• Language Learning - Parlez-Vous français?
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[QUOTE=thelurker1234;37929099]I dont think learning 3 at a time works well...[/QUOTE] If anything, get decent at one language, start on the other while still keeping the first language you were learning fresh by doing some exercises for that language in between the language you are currently learning.
[QUOTE=EcksDee;37924941]Just remembered that this thread exists, and thought I'd share my shit. I'm learning Spanish where most of the time I don't get the past tenses, all of them. I'm learning Russian where I'm having a horrible time understanding the tenses and pronouns. Shit like "со мне" for example are really annoying to get used to. if anyone has any sources that would help with that shit I would be infinitely grateful. And I'll be starting Japanese courses next Monday, we'll see how that goes. If I can get those three under my belt, I'll be pentalingual.[/QUOTE] You're doing it is all wrong. I'd bet that you sometimes get the languges mixed up. You are trying to Master the grammar of threee very different languges; and for some reason you seem to be scaling up the difficulty. Stop Russian, Stop Japanese, and work on Spanish. Trying to work with different langauges at the same times fucks you up. You need to master the Past tenses. If Spanish is anything like French (They're both Romance languages), i'd suggest a single tense at a time.
[QUOTE=The Aussie;37929554]You're doing it is all wrong. I'd bet that you sometimes get the languges mixed up. You are trying to Master the grammar of threee very different languges; and for some reason you seem to be scaling up the difficulty. Stop Russian, Stop Japanese, and work on Spanish. Trying to work with different langauges at the same times fucks you up. You need to master the Past tenses. If Spanish is anything like French (They're both Romance languages), i'd suggest a single tense at a time.[/QUOTE] I don't really have a choice, two of those are at school and the rate at which we're advancing is completely retarded. The third is really the only one that I actually want to learn. We're learning Estonian, English, Spanish and Russian at school, the amount of info being inserted into us is huge, but we're all kinda used to it by now, so all is well in that department. I only ever mix Spanish and Russian vocabulary, but never the tenses or pronouns.
If anyone needs any quick questions about Japanese answered or just general help, feel free to add me on Steam. I've been a student of it for 7 years, am decently fluent, and have spent time in Japan.
[QUOTE=EcksDee;37924941] I'm learning Russian where I'm having a horrible time understanding the tenses and pronouns. Shit like "[b]со мне[/b]" for example are really annoying to get used to. [/QUOTE] Что? Really, I have a hard time imagining where in Russian do you ever need such a combination.
[QUOTE=gudman;37931982]Что? Really, I have a hard time imagining where in Russian do you ever need such a combination.[/QUOTE] Okay со мнои, I completely typed that without looking at the keyboard so I messed up, sorreh.
[QUOTE=EcksDee;37932043]Okay со мнои, I completely typed that without looking at the keyboard so I messed up, sorreh.[/QUOTE] Ah, alright then. Just looked rather funny. Also, have a general tip: always remember that "И" и "Й" are a completely diffirent letters, first one being a vowel, second one - consonant. "Со мной". If you would want to ask some questions, send me a message or add me on steam, I would be happy to help.
What would you guys say would be the most "Valuable"/most common languages on the internet? Other than English obviously, I've seen a CRAPLOAD of German/Swedish people. I'm not sure how common Spanish is but I know a buttload of people do speak it
[QUOTE='Rain [Amber];37935136']What would you guys say would be the most "Valuable"/most common languages on the internet? Other than English obviously, I've seen a CRAPLOAD of German/Swedish people. I'm not sure how common Spanish is but I know a buttload of people do speak it[/QUOTE] Mandarin. I wouldn't want to learn it though.
[QUOTE=alien_guy;37935158]Mandarin.[/QUOTE] Ironically I think I've only ever "met" one Chinese/Thai person on the internet (that I know of)
[img]http://www.translateyoursite.net/images/internet-users-by-language-chart-pie-columns.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=alien_guy;37935189][img]http://www.translateyoursite.net/images/internet-users-by-language-chart-pie-columns.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] Makes me feel better about wanting to do German & Spanish when I "finish" Swedish and Japanese knowing they're more common than lots of other languages.
[QUOTE='Rain [Amber];37935216']Makes me feel better about wanting to do German & Spanish when I "finish" Swedish and Japanese knowing they're more common than lots of other languages.[/QUOTE] Most of those people will be able to speak english as well I would assume.
[QUOTE=alien_guy;37935225]Most of those people will be able to speak english as well I would assume.[/QUOTE] Haha of course but it's nice to have people to practice with. [editline]7th October 2012[/editline] Also, why do you guys learn languages? I USED to have to do Japanese at school, but now the languages I study are purely because I find them and the countries they come from interesting
Speaking of languages used on the web, [url=http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey]This[/url] shows us that the second most spoken language on steam is Russian. To find other facts, go down to the Language section and click on it.
[QUOTE=The Aussie;37935299]Speaking of languages used on the web, [url=http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey]This[/url] shows us that the second most spoken language on steam is Russian. To find other facts, go down to the Language section and click on it.[/QUOTE] If nobody learned english as a second language then that would not be the case.
Hallo, ich bin deutsch lernen und ich habe für über 3 Monat gewesen. Ich hattest deutsch lerne ins schule für 5 Jahre, so ich wollte zu lerne auf es. Denkst du dass ich solltest ich eine deutsch buche bekommen, zu mir helfen?
[QUOTE=BlazeFresh;37937270]Hallo, ich bin deutsch lernen und ich habe für über 3 Monat gewesen. Ich hattest deutsch lerne ins schule für 5 Jahre, so ich wollte zu lerne auf es. Denkst du dass ich solltest ich eine deutsch buche bekommen, zu mir helfen?[/QUOTE] Im guessing that says something along the lines of. "Hello, Ive been learning german for over 3 months. I studied it in school for 5 years, something. something..."
[QUOTE=alien_guy;37937827]Im guessing that says something along the lines of. "Hello, Ive been learning german for over 3 months. I studied it in school for 5 years, something. something..."[/QUOTE] Based on my German I learned from school 3 years ago and more it says: Hello, I am learning German, and I have been for 3 months. I have been learning German in school for 5 years, **so I want to learn it**. Do you think that I should get a German book, to help me? ** Got kinda lost there.
So I went to an international student exchange info session today out of curiosity. The exchange would be between my province (Ontario, Canada) and Jiangsu province in China for a year. Apparently, all successful applicants get a few thousand dollars from a guaranteed provincial scholarship, and living expenses (food, dorm, entertainment, postage, travel, etc) in China are something on the order of $300-$400/month, if that. The guy who runs the exchange on this end for my university has a Chinese counterpart who's the vice-something or other, but I was assured that I'd be able to find English courses (because while I can speak some conversational Mandarin, I can't do astrophysics in Mandarin) and if they didn't exist he'd get me in contact with an English-speaking faculty member. Tuition would be identical to tuition at my university (I get accredited for courses at my uni as well), and it's for ten months. There's a couple obligatory Chinese language courses I'd be taking. So with all that in mind, it sounds like an amazing opportunity, especially given that the scholarship basically covers living costs and all I'd be paying for is the plane ride. Anyway, does anyone have any similar experiences (not necessarily Chinese) regarding going on exchange or going to their language of study's home country? I've read a ton that actually going to the country boosts language understanding to a huge degree, but I'm still pretty worried about language barrier and general culture differences, and I'm especially worried about living on my own with zero contacts on the opposite side of the globe for ten months.
[QUOTE=Disseminate;37997163]So I went to an international student exchange info session today out of curiosity. The exchange would be between my province (Ontario, Canada) and Jiangsu province in China for a year. Apparently, all successful applicants get a few thousand dollars from a guaranteed provincial scholarship, and living expenses (food, dorm, entertainment, postage, travel, etc) in China are something on the order of $300-$400/month, if that. The guy who runs the exchange on this end for my university has a Chinese counterpart who's the vice-something or other, but I was assured that I'd be able to find English courses (because while I can speak some conversational Mandarin, I can't do astrophysics in Mandarin) and if they didn't exist he'd get me in contact with an English-speaking faculty member. Tuition would be identical to tuition at my university (I get accredited for courses at my uni as well), and it's for ten months. There's a couple obligatory Chinese language courses I'd be taking. So with all that in mind, it sounds like an amazing opportunity, especially given that the scholarship basically covers living costs and all I'd be paying for is the plane ride. Anyway, does anyone have any similar experiences (not necessarily Chinese) regarding going on exchange or going to their language of study's home country? I've read a ton that actually going to the country boosts language understanding to a huge degree, but I'm still pretty worried about language barrier and general culture differences, and I'm especially worried about living on my own with zero contacts on the opposite side of the globe for ten months.[/QUOTE] Immersion is the best way to shock yourself into learning a language. Forcing yourself to use mandarin, and not using English as a crutch will cause your Mandarin skills to accelerate very rapidly. Internalizing new vocab will become natural when it becomes neccesary. You will also learn "Conversational" Mandarin, you will learn how to talk with people. I found the word "Shoelace" in my textbook, i bet you won't say that word once today. You will, however, say "and", "who","from" and all those other things. You will have to deal with things like Culture Shock, it happens to most people, be prepare for it. Most Chinese people in major cities have a decent understanding of english, although addressing them in [b]their[/b] language will instantly create a bond. Say i speak perfect Thai, and i go up and order food in Thai. I can assure you that the waiter/server will become rather talkative, and will chat with you endlessly. More commonly learned languages don't share this, French people can get quite ticked off at English people and Americans butchering their language. Mandarin isn't that commonly learned, so people will often be surprised when a white man speaks mandarin to them. This can lead to a bunch of good shit, like cheaper items. I can't recommend immersion enough, a few of my friends went to japan for two weeks, and their Japanese has improved ten fold. I can't wait for my two weeks in France too. Anyway, take the opportunity man, and good luck. [editline]12th October 2012[/editline] It may be worth adding that we had a french dude come to our school for two months. On day one, he had trouble speaking to us, by the time he left he was conversing a hundred times better. Amazing shit., and that's just two months.
Yeah, I think I'm gonna do this. I just have to be sure to talk to more than just expats. I'm so excited :dance:
[QUOTE=Se1f_Distruct;37824890]こにちわ![/QUOTE] I WILL END YOU. On another note, I've been learning 中文 for about a month or two now, and am still learning 日本語 in my spare time after learning it for two years and a bit in Japan. Chinese (Mandarin) is crazy. The grammar is very simple and the verb conjugation is easy, but the tonal part of the language as well as remembering all those characters is a pain. It doesn't help that some things are mixed up in Chinese and Japanese such as 先生 meaning "teacher" in Japanese and "Mr./Sir" in Chinese. [editline]12th October 2012[/editline] Oh, and I like how it has a lot more profanity than Japanese. Japanese is pretty much full of politeness, while Chinese has a [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese_profanity"]huge list[/URL] of horrible stuff you could say.
[QUOTE=Chezhead;38015390]I WILL END YOU. On another note, I've been learning 中文 for about a month or two now, and am still learning 日本語 in my spare time after learning it for two years and a bit in Japan. Chinese (Mandarin) is crazy. The grammar is very simple and the verb conjugation is easy, but the tonal part of the language as well as remembering all those characters is a pain. It doesn't help that some things are mixed up in Chinese and Japanese such as 先生 meaning "teacher" in Japanese and "Mr./Sir" in Chinese. [editline]12th October 2012[/editline] Oh, and I like how it has a lot more profanity than Japanese. Japanese is pretty much full of politeness, while Chinese has a [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese_profanity"]huge list[/URL] of horrible stuff you could say.[/QUOTE] What level of competency would you say you're at with Japanese?
Does anyone here know any resources for learning Scottish Gaelic?
[QUOTE=Chezhead;38015390]I WILL END YOU. On another note, I've been learning 中文 for about a month or two now, and am still learning 日本語 in my spare time after learning it for two years and a bit in Japan. Chinese (Mandarin) is crazy. The grammar is very simple and the verb conjugation is easy, but the tonal part of the language as well as remembering all those characters is a pain. It doesn't help that some things are mixed up in Chinese and Japanese such as 先生 meaning "teacher" in Japanese and "Mr./Sir" in Chinese. [editline]12th October 2012[/editline] Oh, and I like how it has a lot more profanity than Japanese. Japanese is pretty much full of politeness, while Chinese has a [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese_profanity"]huge list[/URL] of horrible stuff you could say.[/QUOTE] I can pick out at least a bit of any phrase you could write in Chinese right now, for example 学习 or 好 or 没有 or whatever, and read simple sentences, but for the most part I can't understand a single word of what anyone speaks. They have to slow it down and I have to take some time to process it. I usually just end up saying something along the lines of 吃屎,白痴 and leaving. On another note, I have been filling out preliminary paperwork for my exchange for the last 3 hours. It seems really, really challenging to get accepted (the cap is ~50 people for Ontario-Jiangsu, but according to the rep the actual number is something like ~10-20 per year and they have never had 50 in all his years). I've just done the 6 basic questions all exchange students in the university going everywhere. That's just the qualifier - after that, I have to fill out [I]eight times[/I] as much paperwork to hand in by December, which is stage 1 of 4 of applications. I have to pick my courses from the target university which is total ballsack because I can't understand the majority of hanzi in them really, really quickly because the deadline for the online form is coming soon. Even then, I have no idea how I'm going to do stuff like, for example, have money while there, or sort out visas and forms and paperwork and red tape And even then, I have serious worries about being able to do astrophysics in China effectively. The university I want to go to has something like 49000 students, so there will probably be loads of faculty that speak English, but most people that do this exchange are economics or business or engineering students, where there are hundreds of faculty in that area and I'm in fucking astrophysics and even then the courses might not give me credit at my home university and fffffffffuck. :tinfoil: BUT on the flip side, I'd be 99% fluent by the end of the 10 month stay, and hey, $500-$1000 total expense to learn nearly all modern Chinese is a pretty cheap rate, especially given that I can put it on a resume and boom any grad school I want. Plus, in that fee I get the experience of going to [B]China[/B] for a ten month stay & travel around the province, making friends along the way.
While its not spoken today(beside in the medic field and some other stuff)learning Latin has proven to be a blessing for me(not that school shit), since you understand romance languages better. But it doesn't only stop there no, you have an upper hand in learning other languages! Why? While yes Latin does have its rules that you have to follow to translate and understand a text, you also have to contextualize the meaning. On top of that it helps your logic and overall intellect. So if you have the possibility to study Latin along with another language, don't say no just because its a dead language.:eng101:
[QUOTE=Joseph Smith;38016925]While its not spoken today(beside in the medic field and some other stuff)learning Latin has proven to be a blessing for me(not that school shit), since you understand romance languages better. But it doesn't only stop there no, you have an upper hand in learning other languages! Why? While yes Latin does have its rules that you have to follow to translate and understand a text, you also have to contextualize the meaning. On top of that it helps your logic and overall intellect. So if you have the possibility to study Latin along with another language, don't say no just because its a dead language.:eng101:[/QUOTE] I'd have to agree with this. My teacher speaks 8 languages, including Latin. She participate in some Language conference thingo where they were given some Hazi and had to work out the phrase, something like that. She, the only Latin speaker, ended up beating all the other teachers, including the Japanese teachers. Latin is so awesomely logical, and due to it's similar vocab to other romance languages, it can give people a huge leg-up when it comes to romance languages. It also has stupidly similar grammar. I can't agree with you enough.
A friend of mine wants to get into arabic, I might join him for shits and giggles. [url]http://www.madinaharabic.com/Arabic_Reading_Course/Lessons/L000_001.html[/url] I found this website but I don't know if it's good. Anyone have any pointers?
I'm currently taking Japanese. My teacher goes way too fast and I end up failing the quizzes. Rossetta Stone isn't helping. What should I do, I feel like shit.
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