a new language learning thread

[Sub Luna Vitrea]

i was going to bump an old thread, but the forum software told me not to because it had been more than 90 days.

i've been learning arabic and i'm very surprised at how easy the whole 'alphabet' part of it is. i was always intimidated by that more than anything, figured the rest would be a lot like learning hebrew. and it sort of is, so it's very very hard. am beginning to study the qur'an a bit, just as if i were going to study Italian and had never read the New Testament, i would probably want to go and do that.

i have been thinking, since i have been learning to read this alphabet and distinguish the characters from each other, that maybe i should also learn persian at some point, even though persian isn't really that useful, but there is very very beautiful poetry written in the language, and i have had some iranian friends who have made me want to learn it. persian is also indo-european, so it would be comfortably within the range of things i have sort of seen before.

anyone else been doing much language learning as of late?

[bl5150]

It's a regret of mine that I didn't follow through on my studies in German ............learning a 2nd or 3rd language properly would be a great thing but I can't see myself finding the time these days.   

Hopefully someone will recognize my achievements in the study of Kinginese with some sort of award.

[senecadawg2]

i was going to bump an old thread, but the forum software told me not to because it had been more than 90 days.

i've been learning arabic and i'm very surprised at how easy the whole 'alphabet' part of it is. i was always intimidated by that more than anything, figured the rest would be a lot like learning hebrew. and it sort of is, so it's very very hard.

يا "سوب لونا فيتريا" حتى بدأت دراسة العربي؟ ولماذا؟ و أين- في جامعة؟ صعب جداً في البداية، في رأيي، ولكن مع فترة طويلة ممكن ستستخدم اللغة في الانترنت لاتصال معني ومع غرباء آخر... ولكن لازم تتذكر، كما أنا لست ذكرت- الكتابة في تليفوني صعب

[Train of Naught]

i was going to bump an old thread, but the forum software told me not to because it had been more than 90 days.

i've been learning arabic and i'm very surprised at how easy the whole 'alphabet' part of it is. i was always intimidated by that more than anything, figured the rest would be a lot like learning hebrew. and it sort of is, so it's very very hard.

يا "سوب لونا فيتريا" حتى بدأت دراسة العربي؟ ولماذا؟ و أين- في جامعة؟ صعب جداً في البداية، في رأيي، ولكن مع فترة طويلة ممكن ستستخدم اللغة في الانترنت لاتصال معني ومع غرباء آخر... ولكن لازم تتذكر، كما أنا لست ذكرت- الكتابة في تليفوني صعب

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccoj5lhLmSQ

[Sub Luna Vitrea]

i was going to bump an old thread, but the forum software told me not to because it had been more than 90 days.

i've been learning arabic and i'm very surprised at how easy the whole 'alphabet' part of it is. i was always intimidated by that more than anything, figured the rest would be a lot like learning hebrew. and it sort of is, so it's very very hard.

يا "سوب لونا فيتريا" حتى بدأت دراسة العربي؟ ولماذا؟ و أين- في جامعة؟ صعب جداً في البداية، في رأيي، ولكن مع فترة طويلة ممكن ستستخدم اللغة في الانترنت لاتصال معني ومع غرباء آخر... ولكن لازم تتذكر، كما أنا لست ذكرت- الكتابة في تليفوني صعب

hi! i can make out all the letters, including my name, but i don't speak the language yet literally all i can do is read the letters at this point and i can say like, "bismi llahi rahmani rahimi", and "ismi Sub Luna Vitrea", and have learned to say other things that i can't remember right now. i have been learning for about two weeks, and it's mainly because i have some activist friends and i want to be more useful and employable within the activist and social justice communities, hence being able to return to DC without selling my soul.

and... i am not currently doing it at university, although i might want to go back for a Masters or PhD in linguistics with a focus on comparative semitic languages, and use this degree to improve computer accessibility for various semitic languages, especially the very marginally spoken ones, but i don't know yet.

[senecadawg2]

So you're learning it all independently? That's impressive and challenging with any language, obviously. Much respect...

And I was actually hoping you wouldn't be able to read that all that well, because my grammar is embarrassingly bad, despite studying for a couple years now.

[Sub Luna Vitrea]

So you're learning it all independently? That's impressive and challenging with any language, obviously. Much respect...

thank you! there are an incredible amount of free and open-source language learning tools out there (Anki has been very helpful to me lately, for example). the hardest part is self-motivation.

And I was actually hoping you wouldn't be able to read that all that well, because my grammar is embarrassingly bad, despite studying for a couple years now.

ah yeah, well grammar is hard with everything. how did you learn to type on an arabic keyboard layout? i am basically just doing it by practicing things like typing my name and phrases i know, or copying things i see. but i sort of want to make a free, open-source, language-independent typing teacher, i think it would be a lot of fun.

[Sub Luna Vitrea]

It's a regret of mine that I didn't follow through on my studies in German ............

you still can! i didn't actually start learning spanish until long after my coursework was over.

learning a 2nd or 3rd language properly would be a great thing but I can't see myself finding the time these days.

it helps me to do things i would normally do in english, but to do them in another language. like my OS is currently in French, and i'm not even really learning French... i should switch it to Arabic or Spanish arabic might be a bit much.

Hopefully someone will recognize my achievements in the study of Kinginese with some sort of award.

i thought that said Klingonese for a second. what is Kinginese, some DTF inside joke? DTF is the first result for it.

[Cedar redaC]

I learned German in high school. I also learned Korean and a bit of Chinese and Tongan in the process of serving a mission in Australia. I wouldn't say I'm totally fluent in Korean, but I was surprised how easy the alphabet was to learn. It's actually phonetic.

[nattmorker]

I really like learning new languages but I haven't had much time to learn formally. My native language is spanish, I'm studying german (I have an intermediate level), I was living in Sweden for 6 months and learn some swedish (I really like the phonetics of the language) I've tried to keep learning some swedish after that.

Other than that I've tried polish, russian and icelandic for my self but I've never gotten further than some verbs, numbers and a few words. I hope I can take lessons soon.

[TAC]

DTF is the best place to learn Kingshmeglish.

[Train of Naught]

And proper usage of emoticons

[Prog Snob]

anyone else been doing much language learning as of late?

I've been teaching myself Italian but I would also love to learn Latin. I'm going to need a basic understanding of Latin for the book I'm writing so maybe I'll see if there are any reliable books I can buy.

[Sub Luna Vitrea]

anyone else been doing much language learning as of late?

I've been teaching myself Italian but I would also love to learn Latin. I'm going to need a basic understanding of Latin for the book I'm writing so maybe I'll see if there are any reliable books I can buy.

get Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata by Hans Ørberg.

[Prog Snob]

anyone else been doing much language learning as of late?

I've been teaching myself Italian but I would also love to learn Latin. I'm going to need a basic understanding of Latin for the book I'm writing so maybe I'll see if there are any reliable books I can buy.

get Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata by Hans Ørberg.

If only I could read the book.   

[Sub Luna Vitrea]

it's the direct method. it teaches you Latin the way you learn English, and it starts out very slow like...

Roma in Italia est.

that means "Rome is in Italy". if you get that, you're good.

[Prog Snob]

it's the direct method. it teaches you Latin the way you learn English, and it starts out very slow like...

Roma in Italia est.

that means "Rome is in Italy". if you get that, you're good.

Yes, that was unambiguous. I'm sure if I sat down for a little while each day and kept a dictionary close by just in case, I could work my way through the book. Thank you for the suggestion. 

[Darkstarshades]

I speak Spanish and English natively and consider myself fairly competent at French (Which I've been studying for more than a year now).

I once tried to learn japanese, failed awesomely.
Looking forward to learn Italian after mastering french, I hope to find time.

[adace]

I know a fair amount of French and and a little bit of Hebrew. I plan on taking the Duolingo Hebrew course once it's up in February.