Learning a new language

[John Dorian]

je dor la bit!! (something like that)

You think my name is Turk Turkleton?

I don't know what bit is but I'm pretty sure you mean J'adore?

Anyway I'm currently doing my third year of french in High School and loving it, plus it increases your enterscore.

Oh, BTW I see your a fan of Scrubs. Good to see.

 

[magic_johnson!]

I don't know what bit is but I'm pretty sure you mean J'adore?

you can cleary see i'm great at french

Oh, BTW I see your a fan of Scrubs. Good to see.

Thanks penelope

 

[mantis]

You can communicate fairly well without kanji, though.

I was referring to hiragana and katakana.

That's the fifference Ben, my son wants to go to Japan & teach english, you have to know all the kanji & it is a three to four year course, if you only do it part time.

 

[John Dorian]

you can cleary see i'm great at french


Thanks penelope

Well played.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

That's the fifference Ben, my son wants to go to Japan & teach english, you have to know all the kanji & it is a three to four year course, if you only do it part time.

Ah, I see. That sort of proficiency is very different to knowing enough to get by.

I know about 150 kanji, and I'm doing my year 12 Japanese exam in just over a month.

To read a Japanese newspaper, you need to know several thousand.

 

[magic_johnson!]

Ah, I see. That sort of proficiency is very different to knowing enough to get by.

I know about 150 kanji, and I'm doing my year 12 Japanese exam in just over a month.

To read a Japanese newspaper, you need to know several thousand.

shinbun ga tsumaranai kara yominaidekudasai. terebi de niyuusu wo mitekudasai

 

[Ben the Gooner]

でも、日本人はとても早く話しますから、分かることはちょっとむずかしいです。

日本から帰りましたか。

 

[magic_johnson!]

でも、日本人はとても早く話しますから、分かることはちょっとむずかしいです。

日本から帰りましたか。

ああ、そう。私も日本語のニュウズがわかりません。
私たちはいらいらさせると思うから英語ではなしましょう。

 

[Hard Ball Get]

Got no interest in learning a new language. Wayyyyyyy to hard for me.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

ああ、そう。私も日本語のニュウズがわかりません。
私たちはいらいらさせると思うから英語ではなしましょう。

Alrighty, eigode it is.

 

[Poseidon]

Thought I'd bump this thread to save myself the Herculean effort of creating a new one.

Anyone here learning or learnt a new language? Just began self-teaching myself German, bought the Michel Thomas method audio CD's and a German dictionary and am enjoying it. I chose German because I have an unexplained affinity for German culture and I'll hopefully be doing exchange studies there within the next couple of years. It's also not overly difficult as it isn't too far removed from English to be overwhelming.

Anyone got any resources/advice for self-learners? Or anyone in Perth taken classes in a new language?

 

[Ed_Gein]

Best way to learn a new language is to live or visit the country where it is spoken. It's amazing how much you can pick up and learn whilst being there, even only for a few weeks on holiday etc... You hear people speak it, you see billboards, signs, newspapers and the likes everywhere in the language so your brain starts becoming accustomed to taking it on.

A list of languages based on difficulty for English speakers; http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Language_Learning_Difficulty_for_English_Speakers

I've found www.busuu.com fun to use

Try something like this as well; http://www.conversationexchange.com/

 

[DrVanNostrand]

Best way to learn a new language is to live or visit the country where it is spoken.

Just out of curiosity, how the hell do you manage to live in a country before you have a working knowledge of the native langauge?

 

[Quinz]

Starting to learn Spanish, any ideas estibador?

 

[Ed_Gein]

Just out of curiosity, how the hell do you manage to live in a country before you have a working knowledge of the native langauge?

I know an American girl who knows next to no German who is moving there and enrolled herself into language classes that are set up for people that don't know the language. (Germany has a high amount of Turkish immigrants as well) Anything further than that, it's going to be a bit of struggle i imagine, but because of the immersion factor, it wouldn't take too long before you can get away with a conversation on a basic level.

Edit: From personal experience i know maybe 100-150 German words or so. But the first time i went there i couldn't seperate one word from the next because it's spoken so quickly, but after a week i could make out the different words and spot a few of the ones i knew, then it turned into some basic sentences of spotting words i knew then putting 2+2 together to understand what they were meaning over the next 2 weeks or so....

 

[DrVanNostrand]

I know an American girl who knows next to no German who is moving there and enrolled herself into language classes that are set up for people that don't know the language. (Germany has a high amount of Turkish immigrants as well) Anything further than that, it's going to be a bit of struggle i imagine, but because of the immersion factor, it wouldn't take too long before you can get away with a conversation on a basic level.

Ahh, student exchanges, of course. I was thinking along the lines of "as if you'd get a residency visa if you don't know the langauge or have no family there." Unsuprisingly, I know zero about immigration.

 

[Ed_Gein]

Ahh, student exchanges, of course. I was thinking along the lines of "as if you'd get a residency visa if you don't know the langauge or have no family there." Unsuprisingly, I know zero about immigration.

I know next to nothing about immigration either. lol. But quite a majority of the countries in Western Europe and Scandinavia speak English as a second language, particulary Scandinavia they are very, very fluent in English, so that helps quite a lot too.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Most/all the scandinavian countries speak english as well, taught through high school

 

[Mooster7]

I started teaching myself German when I was in the Army. Then I was never stationed there. Afterward I planned a trip to Europe so I brushed up on the German and became reasonably fluent. I can hold and follow conversations in a pub with ease. I can't discuss profundities or complex solutions ot the world's current economic problems, but I'm not sure I can do that in English.

But here's what I found out. When I first went to Germany, I would speak to them in German and they'd hit me right back with English. Interestingly, by my German "accent" they always pegged me as an Englander rather than an American, but they knew I was an native English speaker. They appreciated that I had learned their language but they wanted to use their English. The whole damned continent of Europe speaks English with various regional accents - just like in the movies or Hogan's Heroes.

The best thing to do is learn a few simple phrases in many languages. The locals will like your effort and they go ahead and break out their English to help you out - yes, even the frogs.

Here are some phrases I've found to be essential:

1. Hello/Goodbye
2. I would like a(nother) beer, please.
3. Where's the bathroom?
4. I need a room, is there one available?
5. How much does this cost?
6. Sorry, I didn't know she was your sister.

Add to that list as you see fit, but from my experiences those pretty much cover it.

 

[DrVanNostrand]

So maybe learning some Swedish to increase the experience in backpacker hostels when I start travelling next year might be a bit redundant. German it is then.

 

[Ed_Gein]

So maybe learning some Swedish to increase the experience in backpacker hostels when I start travelling next year might be a bit redundant. German it is then.

What i did when backpacking was printed off a sheet of paper with a lot of basic sayings with English translation next to it like Mooster7 pointed out (well, maybe not number 6 lol) and whenever i was trying to get somewhere i would whip out the paper and approach a local trying to use it. It would get a good laugh out of them and they would eventually help in English and end up asking where i am from etc....

 

[Simple Jack]

I love Rammstein, so just through that I speak more German than any other language. I can say all sorts of useful things from R+ songs like 'Sie hält immer still weil sie gefingert werden will' and 'Stein um Stein mauer ich dich ein' you know, all the useful stuff for day to day activities.

I've long wanted to learn Italian properly, I can speak enough that I could get the gist of what the Italian volleyball coach was shouting at the players during the Olympics but that's about it. As an Italian citizen it seems that I should.

Una birra, per favore!

 

[Ed_Gein]

denn du bist, was du isst.

 

[Simple Jack]

denn du bist, was du isst.

Und ihr wisst, was es ist, es ist?.....

Another happy German tale.

 

[Poseidon]

This busuu.com website is really great, thanks for the suggestion Ed_Gein. Wish these smart arse Germans would stop correcting my n00b writing though!