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Language learning tips

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- Fri, 06 Mar 2015 18:40:11 EST Hu58Kckd No.12027
File: 1425685211091.jpg -(18803B / 18.36KB, 550x550) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Language learning tips
Let's post some extra tips on how to git gud at your languages aside from the initial learning:

>Change account settings on online sites to display stuff in your language (e.g. facebook)
>Find places online where people are looking to chat
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Wesley Hubberway - Sat, 07 Mar 2015 18:55:22 EST +e6ryqhi No.12028 Reply
Also try Supermemo
http://archive.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-05/ff_wozniak?currentPage=all

This guy invented it to help him learn English. Another way to do this is work through a language book, then at set intervals refresh your knowledge by going back and reviewing key concepts so it becomes long term memory and you don't forget it all within 30 days. Watching TV/Movies in that language will also help or watching all your movies with foreign language subtitles.
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Samuel Dimmerdudge - Sun, 08 Mar 2015 22:10:15 EST +sAsuDcV No.12029 Reply
>>12028
Are you from the distant past? There's a lot of free spaced repetition software out there. Anki comes to mind.
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Albert Piddlenuck - Mon, 09 Mar 2015 16:47:27 EST mfqKXc7d No.12030 Reply
man I love Ocarina of Time!

Hey guys I need your help

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- Wed, 25 Feb 2015 14:09:25 EST ALuaElvY No.12017
File: 1424891365805.jpg -(157272B / 153.59KB, 858x784) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Hey guys I need your help
I have no idea if this is the right place for this. I figured some japanese speaking people would be on this board.

Can somebody translate the text in my picture please? Possibly somebody with some knowledge of biology but any help is appreciated.
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Charles Fanville - Thu, 05 Mar 2015 04:23:20 EST 0tyNYdEl No.12022 Reply
>>12017
My Japanese is good enough that I can understand the grammar but I don't know any of that Kanji. If you had a version with furigana I could translate it.

GREEK / ELLNVIKA

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- Fri, 02 May 2014 01:40:17 EST SRz+MrWT No.11331
File: 1399009217791.jpg -(805260B / 786.39KB, 1920x1080) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. GREEK / ELLNVIKA
Any advice for learning Greek?
3 posts omitted. Click View Thread to read.
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Cyril Pirringledging - Mon, 11 Aug 2014 22:30:11 EST hV/j9IGo No.11605 Reply
I'll ask this here instead of starting a new thread.

How does Greek transliterate foreign sounds? I tried Google, but no luck.
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Albert Fidgefoot - Wed, 25 Feb 2015 03:29:27 EST Z1v+SCTB No.12015 Reply
>>11605
Usually

p t k = pi, tav, kappa
b d g = mu+pi, nu+tau, nu+kappa
tch = just ts, but sometimes kappa + front vowel
dj/j = dz, ntz, sometimes gamma + front vowel
f th s sh x = phi, theta, sigma, sigma+iota or a front vowel, chi
v z zh h = beta (vita), zita, zita + iota, asperus or chi or 0
m n ng = mu, nu, nu+gamma
r, l = rho lambda
w = omicron upsilon
y/j = iota, eta, or epsilon

i = iota, eta, epsilon, or ipsilon (upsilon)
e = epsilon usually
a = alfa
o = omicron
u = omicron + upsilon
ü = upsilon, said like i

etc. Most approximations are like French or Italian actually, with the NC = G and u = i thing. Beer if romanized like the Ancients would have read the word is "mpura" but in Modern this is read as "bira". Nikita Khruschev is nikita xroustsof.

Fluency.

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!M6R0eWkIpk - Mon, 19 Jan 2015 15:54:37 EST XaB5Kl1U No.11961
File: 1421700877526.jpg -(18826B / 18.38KB, 350x238) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Fluency.
How do you define "fluency?"
Do you make distinctions between "conversational" and "fluent?"

>Here's what Google spits back when searching "fluent definition"
flu·ent
ˈflo͞oənt/
adjective
adjective: fluent

(of a person) able to express oneself easily and articulately.
"a fluent speaker and writer on technical subjects"
synonyms: articulate, eloquent, expressive, communicative, coherent, cogent, illuminating, vivid, well written/spoken
"a fluent campaign speech"
antonyms: inarticulate
(of a person) able to speak or write a particular foreign language easily and accurately.
"she became fluent in French and German"
synonyms: articulate;
have a (good) command of
"fluent in French"
(of a foreign language) spoken accurately and with facility.
"he spoke fluent Spanish"
7 posts and 3 images omitted. Click View Thread to read.
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Augustus Blendlewater - Wed, 28 Jan 2015 03:45:16 EST 6mW8O8BP No.11986 Reply
1422434716576.jpg -(228253B / 222.90KB, 400x600) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size.
>>11985
i've gotta disagree. i get what you're saying and maybe it varies from person to person but statistically it is accepted that listening and reading are easier to master than speaking and writing. yes fluency refers to flow, i guess i could see how one could apply it to listening or reading but i can't see how in the real world anyone would claim to be a "fluent reader of xyz language". perhaps writing isn't as spontaneous as speaking, but it still deals with production of ones own thoughts in a target language. reading and listening are merely processing information that already exists. and while one could theoretically be "fluent" in a language by the strict definition and still lack proficiency, true fluency has a lot to do with proficiency as well, like having a broad and accurate vocabulary rather than relying on circumlocution or knowing certain levels of speech that would be appropriate in different situations.

here's some more detailed breakdowns of the ILR scale, for anyone interested
http://www.govtilr.org/skills/
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Sidney Hoblingbone - Sat, 14 Feb 2015 17:19:01 EST RYQ9LXTa No.12001 Reply
>>11986
>www.govtilr.org/skills/
That's one ugly site... I'm betting you have to be full-on ameribear to like it.

>statistically it is accepted that listening and reading are easier to master than speaking and writing
I gotta agree with this. It's always harder to produce something than it is to merely experience something.
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Simon Bannerchedge - Sun, 22 Feb 2015 10:42:41 EST hL/5FZ6b No.12014 Reply
1424619761381.jpg -(262895B / 256.73KB, 492x372) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size.
>>12001
yes, it is indeed ugly but the content is there describing fluency

Novels in Spanish for reading comprehension.

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- Sun, 14 Dec 2014 15:13:35 EST KJu4J5EH No.11901
File: 1418588015289.jpg -(18519B / 18.08KB, 264x264) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Novels in Spanish for reading comprehension.
Hey guys,

I speak spanish quite well. I lived in a spanish speaking country for a number of years, but am now back in Canada now where they are not very many Spanish speaking people.

I am looking for a couple of intermediate novels to read, not something with a lot of the tenses you only find in high level literary works, just something to read before bed to keep my reading comprehension up.

I recently read "The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway in Spanish, something along those lines.

Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!
5 posts and 1 images omitted. Click View Thread to read.
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Samuel Brupperridge - Tue, 06 Jan 2015 19:13:00 EST 5rSHWso6 No.11950 Reply
el Aleph or any collection of shortworks from Jorge Luis Borges, he's my favorite author

I recommend reading plays if you can get into them, because they're extremely accessible. Ariel Dorfman is a decent playwright. Modern Spanish rendering of Conde Lucanor stories would be good since they're short fables with relatively simple prose.

I'm currently reading The Motorcycle Diaries and I'll admit it's a challenging read, but if you're committed to it it'll do you well. It's just the Argentine slang that's a bitch.
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cursive !M6R0eWkIpk - Mon, 19 Jan 2015 20:57:55 EST XaB5Kl1U No.11968 Reply
1421719075497.png -(46982B / 45.88KB, 1342x527) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size.
>>11941
translated from german to spanish or german to... english to spanish?
german and spanish don't seem to jive too well for native speakers of each.
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Lydia Gubbleworth - Wed, 28 Jan 2015 10:14:16 EST P/Qs0eHF No.11987 Reply
>>11901
I'd suggest reading something from a spanish speaking author, not a translation. Not that it'll be easier, but I always find it somewhat more satisfactory reading an original than a translation

Here are some easy authors you can begin with:
Horacio Quiroga: he wrote short, horrible tales, like the Edgar Allan Poe of South America. I strongly suggest you read La gallina degollada from Cuentos de amor, de locura, y de muerte.

Julio Cortazar. Well reknowned author, he wrote some pretty strange books (Rayuela for example), I think he even won a Nobel prize. I suggest you also read some of his short stories, they're somewhat kafkian: really short, concise, and surreal; check out "Instrucciones para subir una escalera".

If you're for something a bit longer you can check out Ernesto Sabato's El tunel, it's about 100 pages long, but it's not that complicated (I think). It's like a mash up between Bukowski and Dostoievski, though not as good as either of them.

Garcia Marquez is also pretty cool and easy to read, but I don't find him quite as interesting as these other authors. Ohh, and Borges is the best, but he's not an easy read at all, I don't suggest him as a first read.

franco-phoney

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- Sat, 06 Dec 2014 15:21:04 EST MxuHFgw1 No.11890
File: 1417897264067.jpg -(8214B / 8.02KB, 200x174) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. franco-phoney
j'ai honte, je ne peux plus parler français. non seulement est-elle maintenant ma troisième langue, mais c'est vraiment honteux quand j'essaie de parler avec quelqu'un et ne peux pas dire même certains mots très simples (par exemple, je pouvais pas trouver le mot "vite" il y a deux jours quand je faisais un effort de discuter en français avec un québécois)

donc, aidez-moi les mecs, allons-y créer un thread où on peut parler de n'importe quoi en français. tu peux corriger les fautes, ou pas, c'est à choix

dis-moi
où tu-vis?
et, je sais pas.. quels films francophones est-ce que tu recommandes?
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Charles Hettingtore - Tue, 27 Jan 2015 23:24:00 EST nkd0TrwG No.11984 Reply
Je vais t'aider à corriger les fautes.

>non seulement est-elle maintenant ma troisième langue
"est-ce là" plutôt que "est-elle". Mais c'est assez formel, tu pourrais simplifier:
>Non seulement c'est ma troisième langue

>et ne peux pas dire même certains mots
et [je] ne peux même pas dire certains mots
C'est plus facile à comprendre si tu répètes le "je".

>je pouvais pas
je ne pouvais pas
Si tu veux être un peu plus formel.

>je faisais un effort de discuter
je faisais L'effort de discuter

>allons-y créer un thread
créons* si tu voulais dire "let's make a thread". "créez" si tu voulais dire "create a thread, you guys".

> c'est à choix
c'est au choix

>où tu-vis?
"où vis-tu" ou alors "où tu vis". Le deuxième est beaucoup moins formel. Oh, et aussi, n'oublie pas de mettre une espace avant le point d'interrogation (?). C'est pareil pour toutes les ponctuations double (? ! : ; ). But that's nitpicking now.

Ton français est pas mal du tout, tu devrais continuer à pratiquer !

Je suis un Français, j'ai passé le début de ma vie en Normandie, au nord de la France, avant que mes parents aillent s'installer dans le sud, dans le Languedoc. J'ai passé deux ans au Québec après ça, et à présent je vis en Angleterre, j'essaie d'améliorer mon anglais à l'oral !

Concernant les films, je te conseille les deux films OSS 117. Jean Dujardin (qui faisait des trucs marrants, avant) y joue un espion très très Français, parodie de James Bond et des codes du cinéma de cette époque-là. Il y aura sûrement certaines répliques et références qui ne seront pas évidentes à comprendre pour toi ; hésite pas à demander ici.

Rechercher

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- Sat, 03 Jan 2015 14:38:43 EST 4jjffGeJ No.11944
File: 1420313923448.jpg -(501568B / 489.81KB, 2956x1958) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Rechercher
Hi all, I am writing a short story and was wondering if it would be totally strange to use the French word rechercher as my protagonists last name. I know it basically means to look for in English, I don't know much other than that besides that I like it. I plan on the protagonist having American parents with maybe some French somewhere in their lineage but it's not a part of the plot just a mental note for me. So, people who speak French or actual French people (if there are any on this board) would it be highly uncommon for a person to have the French verb rechercher as a last name?
1 posts and 1 images omitted. Click View Thread to read.
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David Worthingford - Sun, 04 Jan 2015 12:09:30 EST lHdJYkhU No.11948 Reply
>>11944

I'm not sure.

In the book "Este Domingo" by the Chilean author Jose Donoso, some characters have the last name "vives", which in Spanish means "you live".

So it's not a totally unprecedented concept, at least.
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Phineas Dopperhon - Thu, 22 Jan 2015 06:35:57 EST E3W6Xz/v No.11971 Reply
>>11944
Yes, it would. It makes no sense.
I guess I have nothing to reply to the previous examples mentioned, but if anything some common names are sometimes used as last names, but never verbs. It can work for an english audience, there's often a lot of weird names in japanese stuff that aren't natural at all, but work to evoke "germanness" or whatever for the audience. But don't expect it to be fine for everybody just because you like it.
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Charles Hettingtore - Tue, 27 Jan 2015 23:03:59 EST nkd0TrwG No.11983 Reply
>>11944
Hello, frenchie here.
Absolutely NO ONE in France has "Rechercher" as their last name (yeah, just checked).
We simply don't use verbs in the infinitive, nouns or adjectives are much more common. For instance, "Recherche" is an actual surname (meaning "research" or "search", as a noun), although it's a very uncommon one (498 persons out of 65 millions). But it does sound natural, at least.
"Pierre Recherche" would strike me as unusual but would still sound french; "Jean Rechercher" would just make me think the author didn't know what they were doing at all.
If you want to retain the meaning, go with "Reserche" or "Chercheur" (searcher). A verb will sound out of place, only to French speakers though I guess.

Any success stories?

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- Thu, 16 Oct 2014 19:35:58 EST 8Xo2pqDl No.11789
File: 1413502558919.jpg -(237148B / 231.59KB, 694x900) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Any success stories?
Seems like you guys just ask each other "what language should I learn" or "What is a good movie in X language?"

Any real success stories here? Becoming fluent? To the point where you can read/write/speak/watch/listen as if it were your native tongue- anyone use it to travel or perhaps meet friends/lovers? Impress and inspire me guys.
16 posts and 6 images omitted. Click View Thread to read.
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James Crellypere - Mon, 26 Jan 2015 06:06:00 EST 6mW8O8BP No.11979 Reply
i learned a language in the army. any of you who are serious about language learning, native exposure, and proficiency, there's a pretty good resource at ( GLOSS dot dliflc dot edu ) maybe visit it on an incognito page and check it out ^^ it's got reading and listening exercises in 40 languages. i still use it 3 years after to keep up my proficiency a bit, but aside from talking to grocery store clerks and ordering in restaurants and reading the occasional news articles i suck now that i dont use it every day :(
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Cedric Sennerford - Thu, 12 Jul 2018 14:46:08 EST 1SMjONZT No.12938 Reply
I just really really really want to kill myself right now. I don't know if I can hold on.

Learning Turkish

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- Sun, 25 Jan 2015 00:07:34 EST Ch+tAKXh No.11976
File: 1422162454180.jpg -(56898B / 55.56KB, 550x381) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Learning Turkish
Hello! I've been attempting to learn Turkish for about a month now. I know the basics, like hello, yes, no, goodbye, ect... I was wondering how long on average does it take to learn Turkish let alone a second language fluently. Plus, I was wondering how difficult it is to learn Turkish compared to other languages.

looking for someone german

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- Sun, 16 Nov 2014 23:40:38 EST z7MSlm2F No.11862
File: 1416199238254.jpg -(49762B / 48.60KB, 400x285) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. looking for someone german
Hi /lang/ I've been learning to speak german for a year now and I'm at a point where I'm in need of a fluently speaking german influence to correct my errors and teach me proper spelling and such. I speak english and french fluently for who ever's interested in an exchange.
2 posts and 1 images omitted. Click View Thread to read.
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Hitler - Thu, 08 Jan 2015 05:01:06 EST j4mbWJz1 No.11952 Reply
ICH SPRECHE DEUTSCH FLIEßEND. WERDE ALLERDINGS NIEMANDEM HELFEN DER NICHT ARISCHEN BLUTES IST.
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Phyllis Senkinhidge - Sat, 24 Jan 2015 18:31:58 EST AQoHklXU No.11975 Reply
I'm german myself and can speak english fluenly.

So if you need any help give me your email or skype or something.

Influence of English on the language of Italian media

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- Mon, 19 Jan 2015 15:25:14 EST jYf4zYSf No.11959
File: 1421699114080.jpg -(35457B / 34.63KB, 670x496) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Influence of English on the language of Italian media
I'm writing a pretty long paper on the topic thereof. Any good sources I could start from? Both English and Italian work for me.

Language

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- Wed, 10 Dec 2014 16:20:57 EST SUCBYNUW No.11898
File: 1418246457231.png -(33973B / 33.18KB, 1012x596) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Language
'I don't think language creates reality. I think language filters reality, or anchors reality, or sticks reality in place. Or we're all climbing on a big rock cliff, and words are spikes driven into the rock, and languages are chains or ladders of spikes. And people use the spikes so much that they no longer know how to climb on rock. And whole cultures of people, with a limitless cliff face around them, are packed onto a few thin spike trails. And those who know how to drive spikes, and pull them out, manipulate the trails to serve their interests. And people are called "great" when they drive spikes into places no one (from their culture) has been in before. I think Jesus Christ was a rock climber. And St. Paul saw people starting to follow Jesus onto the rocks, and got frightened, and drove a few spikes in the direction Jesus was going and called it Christianity. And the central doctrine of Christianity is that Jesus was the only rock climber. I think we're all rock climbers. But I want to hang out here on the spikes a while longer. As St. Augustine said, "Lord, take away all my temptations, only not just yet.'
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Cedric Crallerfoot - Sun, 14 Dec 2014 18:06:23 EST RYQ9LXTa No.11903 Reply
1418598383186.jpg -(639858B / 624.86KB, 1333x2000) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size.
>>11898
What a mishmash of ideas and concepts... First it assumes that there's some sort of universal and pure truth. Then it claims that words either hinder in realising that truth, or at the very best, are merely tools to be used by man.

After that, blammo, there's Jesus Christ Superstarclimber, and then... I'm lost.
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George Blythewater - Sun, 21 Dec 2014 22:27:48 EST c6hl5F2A No.11924 Reply
>>11898
I remember seeing this thread on /b/ a few weeks ago. Were you the OP? At least there you got an active thread going. What I want to know is where you got this opinion about language from? Assuming that language creates reality is wrong but you have no foundation for your alternative so I wouldn't assume its any more correct than the point you disagreed with. Reality is something we need to learn through experience but without language how would we have the tools to learn it?

Local insults

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- Mon, 28 Apr 2014 16:00:11 EST YfZha+8z No.11307
File: 1398715211366.gif -(325906B / 318.27KB, 255x162) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Local insults
http://boards.420chan.org/b/res/3602430.php

I was having a moment of thought on the fact that 'sucks' literally means to suck a dick, so every time in daytime TV someone says 'this thing sucks a big fat veiny dick' but people don't reocognise it as that, just as a general negative descriptive term.

So what are some good ones in your local vicinity? A pretty all-engrossing one from the UK that you yankfags may not be familiar with is 'gimp' for someone with bad taste or poor social skills - you're a gimp mate. Probably tantamount to calling someone a bitch, although less to do with them being a pussy.

Another local par via articulate is 'whopper', which I'm not actually sure the origins are, but its a good one to say.
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Eliza Fivingdore - Mon, 15 Dec 2014 16:14:18 EST 1V74kwKY No.11904 Reply
1418678058346.jpg -(237819B / 232.25KB, 600x658) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size.
chinga tu madre pinche puto culero mamón

and those are just like common mexican insults, then there's "albures" which are dirty jokes told with figures of speech (double meanings), and there's a lot of derogatory terms relative to ethnicity, birthplace (like calling someone from the u.s "gringo" or "gabacho") and sexual deviancy (maricón, puñal, joto, lencha)
Actually must insults have a double meaning in México, like, for example, "mamón", which is used to refer to arrogant dickheads; but the word in fact means something close to "sucker". Or "culero", which is used to call out someone for being mean, but the literal meaning of the word is something like "asshat".
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Jack Sonnertedge - Sun, 21 Dec 2014 16:29:30 EST ZtJh40Yw No.11922 Reply
>>11308

It's also used for submissive people in BDSM, especially gay submissive guys.

Does anyone speak Irish (Gaeilge)

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- Tue, 26 Aug 2014 17:42:54 EST V3PCboNV No.11633
File: 1409089374301.png -(35293B / 34.47KB, 600x700) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Does anyone speak Irish (Gaeilge)
Does anyone who's not a native Irish person know how to speak any Irish? I'm from Ireland myself and sweet fuck all of the people that inhabit this Island can speak their native tongue. Unfortunately I have to include myself in that category.

So, have you ever known anyone that wasn't Irish/ from Ireland that could speak Irish? Or even knew if the language was still remotely alive?

We have our constitution written in both English and Irish so that's kinda handy.
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Eugene Nazzlegold - Tue, 23 Sep 2014 05:10:38 EST zGA5Pwzt No.11752 Reply
>>11744
Pretty sure you need an Irish IP to watch TG4 and RTE.

TG4 can be really awesome. Sometimes there is some AMAZING documentaries on there about Ireland and her history, language, culture, sport, etc. Other times you get to watch Powerpuff Girls and South Park in Gaelic lol
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Faggy Brookford - Tue, 23 Sep 2014 10:50:20 EST Z1v+SCTB No.11753 Reply
>>11752
I don't think that's the case, or at least it was 4-6 years ago. I've managed to stream stuff before with an American ip before too but I guess it could be a fluke or something.
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Ebenezer Cittingchatch - Sun, 07 Dec 2014 14:44:36 EST 58qa6ktL No.11896 Reply
Bhuail mise le cailín as an fhrainc a bhí gaeilge aici am amháin
Labhairim féin Gaeilge tír-cónaill 's mar sin de ní raibh mé in inmhe í a thuiscint lol.

I met a girl from France who had Irish once, I speak donegal irish though so i couldn't understand her. Woops.
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