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More German? Italian or Spanish? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5169 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes  Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 1 of 5 06 June 2014 at 10:39pm | IP Logged |
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I've been working on German from January. I restarted it from an early A2 level and I'm becoming more and more confident, especially with reading. I'm currently working on the podcast Marktplatz by Deutsche Welle, which is aimed at the B2 level, and I'm also watching the TV series extr@ with subtitles. I'm far from being able to follow anything in German without subtitles, but maybe I can already read a book extensively and follow the plot. Even so, I need to gain much more fluidity in writing and conversation. So, as much as I am sick of textbooks, I was wondering if it's the time to drop them and focus on native materials now.
I've noticed that my Norwegian is still a bit weaker at more complex grammar, hence my second thoughts. ==================================== Now comes the next question: if I decide to remove German from my textbook schedule, that will open a 'slot' for another language I'd like to work on from an A2/B1 level. Should it be Italian or Spanish? I can read both effortlessly, but my speaking skills are far behind my French ones. I've studied French properly and further. - Italian has the advantage of much less pressure. The culture seems more interesting as it's less familiar than, say, the hispano-American culture. - I also don't feel the pressure to learn Italian at a 'decent' level the way I'd do with Spanish. - On the other hand, Spanish has more native literature I'd become interested in straight away (I don't think I'll need to work on translations first for either of them, though). - I also need to work heavily on my understanding of the main dialects of spoken Spanish. - It's about time I reach a decent level of Spanish, given the importance it has. I took basic Spanish classes in 2000! It's important to be able to say I 'speak' Spanish instead of 'I have some notions and I can get by with portuñol'. Actually knowing Spanish and being able to list it on a resumée, for example, is something still invaluable. I'd like to hear other's experiences on this. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5265 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 2 of 5 06 June 2014 at 11:47pm | IP Logged |
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Knowing Spanish would make you a more complete citizen of the Americas in a way that Italian wouldn't. You already know English, French and Papiamento. Add in Spanish and you have most of the Americas covered. Yes, you can get by in Spanish, but learning Portuguese opened my world in a way I couldn't have imagined or accessed by just muddling through with my Spanish. I think the Spanish-speaking world would open up for you in the same way if you learned to speak it properly.
I tried reading Pablo Neruda in Portuguese. I tried reading Gabo in Portuguese too. There's something not quite right about it. There's a lot of the soul that just doesn't come across in translation despite the similarity of the languages. We've both flown on COPA recently. When I flew with them to Brazil a couple of years ago, the Brazilians were all managing to communicate in portunhol with the Panamanian stewardesses and getting what they needed. When I spoke to the stewardess in Spanish, I got great service throughout the flight! She really took care of me well. My Brazilian seatmates even started asking me to get them things. That was really my only decent experience with COPA. It took my mind off the strange noises emanating from the plane during the whole flight somewhat- not to mention imagining plunging into the Amazon rainforest somewhere north of Manaus in the middle of night! You'll get major credit from Spanish-speakers for not speaking portunhol and you'll be getting that extra 15-20% you've been missing out on- going from the major gist to the nuance. I think if you invested some effort into learning Spanish, Expugnator, it would give you the most reward for the least effort. That being said, Italian is a beautiful and wonderful language in its own right. I don't think you can go wrong with either of them. I just believe that Spanish offers you more on your own doorstep. :) Edited by iguanamon on 07 June 2014 at 4:56pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6600 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 3 of 5 06 June 2014 at 11:57pm | IP Logged |
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At the level you describe, I found GLOSS immensely useful for Spanish. Give it a try maybe?
Also, the good thing about Spanish and Italian is that you can take a break from either of them without doing much/any damage. You could even alternate between them every month or whatever. De fact you've already started both anyway. You seem determined to use textbooks, but have you looked at what's available and whether it'll be useful for you? I still think you're underestimating deliberate practice, really. You still have a lot to learn from reading and listening. Edited by Serpent on 06 June 2014 at 11:58pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5169 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 4 of 5 09 June 2014 at 10:05pm | IP Logged |
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Thank you guys! As a matter of fact, I do think Italian adds up much less pressure. I don't have any requirement to speak correct, professional Italian, while with Spanish it would only be the start of a long, self-demanding journey. So, it's actually Italian that gives me the most reward for the last effort.
I think I should just work on a good grammar book with exercises for German, so that I can activate my knowledge a bit more. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4892 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 5 of 5 10 June 2014 at 3:21am | IP Logged |
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buona scelta!
I actually had a similar choice with Italian and Spanish. Next time I approach Spanish it will also be part of a long journey, whereas I felt that I could do Italian for fun for a year or so and not worry about needing to reach a higher level. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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