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Unusual places to learn languages

 Language Learning Forum : General discussion Post Reply
30 messages over 4 pages: 1 24  Next >>
ellasevia
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2011
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 5902 days ago

2150 posts - 3229 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian
Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian

 
 Message 17 of 30
05 November 2010 at 10:18pm | IP Logged 
I've shadowed Georgian dialogues in the waiting room at a doctor's office while other people were there. I wonder what they thought it was!

I don't know if this would be considered unusual (for this forum), but I nearly always listen to a language lesson of some sort while riding my bike. People must be very confused as I go by muttering random bits of languages to myself...
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B-Tina
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Germany
dragonsallaroun
Joined 5287 days ago

123 posts - 218 votes 
Speaks: German*, English, French, Polish

 
 Message 18 of 30
05 November 2010 at 11:12pm | IP Logged 
When I did a backpacking tour in Japan I happened to have my Assimil Polish-book with me. Caused my fellow travellers to take a picture of me learning polish sitting amongst japanese people.

Last year I used to pimsleur (I guess the word by now classifies as a verb) on that old stationary bicycle I got from my parents, but ever since its plug broke down both my knowledge of french pronunciation as well as my stamina are worsening ;-)

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leosmith
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6310 days ago

2365 posts - 3804 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Tagalog

 
 Message 19 of 30
06 November 2010 at 12:19am | IP Logged 
I listen to podcasts all over the place, so this doesn't really impress me. I read foreign books while waiting for the
microwave at work, which is marginally more interesting. Having loud skype sessions at internet cafes and kinkos
takes more nerve. But I suppose number one was a bus ride from hell in Thailand. I stood and studied, reading
books and flipping flashcards, for 3 hours in a beat up bus with no air that was jammed packed. Finally someone
had mercy on me and put a stool in the middle of the floor, where I studied for the remaining 3 hrs. People were
really interested at first (I was studying Thai, Japanese and Mandarin), but got bored after an hour or so. It was hot
and uncomfortable, but the time flew by, and I was in a really good mood when my Thai girlfriend and I finally got
to our destination.
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Teango
Triglot
Winner TAC 2010 & 2012
Senior Member
United States
teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5316 days ago

2210 posts - 3734 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Russian
Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona

 
 Message 20 of 30
06 November 2010 at 2:56pm | IP Logged 
@leosmith
Your remarkable bus trip in Thailand rings a bell for me. You see, I did all my studying for Japanese vocab tests on the early morning express train from Shimotakaido to Setagaya, armed with a curry pan and ice koohi latte in one hand (to simply keep me awake from all the late night partying and deal with the immense heat), and a copy of Minna No Nihongo in the other (to try and save embarrassment in class for being such a terrible student). If you've ever been shoved into a train each morning by overzealous station guards in white gloves, all squished together to capacity like a can of steaming baked beans, then you'll picture the absurdity of my last-minute study regime (lol).

Edited by Teango on 06 November 2010 at 3:14pm

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marmite
Triglot
Newbie
Portugal
Joined 4973 days ago

35 posts - 57 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, English, French

 
 Message 21 of 30
05 December 2010 at 7:59pm | IP Logged 
N00b question: what does MT mean? I Googled but the only thing I found was "machine translation".

Well, when I was a kid we were given out lists of irregular past forms in English, and I remember distinctly sitting in my dad's car and pulling it out. I've also studied on the beach and in a 300 year old cluster. I don't think any of these situations is that unusual compared to some here, though.
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ellasevia
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2011
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 5902 days ago

2150 posts - 3229 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian
Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian

 
 Message 22 of 30
05 December 2010 at 8:16pm | IP Logged 
MT = Michel Thomas (an audio-based language program)
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marmite
Triglot
Newbie
Portugal
Joined 4973 days ago

35 posts - 57 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, English, French

 
 Message 23 of 30
05 December 2010 at 9:28pm | IP Logged 
Oooh, thank you! :D
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M. Medialis
Diglot
TAC 2010 Winner
Senior Member
Sweden
Joined 6117 days ago

397 posts - 508 votes 
Speaks: Swedish*, English
Studies: Russian, Japanese, French

 
 Message 24 of 30
06 December 2010 at 11:05am | IP Logged 
meramarina wrote:
But by far the strangest place I have ever listened to language learning recordings, and not by choice, is in the restroom of a local restaurant. It was an Italian restaurant, and I guess to create authentic Italian ambiance or just annoy patrons, there were always Italian lessons playing in the bathroom.

Because, you know, if there's any one place in the world you REALLY need to practice Italian, it's a public bathroom.


This is hilarious! :D   Wouldn't it be nice if all stores changed the radio pop and muzak to language learning tapes instead.


I can admit that I every now and then sneak into the bath rooms at my university, doing some shadowing in front of the mirror. That dead time between the lectures is a great opportunity to squeeze in language learning. And seeing myself speak another language reinforces the belief that I will actually get fluent one day! Of course I try to change my posture and my way of speaking so that I also look like my Japanese/Russian self. ;)

(Does anyone else do this?)

Edited by M. Medialis on 06 December 2010 at 11:05am



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