Language Learners

aidil · Jan 22, 2023

Laughingforlife said:
The other night I was demonstrating how Duolingo works to a friend, as she wants to try some Spanish.
I decided to go with russian because that's what I know, and it was really quite hilarious stuff.
"where is the bicycle?"
"my rucksack is in the metro"
So that's useful, isn't it?
Are all the sentences as mad as that on beginners Duolingo for every language?

I can 100% confirm this! I was using it over summer to start learning French and it kept asking me to say “are you a horse?” A totally normal conversation starter, non? I switched back to books after that but I still quite like the mini podcasts on DuoLingo if you’re subscribed. They’re quite handy for learning pronunciation!

Laughingforlife · Jan 22, 2023

aidil said:
I can 100% confirm this! I was using it over summer to start learning French and it kept asking me to say “are you a horse?” A totally normal conversation starter, non? I switched back to books after that but I still quite like the mini podcasts on DuoLingo if you’re subscribed. They’re quite handy for learning pronunciation!

Another friend did Spanish a few years ago on it and it said "Are you machine?"
and also "I am a lion. I eat people"

aidil · Jan 22, 2023

Laughingforlife said:
Another friend did Spanish a few years ago on it and it said "Are you machine?"
and also "I am a lion. I eat people"

I’d love to know if anyone has tried these phrases in real life situations!

Laughingforlife · Jan 22, 2023

aidil said:
I’d love to know if anyone has tried these phrases in real life situations!

I'll go up to my friend and ask if she's a machine and see if she remembers sending that screenshot to me
But at least I can say my rucksack is in the metro if I ever end up in Russia!

My mum told me that she had a French phrasebook once which said: "My car is skidding."
Right....

Fishwife · Jan 22, 2023

I used to love languages. I did French and German at university. But that was fifty years ago and it is more than a bit rusty. I love the Easy German you tube videos. They stop people in the street and ask them some questions so you hear a range of accents. The main presenter is German with a Polish husband. I have listened to some of the Easy Spanish as well. It seems to be mainly South American. The Easy language channel is not for complete beginners.
At the moment I am going through the Duolingo French. It is quite slow and seems to be very short on vocabulary. The main advantage is that it is free and is quite an entertaining way to pass ten minutes.

non.ironic.surfectant. · Jan 22, 2023

karpusha said:
Wow, thank you! I always struggle with articles and tenses, so I wasn't sure I wrote everything correctly.
I would also like to listen to other people's opinions on the second part of your post I'm super shy and socially anxious, so it always feels like a heroic deed to speak to people in my target language!

Echoing @StatusWoe 's comments, I never would have known your first language wasn't English. I'm of similar extraction to you, and also have social anxiety (so let's chat to each other, hahah!). I've been trying to learn my late father's native languages (Ukrainian and Russian, but forget about the 'surzhyks') via YouTube videos, but it's hard going. Interesting, but definitely hard going. All of it. And my attempts at Russian and Ukrainian accents make John Malkovich's attempts look flawless.

ElChanguito · Jan 22, 2023

I can recommend the Michel Thomas language courses. They only go to rather a basic level but they give you an excellent grounding in the grammar and syntax. He has a systematic way of teaching you that makes it feel logical. I think I did the whole basic French course then the advanced one, then did the basic Spanish and Italian ones. Still have all of them on CD somewhere.

Frau_guru · Jan 23, 2023

Oh i love learning new languages.

English -self learning by reading books and watching movies with subtitles, and reading Tattle forum

German -12 months school and then reading books and watching movies with subtitles, plus I live now in Germany so it's logical
Russian -4 years in school and from this year I am reading my first book
(If someone knows a website where I can find Russian online books to read for free, would be great)

emm · Jan 23, 2023

Laughingforlife said:
The other night I was demonstrating how Duolingo works to a friend, as she wants to try some Spanish.
I decided to go with russian because that's what I know, and it was really quite hilarious stuff.
"where is the bicycle?"
"my rucksack is in the metro"
So that's useful, isn't it?
Are all the sentences as mad as that on beginners Duolingo for every language?

It seems pretty mad but it is actually based in a very good way of teaching in terms of learning to make sentences etc, not sure if anyone if familiar with the Callan method of English teaching but it is the same kind of idea.

For people learning Spanish the Notes in Spanish podcast is good, not sure they still update but they are still free online. Does anyone have a good beginners German podcast to suggest? My new years resolution is to learn but I have yet to start

no-no · Jan 23, 2023

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?

no-no · Jan 24, 2023

no-no said:
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.

Language Learners

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