Language Learners

[colouredlines]

Only in Spain, you find an incredible variety of accents and pronunciations actually, including in a same region, even in local languages other than Castillian (at least in Galician).

Galician has so many regional varieties, it's amazing. Sadly I just have a basic level - I lived in Galicia for a few years but in a big city where it was really rare to hear anything but Spanish in public. A lot of my Galician friends are very into orgullo galego though, so I have lots of opportunities to practise, and lately I am really into a lot of Galician music. It took me sooo long to understand gheada, my brain just wasn't getting it! I used to work with a guy born in London to Galician parents. He spoke English with a real cockney accent and Galician and Spanish with a rural Ourense accent, and people would freak out at the difference!

Catalan is similar to Galician in terms of variety - it's very easy to pinpoint where someone is from quite specifically, and there are lots of words that are only used in particular towns.

I've been meaning to learn French as I'd like to travel more in France, but I keep putting it off. Maybe starting that can be my project over the winter...

 

[Sglodion]

That said, I think some people could benefit from them as a beginner but it is very expensive compared to what you’d get out of them vs being disciplined with self-directed study.

Thanks - yeah, this is what I'm thinking. At this stage I'm still getting a lot of benefit out of DL and free flashcard apps, so maybe when I've completed those courses I'll look more into getting a tutor. My doubts over doing things this way round are because there's not much point having perfect grammar and knowing a lot of vocabulary if my speaking skills are so bad that I still can't actually talk to anyone, but on the other hand it's also hard to practise speaking if you don't know any words!

 

[mochibean]

I am studying Japanese. I studied it in school and did it for my LC.
I really love the culture and want to be bilingual. I've traveled there before and it was fun trying to communicate. I am hoping to travel again at some point. I know the hiragana & katakana, a few kanji and basic words & sentences. There is so much to learn though and I need lots more practice.
Thankfully there are lots of good Japanese TV shows to watch and pick up phrases from.

Have you watched Terrace House? If you know even basic sentences and vocab it's super easy to pick up natural Japanese from that show! Unfortunately it did get cancelled but there are a few seasons of it.

 

[colouredlines]

I've come across a few regional differences in pronounciation. I noticed a thing where people will say a 'j' sound instead of a 'y'. For example, 'yo' would be pronouned more like 'jo'. Not sure if that's a feature of South American Spanish because I haven't heard it in Spain?

It happens in Spain too, it's not related to any particular country/region. BTW Argentinians pronounce it "sho" (ll and y are like sh there), which take some getting used to.

I’m trying to learn Catalan at the moment and finding it a challenge tbh, I can read a lot of it and figure out what a lot of things mean when they’re written down as I speak Spanish, but I find it difficult to understand anything when I hear it spoken!!

I'm a native English speaker, but Catalan is by far the language I speak the most in my daily life. Pronunciation is a lot more complex than Spanish (grammar is harder too because of pronoms febles).

The funny thing is that once you get used to it, the pronunciation is actually easier for English speakers than Spanish pronunciation is, because Catalan uses the neutral vowel (well, eastern Catalan does, but that's a can of worms...). Words that end with ny or start/end with ll are awkward to get the hang of though.

There's a very good online resource at parla.cat that I recommend. If you sign up for self-study the courses are free. It's been a few years since I used them but I found them really handy. They're pretty thorough, and they point out false friends and castellanismes.

 

[Romy]

I've come across a few regional differences in pronounciation. I noticed a thing where people will say a 'j' sound instead of a 'y'. For example, 'yo' would be pronouned more like 'jo'. Not sure if that's a feature of South American Spanish because I haven't heard it in Spain?

actually yo is pronounced a bit like djo lol but it's very subtle.
I think those that pronounce it stronger are the same that pronounce the ll like a mix of ch and j, so Argentinians, Uruguayans but also Andalusians from Sevilla, and maybe others idk.
Only in Spain, you find an incredible variety of accents and pronunciations actually, including in a same region, even in local languages other than Castillian (at least in Galician). A spanish person who grew up in Spain would tell you better. I was born in France to Spanish parents (from Galicia), so I speak fluently French, Spanish, Galician (and Italian for other reasons lol) since childhood. And then I learned English at school like everyone and I'm fluent too now but not at the same level obviously (much less practise and vocabulary, and my accent is naturally not as good as in the other languages).
Also did 6 years of German at school but it was a choice by default and I don't remember much.

 

[mochibean]

No I not heard of it but I'll look into it & try find it online. Thanks!

It's on Netflix if you have that.

 

[StatusWoe]

Does anyone have any advice on German? And om balancing work and studying languages?

Do you have any specific questions about German? My sister is a German speaker so I could always pass a couple of questions on to her. No advice about the work-study balance because it's something I struggle with as well.

 

[Keikochan]

Have you watched Terrace House? If you know even basic sentences and vocab it's super easy to pick up natural Japanese from that show! Unfortunately it did get cancelled but there are a few seasons of it.

No I not heard of it but I'll look into it & try find it online. Thanks!

 

[no-no]

Duolingo’s offer runs out tonight apparently. I don’t want to pay £50 for it but wouldn’t mind paying a tenner for a month (sounds counterintuitive). Does anyone subscribe to premium?

Glad I didn’t sign up in the end, they’re doing a two week free trial if anyone is interested. I’ve gone for that and just been on it for about two hours, unlimited ‘s.

 

[no-no]

Duolingo’s offer runs out tonight apparently. I don’t want to pay £50 for it but wouldn’t mind paying a tenner for a month (sounds counterintuitive). Does anyone subscribe to premium?

 

[xoxoxo13]

Does anyone have any advice on German? And om balancing work and studying languages?