Does anyone on here know any other languages? I've just started trying to learn myself German, got about 2 hours into a course & at 35 year old and only ever known English it's not the easiest thing to get your head around. Seems that you can completely change the meaning of a sentence by rearranging one word in a sentence which in turn can also change the ending of another word as in if I were to be speaking about myself or someone else. Also, it seems to have a focus on masculine & feminine words, like for argument sake a Street is a feminine word but a Square is a masculine word so the word "The" would change according to that. Any tips please anybody would be appreciated. Should maybe have tried earlier in life as I've heard the younger you start the easier it is.
Aye, its difficult to get your head around. I'm trying something called pimsleur where you don't see or read any words but rather just learn how to speak it, bit like how a bairn would learn how to speak before reading or writing.
My brother can speak French, Spanish, german, Portugese fluently, he is a university lecturer though !.
Once you get into it CMP you will notice that German, Spanish, French etc are quite similar. Went to college to learn Spanish & Greek. was about 40 when I did this. I wasnt keen on the interraction with other students but it ensured I put some effort into it so when it came to my turn I was quite fluent rather than being laughed at. I can get away with holiday Spanish eg, ordering food, drink, asking directions , buying things in shops, haggling with taxi drivers etc. Did a 6 month course in Greek as well but thru not using it regularly have mainly forgotten and only know the basics now. There are very good books by Sandra Trusscott. Maybe worth looking at.
Must be a very intelligent lad!!! Supposedly once you learn one other language other than your native tongue the rest come much easier, looks like getting over the first hurdle is the hardest part of it all. Not gonna give up though, I must be going through some type of mid life crisis because very little that I used to like doesn't seem to interest me anymore & have got a strong urge to learn.
I can speak fluent Italian (as I should, as I've lived here since 1989!) and used to be able to speak fluent French. I also work as an English teacher, doing courses for Italian companies that trade with abroad. IMO the students who do badly are those that moan all the time about the language being different. "Why are words in English in a different order than Italian?" for example. Just accept that languages are different, and that English is bloody difficult too for foreigners to learn. You say you have a strong urge to learn - that's half the battle. Good luck!
Cheers. I'm pretty surprised going back over what i've learned so far how well i have picked it up. I'm actually enjoying it though, the course says stick to one lesson a day but i'm finding that I want to keep on going. How long did it take you to pick up Italian if you don't mind me asking please, I know everyone will learn at a different rate but would like a rough idea.
I'm currently learning Finnish.Apparently its one of the hardest languages for native english speakers to learn because it is so different. I seem to be picking it up reasonably well though.
I'm glad someone has made this thread. I have been thinking for a while of learning French and/or German. I did German for only one year and French to GCSE level. I use foreign languages in speech anyway, as an idiosyncrasy, but would love to properly get to grips woth one. Speaking the lingo opens so many doors. Does anyone know of any courses etc in the Durham area? Ta.
I speak French , but not fluently. Many years ago I said to my old French teacher , "when am I ever going to meet a Frenchman?" during a rebellious stage. 40 years later I share an office with a French guy , working for an Anglo/French company who like their senior people to be bi-lingual. Syd , ask Margaret if she remembers Miss Valentine the French teacher.
Good luck mate! You can get a lot of language learning courses off the Torrents indestructible. Durham college will more than likely do language courses & think around August most colleges enroll new students.
http://www.rosettastone.co.uk/ is supposed to be really good, I have it with all language packs, grabbed it about 3 years ago, done 5 minutes of Japanese and gave up (more me than the programme though) but it does get good reviews etc so may be worth a go. (I may even have another bash at it after this thread). PS: J.R.R Tolkein Elven language is mainly taken from the Finnish Language.
I speak a little Spanish. It sometimes comes in handy like when I heard a Spanish waiter call my mother-in-law a cow
I doubt my reply is much use mate, because I learnt Italian in three months. That probably sounds like I'm giving myself airs & graces, but - I was at University at the time and had nowt else to do all day, and - all the things that are a bit shocking at the start that you mentioned, like word order, like different words for "the", well I'd already overcome that obstacle while learning French at shool (for an English speaker French/Italian/Spanish/Portuguese/Romanian have nigh-on identical grammar structures). One thing - when fares are cheap after the summer, book yourself a cheap flight to Germany. If there's one thing that I found massively satisfying after slaving over a hot grammar book, was finding that foreigners could actually understand what I was saying and vice versa!
