Language learning discussion

[kjeks]

I personally view it more as a "yayy, I still have five years to learn the language, that's plenty!" than a "urgh, five more years to go".

Well under the current circumstances anything I think should be "yay, I have still plenty of time for xy... to go".

[OrigamiOwl]

I personally view it more as a "yayy, I still have five years to learn the language, that's plenty!" than a "urgh, five more years to go".

Hehe I used to think that, then halfway through my language minor it turned to "Oh GODS I only have a year to go!! ITS NOT ENOUGH TIME I'M GOING TO FAIIIIIIL! *packs bag and joins cleansers*"

[kjeks]

Hehe I used to think that, then halfway through my language minor it turned to "Oh GODS I only have a year to go!! ITS NOT ENOUGH TIME I'M GOING TO FAIIIIIIL! *packs bag and joins cleansers*"

buuuuut you made it, didn't you?

[Nimphy]

Sooo, finally bored with repeating kana (I learned them, no amount of repeating will teach me anything new now), I set out to learn kanji. Created a notebook, copied a few, stroke order and on and kun reading and all, super proud of myself...

Then I made the mistake of visiting Wikipedia, which kindly informed me that the common kanji are about 3000. I haven't even learned ten of them yet. 

[kjeks]

made my own norsk kurs. Nice, now I can practice for poetry I will never speak norwegian but will recite poetry

[Nimphy]

Uuuuuugh, why does Memrise insist on making me repeat the same Norwegian items over and over? I disappear for a day and I suddenly have 150 items to review.

[Lenny]

Sooo, finally bored with repeating kana (I learned them, no amount of repeating will teach me anything new now), I set out to learn kanji. Created a notebook, copied a few, stroke order and on and kun reading and all, super proud of myself...

Then I made the mistake of visiting Wikipedia, which kindly informed me that the common kanji are about 3000. I haven't even learned ten of them yet. 

You might be interested in trying out Wanikani? Rather interesting way of learning kanji there. Doesn't focus on writing at all, though (only reading and typing), so that's something you'll have to get other resources for to learn. As an aside, they say you need about 2000 - 2500 to get around comfortably in Japan. That might seem intimidating, but think of them as words rather, and it seems much less so. I mean, that's around the usual word count in an average essay, right? (Of course they're rather more complicated than just words, but it's easier to think of it without being overwhelmed that way.)

In other news, I've just started learning kanji, too (like, for the past few weeks), and was ecstatic to see that I could recognize the kanji for "woman" on the bathroom door in the anime Ao no Exorcist the other day. Sense of accomplishment right there. Onwards!

[mithrysc]

So today I was going to ask my mom something, and without thinking I started saying it in Norwegian. Achievement unlocked...?

[Deirdre]

Yesterday I was supposed to handle a conversation in German (ugh, who says I speak German fluently enaugh to do it  in the first place...) and acidentally switched to French in the middle of a sentence, not noticing it to the point I was asked what I was saying. I need to go back to German at some point, though "not todaaay" is the only moment I can think of.

Three weeks ago however, I started having fun with Icelandic online. We'll see how long it lasts.

[Nimphy]

Tehehehe. Hehehehe. Today I apparently did "very well" in Norwegian with Puppy  *little dance of joy* It IS getting easier. Still got a looooooooooooong way to go, but I'm making progress!

...And I should probably do the same with German, too *looks at scary Duolingo items to review*

[Eich]

So today I was going to ask my mom something, and without thinking I started saying it in Norwegian. Achievement unlocked...?

Do you remember what you asked, by any chance?

[mithrysc]

Do you remember what you asked, by any chance?

Something suitably short and befitting my extremely limited vocabulary/ grammar. Probably along the lines of "Når er vi [something]?"

[StellersJayC]

Soooo... Does anyone have any tips on learning to flip Rs? I can only do it 10% of the time, and when I do do it I have no clue how I managed it two seconds later. (At this point I'm more than certain that rolling Rs is a physical impossibility as I've never been able to do it ever.)

[Hrollo]

Rolling r involves the same kind of airstream mechanism as a piece of clothe flapping in the wind, with the wind building strength when the clothe is down, and losing it when it is up.

I think your best bet is to try to do a Z sound, but to loosen the tension in your tongue and/or to blow harder. Finding the right dosage is tricky, you may need to experiment a lot. Or you can try to start with an L sound and to strenghen the tension in your tongue.

[StellersJayC]

Rolling r involves the same kind of airstream mechanism as a piece of clothe flapping in the wind, with the wind building strength when the clothe is down, and losing it when it is up.

I think your best bet is to try to do a Z sound, but to loosen the tension in your tongue and/or to blow harder. Finding the right dosage is tricky, you may need to experiment a lot. Or you can try to start with an L sound and to strenghen the tension in your tongue.

Okay, I'll have to try that. I've been "faking it" with a D. As I have been led to understand, rolling Rs in impossible unless one learns how at a very young age - which is why my sister is the only one in the family who can do it. Even if I can only get up to an 11% success rate, it's still an improvement.