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  • Any other languages?

    I see thread for Japanese and Arabic. Was wondering if anyone out there is working on any other languages?

    I've studied Spanish, Italian and French in the past and am currently working on maintenance and retention of Italian and French. Also very slowly started to learn Welsh about a year ago, and have recently started to learn Polish.

    My main tools for use are apps on my iPod touch. My favorite is Busuu, which I have for French, Italian and Polish- I wish they had Welsh too but they've only got nine or ten languages, all of the much more common than Welsh. This will probably sound like a total ad or something but please believe me when I say that I'm getting nothing from the company to say how much I love their apps- in fact, I've given them money (the apps are free to download, they come with a total of twenty free lessons, five each on four different levels, and you can buy more on each level. So far, I've bought the complete first level in Italian and Polish, for as much material as comes in them for 4.99 each, I feel it's very worth it.)

    Other than that though, I'm also using some video flashcards for Welsh that I found on iTunes U (I love me some iTunes U!!) and several different other apps, including a fun Welsh one that's just a lot of word games like anagrams and word searches that's great for attempting to learn to spell. That, and podcasts.

    I have a long-ish commute to and from work, so I've got plenty of time for all this.
    Last edited by PainAndLight; 14 Apr 2012, 08:36.
    Memories of Pain and Light: http://painandlight.wordpress.com

    "Hey love, I am a constant satellite of your blazing sun; my love, I obey your law of gravity, this is the fate you've carved on me, the law of gravity..." -Vienna Teng, Gravity

  • #2
    Re: Any other languages?

    A lot of the people here know 2-3+ languages. We have people from all over the world who obviously know English in addition to whatever language they originally speak
    “They moaned and squealed, and pressed their snouts to the earth. We are sorry, we are sorry.
    Sorry you were caught, I said. Sorry that you thought I was weak, but you were wrong.”
    -Madeline Miller, Circe

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    • #3
      Re: Any other languages?

      I have a basic grasp of German. Spent a few months there, studying from an awesome free course every day, then testing what I'd learnt on my German friends and roommates. When I came back to the UK, took an intermediate class. I was soon moved up to the advanced class, but I am NOT advanced. The quality of language education in the UK is so poor, that my skill level (being able to follow simple kids cartoons, being able to hold a conversation that is more than just memorised phrases), is as advanced as they expect you to get. It was roughly the level expected of a British A. level.

      I do mix up German and Japanese sometimes. I can probably speak more fluently in Japanese, because grammar rules, especially in casual situations are very relaxed, while German is fairly rigid, so I worry I might be be using the wrong case.. or have I got the gender of the noun wrong? (nouns in Japanese have no gender unless the word happens to mean 'girl', 'masculine' etc, and the word doesn't change in the plural. As for case, this is indicated through use of particles that are often dropped in casual speech. In fact, often, all but one or two words from a sentence can be dropped. All of this makes chatting less stressful).

      The issue with Japanese is that it is like learning two languages at once. If you learn a word in German, that word is always the same. There might be synonyms (German has many), but basically, the words don't change. In Japanese, even a written word can have more than one reading of identical meaning and nuance, because of Japanese and Chinese reading styles. Then there are words and expressions in the casual style that are gender specific.. used mainly by one sex or the other... verb conjugation, while highly regular (there are two families of regular verbs and only two irregular, with a few occasionally having irregular behaviour), is vast because they don't only alter for tense, they also alter for situation (are you talking to your boss? Or your pet?), and to indicate meaning (a verb can conjugate to mean 'hard to...' or 'want to..' 'if...', 'way of..' etc). So while the basics are way easier to master than German, true advancement in Japanese takes longer.

      I'll keep going back to German, but I study Japanese because my boyfriend speaks it. I'd studied German for two years without touching Japanese, and I'd really relaxed my study for a few years prior to that, so had lost a lot of Jap (I'd try to recall a word, but get the German instead).

      I still speak German when I bump into my friends from the class, and I attend a German Stammtisch sometimes. They all say my skills have dramatically reduced though. Pity, but there is only so much time in the day.

      ---------- Post added at 07:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:27 PM ----------

      Oh of course, I did French at School. I think I got a B. I don't count this because as I already said, language education sucks here. Saying 'my name is...', 'I am from...' and 'my hobbies are...' isn't the same as knowing a language in my opinion. I think being a language teacher for a while, has made me ridiculously hard on myself, because I recognise the different stages of language learning (I am classic early to mid intermidiate).
      Last edited by Jembru; 14 Apr 2012, 11:44.
      夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

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      • #4
        Re: Any other languages?

        I'm pretty good at German...I guess you could call me fluent, though my writing isn't great and I still work on it all the time. I guess that's the same for anyone who speaks a second language though and didn't major in it or something like that.

        I want to get back to working on my French. I learned it throughout high school, but after I moved to Germany it sort of just got pushed out of my head. I took a course last year and got a bit better, but I need to work on it more to really get anywhere with it. I'd love to be trilingual though, so I'll do it after exams.

        I want to learn Italian after going to Italy, but I think Spanish is next on my list, as it's more widely spoken (in Europe and abroad).

        As you can see, I mostly stick to European languages. It's more a practical thing, because I'm based here One day, I may learn some Japanese or something though.

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        • #5
          Re: Any other languages?

          This reminds me, I should probably try to post in the Arabic thread again! Anyone interested?
          Do they not, then, ponder about the Qur‘an? Had it been from someone other than Allah, they would have found in it much discrepancy. [4:82]

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          • #6
            Re: Any other languages?

            I'm currently working on Farsi, Greek, Arabic, German and Portuguese. I'm pretty ok with French, but by no means am I fluent. Spanish is my 2nd language. Other languages currently in my to learn list are Korean, Welsh, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Ojibwe and Swahili.

            For anyone who can't tell, I'm a lover of linguistics and one of my goals in life is to learn as many languages as possible.

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            • #7
              Re: Any other languages?

              Oh, I know a little Swahili! It was the first language I attempted to teach myself! I only remember basic greetings and requests though, and I never studied the grammar. I just learned phrases Pimslar style!

              I have noticed that when I first wake up, if I try to think in Japanese, I get German first. Even though my German is terrible now, I am wondering if I still dream in German.

              Also, shall we start a German thread? Dunno what we would do in it. Practise writing I guess. It might stop me losing it altogether.
              夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Any other languages?

                Dia duit! - Hello! (Literally: "God to you!" and the response is "Dia is Muire duit!")

                Is inghlactha mé i Gaeilge. - I'm passable in Gaeilge (Irish).
                "Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children." - Khalil Gibran

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                • #9
                  Re: Any other languages?

                  Originally posted by Dumuzi View Post
                  This reminds me, I should probably try to post in the Arabic thread again! Anyone interested?
                  I like reading it, its interesting and informative and reminds me that all that pretty script says something that one day I *might* be able to read.
                  “You have never answered but you did not need to. If I stand at the ocean I can hear you with your thousand voices. Sometimes you shout, hilarious laughter that taunts all questions. Other nights you are silent as death, a mirror in which the stars show themselves. Then I think you want to tell me something, but you never do. Of course I know I have written letters to no-one. But what if I find a trident tomorrow?" ~~Letters to Poseidon, Cees Nooteboom

                  “We still carry this primal relationship to the Earth within our consciousness, even if we have long forgotten it. It is a primal recognition of the wonder, beauty, and divine nature of the Earth. It is a felt reverence for all that exists. Once we bring this foundational quality into our consciousness, we will be able to respond to our present man-made crisis from a place of balance, in which our actions will be grounded in an attitude of respect for all of life. This is the nature of real sustainability.”
                  ~~Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

                  "We are the offspring of history, and must establish our own paths in this most diverse and interesting of conceivable universes--one indifferent to our suffering, and therefore offering us maximal freedom to thrive, or to fail, in our own chosen way."
                  ~~Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History

                  "Humans are not rational creatures. Now, logic and rationality are very helpful tools, but there’s also a place for embracing our subjectivity and thinking symbolically. Sometimes what our so-called higher thinking can’t or won’t see, our older, more primitive intuition will." John Beckett

                  Pagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                  sigpic

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                  • #10
                    Re: Any other languages?

                    I'm interested in the Arabic thread as well. I've had a good deal of love for the Arabic language since I first started to study on it; something about it that just gives off this wonderful vibe.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Any other languages?

                      French was my minor in college, but I'm a little (or a lot) rusty now. Mandarin is going to be really helpful for my research, so that's what I will be trying to pick up next. Right now I can say "thank you" and "cold beer."

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                      • #12
                        Re: Any other languages?

                        I know bits and pieces of Spanish, French, Japanese, and German. If anyone wants to post a thread for any language, I'd be interested in it.
                        “You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.” -- Bruce Lee

                        Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

                        Honorary Nord.

                        Habbalah Vlogs

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                        • #13
                          Re: Any other languages?

                          Hey welcome back Habbalah! I've missed you!

                          I'd be interested in taking part in a German thread, but I don't really want to start it because as everyone knows, I'm really getting my act together with Japanese this year. I'm definitely starting to speak with more accuracy, but I have far to go. There is a lot of syntax that I never use or really understand and I am constantly coming up against new vocab. One of my Japanese friends just inflated my ego by writing a message on facebook that she considers me advanced level, but realistically, I'm hardly scraping intermediate. I feel my goal is just so out of reach some days, like today.

                          Still, gods bless my friend for trying to boost my ego.
                          夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Any other languages?

                            Originally posted by Jembru View Post
                            Hey welcome back Habbalah! I've missed you!
                            Thank you! I've missed you guys too!

                            I get my ego boosted whenever TurningTides says something in Japanese and I understand it, but I know I could barely be called "basic" at it.
                            “You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.” -- Bruce Lee

                            Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

                            Honorary Nord.

                            Habbalah Vlogs

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Any other languages?

                              Originally posted by habbalah View Post
                              Thank you! I've missed you guys too!

                              I get my ego boosted whenever TurningTides says something in Japanese and I understand it, but I know I could barely be called "basic" at it.
                              I'd definitely like to have a Japanese chat with the two of you sometime. I have found that when I attempt to skype with JP in romaji (I have to use a website to type in kana then copy/paste, which is way to slow for chatting), I make loads of typos. He STILL teases me for writing '... Futatsu wo kaita' instead of 'katta', when boasting to him about buying cheap oranges. Whenever I mention shopping now, he'll ask, 'and how many did you write?' I could definitely use practice in typing!
                              夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

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