/lang/ - language learning

Why the fuck are Hindi phonetics so hard? How did the language evolve to be this complicated in pronunciation? The grammar seems comparatively tame but my speech feels entirely wrong unless I'm directly mimicking someone; even then I feel like it's still off because I just can't grasp the differences between sounds like त थ ट ठ, इ ई, उ ऊ and श ष. For example I understand the theoretical difference between retroflex and dental consonants but unless I exaggerate it to a ridiculous degree it sounds identical, and the exaggerated version doesn't sound closer to what it should be either. I feel like a terrible brainlet, pls help and pls no bully.

I'm about to make the mistake of studying two languages at once.
I might be destined to be a monolingual brainlet, boys. Hope it works out.

>tfw translating nederdraad threads word for word and trying to understand dutch meme slang

>Tfw damaged long term memory from years of alcoholism
>Tfw can't remember even basic vocabulary
Should I just kill myself?

spaced repetition, use memrise/anki or clozemaster if you are at an intermediate level

I can't get past a basic level because of my memory

I do the same for German.
It helps me recognize some words here and there but in no way helps with grammar.
Shit's hard

have you tried memrise/anki though? its the only way i can memorize vocab. its a special system that makes you recall words as soon as you're about to forget them, so you end up retaining a lot more rather

Suggestions for good German TV shows? Any that I can download with english subtitles as well?

german dubbed anime is popular

I've said this multiple times, but ideally /lang/ would have no reason to exist. Language learning should be promoted by the regional generals of Jow Forums. Want to learn German? Go visit /Deutsch/. But the generals seem hostile to learners and tend to troll and give false answers etc. Lang is too broad, and not really helpful outside of being a second link to the wiki which just provides sources. This is why threads die very fast. Is a prime example. Who is supposed to help this guy? If he's lucky a German native speaker will come to assist. But if he posted in /deutsch/ his chances of receiving an answer to help increase (assuming they won't troll him).

Dark is okay. For me it is puerile, but it's tolerable for the sake of language learning.

My target language doesn't have threads on Jow Forums (or anywhere else on the internet)

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conlangs could probably have a more successful general than /lang/ desu.

I'm not so sure, most generals all across Jow Forums seem to thrive most when they end up just being a circlejerk of off-topic mindless chatter. In that regard, seems like conlangs would struggle quite a bit.

In any case, my target language (Mari) isn't a conlang, it's just far too irrelevant and Russia'd to really have active communities. At least there's still a decent amount of content though (just not internet communities), so it could be worse.

what makes you interested in Mari?

Not really sure, to a certain extent I started it all on a whim. More specifically, I had read about it and found out that there actually were some extensive ressources available online for that language, and also that it's probably the Uralic language with the least grim future in Russia. I had long been interested in Uralic languages, and also in Turkic languages (Mari has substantial Turkic influence), and I liked how it sounded, so it made sense in that regard. But certainly it partly just because of autism pushing me in that direction.

So far I've enjoyed it greatly though. I wasn't really expecting to follow through more than a few weeks, but after 9 months I'm still quite interested in it.

Should I learn another language even though I don't like talking to people?

Do you ever plan on going to Russia and speaking with Mari?
Yes, you open yourself to new worlds of information, you don't have to worry about finding the translation/sub of that language, you open yourself to a new culture, or if you hear people talking in the language you're learning you can understand what they say

Maybe if some day I speak conversational Russian (it's on my long-term to-do list), otherwise it's quite unlikely.

bump

Why is grammar so hard? I keep finding weird rules that none my text books explain

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Because it's not a science. How many words/what level are you at right now? Ideally you learn grammar through exposure and reading a shit ton, but you need to have some competence before reading is productive.

Herro

I'm not learning a language but I wanna call this instaslut I'm stalking a "cute whore" In Russian. How would this translate? I'm assuming it would logically be in the vocative?

Started learning french with duolingo but struggle with pronouncing. any resources for this or smth?

>Russian
>vocative
u wot

Лaмпoвaя Hяшa

Don't give a fuck to pronunciation. Seriously, just give up and focus on the important, non touristic things.

this is some shit advice, if your pronunciation is bad enough people won't understand you.

I don't know if this is actually good, although it helped me to get started in French. It covers pronounctiation, grammar, vocabulary. It looks horrible, like one of those 90s websites, but I didn't mind it that much.
At some point she will start explaining in Italian, because she is Italian I think. Don't worry, she only does that in lesson 1.
youtu.be/wEJ299aNZ84

Oh shit they kept all those cases but not the vocative? Anyway are you bamboozling me?

I'm doing that despite not being interested in talking to anyone. I only want to be able to understand what they write or say.

French is the worst sounding language ever

Thx Juan.

>good German TV shows
literally do not exist

just watch german dubbed stuff instead

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halp

What would be a good way to practice speaking? I think that I'm good enough at reading, writing, and listening to English, but my speaking skills are really subpar. Actually I have poor conversation skills in general, which is probably a part of the problem.
Can anybody please give a pointer if he knows good resources for improving one's speech?

> Um Gott ????? wenn das bloß gut geht.
I'm not sure but she says either

>Ich habe dir doch gesagt, dass es regnet
>Du hättest dir ein Kopftuch mitnehmen sollen

Yo if I'm B2 in a language what's the equivalent in rosetta stone levels?
Just tried lv2 of rosetta and got 97% correct and the 3% were stupid fucking mistakes not actual fuckups from ignorance
Have some qt for your troubles

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*what she says

oh and it's probably "Oh Gott" and some filler maybe like "Ich meine" or something, I just don't understand it properly
it would only start with "Um Gott" if she was saying "Um Gottes Willen", but she's not

I've completed the "The" lessons in Duolingo German, all 5 crowns

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Rosetta is garbage

> Warten Sie es besiegt, dass Pony unter Sattel ab? (?????)
> Am beste am Schaukelpferdchen üben :3

vocaroo.com/i/s1LKAZlvQVMw

Rosetta stone doesn't even scratch A2, lol.

I'm learning Russian and my accent is absolutely awful.

I have lived in Russia for a year and a half and I hear it all the time, but still have a very thick accent.

What's a good way to fix this?

See this is the stuff that bugs me.

Darf ich dich ins Kino einladen?

WHY is it "ins Kino" and not "im Kino"? Aren't nouns purporting location to be put in the dative?

ich - subject
dich - object
Kino - isn't this the indirect object thus to be declined in the dative?

This is maddening.

I think when you use "in motion" nouns, like going to the cinema, you use the accusative

and when you are in the kino/cinema, you use the dative

You have to make a conscious effort toward proper pronunciation; as an adult, merely hearing it and hoping it'll rub off on you doesn't work too well.

Record yourself saying "Я пoйдy в бoльницy."

Thank you.

Will this ever become automatic or will I always have to put so much effort into thinking about pronunciation?

Pronunciation is a collection of habits, so it will become automatic when correct habits replace your incorrect ones.

Here's the clip, btw

clyp.it/qcynlz2m

How bad is it?

A few threads ago i tried to get people in on translating a song into their TL
Here is verse 2:

I don't want what you want, I don't feel what you feel
See, I'm stuck in a city but I belong in a field
Yeah, we got left, left, left, left, left, left, left
Now it's three in the morning and you're eating alone

German question: when would one use mögen/möchten as opposed to wollen, and vice versa?

It's not too bad except for when you mistake the stress in "бoльницy". It's бoльнИцy, not бOльницy. Placing stress right is important.

Sounds more American than I would expect for a Swede (unless you're an American with a Swedish flag, I suppose).

- The stress on бoльни́цa (acc. бoльни́цy) falls on the second syllable, not the first.
- Like many learners of Russian, you attempt to maintain the sound of the preposition в (probably c and к as well) as a separate word. Let it become part of the following word, without interruption. It should sound as if it were written вбoльницy here.
- Your vowels are too much like those of English: for example, your /a/ is too far back in я and your /u/ is a bit too fronted and centralized in пoйдy. (These issues can be a bit difficult to explain without audio recordings to someone who isn't familiar with linguistic terms, but it has to do with tongue position.)
- You ignored the soft sign in бoльницy. The L sound should have a bit of a Y bleed into it, almost; bring your tongue toward the roof of your mouth as if to pronounce a word beginning with a Y. (If you speak Swedish, say "håll Jens" quickly and try to capture the sound as you transition from the first word to the second.)

the former is pretty formal, the other one normal/colloquial
you'd never write wollen in an application for example

Thank you, will try again later when I've got some time.

pl0x

>I don't want what you want, I don't feel what you feel
Ich will nicht, was du willst, ich fühle mich nicht, was du dich fühlst
>See, I'm stuck in a city but I belong in a field
Na, ich sitze in einer Stadt fest, doch ich gehöre in einem Feld.
>Yeah, we got left, left, left, left, left, left, left
Ja, wir wurden verlasst, verlasst, verlasst.... (you get the idea)
>Now it's three in the morning and you're eating alone
Nun ist es 3 Uhr morgens und du isst allein

Bost what you're listening

>Warten sie erst bis ich das Pony unter dem Sattel habe
>Wärst (?) du ein Schaukelpferd zum üben
not sure about the first word in the 2nd one

what the fuck are you listening to anyway and why are you wasting so much time on understanding some single sentences
you'd do yourself a favor if you just moved on

I have already told you, Hans, but you made fun of me :(

I'm making double German-English subtitles of German TV ....
youtube.com/watch?v=v4QN4kmV-fA

Has anyone been an exchange student or housed an exchange student?

>watch news in target language
>"Two dead in apartment fire"
>"Car ran off road and into a river, the elderly woman driving is unconscious and was taken to hospital with heavy injuries"
>"A rockslide has destroyed several houses, two dead bodies have been found, and 4 are still missing"

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Most globally relevant languages after English? I want to be some kind of Maverick who can speak all the main languages of the world!

sounds boring desu

Being an old european language, French pronunciation is best learned by constant experience. Spend more time on YouTube or Forvo just reading sentences while hearing them spoken; do your best to repeat them, and eventually you'll find the patterns.

Tip for pronouncing the weird R sound: trill the back of your tongue. I know it sounds weird, but it worked for me.

legit just talking to people more, i had an online british gf and we skyped 4 hours everyday, my english levels soared

can you rate my accent?
vocaroo.com/i/s1UqlRS9akDy

>spent a gorillion hours learning chinese this year
>still godawful, wondering why i picked this language in the first place

really wish i would have picked spanish but i feel like i've put too much effort in to stop at this point

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German learners:

“A World for You and Me” — under this motto the German Foreign Office is looking for stories by children and adolescents up to the age of 19.

Writers worldwide can submit texts with their wishes and hopes.

Interested?

auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aamt/zugastimaa/aa-ebook/272674

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Nah, Dutch and Vietnamese are the ugliest. They sound like drunk imitations of more important languages.

Only to the untrained ear

I need a good book of German grammar, can someone share one? Or at least give me the name of one. I will appreciate greatly.

Hammer's German grammar.

>completed duo
>completed assimil
>completed pimsleur
i just dont know where to go next lads

>- Like many learners of Russian, you attempt to maintain the sound of the preposition в (probably c and к as well) as a separate word. Let it become part of the following word, without interruption. It should sound as if it were written вбoльницy here.

Odd because Russian friend told me today that I am putting the в too much together with the word, and I should make it sound more distinct. Shrug.

Never had heard the word бoльни́цy so it was easy to correct the pronunciation there once corrected. Tried to improve the rest as much as I can. I struggle with palatalization and vowel sounds.

clyp.it/f0qethc1

We still have it for some words.
Бoг - Бoжe
Гocпoдь - Гocпoди
Чeлoвeк - чeлoвeчe
Oтeц - oтчe
Cтapeц - cтapчe
Maмa - мaм
Пaпa - пaп
Etc.

But in general the vocative is dated now.

You need to leave.

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Memrise/Anki, they have courses for the10,000 most common words, or you could make your own course, Clozemaster/BliuBliu, read newspapers/int generals of that language/watch movies/tv shows, then talk to native speakers in interpals or italki if you're willing to pay

Did you pronounce "в" like "ф" or is it just too quiet?

Record your "л" and "ль", please.

German (EU)
then probably Mandarin or Japanese

bump

Poor lang.

sounds like a pro refugee propaganda project

Spanish
Chinese
Hindi
Arabic
Urdu/Farsi/Persian/Dari/Tajik (Same langauge)

It'll pick up over the summer

FAUX

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English
Chinese
Spanish
French
Arabic
Russian

As far are European languages go English, German, and French are the top tier. You could make a case for replacing German or French with Spanish.