Ori || Mexican || 22 || I'm studying to be a translator and I love learning languages. I can speak Spanish and English and I'm studying Korean, French and Japanese.
got this tip off reddit - generate a number between 1 & 1000, go to the question that matches the number here, and then write a page in your target language answering the question
In the past I tried to keep a daily journal in Japanese but it didn't really work out. I struggle to write daily because I have pretty much the exact same routine week by week so i couldn't find anything to write about. This time I'm trying a 30 day journal writing challenge, but I'll be doing it weekly so the prompts will last longer. Let's hope I don't drop it this time!
I’m taking the N5 this December and I am ✨nervous✨ I haven’t been able to study as much as I would like to because of work and ughhh Hopefully it’ll go well
Japanese Writing Practice Prompt Generator for Intermediate Learners
Hello, intermediate learners of Japanese. Need some practice producing written Japanese, but having trouble thinking of something to write? Well, look no further. Here's a prompt generator featuring 193 different grammar points and a fairly solid library of topics, nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs for you to scribble a little something on.
Remember to get your writing checked by someone - a native speaker, if you can! If you don't know a person you can ask, HiNative or iTalki are worth trying.
hi, clara! i’m starting french class next week and school.. but no one needs to hear about my panic and i was wondering what are your favorite french shows, musicals, or movies, etc? i want to surround myself with the language to hopefully be more comfortable with learning it in class and i thought going for its entertainment would be the way to go!
✧˖°࿐ ohh nixie, you did not get me started on french musicals... jk jk but first of all, good luck with french classes! and second, most of this might be intimidating at first (it was made by and for francophones, so you will probably be intimidated by the language if you're a beginner) but you will understand and learn in no time, don't worry!
➤ french shows;
this department is pretty scarce because i don't watch many french shows (mainly because i've been traumatized by a few that were very cringey, oops) but here are some i recommend/have heard are really good:
Kaamelott (2005-2009). i absolutely have to mention this one because it's more than a comedy show, it's a staple of french culture - I've yet to meet someone who's never seen at least one (1) episode. it started off as a comedy show about king arthur and his quest for the grail, but in the latter seasons evolved in a much more compelling and layered fantasy story that deals with magic, depression, and suicide. it's made by Alexandre Astier, who is kind of like our LMM except he writes plays instead of music and doesn't have ~controversies~ or whatever. also a much-anticipated (for 10 years) Kaamelott movie came out just now in theaters!
Lupin (2021-). also very famous but in a widely different register. I haven't seen it yet but only heard good things about it, and it has the merit of starring Omar Sy who is everyone's favorite actor. it's about this thief and son of a wrongfully accused man who sets out to get revenge on the rich businessman who put his father in jail, using his knowledge in forgery and theft to expose the entrepreneur's crimes, all while being inspired by French literature hero Arsène Lupin. it will give you great insight into french society today (also features a lot of useful and accurate slang) as well as really beautiful shots of Paris!
Le Bazar de la Charité (2019). a historical drama mini-series about the true event of this fire that ravaged a charity event in Paris and killed many. I haven't seen it either, though I really want to, but I've heard good things about it, and the historical accuracy is probably best since it's a show about French history written by French people. also, features Camille Lou my beloved <3
lastly, here's an article on French tv shows that you can all watch on Netflix! (though I wouldn't recommend Emily in Paris unless you want to get eczema from second-hand embarrassment, lol)
➤ french movies;
similarly to french shows, I haven't seen that many (though I have seen more) because french cinema has the reputation of being... either Not Good (read: Really Bad) or Really Pretentious And Incomprehensible. but there are some really good films that I have to mention:
first, of course, the staples of comedy that every French person has seen, and will earn you shocked gasps of "you've never seen X??????": Astérix et Obélix Mission Cléopâtre, La Cité de la Peur, OSS117, Les Visiteurs, Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis and many others... namely everything Louis de Funès has ever done. it's definitely... absurd humor or parody for the most part, because it's what we like best, but personally I think the first two movies are some of the funniest things I've ever seen so I can attest to their quality.
of course, Intouchables, which was the highest grossing French film of all time for a while and remains the most-viewed French film abroad. Also starring Omar Sy (♡), it was his breakout success actually; it tells the story of this very wealthy quadriplegic man who hires a young man from the "rough area" to be his live-in aid; you may have seen the American remake The Upside, but... nothing beats the original.
Personal recommendation here: Le Chant du Loup (ALSO HAS OMAR SY MY BELOVED!). It's a military thriller about a recruits in a submarine and especially this one soldier who is the "Oreille d'or" (gold ear) and can basically identify any enemy vessel or animal based on the sound they emit alone. it's a veeery tense film (reminded me of Nolan's work esp. Dunkirk, which is one of my favorite movies!) with high stakes that I truly enjoyed; and I have... contacts... who know people... who know stuff... can't say much more before the State finds me lol but even though some parts are very far-fetched, the military jargon and procedures are pretty accurate to the reality of a submarine!
Cyrano de Bergerac. It's the most famous adaptation of the eponymous play, which is a legend of French literature. The whole movie is in verse, taking its dialogue directly from the text of the play. 100% recommend if you're into beautiful literature, swashbuckling stories, passionate tragic romances and antiheroes. Would recommend watching this when you're more advanced in your French-learning journey, and reading the book first, because the language is dated and formal, but incredibly beautiful and it would be a shame missing out on the poetry!
a special mention for animated movies that were all of my childhood, and also that of many French people of my generation: Azur et Asmar, Kirikou et la Sorcière, Kirikou et les Bêtes Sauvages. Imo children's movies are the best way to learn your target language because they use tropes and archetypes that are easy to recognize, are often super whimsical and entertaining, and don't feature super technical concepts or vocabulary.
On a related note: Disney movies!!! I can't stress this enough: watch Disney movies in French!!! you probably know them already by heart and will learn the language super fast by learning the songs. or if you can't watch the movies, just listen to the songs. Watching Tangled in German was an amazing experience for me.
➤ french musicals;
should probably preface this by saying french musicals are scarce compared to broadway ones, because France has a culture of classic theater much more than musical theater. the songs are more poppy and less extravagant belting fests, but not any less entertaining!
Notre-Dame de Paris. Based on Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre-Dame, it's one of the most famous French musicals and the closest to a Broadway one I'd say. Features huge names of the Francophone musical scene in the main roles (Garou, Daniel Lavoie, Hélène Ségara and Patrick Fiori are all famous outside of their roles). the story is very famous of course but still a joy (or a pain, because it's just so sad) to follow. Most famous songs: Belle, Le Temps des Cathédrales. (Both of these have transcended the musical sphere and are well-known through all of France even by those who really despise Broadway)
The original production of Les Mis was French as you probably know, and it's worth checking out! Especially À La Volonté du Peuple, which is the original Do You Hear The People Sing? I've talked about the lyrical differences between the two versions and how they evidence different characterizations of Enjolras and Les Amis, but the truth is it's just really good in an "empowering anthem" type of way. Also I will literally never recover from Michel Sardou as Enjolras like I think that's so funny and,,,, ill-fitting but also not like asdkdjdj
Mozart, l'Opera Rock. which as the title suggests is a rock opera about Mozart's life and his rivalry with Salieri, but if Mozart and Salieri were vampires with a gay bdsm relationship lowkey. this is NOT what happens in the musical in reality but the subtext is THERE asixdjsj. the songs are ICONIC and so is the aesthetic, more than one French kid's bisexual awakening before we got Måneskin tbh. Most notable songs: L'Assassymphonie (an absolutely canonical BANGER), Tatoue-Moi, and my favorite, Le Trublion.
1789, les Amants de la Bastille. It's my favorite and it's most definitely not the best but I hyperfixated on it when I was 10 and my life has not been the same since. I mean, star-crossed lovers during the French revolution??? Hello???? Camille Lou my beloved is here (remember, from the Bazar de la Charité?), also Louis Delort on whom I had a little bit of a crush ngl. (actually had a crush on both but </3) also let me tell you that Camille Desmoulins never did anything wrong ever and I know this and I love him. Most notable songs: Ça Ira Mon Amour (my favorite since 2012 😔🤟), Pour la Peine, and just like. Generally all of them are bangers
Roméo & Juliette. pretty self-explanatory as to what it is about, I've never listened to all of it, just the most famous songs, but what I know from it is SO GOOD, I have this friend who is the most dedicated fan of this musical so I had to mention it. Les rois du monde and Vérone are a bop and a half! Big Broadway vibes with this one musical, with super talented singers and ensemble casts giving it their all, so I'd recommend starting with this one (or the first two I mentioned) if you don't want to feel too out of the water.
there's also Le Roi Soleil which is about the life of Louis XIV in Versailles and it's very very famous probably on the same level as Mozart or Romeo & Juliette and it has Emmanuel Moire in the lead role and I Respect and Cherish him but I never really cared for it? Je fais de toi mon essentiel is still super famous so I'm including it here and the costumes & staging are great!
I'm forgetting many (La légende du Roi Arthur, Robin des Bois...) but these are the main ones. My musicals playlist has all my musical faves, and a good proportion of them are in French! (And you will find some familiar faces in English, too.)
➤ and one last rec;
read the Little Prince.
I'm dead serious, read The Little Prince in French (which isn't the original version, funnily enough). Not only is it one of my favorite books ever, it's also one of the most well-known and widely-translated works of French literature. You've probably already read it in your native language and if you haven't, it's really easy yet incredibly poignant and full of truths about life and philosophy. I treasure this book with all my heart, and it was the first book my mom read when she was learning French. It helped a lot!
I really hope this is useful! tell me if you need anything else. and good luck! 💜
I made 2 years of French a few years ago and ever since I haven’t really practiced it, nor have I taken the DELF. I’m a little disappointed in myself but it’s not too late to change that, so I’m gonna start preparing seriously.
I will be sharing some resources that helped me pass my DELF B2 exam.
Videos/Listening
arte.tv is a great platform to listen and watch + it has subtitles in the language you're learning (has German, Polish, Italian, Spanish, French and English options).
Podcasts in general are a great way to learn a language. A few I listened were Français avec Fluidité, Autour de la question, Little Talk in Slow French. Of course, anything will work if you get to listen to the language. Available on Spotify.
Youtube Videos. Channels like Easy French are a great source to practice listening and pick up different words. I personally, made a whole different account so that everything would be in French. It would be great for you to find content that you like and watch it in your target language.
Some audiobooks
RTL news, podcasts
Dictionaries
One of my favourite dictionaries is Reverso. It also has conjugations and a phone app.
If you're struggling with pronouncing or come across a new word Forvo is a website where natives say the word.
French has a lot of idioms and translations wary. Expressio.fr
Reading
RFI, reading news will help your vocabulary and topics in case you need to speak about them (it also has audio).
For books to read, you can find some french books on Project Gutenberg
Grammar
eLearning French
Français Facile (might be difficult to go through the website).
If you're struggling with a specific topic in grammar, YouTube has a lot of great options if you just type in the keyword.
Tests
RFI has a small placement test.
DELF sample papers have a few tests in an old format and a new one.
Partajon different levels and listening, writing, speaking tasks.
France Education International offers past papers of DELF exams and other information to read in French.
Tips
To learn a language you have to immerse yourself no matter what. Personally, I didn't really focus on grammar after a while and tried to write as much (essays, descriptions, reviews, journaling) and talk (record voice memos, learn songs, create stories).
One of the best tips I got is to take a keyword and try to come up with a story based on that keyword (you should record yourself to see mistakes or what words you need to look up to) and try to progress the story every day for a few days.
Of course, if you still not confident to speak then write a journal every single day, just write anything that comes to mind and then you will notice what words you use the most and need in your daily life.
If you're learning for a test then do as many sample papers as you can, write a lot, speak a lot. A week before my exam at home I spoke purely in French to not forget it and feel a little bit more confident.
Don't be afraid to ask others for help. If you are not sure if you wrote something good you can ask people who know the language to review it or even go to a teacher. From mistakes you learn a lot, don't be afraid of them.
Please please please reblog this and put in the tags your music recommendations. I’m not talking about big artists and bands either— what’s a niche group, band, or artist that you can’t get enough of? What song or album do you enjoy the most? Why?
This is my personal method to language studying, I thought it would be helpful. A link to a PDF can be found here
How this works:
Language studying consists of fours skills: writing and speaking (active skills) and reading and listening (passive skills). I have compiled a list of language learning activities that provide a comprehensive approach to those fours skills and can be useful to visual, auditory or kinesthesic learners (or a mix).
You can set an estimate of the points you’ll get in week or day, or even try to improve a previous score.
You can try to go though the list in order
You can print the list, stick it to the wall and throw darts at it, just have fun!
If you use this, please tag it as #karenstudymethod or tag @language-sactuary so I can see the posts!
My study of Japanese is constant because I’m taking a course, however every once in a while I will get random spurts of heavy interest in it and just hoard resources like a baby dragon
Anyways I’m finishing the basic course in November and I’m pretty excited about it!
Well, I wanted to make my life easier by cataloguing my resources, and I guess it might be helpful to someone so… This is gonna be long. (sorry for spelling mistakes)
Main Tools: what I use frequently
Dictionaries
Jisho (Web) - Classic, Clean and Easy, probably the best Dictionary out there.
Takoboto (App/Web) - really like this one it has a grammar section, and the App has JLPT lists.
Akebi (App) - You can search by writing the Kanji, very useful, but not a very eye pleasing design.
Memorization
Memrise - LLJ Series of decks (Kanji, Tae Kim’s Grammar and Core Vocab), a think because Memrise uses a multiple choice system it works better for me, more than Flashcards.
Anki - With Anki, I use Mostly Anime decks, for example, Japanese Like A Breeze. Jo-Mako decks: Core Anime Deck, Yotsuba, Your Name (Jo-Mako decks are really well done).
YouTube
Comprehensible Japanese - AMAZING resource, her videos are all in Japanese and they range from complete beginners to intermediate.
Japanese Ammo with Misa - Explains grammar, has Pacific vocab videos and even breakdown music lyrics.
Cure Dolly - More grammar, she has the most eye-opening explanations I’ve ever seen, some might get annoyed by the robotic voice but ITS worth it.
The Japanese Page - Less Known but cool short videos about kanji, vocab, idioms, etc.
Game Gengo - Learn with games, his N5 Grammar video is great if you’re lazy like me
Japanese with Shun - Great Genki Podcast.
Immersion (aka. The best part)
Anime (How you can study with anime)
Immersion Kit Dictionary - PLEASE USE THIS! If you’re like me and the sentences provided by normal dictionaries never stick in your brain, this is perfect for you, you insert a word or sentence and it will find an Anime/drama/game with it. You can even send sentence cards to Anki.
Animelon - Made to Learn Japanese with dual subtitles, translation history and quizzes.
Animebook - Video player Works With Yomichan and Anki, I use this notation type (Eminent Note Type V2) drag video file and subs in this page and Done.
Kitsunekko - Subs for Anime and J-drama
Nyaa - Anime Raw Files (No subs)
Japanese with Anime - If I could hug this person I would, very informative Manga/Anime Slangs and grammar in general.
Japanese Anime & Manga - Cool site with an interactive manga, kanji games, and quizzes.
JPDB beta - Has already Built decks of Animes, Texbooks, Novels and more, also if you insert a sentence, it explains each part of the sentence to you.
Ichi.Moe - Same thing it explains each part of the sentence to you, but it’s easier to use.
Manga (and reading in general I guess)
Manga.reader.to - I use this site to read my manga it has quite a big collection. Better Scans, and has Japanese options in most mangas
Docsumo Free OCR Software - Now let’s say you don’t know a word and want to search for it use this OCR, really easy to use and works quite nicely. There are better options specifically for manga, but again, I’m lazy so…
Aozora - This site is for public domain novels (EX The Little Prince) Audiobook on YouTube.
Japanese.io - You can read articles and news
Raikun - Pop- up dictionary for Words and Kanji. Simple and Quick
Yomichan - Now this one is a little more complicated, pop- up dictionary, but you have to download and set up the dictionary, Much more customisable than Raikun and create Anki cards
I don’t know if this list contains every single particle, but I tried to add all. I didn’t add korean counters, they may be counted as particles as well. Not every particle has it's own example sentence by the way.
Here Are Some Example Sentences:
🌃- 은/는 & -에 & -고
동생은 부산에 살고 나는 서울에 살고 있다.
My sibling lives in business and I live in Seoul.
🍞- 을/를 & -에
아침에는 빵을 먹어요.
I eat bread for breakfast
🪢- 이/가
네가 밀면 내가 끌게.
You push and I’ll pull.
🗺- 에서 & 에
우리는 주말에 공원에서 만났어요
We met at the park on the weeknd.
🏁- 부터
지난달부터 그녀를 보지 못했어요.
I haven't seen her since last month.
🌙-까지 & -부터
그녀는 아침부터 저녁까지 일해요.
She works from morning to (until) evening.
🫵- 도
저도요 (Me too)
🍦- (ㅇ)로 & -을/를
아이스크림을 숟가락으로 먹었다.
I ate Icecream with a spoon
🗓- 마다
주말마다 (Every weekend)
👧🏻- 에게 | 한테 | 께
지수는 아이가 너무 귀여워 아이한테 뽀뽀를 했어
Ji-Soo kissed the child because she was so cute.
👨✈️- 같이
사장님은 직원들에게 친구같이 편안하게 말해요.
The boss talks to the employees comfortably like a friend.
🧑🍼- 처럼
아기처럼 울다 (to cry like a baby)
😡- (으)나
좋으나 싫으나 너는 한국 사람이 아니야.
Like it or not, you are not Korean.
🛤- 보다
기차보다 비행기가 빠르다
A plane is faster than a train
✏️- (이)나
공책이나 연필
notebooks and[or] pencils
- 거나
민준은 주말에 보통 친구를 만나거나 영화를 본다.
Minjun usually meets a friend or watches a movie on weekends.
Haven’t been on tumblr in a while but I was wondering if there are any like, Japanese language exchange discord servers or something of the like? I just want a server where people actually try to speak Japanese, no matter if they only know like two phrases because they just started, but they put it in use ;;
First, a foreign accent is just fine. There is no need to change it. As long as people can understand you, you’re killing it. However if you want to improve it, I have a few tips and guides!
First: train your ear!
If you can’t hear the sound differences, you can’t speak them either.
The article has tons of ways to train your ear to hear the differences. Basically: imitate immersion. Listen to everything in your target language. Getting a tutor is also a great way to train! They can go through pronunciation drills with you and point out your weaknesses so you can correct any issues sooner, rather than later!
And even if you can’t hear any difference between two tones or sounds in a language now, I promise you: you can learn!!
Next: train your mouth!
Watch and mimic. In the article below, I give tons of ways to achieve this.
Basically, copy every native you can see and hear. Practice tongue twisters, games (especially ones focused on minimal pairs!), watch YouTube videos on half the speed, use Forvo (amazing resource!!) and watch and repeat everything you can. Babble like a baby. Practice makes perfect!
Check out the link for all of the tips and to find some guides on pronunciation in specific languages!
Learning a language and want to learn better pronunciation? This article will help you learn how to do JUST that + offer great tips, as well
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