General Discussions => General discussions => Topic started by: Princess of Hearts on October 30, 2011, 09:41:28 PM Return to Full Version
Title: Foreign Languages
Post by: Princess of Hearts on October 30, 2011, 09:41:28 PM
Post by: Princess of Hearts on October 30, 2011, 09:41:28 PM
I am learning French, Spanish and German using the Visual Input, total immersion techniques. I watch French in Action, Destinos for Spanish, and Fokus Deutsch for German. I am using Assimil/Pimsleur/MichelThomas for Italian.
Title: Re: Foreign Languages
Post by: amanda barber on October 30, 2011, 11:41:44 PM
Post by: amanda barber on October 30, 2011, 11:41:44 PM
I can read German but fail miserably at speaking it.
Luckily NO ONE wants to hear German with a heavy downeast New England accent.
not too bad at Canadian french (french words, english grammar spoken at extremely high speed) ;D
Luckily NO ONE wants to hear German with a heavy downeast New England accent.
not too bad at Canadian french (french words, english grammar spoken at extremely high speed) ;D
Title: Re: Foreign Languages
Post by: cadeliara@yahoo.com on October 30, 2011, 11:48:19 PM
Post by: cadeliara@yahoo.com on October 30, 2011, 11:48:19 PM
Quote from: amanda barber on October 30, 2011, 11:41:44 PM
I can read German but fail miserably at speaking it.
Luckily NO ONE wants to hear German with a heavy downeast New England accent.
not too bad at Canadian french (french words, english grammar spoken at extremely high speed) ;D
I DO!!!!
LOL.
Having spent half my life in Europe (including most of grade and some of highschool there) learning two foreign languages was mandatory, so aside from English I am also fluent in Hungarian, conversational German, some Spanish and some Japanese.
I usually pick up languages fairly quickly.
Title: Re: Foreign Languages
Post by: ~RoadToTrista~ on October 30, 2011, 11:55:40 PM
Post by: ~RoadToTrista~ on October 30, 2011, 11:55:40 PM
Well I've grown around Thai speakers but I can't speak it for some reason. I can tell you the one word that's associated with virtually everything that has to do with water. NOM! >.< And yes, to you girls out there seeking surgery from Supporn or Chettawut, you will need it to ask where the bathroom is.
Title: Re: Foreign Languages
Post by: Dinky_Di on October 31, 2011, 02:53:18 AM
Post by: Dinky_Di on October 31, 2011, 02:53:18 AM
Lol.... I think you mean naam. Bathroom is hoong naam.
Title: Re: Foreign Languages
Post by: justmeinoz on October 31, 2011, 05:02:52 AM
Post by: justmeinoz on October 31, 2011, 05:02:52 AM
I have had a couple of semesters of Mandarin, but have lost almost all of it due to lack of opportunity to use it where I lived previously.
This year though I have enrolled in a short night-school course in basic French, and will be starting a Diploma of Language in French next year at Uni. It is basically one Major out of the BA. I am enjoying going back to study, and can't wait to get my teeth into it properly over the next three years.
Karen.
This year though I have enrolled in a short night-school course in basic French, and will be starting a Diploma of Language in French next year at Uni. It is basically one Major out of the BA. I am enjoying going back to study, and can't wait to get my teeth into it properly over the next three years.
Karen.
Title: Re: Foreign Languages
Post by: Dinky_Di on October 31, 2011, 05:49:08 AM
Post by: Dinky_Di on October 31, 2011, 05:49:08 AM
Quote from: justmeinoz on October 31, 2011, 05:02:52 AM
I have had a couple of semesters of Mandarin, but have lost almost all of it due to lack of opportunity to use it where I lived previously.
This year though I have enrolled in a short night-school course in basic French, and will be starting a Diploma of Language in French next year at Uni. It is basically one Major out of the BA. I am enjoying going back to study, and can't wait to get my teeth into it properly over the next three years.
Karen.
I have been learning Thai for just over 12 months and really enjoy it. If I could do it as a course through uni in Sydney I would enrol but unfortunately it is only done through ANU in Canberra to my knowledge.
Title: Re: Foreign Languages
Post by: justmeinoz on October 31, 2011, 05:55:05 AM
Post by: justmeinoz on October 31, 2011, 05:55:05 AM
Can you do it Distance Ed, via Skype?
Title: Re: Foreign Languages
Post by: mimpi on October 31, 2011, 06:06:19 AM
Post by: mimpi on October 31, 2011, 06:06:19 AM
Apart from English I can speak very good Italian having worked in Italy for over 20 years, never studied it so more writing isn't great formal letters wise. Also have a little French and understand both spoken and written well. Can't understand much Spanish and Portuguese although I can read about 90% and get along there with speaking Italian with a few words thrown in.
Tried to learn Indonesian for about a year but gave up, it may be the national language but at home very few speak it (was once married to an Indonesian). Was also married to an Arabic speaker but we always communicated in Italian and I never learnt it although I can recite the necessary religious stuff from memory. Arabs are only 18% of Muslims world wide and the vast majority of Muslims cannot read Arabic.
Have to say I enjoy speaking in Italian and my personality changes for the better when speaking it. My accent is heavily regional and try as I might I end up saying "Hoca-Hola" for Coca-Cola etc which makes people laugh.
Tried to learn Indonesian for about a year but gave up, it may be the national language but at home very few speak it (was once married to an Indonesian). Was also married to an Arabic speaker but we always communicated in Italian and I never learnt it although I can recite the necessary religious stuff from memory. Arabs are only 18% of Muslims world wide and the vast majority of Muslims cannot read Arabic.
Have to say I enjoy speaking in Italian and my personality changes for the better when speaking it. My accent is heavily regional and try as I might I end up saying "Hoca-Hola" for Coca-Cola etc which makes people laugh.
Title: Re: Foreign Languages
Post by: mimpi on October 31, 2011, 06:10:01 AM
Post by: mimpi on October 31, 2011, 06:10:01 AM
Btw, not sure if this is still the case but afaik there are free Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) classes at Indonesian Consulates in most countries. Some kind of government initiative that is possibly still running.
Title: Re: Foreign Languages
Post by: ~RoadToTrista~ on October 31, 2011, 05:11:08 PM
Post by: ~RoadToTrista~ on October 31, 2011, 05:11:08 PM
Quote from: Dinky_Di on October 31, 2011, 02:53:18 AMI was mostly worrying about phonetics. ::)
Lol.... I think you mean naam. Bathroom is hoong naam.
Title: Re: Foreign Languages
Post by: Dinky_Di on October 31, 2011, 08:51:24 PM
Post by: Dinky_Di on October 31, 2011, 08:51:24 PM
Quote from: ~RoadToTrista~ on October 31, 2011, 05:11:08 PMI understand, a majority of Thai words are near impossible to put into English phonetics as they loose there correct pronounciation.
I was mostly worrying about phonetics. ::)