maya
timewasting fool (in every universe)
One for the French learning crew: http://www.arteradio.com/
Language learning support/community thread
- Thread starter red rose
- Start date
Sweet Meiga
From far off lands
One friend told me Sueña textbooks are very good for non-teacher learners. And they also suggested to take a look to Editorial Pons materials.
I'll tell you more when my other friends get back to me
FWIW since the class has shrunk, the ability spread has narrowed, increasing the probability of being paired up with one of the more fluent/confident people who get far more Polish exposure from co tenants or partners than I do. Hence roughly an hour spent flicking through a dictionary in the reference library trying to look up and copy the words needed from a far smaller bilingual dictionary than those on the shelves for the major European languages.
ReturnOfElfman
Well-Known Member
Printed out an ebook today, so it makes it easier for me to study. Need to transfer the audio onto my phone for it too. Been going through flashcards on Memrise and on my Anki phone app everyday. But generally not been doing as much studying as I wanted on my time off from work. That's the family life though...
I realise that everyone gets it to some extent, but taking several minutes for my passive vocab to work out what I'm supposed to be doing is getting on my nerves. Stretching may be healthy, that doesn't mean it's always painless.
OTOH if it's this or end up giving £20 to the conservatives and taking the clippers to my hair... Okay, tea break, then back to work.
OTOH if it's this or end up giving £20 to the conservatives and taking the clippers to my hair... Okay, tea break, then back to work.
Just wondering - am I the only one who's ever so slightly fed up at the way that language courses seem to be so expensive?
That's before you even add on the extra costs not included in the course fees - the textbook, a dictionary, a grammar book, supplemental reading... and in the case of this one, a premium access website.
That's before you even add on the extra costs not included in the course fees - the textbook, a dictionary, a grammar book, supplemental reading... and in the case of this one, a premium access website.
october_lost
It's not hip any more...
I just finished level 3. Might aim higher, or go for the oral exam and see if I can be offered the Confucius Scholarship...
Anyway, your best bet is to raid the previous mock exams
http://exam.chinese.cn/gonewcontent.do?id=6428777#
And the Nciku and mdbg.net websites are the best resources you can probably get...
ReturnOfElfman
Well-Known Member
Just had a bash at the HSK2 test and got 82% so might as well change to do that one. Still got 6 weeks until the exam too. Then I can do the oral exam in the summer when I have more time.
Threshers_Flail
Well-Known Member
Any Spanish learners got any decent advice? I'm coming to the end of a two week intensive course and I'm feeling way more confident, but I'm just a little worried that all my hard work will be forgotten soon enough. I've got a tidy exercise and grammar book, and I've just set up a duolingo account. Apart from listening to Spanish music (and y'know actually speaking to Spanish speakers as often as possible) has anyone got any other tips?
Riklet
procrastinación
Learn about english and what you're actually trying to say in your own language. IMO a fair bit of english and spanish grammatical structures are pretty similar. Learn what a noun, verb (past/present), adjective etc are and when to recognise them in english.
I'd recommend the Michelle Thomas audiobooks, I did the normal and then advanced ones when I moved to espain and found them really helpful. The vocab ones are ok too if you can stand the annoying american woman. Dont take the 'method' too seriously, write stuff down, dont pause etc.
Read everything you can. Even if it's only signs and short. You'll learn more vocabulary reading than having a very basic conversation, and it will allow you to write down stuff in a notebook, record it on your phone or whatever.
Learn how to conjugate verbs, cos maybe tiring and boring but you can't understand spanish until you know them pretty well. Particularly he/has/ha/hemos/habeis/han + past participle (including irregulars) as you can survive using this for past, present and even future at a pinch!
Go on lyricsrtraining.com and listen to easier songs in Spanish, it's great for practising listening. Try and watch TV/films with spanish subtitles and see what you can understand. Poco a poco. Read labels, instructions, warnings and signs and try and work out the gist of everything.
You're at a big advantage being in a spanish speaking country but it Won't be automatic progress unless you really want/need it. Try and stay or do things where people are speaking spanish rather than english, at least part of every day.
Better to do 20 mins a day than 3 hours every 4 days. But yeah, you need time!
I'd recommend the Michelle Thomas audiobooks, I did the normal and then advanced ones when I moved to espain and found them really helpful. The vocab ones are ok too if you can stand the annoying american woman. Dont take the 'method' too seriously, write stuff down, dont pause etc.
Read everything you can. Even if it's only signs and short. You'll learn more vocabulary reading than having a very basic conversation, and it will allow you to write down stuff in a notebook, record it on your phone or whatever.
Learn how to conjugate verbs, cos maybe tiring and boring but you can't understand spanish until you know them pretty well. Particularly he/has/ha/hemos/habeis/han + past participle (including irregulars) as you can survive using this for past, present and even future at a pinch!
Go on lyricsrtraining.com and listen to easier songs in Spanish, it's great for practising listening. Try and watch TV/films with spanish subtitles and see what you can understand. Poco a poco. Read labels, instructions, warnings and signs and try and work out the gist of everything.
You're at a big advantage being in a spanish speaking country but it Won't be automatic progress unless you really want/need it. Try and stay or do things where people are speaking spanish rather than english, at least part of every day.
Better to do 20 mins a day than 3 hours every 4 days. But yeah, you need time!
october_lost
It's not hip any more...
I didn't want to be rude, but I anticipate that very few people will get much out of HSK 1.
Timing in the exam is pretty crucial. I think nobody in my cohort finished early and rushing comprehension exercises is horrible. Otherwise, if you put in the time it will put you in good stead.
Good luck!
Boudicca
Seaside Queen
I found films in Spanish with the Spanish subtitles switched on to be quite helpful. Nothing too intellectual, so that the vocab is manageable! Does the TV where you are have a subtitle option? If so, you could record the local equivalent of Corrie.
Mostly what Riklet said - BTW if you haven't got one already, consider getting an illustrated dictionary (Dorling Kindersley print ones which include the words needed by adults, rather than primary school children). Words seem to go in and stay in better when linked to images.
ReturnOfElfman
Well-Known Member
Yeh, it was more that I've never had a proper lesson and my reading is next to non-existent but you don't really need to read for 1 and 2 because it has pinyin, so was aiming low.
Riklet
procrastinación
Yeah that's a really good idea. There's some torrent I downloaded last year with a load of picture dictionaries and stuff. In english n spanish. Very useful and maybe worth buying actually.
Have you got a kindle cos there are lots of cheap/free spanish things to do with that.
Have you got a kindle cos there are lots of cheap/free spanish things to do with that.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Just had my final class of an introduction to Japanese.
Oh boy
Any sentence involving more than three or four words seriously taxes me
Oh boy
Any sentence involving more than three or four words seriously taxes me
Bad news: This is getting more difficult - not helped by a severe lack of time and energy to get much anything done between classes. Really struggling to keep up at all.
Good news: The carcrash consonants are becoming less of a problem and the decoding side of it's easier now. And at least, even when exhausted, I'm now able to say more or less fluently that I don't understand the question.
Last night covered the basics of asking for directions and giving them. That means I'm now able to get well and truly lost in four languages.
Good news: The carcrash consonants are becoming less of a problem and the decoding side of it's easier now. And at least, even when exhausted, I'm now able to say more or less fluently that I don't understand the question.
Last night covered the basics of asking for directions and giving them. That means I'm now able to get well and truly lost in four languages.
ReturnOfElfman
Well-Known Member
So gave up on the idea of doing HSK anytime soon. Just can't keep up with studying and even though I would pass the HSK2 without studying, it defeats the purpose of me going for the HSK as it was meant to give me motivation.
However, I've found some good little videos to keep me learning new stuff. Don't require much energy to watch
However, I've found some good little videos to keep me learning new stuff. Don't require much energy to watch
Mungy
i haz boobz
https://site.saysomethingin.com/communities/spanish-for-english-speakers/pages/home-esen
I can't say if the spanish one is good or not, but i know the say something in welsh is good.
I've just completed the homework set last week. It's only taken four hours, aided by "type it" for the extra letters, an easy learning dictionary, and verb tables, to answer a short and chatty email. Go me. 
OTOH at least I understood the questions in the email, that's a slight improvement. I'm starting to get the grammar. And at least I can get my tongue around "That's a good idea, I would like to, but unfortunately I can't because..."
Getting there, but a very long way to go yet, mostly stuck in the present tense. Which is fine, as most of my current life is also stuck in the present tense.
OTOH at least I understood the questions in the email, that's a slight improvement. I'm starting to get the grammar. And at least I can get my tongue around "That's a good idea, I would like to, but unfortunately I can't because..."
Getting there, but a very long way to go yet, mostly stuck in the present tense. Which is fine, as most of my current life is also stuck in the present tense.
Shit! There was I feeling relatively pleased with myself about having got that out the way and doing a halfway decent job of it, only to find that there's a reply email. In Polish. I really haven't got the time (another two hours for the email, plus the lesson time this evening) or energy for this today. 
Okay, breathe. Reply, even if crappily, and send the bastard.
Okay, breathe. Reply, even if crappily, and send the bastard.
One week into the Easter break, and there's no guarantee that the next term will actually go ahead.
OTOH if more or less resigned to setting aside those Tuesday evenings, with nearly an hour each way for the bus(es), and an hour and a half for the actual class, there's quite a bit I can get done in that time just by going back over what's already been covered until it stays in. And if the follow up is in the autumn instead of at the end of this month, that's okay.
BTW that second email last week? It only turned out to be part of that evening's lesson, so it's just as well that I attempted a reply to it without resorting to translation software or I'd have been sunk.
OTOH if more or less resigned to setting aside those Tuesday evenings, with nearly an hour each way for the bus(es), and an hour and a half for the actual class, there's quite a bit I can get done in that time just by going back over what's already been covered until it stays in. And if the follow up is in the autumn instead of at the end of this month, that's okay.
BTW that second email last week? It only turned out to be part of that evening's lesson, so it's just as well that I attempted a reply to it without resorting to translation software or I'd have been sunk.
brix_kitty
minority of one
Anyone using Duolingo? I'm using it to "relearn" French.. I did French GCSE almost 20 years ago but hadn't used it at all since, then found Duolingo about 5 months ago so decided to give it a go. I'm about 80% through the skill tree, level 14 - I'm finding it quite good but not sure how useful it'll be when it comes to actually speaking to people. Speaking was always my weakest part of languages and at the moment I don't have anyone to practice on (well actually I do, but I'm not confident enough yet!). Just wondered if anyone else was using it, how useful they found it and whether they needed extra lessons/studying on top?
It's at this point that I find out the hard way that memorising vocab is easy, but doing the same with verbs and grammatical patterns is another thing altogether.
*slopes off to spend the evening improvising basic sentence structure and case agreements until they stick for more than a few seconds*
*slopes off to spend the evening improvising basic sentence structure and case agreements until they stick for more than a few seconds*
No, sorry. IMHO at least half the battle with speaking a foreign language is making yourself do it - ready or not.
After all, you'll be using your French to communicate, right? People will care far less about whether you can rattle off five grammatically perfect phrases than whether they can understand what you're trying to say in real life. You can either make a bit of a fool of yourself now, or a lot of a fool of yourself later.
sim667
All aboard the 303 bus.
I need to get back on my french and spanish, Ive got both at GCSE level, and can understand both reasonably (i think) well, as have lots of french freinds, french family, and my folks live in spain.
But I want people to practise it with via email etc, as my french freinds and family are all busy and my folks can't talk a word of spanish.
Anyone know anywhere you can find people, like a language exchange etc?
But I want people to practise it with via email etc, as my french freinds and family are all busy and my folks can't talk a word of spanish.
Anyone know anywhere you can find people, like a language exchange etc?
