Mega Thread The Questions Thread - Part II

[Cruyff14]

Got a mate who did Italian and he did OK - though he was of Italian heritage.

Spanish shouldn't be too hard to pick up either, one of the easier ones.

 

[Doss]

Got a mate who did Italian and he did OK - though he was of Italian heritage.

Spanish shouldn't be too hard to pick up either, one of the easier ones.

I've read in a few places that many consider Spanish to be the easiest of all languages for English speakers to pick up.

 

[Cruyff14]

I've read in a few places that many consider Spanish to be the easiest of all languages for English speakers to pick up.

I did Italian from Y7-12 and I found it pretty easy. I'm surprised with how much I have actually retained. Last year, during my Bruce tour, there was a Spanish guy out here and while his Englishw as OK, it wasn't fantastic, and I conversed with him in Italian, and he was able to understand what I was saying and reply in English.

I've picked up a bit of Spanish from Narcos, and you can see the connection with the Spanish words.

Don't reckon it would be that hard at all, compared to something like Chinese or Arabic.

 

[Beerfish]

So, wifey and I have just come back from the honeymoon - five weeks in Argentina, Chile and (very, very briefly) Uruguay.

We are seriously considering actually taking Spanish lessons. We knew barely a word before we went, but found that being immersed in it for five weeks and in places where many spoke little or no English to boot, that we improved quite quickly.

And, that it's actually a really enjoyable and fun language. Fun to try and speak, easy to read...

Has anyone taken language lessons in proper adulthood? I know they say it's easier to pick up foreign languages at a younger age, but I'd be interested in anyone's experiences on it. Whether it's with Spanish, or any other language for that matter.

There's a pretty good app called duolingo. Check it out.

 

[perthblue]

Been learning German on Duolingo for about 8 months now. It's really great and I recommend it for beginners, there is a relatively low ceiling with how far you can go with it though.

 

[Beerfish]

Been learning German on Duolingo for about 8 months now. It's really great and I recommend it for beginners, there is a relatively low ceiling with how far you can go with it though.

Yeah agree with that. I found it kept me engaged well when the will was high. Nothing is going to help if you get bored with it though or have no practical avenue for speaking it. When i used it wifey was doing spanish and i decided to continue my french studies from secondary school. I imagine it might have worked better if we were both doing the same one and could practice with each other.

 

[Doss]

There's a pretty good app called duolingo. Check it out.

Been learning German on Duolingo for about 8 months now. It's really great and I recommend it for beginners, there is a relatively low ceiling with how far you can go with it though.

Just downloaded this after these posts and had about half an hour's play-around on the Spanish section, found it to be very good. My initial impression is that it reinforces lessons and themes in the right way.

Yeah agree with that. I found it kept me engaged well when the will was high. Nothing is going to help if you get bored with it though or have no practical avenue for speaking it. When i used it wifey was doing spanish and i decided to continue my french studies from secondary school. I imagine it might have worked better if we were both doing the same one and could practice with each other.

Which, sadly, is a bit of a challenge with Spanish here. We don't exactly have enormous day-to-day opportunities for exposure to Spanish-speaking people in Australia. Of course we do have Hispanic communities here, but compared to the opportunities you'd get in the US or even Canada, for example, there's just not that much here.

For a language that is as widely spoken globally as Spanish is, it's amazing just how little it is taught here. I don't think I know anyone who learnt it at school, for example.

 

[dales.girl38]

+1 for Duolingo, 430 day streak on my German lessons now.

 

[perthblue]

+1 for Duolingo, 430 day streak on my German lessons now.

du bist eine frau
du bist eine frau
du bist eine frau
du bist eine frau
du bist eine frau
du bist eine frau
du bist eine frau

 

[dales.girl38]

du bist eine frau
du bist eine frau
du bist eine frau
du bist eine frau
du bist eine frau
du bist eine frau
du bist eine frau

I do repeat the early ones a lot when it's 11:55 and I haven't completed my lessons yet

 

[Beerfish]

+1 for Duolingo, 430 day streak on my German lessons now.

Bloody hell that's a massive streak!

 

[dales.girl38]

Bloody hell that's a massive streak!

My main goal was to get to a year, I have had a few near misses lately so I’ll probably lose it at some stage!

On the plus side, I can now generally understand the theme of the conversation when my boyfriend and his family are speaking German

 

[BotsMaster]

+1 for Duolingo, 430 day streak on my German lessons now.

Es ist Zeit für Rache!

Wir mussen die Juden ausrotten!

 

[gaskin]

Es ist Zeit für Rache!

Wir mussen die Juden ausrotten!

Nein.

 

[Plugger35]

Don't really see the point of learning German when most Germans these days can speak perfectly good English.

 

[Gough]

Don't really see the point of learning German when most Germans these days can speak perfectly good English.

We're shockers in this country when it comes to being bilingual, I've got some French cousins that speak five languages. We get it from the Brits who are similairly terrible and at least we have the excuse of isolation.

 

[dales.girl38]

Yeah, when I went on exchange, my fellow Australians and I were literally the only ones who weren't bilingual. No Brits in my group and even the Kiwis were originally from various non-English speaking countries. I've never felt more ignorant in my life.

 

[Plugger35]

We're shockers in this country when it comes to being bilingual, I've got some French cousins that speak five languages. We get it from the Brits who are similairly terrible and at least we have the excuse of isolation.

Same with Belgium, most people there can speak French, Dutch, German and English, it's more of a necessity there than here but you still feel inadequate.

 

[The Passenger]

Just go with something low like 13 or something. Gotta keep it believable.

 

[Cruyff14]

Yeah, I've got a friend who is German, went to school in France, and Holland so is fluent in French and Dutch. Is Jewish too so also speaks Hebrew, knows decent enough Spanish and Italian, and taught herself to get by in Swedish. And obviously is fluent in English.

 

[Billy ray]

I Struggle with adapting to queenslander english !

On a more serious note, as others have said i also felt so inadequate when travelling and seeing how others could interchange between languages depending on where they are.

 

[perthblue]

Don't really see the point of learning German when most Germans these days can speak perfectly good English.

Very Australian post

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

Yeah, when I went on exchange, my fellow Australians and I were literally the only ones who weren't bilingual. No Brits in my group and even the Kiwis were originally from various non-English speaking countries. I've never felt more ignorant in my life.

This is why I get annoyed when people make fun of thick accents in people for whom English is a second language. They can speak more than one language, that's awesome and I'm jealous.

 

[Catfish Alley]

We adopted a young male cat. Any thoughts on how to litter train him properly? I’ve only had female cats before and they just did it automatically. This guy is spraying a little.

 

[Gough]

We adopted a young male cat. Any thoughts on how to litter train him properly? I’ve only had female cats before and they just did it automatically. This guy is spraying a little.

Just keep plonking him in there and chop his bollocks off.