Entschuldigung, qu'est-ce que vous saying?

Discussion in 'The Chatterbox' started by Eeyore, Nov 5, 2017.

  1. Eeyore

    Eeyore Well-Known Member

    Ok, this is just a try ... we'll see how this topic goes :)

    Who else is learning a foreign language, or planning to? What are your plans, and how is it going?

    I just started a refresher on French, which the goal to be able to talk more freely when we're (probably) in France next summer. As a start, I am using Duolingo ... didn't think yet about any next steps, but I realise that Duolingo doesn't really let you master a language.
     
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  2. sdguero

    sdguero Well-Known Member

    I'm bilingual (English / Spanish) so no plans on learning another language at the moment, however as I think on it, now would be a good time since I'm retired. I already have the learning materials for German and French.... I just didn't have enough time when I was working. I'm not familiar with Duolingo.
     
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  3. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    Gosh, I think I've dabbled in quite a few...
    • I took 3 yrs. of Spanish in elementary school and can still fake it a little for very simple conversation.
    • 6 years of Italian in secondary school and college (and roughly 30 years later, just tested at CEFR "B1"). My claim to fame is having read the Purgatorio (part one of Dante's Divine Comedy) and most of Boccacio's Decamerone in the original.
    • 2 years of German in secondary school and I still remember very simple conversation stuff. I speak with an Italian accent.
    • I took a year of Classical (Attic) Greek in college and remember none of it.
    • Self-taught a few phrases in Polish, Russian, and Church Slavonic. I can still speak a wee bit of Polish but it doesn't go beyond "Hi How are you" stuff. I can also speak and read a few simple phrase of Slavonic if it's transliterated.
    • Self-taught in Dutch (almost 19 months now) and just tested at CEFR "A2." I'm told that I speak it with a German accent.

    I guess I have a "thing" for languages. :)
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2017
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  4. SharptoothC

    SharptoothC I bite..........

    I keep saying I need to learn Spanish. I took three years between middle and high school but I have forgotten most of it. I have not taken firm steps to a plan for learning.

    I would also like to learn Shona, but it is quite difficult and is one you need to hear a lot to grasp nuances.

    Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
     
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  5. Eeyore

    Eeyore Well-Known Member

    Wait! So you speak German with an Italian accent, and Dutch with a German accent? Does that mean you'll speak the next language you learn with a Dutch accent? :p
     
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  6. John Ruschmeyer

    John Ruschmeyer Well-Known Member

    I took 2 years of French back in High School (late 1970s). I've forgotten most of it and discovered during a business trip to France in 2011 that my hearing is bad enough that listening to natives was sounding a lot like an out-of-tune shortwave radio. :-(
    I also took 4 years of German back then. I can stumble through it a bit, but usually mess up noun genders. I suspect that I end up sounding a lot like Apu from the Simpsons.
     
  7. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    Just sound confident and don't order a squishy and you'll be fine. :D
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2017
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  8. Eeyore

    Eeyore Well-Known Member

    Ahh, with a name like "Ruschmeyer" you're already half way there :p
     
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  9. Badgerstate

    Badgerstate Well-Known Member

    Ive been learning German for a few months now. Its going fairly well but Ive got a loooooooong way to go.
     
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  10. Eeyore

    Eeyore Well-Known Member

    @richgem I was thinking about your learning speed in Dutch, using Duolingo. I am rushing through the German tree right now, because I just want to have that owl ;) That's fine with me, since I already speak German, and it is a good way to test my English (I do the tree in DE - EN). But my French progress is a lot slower, and I think that is good; you need time to absorb the words and phrases. It also means I repeat a lot, and I do not test out of anything.

    For German, I am going to do the reverse tree once I finished the current one; learning English as a German speaker ... that will be more interesting for me.

    --
    Pitralon forever - Real pens have a nib - If it doesn't tick, it's not a watch.
     
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  11. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    Well, I will readily admit that golding a leaf, in my book, only counts as exposure to a word unless it's one that just sinks in for some reason. It's the practices that help the most. And due disclosure, I did Tree 1.0 in, I think 10 months, followed by the reverse tree (ie: doing the EN tree as if I were a native NL), and then I just did the 2.0 NL tree. But, alongside, I've been reading/studying an actual grammar book, watching NL movies (with subtitles) and reading NL books). The hardest thing for me is de vs. het and word order. But, I'm finally starting to get a reliable understanding of word order. De vs. Het is just memorization. The other challenge is, of course, verbal skills and accent since I have no real practice with that and there seems to be a great variety of accents for such a small country.
     
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  12. Eeyore

    Eeyore Well-Known Member

    @macaronus has a "Zeeuws" accrnt, I presume, while I have a "Twents" accent ... we could always setup a Skype call
     
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  13. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    The distinction, sadly, means nothing to me. Mike has said in other posts that he tends to just drop into the other person's accent in conversation.
    Skype could be fun or horribly embarrassing.... maybe when I get more confident. I spent most of my one and only NL skype call with The Limecat (a bilingual friend from another board) practicing the phrases "wat?" "Ik snap niet" and "langzamer."

    (*what? | I don't understand | slower)

    edit: altho the movie I watched last night must have been a Southern accent based on what the movie was about. One character I could understand reasonably well when he wasn't mumbling. But, he said his "W" like "w" not "v." The other character, I could hardly understand at all. The movie, was called Backslide in English which I have no idea how they came up with it since the Dutch title is "Vangodlos." (God-forsaken).
     
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  14. Eeyore

    Eeyore Well-Known Member

    I've never seen the movie, but the story (based on the "Bende van Venlo") is situated in Limburg, so your characterisation of the accent would be correct.
     
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  15. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    You can safely miss the movie. Too much violence and not much plot. At the end a little old lady gets her throat slit (on camera) during an attempted robbery and a young girl (the boss's granddaughter) gets shot (off camera) by one of the gang members, altho it is accidental.
     
  16. Eeyore

    Eeyore Well-Known Member

    Unfortunately that actually happened, in 1994.

    --
    Pitralon forever - Real pens have a nib - If it doesn't tick, it's not a watch.
     
  17. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    :(
     
  18. Badgerstate

    Badgerstate Well-Known Member

    I recently tried relearning Japanese with Duolingo, like I did with German but it's been an epic fail because the written parts are even in Japanese.
    I can speak Japanese ok but my Kanji is not very good.
    German was easier because at least they both use a Roman alphabet. Learning Japanese with Romanji really set me back.

    Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk
     
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  19. PanChango

    PanChango Not Cute

    It is going on 30 years since I started, but I took about 5 years of German in high school then university. I can still say my pencil is big and yellow.

    I picked up some Spanish from housemates and work, but only know enough to get my butt kicked. Other than that, I can read music and write code in a handful of different languages. I tried to spend some time with Spanish a few years ago using Rosetto Stone, but it didnt last.
     
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  20. John Ruschmeyer

    John Ruschmeyer Well-Known Member

    Earlier tonight, I was installing the software for a Brother printer. On the language selection screen, it gave three “Frc”, “Spa”, and “Usa”.
    WTF???


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