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Unusual places to learn languages | ||
Tags: Place to learn | Self-Study | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 5951 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 9 of 30 05 November 2010 at 2:44am | IP Logged | ||
I don't know if you were completely serious when you wrote those situations, but I have actually done one! Well, it wasn't Assimil, but I was still shadowing dialogues in Swahili and Dutch this summer in the Serengeti! At our house in Greece two summers ago we had a fairly poor Internet connection so I ended up going all over the place trying to find a better reception. One of the unusual spots was outside on a path by the garden, with the laptop propped up against the side of the house. Uncomfortable, but at least I didn't have to wait for half an hour between loading pages. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5016 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 10 of 30 05 November 2010 at 11:15am | IP Logged | ||
Haha, I've experienced that as well, at Frankie and Benny's (a chain "New York Italian" restaurant). They had tapes playing in the bathrooms with lists of Italian words being read out. When I was in Italy, a documentary about fishing was being shown in an open-air cinema in the town square (Piazza Maggiore in Bologna) which had people being interviewed in various languages (including English, French, and Norwegian if I remember correctly) with Italian subtitles, which was a great opportunity to listen to and read different languages. Unfortunately the content got quite boring quite quickly. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5365 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 11 of 30 05 November 2010 at 11:46am | IP Logged | ||
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@paranday, Élan
Studying in the bath is really relaxing, especially when you set yourself up with a nice cold drink and a bowl of nibbles! I even managed to listen-read all the way through "Der Vorleser" and "El Principito" and watch most of the series of "Stromberg" in the tub too (now that I recall). Both my parents are Pisces and I absolutely love water, what else can can I say?! Just one word of warning though...be careful not to drop your language resources (or nibbles) in the bubbles. ;) @meramarina, garyb Snap! That's happened to me...I think it was in Frankie & Benny's too. I agree it was a little weird to find myself learning how to order stamps whilst conducting my ablutions; it's even stranger when there's more than one person listening and repeating in the john (khazi chorusing!). I also like it when restaurants include interesting vocabulary or culture tidbits in the menu or even dotted around the room (although sometimes I become so engrossed in these little extras that I tend to forget to order from the menu first). @ellasevia Both you and Medialis did come to mind whilst writing the line about the Serengeti and Tibet (I believe it was actually Nepal now)...dedication to language learning on this forum is second to none when it comes to you guys! :) Edited by Teango on 05 November 2010 at 1:01pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Old Chemist Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4982 days ago 227 posts - 285 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 12 of 30 05 November 2010 at 12:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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I notice no-one has mentioned walking about reading a foreign language book while going from place to place. I have done this a fair amount and rely on my peripheral vision to avoid bumping into people. Probably it would be dangerous to do in NYC, but I've never had any trouble in our relatively small town, although undoutedly American readers would call it a city. The idea is not new, as priests used to read religious tracts while walking around and came to no harm. It might explain why Cardinal Mezzofanti was such a linguist.
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| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5365 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 13 of 30 05 November 2010 at 12:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm imagining something now between Professor Arguelles' shadowing clip and the Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" music video (but with Richard Ashcroft replaced by Cardinal Mezzofanti). Simply wonderful! Edited by Teango on 05 November 2010 at 12:24pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Old Chemist Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4982 days ago 227 posts - 285 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 14 of 30 05 November 2010 at 12:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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LOL! No, I think more like "Mr Bean learns languages," I have a reputation I play up to for being eccentric and occasionally outrageous, although as I'm getting older I'm finding I have to tone both down. I wish I could even begin to approach Prof. Arguelles, even being capable of half what he can do would make me very happy! Perhaps I am alone in reading as I take walks - I just find where I live very boring as I have been here on and off for quite a few years.
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| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 5951 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 15 of 30 05 November 2010 at 7:20pm | IP Logged | ||
I didn't mention it because I thought that this would be considered quite normal for most people on this forum. :) Edited by ellasevia on 05 November 2010 at 7:31pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5820 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 16 of 30 05 November 2010 at 9:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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Talking of walking into people, I was one so engrossed in an audio lesson on my MP3 player that I literally couldn't see where I was going until I nearly walked into the back of someone.
I've Pimsleured in the bath, and I've MTed on the bus. I've had my Assimil Le Catalan out in the small hours of the morning in a hotel on a business trip to England in order to make best use of a bout of insomnia, as well as while in a French summer school in Normandy. I did most of MT German Foundation on a day when I was tired, bored and frustrated with both Spanish and Basque while living in San Sebastian. I went for a walk round the promenade and through the town then went back to the flat and half-slept on the couch while continuing to work through it, pausing the recording when required. The oddest situation would have to be walking into a bookshop and browsing language resources with a Pimsleur course in a completely different language running in my ears. Sometimes I get a little too obsessed.... Edited by Cainntear on 05 November 2010 at 9:19pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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