Other Duolingo (free language learning app/web) plus other respurces

Any one else doing this?
Its pretty nice.

I'm going to see how long i can keep my streak up, hopefully mote than 21 days.

I saw some ones phone and she had pretty much done a complete langage but said she does forget stuff.

If you log into your duolingo account via web once set up on your phone (either format) you get to see the language options by user base subscription. Spainish has easily the most with 40million.

Pretty famious app it seems online but i only just heard about it.

and its totally free.., impressive


Edit: has any one used it to get to high level? Feedback thoughts?

 

Looks interesting, gonna give it ago

 

I've used it on and off on my phone. I really like it, but it's very easy for me to go a day without doing it and then a day becomes a week and a week becomes a month. Really should go back to it.

It's amazing to me not only how much I remember from school, but how quickly I forget things when I haven't used it in a while!

 

I've just started the Spanish course and so far it's going well. We've been eating lots of apples.

Thanks for posting.

 

maybe we can all post back at mile stones.

this is worth watching.



cliff notes:
-two guys go to four countrys in 1 year, with the I will only speak "insert language here". week day 1 they suck obviously, but by week 12.. they are not just talking but more than comfortable.

So in short, if you keep trying to fill your bag with the langage, hoping one day to have enough and be fluent, it doesn't work (good?) that way.

You have to talk it... you have to just start talking, and making mistakes is wanted and required part of the process (with corrections).

I talki I think is good for webcam chat with native teachers for very little cost, Spanish Yadda you could get a good native teachers for little cost per hour (big market Spanish teachers, maybe as low $5 a hour


duolingo + pimsuler (after Michel Thomas) is a nice start + chances to speak to native lounge fakes in person or online and you would have to be getting very good ?


go for a 21 day streak yadda

 

My wife's currently ploughing her way through Welsh and Norwegian on this (to add to her Dutch, English, German, and French that she's already fluent in...) and seems to be doing really well on it. I had a look with a view to trying either Dutch of Japanese and didn't last long, languages really aren't my thing

 

Your very lucky, put one of the languages she speaks or is learning to your phone and learn enough on the side with out her knowing to one day tell her how much you love her (poem) in another language?

She would surely find it in intriguing.

maybe try the Norwegian?

here is a nice offering for your next night in together, I think it would please her sense of humour (and spoken word interests)

The Bothersome Man

 

El hombre, el hombre, el hombre come una manzana!

The apple song. Wurd.

Yo come una manzana.
Tu come una manzana.
Manzanas, manzanas, comemos manzanas!

 

oh snap, I just found a cool way to get out of this infamous dead zone, neutral gear with language learning, so to speak, seems it ticks the following boxes.

- You can in ideal moments (peaceful, time on your hands, relaxed), be able to "toy" around with the language, with good to very good to master level instant feedback on your efforts.

- You can organically use "learnt words and phrases from your box standard courses, duo lingo, Michel Thomas, pimsleur etc", and then adjust them, so adding, taking away, swapping words and playing with the language. Then importantly getting feedback.

- Its kind of like a mirror, with your own efforts feeding back instantly, so the more you put in, directly out of your own interest to build phrase, you will progress.

Its this pure gold app google translate (totally free) with duel direction translate option, this is really impressive as you can speak into it either direction and it translates back,

Shots below












So you pick your home tongue to he left, English, and to your right your destination or to be learned language.



So an example is.


You say,
A man,

It translates it to, el hombre etc.

Then you click the right button, and say in your best efforts El hombre. Then it instantly says out loud "the man", in English.


So what you basically have right there is a magic mirror able to effortless take your original English, display and narrate it in your destination tongue, [then you can try to copy the destination example, and see if you can get it to say it correctly back out as English!]


It may not be a magic pill but it does as per that video above and lets you do nothing but speak and language, or be it only for minutes at a time, then you can pop in your English extra word or different sentence, then you can voice back into it in Spanish say, and hear your efforts.

It may not be you living in the destination country only speaking Spanish say, but its a nice feather to add to the cap.

Yadda, install this app and then say in English, the man has a big apple, then click the right button (Spanish) then repeat back in Spanish the same way it said it, making it say back in English the same..


going to try mixing this tool in with proper course work stuff, this defiantly helps you get up into 1st gear or even 2nd gear with logical correct guidance, block editing your sentences and playing around is got to be a 5% to 15% boost to learning ?

oh and yeah obviously it lets you do this "important making lots of errors thing".

Pretty powerful tool man imo.


Edit:
The brain is funny, it learns when you don't think it is, you cant control what you learn actually but you can try (with exposure) , if you sit down and develop through the above app a simple sentence then make it more complex building on the first easy term, you are exposing your mind to bathing in the language, for short then longer periods, plus your errors help sharpen your clarity with in your internal work space / imagination area, this is the first step towards it going into long term memory, short term -> into long term that's how it goes.

 

Yes RB, I've been using Google translate, mainly to translate my spoken Spanish (using the mic) to English to test my pronunciation.

Going well so far - it understands me "singing" the apple song perfectly (and the bread song..
and the water song... ).

 

The man gave the Spanish girl an apple, then she kissed him!

 

Haha, there's two verbs there I haven't got to yet - "gave" and "kissed". All in good time.

 

Correction needed, the verb changes (unlike in English), so...

Yo como una manzana.
Tu comes una manzana.
Manzanas, manzanas, nosotros comemos manzanas!

 

I used this to improve my Portuguese from time to time - could do with a refresher to be honest. The problem as many have stated here with language is using it often enough in a real way to make it stick (difficult unless their are people to practise with), and then add to that accents, idioms, slang etc. Duo-lingo provides a good foundation though so when you get to hearing those things it won't be so much of a problem.

For example if in Brazil you slam a door a person will ask you if you have paint on your fridge - you will think you misheard so many things as in English it is just nonsensical - but the same is true of so many English phrases, it does make you appreciate what people go through and how easy life is when you 'just know' English.

Here is a fun song that is simple to learn (although its not all in Spanish, some French in there too)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYYd6sxzvyE

 

The Norwegian would be fun as I have family over there but learning Dutch would be the best surprise (she is Dutch - hence the other languages) as that would mean that I could understand her family when we visit. I do end up feeling somewhat left out when we are with them although most will try and speak a little English and I can get the general idea of a conversation in most cases already.

 

My new pre-dining toast, Mexican gangster style.

"Nosotros comemos, salud!"

I love Spanish.

 

I remember a few years ago speaking with native Spanish person, he said that Mexican is the old Spanish from a long time ago so there is a difference between Mexican Spanish, and the modern Spanish (but they can understand each other) sure some one will know more.


Interesting French,
bouncing between MT hour 2 lession 5 and google translate to repeat and alter sentences and said into translate in French. what I thought would be.


I want to speak French some thing (else) but.. then I was going to make second part, so two sentences, but then look at the translation.

So French does follow English word order rules to an extent, but then once you start getting into more complex sentences word order can make a big difference.

I put but at the end of the sentence as you do, but look at how it changed the meaning in French, pretty cool.





(je voudrais -I would like - parler-speak-francasis-french-autre chose-something else-mais-bat

translation made me smile ha

 

I don't know about Spanish but in Portuguese you wouldn't need to use the Pronoun as it is included in the verb.

 

I

Ah, that makes sense. I wasn't sure but left it there because it sounds good.

"Comemos, salud!" it is then. Thanks.

Edit: Sorry, I mean gracias amigo.

 

*SNIP*

great stuff