私は日本語を勉強しています... but I'm not very good at it yet
The reading and the writing of Nihongo is infinitely harder than the speaking, huh?
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Anyone know more than one language?
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The reading and the writing of Nihongo is infinitely harder than the speaking, huh?
The reading and the writing of Nihongo is infinitely harder than the speaking, huh?
I started tackling kanji a couple of weeks ago and know about 350 of them now. This is brilliant (free sample).
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Native German
Solid English
Forgotten School-French
Struggle with Japanese
Never understand my wife in whatever language
Solid English
Forgotten School-French
Struggle with Japanese
Never understand my wife in whatever language
No tengo nada que ver con esto, sólo con la intención de compartir la información:
http://link.tellmemore.com/u/gm.php?prm=8RBz8S9qPw_193867433_242765_34357
http://link.tellmemore.com/u/gm.php?prm=8RBz8S9qPw_193867433_242765_34357
I know English and I took Spanish in high school for four years but still have trouble speaking it fluently.
I would like to learn Italian, but don't wish to pay for any materials. Does anybody know any free resources?
English and French speakers are exceptional
I speak English and Thai fluently. Over the years I have at times had a spattering of Japanese, French and German, but no longer have any need for them, so have not bothered going any further with them.
Many, if not most people around the world are at least bi-lingual, with the exception of English speakers and the French.
I'd have to say many Thai people are quite xenophobic and stubborn about learning languages too, but with Thai being spoken by only a few tens of million in one country, they have little choice. That being said, there are a significant number of people in Thailand for whom Thai is a second language. That includes the Yawi speaking Muslim people of the south and the various hill tribe people of the North. In the Northeast millions speak Lao, which is similar enough to Thai to be considered a dialect. It is those marginalised, already bilingual people who seem more successful at learning new languages.
I learned Thai initially at a six week immersion course. At the end I could make the sounds, read and write the alphabet (which is highly phonetic, but when written does not have a space between the words), and understood a few words. From there its was just a matter of using the language and picking it up as I went, just like a kid picking up his or her own native language. Where I lived at the time there were very few English speakers, so I had little choice.
It took about six months to become reasonably comfortable with Thai. After that it developed quite quickly. That is in keeping with the experience of others.
I didn't translate. At first I would use either English or Thai, but not both at the same time. It was several years before I became confident enough to interpret simultaneously.
I no longer write, and read only a little; I have no real need to do either, but could probably become literate quite quickly if necessary. However I do think that learning to read and write a language helps in the formative stages of learning.
I speak English and Thai fluently. Over the years I have at times had a spattering of Japanese, French and German, but no longer have any need for them, so have not bothered going any further with them.
Many, if not most people around the world are at least bi-lingual, with the exception of English speakers and the French.
I'd have to say many Thai people are quite xenophobic and stubborn about learning languages too, but with Thai being spoken by only a few tens of million in one country, they have little choice. That being said, there are a significant number of people in Thailand for whom Thai is a second language. That includes the Yawi speaking Muslim people of the south and the various hill tribe people of the North. In the Northeast millions speak Lao, which is similar enough to Thai to be considered a dialect. It is those marginalised, already bilingual people who seem more successful at learning new languages.
I learned Thai initially at a six week immersion course. At the end I could make the sounds, read and write the alphabet (which is highly phonetic, but when written does not have a space between the words), and understood a few words. From there its was just a matter of using the language and picking it up as I went, just like a kid picking up his or her own native language. Where I lived at the time there were very few English speakers, so I had little choice.
It took about six months to become reasonably comfortable with Thai. After that it developed quite quickly. That is in keeping with the experience of others.
I didn't translate. At first I would use either English or Thai, but not both at the same time. It was several years before I became confident enough to interpret simultaneously.
I no longer write, and read only a little; I have no real need to do either, but could probably become literate quite quickly if necessary. However I do think that learning to read and write a language helps in the formative stages of learning.
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I speak English and a lot of French (which I'm working very hard to improve). I'm also learning Norwegian.
Learning French has been great for me. I have the chance to talk to a lot of Francophones at work (even though there aren't many who live in my city). My main strategies have been reading and listening to French media.
Learning French has been great for me. I have the chance to talk to a lot of Francophones at work (even though there aren't many who live in my city). My main strategies have been reading and listening to French media.
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Might depend on where you go or who you speak to. In Barcelona I heard both about as often as each other. Quite often I heard a speaker change from Catalan to Castilian and back again in the same sentence. I didn't detect any aggro whatsoever towards any Castilian speakers.
For me, I speak about eleven languages to varying degrees and can read and translate from a few more. All acquired more or less from travelling and working abroad. If you cannot immerse yourself in the language by going to where it is spoken then trying to find a tolerant native speaker who is happy to put up with your fumbling attempts to communicate is the next best option. I wouldn't waste a penny on the likes of Rosetta Stone. Books and CDs work just as well and are much cheaper.
I'm English, so unfortunately poor with other languages
I do know bits of Hungarian, Japanese and French, but not enough to be able to hold a conversation
I do know bits of Hungarian, Japanese and French, but not enough to be able to hold a conversation
I just spoke yesterday about that with a Spanish girl from Valencia. We were both under the same impression that the Catalans from Barcelona are much more hostile towards Spaniards compared to those Catalans from Valencia for example.
My girlfriend lives and works in BCN and is doing her doctorial theses over there and it happens on a regular basis that her Catalan students or other people are behaving rude towards her when she spoke Castilian to them or just give answers in Catalan while are of course are perfectly capable of Castilian (she isn't from Spain btw).
I was there last week and accidentally attended some kind of national feast (12th of october) and can tell you that it is not a good idea to walk around there with the Spanish flag. I was there when Spain won the world championship in soccer (notice with 8 from 11 players coming from Barca) and it was so sad how they didn't really care at all.
I love the city but this nationalistic attitude is killing me and is strangely widespread under youngsters and the so called 'alternatives'. Don't want to say it's wrong what you said of course, but my experiences tell me the opposite.
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There is no problem talking Spanish in Catalonia
By the way, people from Valencia are not Catalans
I was not referring to Catalunya in general but to Barcelona. Of course one can speak Castilian there, but my and a lot of other people experiences are like what I described earlier.
And Valencià is a close variation of Catalan.
Edit: That sounds rather harsh and I don't want to be a di ck about it either. It's just that I noticed some stuff and while curious talked to some people (locals as well as foreigners) and they all pretty much said the same...but as I said before too: nice city anyway.
And Valencià is a close variation of Catalan.
Edit: That sounds rather harsh and I don't want to be a di ck about it either. It's just that I noticed some stuff and while curious talked to some people (locals as well as foreigners) and they all pretty much said the same...but as I said before too: nice city anyway.
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Dothraki anyone?
http://www.dothraki.org/
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Every country has their 'Catalans'.
The et way to practice is get drunk an start talking you will have fun and your mind will be open to have a full immersion language class.
Once you are able to tell jokes in another Language and they are still funny is a good way to meter how much progress you made.
http://www.dothraki.org/
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Every country has their 'Catalans'.
The et way to practice is get drunk an start talking you will have fun and your mind will be open to have a full immersion language class.
Once you are able to tell jokes in another Language and they are still funny is a good way to meter how much progress you made.
French is my first language, English is my second and I'm currently learning German. It took me about 7 years to become fluent in English and another before I considered myself bilingual; I wonder how long it will take before I can say the same about German (Yes, it's that complicated! Noun genders are not the same as in French, so I have to learn them all, and then the plurals are much more complicated than just adding an 's'. But other than that, it's perfectly fine.)
(Yes, it's that complicated! Noun genders are not the same as in French, so I have to learn them all, and then the plurals are much more complicated than just adding an 's'. But other than that, it's perfectly fine.)
I'm tempted to give up Spanish... I can't use it in the UK and I have to wait 16 months before I can use it in Spain... Hmmmm... should I quit learning it?
I do love the language though.
I'm learning German even though I have no use for it, just because I like the langugage. If you like it, go for it. After all there are only advantages to knowing several languages
I know enough French vocab to get basic points across... of course the equivalent in english would be like going into an apple store and saying "I want... computer... silver... good"
But yeah, did french GCSE and so know a basic bit of conversational french.
Also Java, JS, HTML,... sorry I'll stop...
But yeah, did french GCSE and so know a basic bit of conversational french.
Also Java, JS, HTML,... sorry I'll stop...