| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 14:26 - Nov 25 with 2455 views | colinallcars |
Michael Beale - he speak with forked tongue. |  | |  |
| (No subject) (n/t) on 14:39 - Nov 25 with 2417 views | R_from_afar |
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| "Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1." |
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 14:40 - Nov 25 with 2407 views | R_from_afar |
I have a set time every week which I allocate to teaching myself a bit of Italian, namely when I am washing up on a Sunday afternoon. I have the textbook propped up on a bookstand next to the sink. I leave it there all the time, so I can have a look at it whenever I'm lurking in the kitchen. The regular repetition really helps.
Good luck, learning a language is one of the best things you can do for the health of your brain, alongside exercising and learning to play a musical instrument. | |
| "Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1." |
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 15:03 - Nov 25 with 2354 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 14:40 - Nov 25 by R_from_afar |
I have a set time every week which I allocate to teaching myself a bit of Italian, namely when I am washing up on a Sunday afternoon. I have the textbook propped up on a bookstand next to the sink. I leave it there all the time, so I can have a look at it whenever I'm lurking in the kitchen. The regular repetition really helps.
Good luck, learning a language is one of the best things you can do for the health of your brain, alongside exercising and learning to play a musical instrument. |
QPR: merda ma locale |  | | |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 15:15 - Nov 25 with 2317 views | Rsole |
A lot of people use foreign language TV and subtitles, Baz.
Netflix search under your language of choice should find something reasonable in a series format.
YouTube also an option for some content but their subtitles can be somewhat random.
I’ve started using Zoom subtitles for certain colleagues from oop north. They aren’t accurate but amuse me more than listening to them drone on about work guff.
In other CC news, Sky reckon Gianni Vaffanculo should be available via a loan in January. |  |
| Those possessed by devils, try and keep them under control a bit, can't you ?
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 15:18 - Nov 25 with 2311 views | Boston |
Double Dutch ...I was a natural right from the start. |  |
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 15:25 - Nov 25 with 2291 views | cheeseydane |
Theres nothing like being in the actual country to learn their lingo. Immersion. Although I've been here in Denmark for 19 years and still have problems with different dialects etc.
Watching tv/films with english subtitles from the country has been recommmended to me several times in the past.
Of course, the older one is, the harder it gets. Also, us brits aren't that good with other languages in general. For many, correct English is a challenge nowadays.
Good luck. |  |
| Technology advances, unfortunately humans do not. |
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 15:30 - Nov 25 with 2273 views | dsw2509 |
Try these activities;
Read a news website in the language
Watch some TV
Go there on holiday
You’ll be surprised at the progress you make jf you allocate time to it and stick at it. | | | |
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 15:30 - Nov 25 with 2270 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 15:15 - Nov 25 by Rsole |
A lot of people use foreign language TV and subtitles, Baz.
Netflix search under your language of choice should find something reasonable in a series format.
YouTube also an option for some content but their subtitles can be somewhat random.
I’ve started using Zoom subtitles for certain colleagues from oop north. They aren’t accurate but amuse me more than listening to them drone on about work guff.
In other CC news, Sky reckon Gianni Vaffanculo should be available via a loan in January. |
I hadn't thought of that (Netflix).
Cheers.
Vafancullo would be apt. | | | |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 15:37 - Nov 25 with 2242 views | derbyhoop |
Absolutely. I've got a reasonable grasp of French but hearing 2 French speakers talking to each other, I pick up 1 word in 10. And that's after living here for 9 years. It's not helped by the number of French, particularly the younger generation, who speak English back at you.
The ideal route is to start learning different language(s) as a child, but I appreciate most of us are well beyond childhood. There isn't an easy answer but regular immersion is the best option, e.g. 30 minutes every day. If you can find somebody whose base language is the one that you want to learn, then do so. A wife or a lover?
Just think back to how you learnt English. You start with words, put a few words together; then move on to sentences. |  |
| "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
Find me on twitter @derbyhoop and now on Bluesky |
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 15:44 - Nov 25 with 2220 views | stowmarketrange |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 14:40 - Nov 25 by R_from_afar |
I have a set time every week which I allocate to teaching myself a bit of Italian, namely when I am washing up on a Sunday afternoon. I have the textbook propped up on a bookstand next to the sink. I leave it there all the time, so I can have a look at it whenever I'm lurking in the kitchen. The regular repetition really helps.
Good luck, learning a language is one of the best things you can do for the health of your brain, alongside exercising and learning to play a musical instrument. |
I lived next door to an Italian family in the 1980’s and I decided to try and learn the language.First it was a linguaphone course,then evening classes,then books about learning the language,and finally the dummies guide to speaking Italian.
I haven’t committed enough time to any of them to be able to actually say much in Italian.I attempted to order 3 beers at a bar in Rome airport coming back from the rugby a few years ago and the barmen didn’t have a clue what I wanted.
How hard can it be to get “trei birra per favoure” wrong?
I might try one of these private tutors next,or move next to an Italian family again.46 anni and counting.Maybe I should stick with trying to learn English first. |  | | |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 16:00 - Nov 25 with 2169 views | QPRJill |
I decided to take up french when we appointed JS and after having watched The Count Of Monte Christo . It certainly is a beatyful language. just a pity that it`s so expensive to go there on holiday... | | | |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 16:26 - Nov 25 with 2119 views | ted_hendrix |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 15:25 - Nov 25 by cheeseydane |
Theres nothing like being in the actual country to learn their lingo. Immersion. Although I've been here in Denmark for 19 years and still have problems with different dialects etc.
Watching tv/films with english subtitles from the country has been recommmended to me several times in the past.
Of course, the older one is, the harder it gets. Also, us brits aren't that good with other languages in general. For many, correct English is a challenge nowadays.
Good luck. |
I was In Germany for two Years (Army) you had voluntary German speaking language lessons but I found the language learning extremely difficult (and I'm not thick).
I tried learning Italian (lovely language) when I retired but I got Impatient with It and gave up ''Forse sono stupido dopotutto''
Arrivederci |  |
| My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic. |
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 16:52 - Nov 25 with 2055 views | VancouverHoop |
I took a couple years of Mandarin at uni some 40 years back. Partly because a second language was a requisite and I didn't want to do another European one. Also I was fascinated by the characters, probably because I was graphic designer. I was surprised to find that learning to speak it was relatively easy (the tones were a bit tricky, but there's only four of them, unlike some dialects which have seven or eight.) Chinese grammar, OTOH is dead simple in comparison to most European languages, which compensated a bit. | | | |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 16:57 - Nov 25 with 2041 views | TwoHalves |
I’d echo some of the advice about reading newspapers published in the language you’re learning. When I was attempting to learn Spanish I bookmarked El Pais, one of the national dailies, and Marca, a sort of tabloidy football paper. You can generally get the gist of things because you’re familiar with most of the stuff they’re reporting anyway.
Doesn’t help so much with the spoken word though. I think you just have to throw yourself in at the deep end by travelling to countries that speak the language you’re interested in and just immerse yourself in it (as someone else put it). Or maybe find a ‘conversational buddy’ over here?
Having said that, we don’t always get it right though. My Spuds mate, who is of Ghanaian heritage (via south London), keen to impress one of the Cape Coast girls on our 2008 trip to the Africa Cup of Nations, delivered what he thought was a warm and friendly greeting in Fante (the local dialect) only for the poor thing to burst into tears and run off. Mortified, he asked her friend what he’d said. “Your face looks like your mother’s arse”, she replied. | | | |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 17:01 - Nov 25 with 2014 views | stowmarketrange |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 16:52 - Nov 25 by VancouverHoop |
I took a couple years of Mandarin at uni some 40 years back. Partly because a second language was a requisite and I didn't want to do another European one. Also I was fascinated by the characters, probably because I was graphic designer. I was surprised to find that learning to speak it was relatively easy (the tones were a bit tricky, but there's only four of them, unlike some dialects which have seven or eight.) Chinese grammar, OTOH is dead simple in comparison to most European languages, which compensated a bit. |
How many different characters are there in Mandarin Chinese?Does a mobile phone have them all available at the touch of a button like our language does? | | | |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 17:09 - Nov 25 with 1992 views | VancouverHoop |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 17:01 - Nov 25 by stowmarketrange |
How many different characters are there in Mandarin Chinese?Does a mobile phone have them all available at the touch of a button like our language does? |
There are something like 42,000 characters total in Chinese. (Mandarin, and other dialects are spoken local dialects but they all share the written one.) IIRC functional literacy requires knowing about 12 – 15,000.
I'm guessing all characters are available on computer, probably by using a combination of shift keys, but I really don't know. It wasn't an issue back in the 70s! [Post edited 25 Nov 17:12]
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 17:12 - Nov 25 with 1986 views | W7Ranger |
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 17:49 - Nov 25 with 1908 views | 1BobbyHazell |
The Paul Noble Audiobooks/CD's are excellent. Really well put together to gradually expand your conversational skills. Can start from pure beginner or more advanced. Got me speaking Italian and Spanish in the last couple of years. Really helps to have someone to practise with.
My son uses an online teacher (more conversation practise really) from South America, very cheap. He's pretty fluent now. |  | | |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 18:09 - Nov 25 with 1864 views | TwoHalves |
Just another daft ‘language’ story while we’re on the subject: I went on a trip to the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, held that year in Tunisia, organised by When Saturday Comes (the ‘half decent football magazine’). The publishers had commissioned a number of red T-shirts, emblazoned with the WSC title in Arabic. Naturally I purchased one and proudly wore it to our opening fixture (a quarter-final tie between Zaire and Nigeria) in Tunis. Midway through the first half I was approached by a peanut seller who, intrigued by the various logos and inscriptions on the T-shirt, asked if he could have a closer look. “What is this?”, he said, pointing to the Arabic calligraphy on my back, “Really, sir, I do not understand. What is this ‘Waiting for the day before Sunday’ meaning?” [Post edited 25 Nov 18:13]
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 19:16 - Nov 25 with 1753 views | hubble |
Noswaith dda!
Since I now live in Wales I thought it behoved me to learn the language. And i have to say, I'm loving it. Now again you hear faint crossovers (or occasionally obvious ones) with our mongrel tongue....
I'm learning it with Duolingo and I'm finding it to be a great, easy, learning tool. My favourite phrases so far: Dwi i'n hoffi coffi - I like coffee - and the wonderfully lugubrious 'wedi blino! - which means 'tired'.
And on that note, Nos da. [Post edited 25 Nov 19:18]
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 19:50 - Nov 25 with 1676 views | Pdog |
Happy to share what actually worked for me. If you’re gonna do it, go all in.
Pimsleur:
Pick your language and just run through the full course, consistently. Ideally 30mins a day. Eg: Portuguese has 5 levels, 30 lessons each, 30 mins per lesson. Over 70 hours total.
It’s all listening + speaking with repetition. Yes it can get boring and repetitive, but the brain absorbs. No grammar books, kids learn through ears and mouth first.
If you stick with it, even after Level 1 you’ll already be forming sentences. It teaches the most common, high-frequency verbs you actually need.
Preply / Italki:
When you’re comfortable, move into conversations with a native. Doesn’t need to be a pro grammar-heavy teacher (boring), almost any native will do here. By that point you’ve already absorbed the basics and you just need real convo reps to build confidence.
Books:
Get easy-reader books for learners (1000/1500-word vocab). They’re perfect because by now you know most of the core words, and it feels unreal being able to read an actual book in your new language.
Films:
Watch movies with subtitles in your target language. It’s basically like reading a book but way easier, and you’ll pick up tons of vocab casually.
Final Step:
Get a girlfriend who speaks the language / or go stay in some random small town where no one speaks English! Forced immersion works every time.. |  | | |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 21:24 - Nov 25 with 1507 views | Boston |
Quick tip - don a pith helmet, turn up on an elephant and shout at everybody. They get the message. | |
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| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 21:30 - Nov 25 with 1485 views | derbyhoop |
| If You Can't Talk Proppa - Learning New Languages on 16:00 - Nov 25 by QPRJill |
I decided to take up french when we appointed JS and after having watched The Count Of Monte Christo . It certainly is a beatyful language. just a pity that it`s so expensive to go there on holiday... |
Why do you think it's expensive? Paris, yes. But other cities less so..
ATM Ryanair run flights from Stansted and Manchester to Limoges from 167€ return. You should be able to get accommodation for < 60€ per night. | |
| "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
Find me on twitter @derbyhoop and now on Bluesky |
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