Language Learning Thread

[CatrionaGrace]

Spanish is the second language in my family, ranging from native speakers to those who can get along if no one gets too fast or too fancy with vocabulary. I can speak Spanish, but I have the hardest damn time following spoken conversation. My niece and daughter understand Spanish but can't speak it. We noticed the same thing happening with my four year old granddaughter. Her father (native speaker) speaks to her in Spanish and she answers in English. They hired an au pair from Mexico City whose job includes talking to mi nieta in only in Spanish and insisting she answer in Spanish. Seems to be working. Plan is to put GD in an immersion course for a third language when she starts school.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

South African, here.

Native English speaker, and speak Afrikaans (derivative of Dutch) as a second language.

The Dutch, as with the British, colonised South Africa. Over the past couple hundred years the Dutch language evolved to what is Afrikaans today.

Does anyone still speak the islZulu or Sesotho languages in South Africa? I know there aren't as many Zulu people around as there were when the British arrived, but I'm sure there are still a few. Just curious!

 

[Rad Scribbler]

Does anyone still speak the islZulu or Sesotho languages in South Africa? I know there aren't as many Zulu people around as there were when the British arrived, but I'm sure there are still a few. Just curious!

Yep, Zulu & Sesotho languages are alive and well.

In fact there are 12 official languages in SA - in no particular order;

• English
• Afrikaans
• Zulu
• isiXhosa
• Sepedi
• Tswana
• Southern Sotho
• Tsonga
• Swazi
• Venda
• Southern Ndebele
• SA Sign Language

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Wow. I never realised there were so many! I wonder what Cetshwayo kaMpande (or the people who fought at Isandlwana) would have made of it all.

 

[grizato]

Hello everyone,

I thought I might start a Language Learning thread as we are all writers and learning new languages add layers to our writing. This thread is for resources/tips (in English only) as this forum is in English. Anyway, I am trying to learn French and I have a (very outdated) textbook, Pimsleur's Language Program, and am taking a (not so great) casual French Course. Are there any other resources you might recommend? I know from learning other languages, I struggle the most with vocabulary. I have gotten Anki Decks on my computer and I am going to try and add more words to it soon.

Any tips or resources you might recommend for French?

Also, if you're posting on here, just put:

Target Language:

at the top of your post so we can keep things organized.

Thanks!

Hello,

Thanks all. I enjoyed reading this thread

I speak French and Spanish, but was mostly put off French. I do however, still find it pleasant. I've tried too many language learning methods.

Independent of Language, I recommend Anki and learnwithtext (software where you make your own dictionary as you read). I also recommend not being tempted by the Anki shared decks (like I was) and just write your own. Being forced to slow down deck creation forces you to learn stuff you care about, and then you'll remember it properly. I tried to rush the arabic alphabet (on Duolingo) without this stage and it didn't end well.

Spanish: I am currently enjoying an El Cid bilingual text in modern and old Spanish. I find it good fun to puzzle over - I'm a sucker for an old fashioned knights and castles story too.

French: Le petit prince audiobook is pleasant - the YouTube reading I found is a bit teachy, but still listenable, and accurate. I have some old textbooks I am quite fond of, but found I prefer the simpler ones, with only one column per page, and not loads of distracting colour pictures.