OT - Any other foreign language learners?

[Leebo]

I've been studying Japanese, sometimes through classes, sometimes on my own, sometimes by Skype, for about 2 years now.

If you're studying a language, let's commiserate.

 

[KyleUC]

I've been studying Japanese, sometimes through classes, sometimes on my own, sometimes by Skype, for about 2 years now.

If you're studying a language, let's commiserate.

Been studying Japanese for about 2 months now personally.
頑張って

 

[8893]

I used Michel Thomas CDs to learn Italian before we went to Italy a few summers ago and thought it worked really well for my purposes. I wasn't trying to become fluent, just good enough to make reservations, order food, grab a taxi, ask directions, etc. The only problem I experienced was a few instances in which the person on the other end of the conversation thought I was fluent and responded with a flurry of words that went right by me.

I would love to become fluent at some point, but I don't have/won't make the time. When I go back to Italy I will use the Thomas CDs again though. I think his method is very good if you want to develop "tourist level" knowledge quickly. And I definitely noticed a big difference in how people treated me when I at least attempted to speak their language.

 

[Stainmaster]

Took 6 years of French in HS, currently enrolled in Elementary Hebrew. It really helps a lot having friends who moved to Israel whom I can practice with. Definitely do whatever you can to set yourself up with a conversational partner - my aunt's been learning Spanish for several years, and she joined a group where native Spanish speakers and students of the language meet weekly and just talk.

 

[Kitaman]

I tried Spanish with Rosetta Stone a few times but never been able to finish.

Any success stories using software?

 

[Leebo]

Took 6 years of French in HS, currently enrolled in Elementary Hebrew. It really helps a lot having friends who moved to Israel whom I can practice with. Definitely do whatever you can to set yourself up with a conversational partner - my aunt's been learning Spanish for several years, and she joined a group where native Spanish speakers and students of the language meet weekly and just talk.

Yeah, I have 3 native Japanese skype partners. It's very easy to find people, though you have to weed out flaky people at first. There is a retired Japanese man I've spoken to every Tuesday evening for about 18 months now.

It definitely helps for staying fresh even when you don't have time to study.

 

[UConNick]

Through middle school and high school I took Spanish. When I got to high school, I even took 4 years of Latin simultaneously. Spanish was fun, and I was good at it (proficient, passed AP exam in high school). One of my biggest regrets was not continuing my freshman year at UConn. Is like to say I'm still conversational, but it's been 3 years now.

 

[8893]

I even took 4 years of Latin simultaneously.

That was my only high school language.

Semper ubi sub ubi.

 

[UCbcm]

Took 6 years of French in HS

how many years were you in high school?

 

[Stainmaster]

how many years were you in high school?

Dammit. Middle school AND HS. My bad, it's been a long week...

 

[UconnFanNVa]

I'm not studying per se but my wife speaks french mostly to our child at home which in turn allows me to start understanding french better. Also watching kiddie TV shows in french, often with english subtitles (youtube is good for this with nursery rhymes) helps alot too. Not too complicated so I learn alot that way too.

 

[Leebo]

I'm not sure if such a thing exists for other languages, but the Japanese government administers an official proficiency test internationally. There are 5 levels, with 1 being the hardest and 5 being the easiest (for whatever reason). I passed level 4 last year, and I'm studying to take level 3 this year. I enjoy having a benchmark to aim for.

 

[UConNick]

That was my only high school language.

Semper ubi sub ubi.

Always where under where?


Oh. I get it.

 

[Husky25]

I used Michel Thomas CDs to learn Italian before we went to Italy a few summers ago and thought it worked really well for my purposes. I wasn't trying to become fluent, just good enough to make reservations, order food, grab a taxi, ask directions, etc. The only problem I experienced was a few instances in which the person on the other end of the conversation thought I was fluent and responded with a flurry of words that went right by me.

I would love to become fluent at some point, but I don't have/won't make the time. When I go back to Italy I will use the Thomas CDs again though. I think his method is very good if you want to develop "tourist level" knowledge quickly. And I definitely noticed a big difference in how people treated me when I at least attempted to speak their language.

Took 3 levels of Spanish in Middle/High School, I took one semester of Italian in college, and listened to some tapes on my way to/from work in the months leading up to my wedding. I was able to get around Rome and the tourist towns on the Amalfi Coast pretty well with my broken Italian, broken Spanish, and English. Anecdotal as it may be, pretty much the only Europeans who don't appreciate the effort (to speak in their native language) are the French.

Quick little story: We got back to our hotel in Positano one evening and I asked for my key in (what I thought was) dialecto perfecto. The man at the front desk responded in English, "Impressive. How long did you work on that?" It seems like everyone in the world speaks at least two languages except for Americans.

 

[August_West]

Took 6 years of French in HS, currently enrolled in Elementary Hebrew. It really helps a lot having friends who moved to Israel whom I can practice with. Definitely do whatever you can to set yourself up with a conversational partner - my aunt's been learning Spanish for several years, and she joined a group where native Spanish speakers and students of the language meet weekly and just talk.

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[Leebo]

It seems like everyone in the world speaks at least two languages except for Americans.

Interestingly, the Japanese are much weaker in speaking English than I think people would expect. They are taught English as one of their core subjects through all of school, but they hardly ever practice speaking (and almost never practice listening). As a result, they know a lot of vocabulary and often have beautiful handwriting, but are terrified to actually talk.

 

[James]

That was my only high school language.

Semper ubi sub ubi.

caecilius est in horto

 

[UConNick]

caecilius est in horto

Quintus est in atrium

 

[James]

*double spoiler* he dies in the eruption at Pompeii

lets hope no high schoolers currently enrolled in latin are reading this. I would guess they still use cambridge latin course

 

[bobbygt]

Interestingly, the Japanese are much weaker in speaking English than I think people would expect. They are taught English as one of their core subjects through all of school, but they hardly ever practice speaking (and almost never practice listening). As a result, they know a lot of vocabulary and often have beautiful handwriting, but are terrified to actually talk.

Good point. I studied Japanese, lived in Japan for two years and worked for a Japanese company for six years.

It's getting a little rusty now since most of my Japanese friends are in different phases of their lives. Plus, I no longer have a Japanese girlfriend!

I also lived in Korea and can speak Korean, though my Japanese is far better.

Can't speak a lick of Spanish even though I studied it for 5 years through high school. It would come in handy now living in CA~!

 

[UConNick]

lets hope no high schoolers currently enrolled in latin are reading this. I would guess they still use cambridge latin course

I know for a fact they are. My brother who's a sophomore in hs is still using the same book series I did prior to my graduation in 2013.

 

[Leebo]

Korean seems interesting. At the very least, knowing a little bit about Hangul makes me wish the Japanese had picked a more logical writing system.

 

[bobbygt]

Korean seems interesting. At the very least, knowing a little bit about Hangul makes me wish the Japanese had picked a more logical writing system.

Yes, hangul is incredibly easy to pick up phonetically. The pronunciation is harder than Japanese for me. And also for the reading and writing, most younger Koreans hardly ever need to master Chinese characters anymore.

As for Korean and Japanese language learning, once you learn one, it's much easier to pick up the second!

 

[Leebo]

Yes, hangul is incredibly easy to pick up phonetically. The pronunciation is harder than Japanese for me. And also for the reading and writing, most younger Koreans hardly ever need to master Chinese characters anymore.

As for Korean and Japanese language learning, once you learn one, it's much easier to pick up the second!

Yeah, Japanese is not a particularly tough language to speak, I feel. But it's just the god damn memorization needed to learn to read and write!

Though, to be fair, computers have made reading and writing in most situations super easy. It's only writing by hand and reading printed material that are difficult. I have an addon for Firefox that allows me to hover over any kanji to translate it, and typing is just phonetic.

 

[Stainmaster]

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