so if you have an idea of what to work on to supplement what he gets, you should do pretty well.

Investigate your local universities to see if they offer therapy. As a student, both universities I attended gave discounted therapy so their speech-pathology students could practice for their degree.

And try to understand the speech therapist's point of view. I really cared about my students, but I had 75 kids spread over 4 different schools in a large city that I had to schedule and plan for, and sometimes it was nearly impossible to do what I felt needed to be done for my students. I really experienced the feeling of impotency. It could just be that she is stressed or burned out. Be sure to thank her for what she has done, and without critisizing, ask her for help with activities for home.

Lots of luck!

Bobbie Said:

How can i improve my french?

We Answered:

1. Read French texts loud. Record. Listen. Try again.
2. Read French texts and check each word for it's meaning and grammar
3. Listen to French media
4. Try to learn by heart the most common 500 French words
5. Meet with one of the other kids and talk French only for 30 minutes once a week.
6 ....