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Tristano’s log 2015 [EN|FR|NL|RU|ES]

 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log Post Reply
177 messages over 23 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 22 23 Next >>
Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6393 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 169 of 177
07 July 2015 at 8:56pm | IP Logged 
I find the Scandinavian spelling messy, especially the vowels.
1 person has voted this message useful



Sarnek
Diglot
Senior Member
Italy
Joined 4011 days ago

308 posts - 414 votes 
Speaks: Italian*, English
Studies: German, Swedish

 
 Message 170 of 177
07 July 2015 at 10:01pm | IP Logged 
I don't think it's fair to talk about a Scandinavian spelling as a unit, each language has its peculiarities after all.

I can talk for Swedish only, but I find the vowels to be very regular.
Remember that there are short (marked by two following consonants) and long vowels (only one following consonant/no consonant), and that the quality of a vowel changes with its quantity and you'll be fine.
So for example: a is [ɑ:] when long and [a] when short, å is [o:] when long and [ɔ] when short, o is [u:] when long and [ʊ] when short (there are a few exceptions when it becomes [ɔ]), and so on...
Vowels can change when a word is declined, but unlike Danish, Swedish signals it. For example: "gå" is [go:] but its perfect "gått" is [gɔtʰ:].
Of course there are exceptions, but then again, every language that uses the latin script has exceptions.

The one problem I can see is that sometimes you might not remember whether you should write "e" or "ä", as they are both pronounced [ɛ] when short, but you will always know how to pronounce them when you
read them in words.
Oh and also the fact that the tones aren't marked...

Edited by Sarnek on 07 July 2015 at 10:04pm

1 person has voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6393 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 171 of 177
07 July 2015 at 10:10pm | IP Logged 
For me each of them is a mess in their own way. Although Swedish is maybe the least messy :)
1 person has voted this message useful



tristano
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Netherlands
Joined 3843 days ago

905 posts - 1262 votes 
Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, French, English
Studies: Dutch

 
 Message 172 of 177
10 July 2015 at 7:39am | IP Logged 
PeterMollenburg wrote:
Could you try a reward system?

I'm not sure how you normally measure your language learning sessions (by the hours, minutes, chapters,
films?) but perhaps you could say I'll study 30minutes (or an hour/chapter/whatever) of Dutch every 2nd
hour/half hour/chapter of another language...

eg
1) 30minutes Dutch
2) reward = 30 minutes of another language
3) 2nd 30 minutes of Dutch
4) reward = 30 minutes of another language

You could mess around with the design such as more reward time? (30min Dutch, 1hr another language), or
even have your reward as something else you enjoy or aim to get done each day (eg watching a movie,
exercising and so on)

PM


Oh yes I can do :) :) :)

Ik talar geen svenska :badass:
Jag spreek inte nederlands :troll:

Edited by tristano on 10 July 2015 at 11:55am

1 person has voted this message useful



kujichagulia
Senior Member
Japan
Joined 4643 days ago

1031 posts - 1571 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Japanese, Portuguese

 
 Message 173 of 177
10 July 2015 at 10:43am | IP Logged 
tristano wrote:
@Kujichagulia: thanks to pass by my thread :)
I know that we have something in common: we're struggling with the language of the place where we live. For you is Japanese, for me is Dutch. The slow progresses I have with this language (that joins the fact that I find it pretty overwhelming, both to read and to listen) make me insecure of my language learning capabilities. At the same moment, since it's the most
important language now to me to learn and I already struggle to find the motivations, studying something else makes me feel guilty because I'm not using the time to study Dutch. And I have a huge list of languages that I would like to learn :) Did Portuguese helped you to be more motivated with Japanese? How did you find your motivations back?

Well, I started studying Portuguese (originally Esperanto for a few months) because I had become discouraged with my Japanese. I felt like I wasn't learning any Japanese, and I wanted to see if I still had the ability to learn a language, and of course I did. I was a complete beginner in Portuguese, but the progress I made gave me hope that I could continue to learn Japanese. Strange reason to start a language, I know.

It can be hard to get motivation back; the first time I stopped learning Japanese, around 10 years ago, I didn't really start back for several years. I think it is easier when you are in the country where your target language is spoken, though. Although I get frustrated at times that I don't understand Japanese enough to deal with any situation in Japan, after not doing much for a few days or even weeks, I'll hear a few conversations, see something on TV, etc., and think, Yeah, I can actually do this. Let me get back to work. I'm not sure what I would do if I ever lost motivation for Portuguese, though. :)

I think with me and Japanese, and you and Dutch... since we are around Japanese/Dutch people and media, we probably compare ourselves to native speakers all the time, when we should probably compare ourselves to ourselves a year ago or a month ago. Comparing ourselves to natives probably saps us of motivation because it shows how far we have to go. We should measure our progress based on how much we've improved since last week/month/year.

Edited by kujichagulia on 10 July 2015 at 10:46am

4 persons have voted this message useful



tristano
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Netherlands
Joined 3843 days ago

905 posts - 1262 votes 
Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, French, English
Studies: Dutch

 
 Message 174 of 177
13 July 2015 at 12:18pm | IP Logged 
Quote:
I think with me and Japanese, and you and Dutch... since we are around
Japanese/Dutch people and media, we probably compare ourselves to native speakers all
the time, when we should probably compare ourselves to ourselves a year ago or a month
ago. Comparing ourselves to natives probably saps us of motivation because it shows
how far we have to go. We should
measure our progress based on how much we've improved since last week/month/year.


I find this pretty accurate.
It didn't happen this with English and French because I was not comparing with natives
and with Spanish just because it is pretty easy (Italian/Spanish similarities). I
consider Dutch as just slightly more difficult than English but I now try to imagine
what if the conditions were the same... English is everywhere, it's impossible to go
to the country without knowing a
single word. Since it's so widespread I could studying it effortless watching tv
series and subtitles and even though I needed years to reach my current level. Years
of reading, listening and speaking. What if it was the same with Dutch? With English I
was once where I am now with Dutch.
EDIT: to be fair, my understanding of spoken British English is just slightly superior
to my understanding of Dutch.

Edited by tristano on 13 July 2015 at 2:27pm

1 person has voted this message useful



tristano
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Netherlands
Joined 3843 days ago

905 posts - 1262 votes 
Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, French, English
Studies: Dutch

 
 Message 175 of 177
14 July 2015 at 12:12pm | IP Logged 
I rediscovered Duolingo.
The Dutch course I find it pretty massive and a fantastic way to learn useful vocabulary
and bits of grammar. Thanks to the elimination of three hearts it is not anymore
frustrating. I'm brushing up things that I learned time ago and moving forward. I'm
having also less problem with the English constructions so I must have learned something
the last year :)

(There is pain in the arse with the Dutch passive voice, or to better say: there has been
good designing in the Dutch passive voice whether the same can't be said in regards of
the English counterpart)

Edited by tristano on 14 July 2015 at 2:03pm

1 person has voted this message useful



tristano
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Netherlands
Joined 3843 days ago

905 posts - 1262 votes 
Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, French, English
Studies: Dutch

 
 Message 176 of 177
17 July 2015 at 9:33am | IP Logged 
When I said that my English is improving I was lying.
My grammar skills suck hard times.


1 person has voted this message useful



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