Let's learn languages!

A blog dedicated to linguistics, learning and improving languages, making friends and obviously, Homestuck. Please go to FAQ or About for more information and see what the real purpose of this blog is!

[homestucklinguists]

im wonderin... what do you think would be the best languages for a beginner to learn? (detailed info: im 14 autistic and have above average reading skills) :)

this blog isnt active anymore, i worry, and i dont know when you asked this. D:

welp, italian, french. spanish maybe.

[ryanlintelman]

Stop Playing Candy Crush and Learn a Language Instead

Just when I thought Duolingo couldn’t get any better:

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Duolingo: It doesn’t cost a cent. It’s free to download and, according to 34-year-old co-founder Luis von Ahn, it will be free forever. When von Ahn gushes about his creation, he’s less excited by the idea of yuppie professionals in Manhattan brushing up on their Italian and more enthused about folks in Latin America attempting to improve their socioeconomic status.

“The majority of people in the world who want to learn a language are learning English because it might get them a better job,” says von Ahn. “And learning a language usually requires money. You need to attend a good middle school that has a foreign languages department, or buy a program like Rosetta Stone that can cost hundreds of dollars.” Von Ahn himself grew up in Guatemala but went to a school with English classes. “I was one of the wealthy few,” he says. He came to the United States to attend college and graduate school, then went on to become a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon and eventually a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship.

[fictiveme-deactivated20190409]

8 websites to visit instead of watching TV

I wish I could remember where I found the original post, but there’s a long list of great educational websites circulating on here, and I wanted to post some of the best ones:

UReddit - a ton of informal, free, and awesome courses to skim through

Do Yoga with Me - stream and follow along with tons of focused full length classes

Duolingo - learn a new language! I’m two lessons into French (a million more to go)

TED - “riveting talks by remarkable people” I’m obsessed with TED talks

Poem Hunter - easy and organized way to find poems, poets, and ranked lists

Free Rice - take quizzes, donate food. tons of subjects, they even have french vocab…

Mental Floss - like Buzzfeed, only a tad more educational

[diy]

The 17-year-old who speaks over 20 languages.  Get started on learning a new language with these 5 practices:

Create a Video Dictionary

Introduce Yourself in Another Language

Use a Language-Learning App

Perform a Song in a Foreign Language

Explore a Dialect or Accent

For more projects, check out the Linguist Skill.

[taavot-deactivated20170404]

hey can you help me with a Japanese thing for class real quick? Can you give me how to make verbs into the te form and what it's used for and some examples? thanks

Hi Anon!Sure, no problem :)

So the te-form is a verb form in Japanese that has many uses. First I’ll show you how to turn verbs into it:

So if you have your verb in the plain form, you’ll notice that certain plain form verbs have certain endings. Depending on the ending, you’ll change the verb to put it in the te form.

-Verbs that end in eru or iru sounds like 食べる (taberu) or かける (kakeru): in most cases you remove the last る(ru) and add て(te) Example: 食べる (taberu- to eat) in the te form would be 食べて (tabete)

-Verbs that end in mu, bu, or gu (む、ぶ、ぐ): You take off the last syllable/two letters if you’re talking about romaji, and add んで (nde). Examples: 飲む (nomu, to drink) becomes 飲んで (nonde), 飛ぶ (tobu- to fly) becomes 飛んで (tonde), etcetera. (There are also often cases with ~gu verbs where gu is taken off and becomes ~ide)

-In verbs that end in aru or uru, tsu, or just a plain “u” after a vowel like “kau”, ru/tsu/u is replaced with tte.

"aru" ending verb examples: 曲がる (magaru- to turn, which becomes 曲がって- magatte.) Or わかる (wakaru- to understand), which becomes わかって (wakatte).

"uru" ending verb examples": 送る(okuru, to give) which becomes 送って (okutte).

"tsu" ending verb examples:  持つ (motsu to hold) which becomes 持って (motte) or 待つ (matsu- to wait) which becomes 待って (matte)

"vowel+ u" verb ending examples: 買う (kau) to buy which becomes 買って(katte), or 会う (au- to meet) which becomes 会って (atte)

-Verbs that end in any other letter plus “u”, you take off the last two letters (romaji) or if you’re talking about hiragana, the last syllable, and then you add “ite” Like 書く（kaku- to write) becomes 書いて (kaite). 

Exceptions: する (suru, to do) becomes して (shite). 来る (kuru- come) becomes 来て. 行く (iku- to go) becomes 行って (itte/yutte). There are some verbs that end in iru or eru that actually function differently, and they end in tte (two ts)　帰る (kaeru- to go home) becomes 帰って (kaette).

So yeah I may not have explained that well, but here’s an official website thingy for the rules:  

http://123japanese.com/index.php?cmd=lessons&menu=teta

And here’s a list of common verbs and their te forms: http://japanese.about.com/library/bl_verbs.htm

NOW FOR HOW TO USE THE TE FORM

1. Commands (when you want to tell someone to do something). You might already know that in Japanese you can’t just yell the plain/masu form of a verb and have it be a command. It doesn’t work that way. You can’t yell “tabemasu!!” to tell someone to eat something. There is a very formal ~なさい ending that can be added to the verb stem for a formal command, and another rough form for impolite commands that ends in “e” or “ro”, but the te form is the simplest command, because it can be used in polite or impolite context. 

-To use it in casual context, you just use the te form to tell someone to do something, like　待って！(matte!) which means “wait!” 

-It’s also sometimes paired with “ね” to make it softer/more poilte, like “do this, okay?” 

-To make it polite, add ください (kudasai- please). So 待ってください (matte kudasai- wait please)

2. Saying a sequence of verbs in one sentence. In Japanese, if you want to say “I did this, and this, and this” or “I’m going to do this, or this, or this”, you have to put every verb in the te form except the last one. The last verb determines whether the sentence is past tense or present/future. Like these examples: 

1. お店に行って、野菜を買って、家に帰ります。(Omise ni itte, yasai o katte, ie ni kaerimasu.) Meaning: I will go to the store, buy vegetables, and go home. We know it is present or future tense because of the “masu” ending on the last verb.

2.お店に行って、野菜を買って、家に帰りました。(Omise ni itte, yasai o katte, ie ni kaerimashita.) I went to the store, bought vegetables, and went home. We know all of those things are past tense because the final verb in the sentence is conjugated to past tense. Otherwise nothing’s changed from the above sentence in example one. 

3. お店に行って、野菜を買って、家に帰ってください。(Omise ni itte, yasai o katte, ie ni kaette kudasai.) Meaning: Please go to the store, buy vegetables, and come home. We know that the whole sentence is a command/request since the ending is a ~te kudasai ending. 

3. Asking permission/granting/denying permission.

A te form verb + もいいですか？ (mo ii desu ka?) asks for permission, like “may I ___”. The informal/casual version is just te form + もいい?

Examples:

1.これを買ってもいいですか？(kore o katte mo ii desu ka?) may I buy this?

2.鉛筆を借りてもいい？(enpitsu o karite mo ii?) may I borrow a pencil? (casual form)

You can give permission by saying something in the te form +もいい（です）(mo ii (desu)) or deny permission by saying something in the te form +　はいけない ( wa ikenai)

Examples:

１.それを買ってはいけない。(sore o katte wa ikenai)- you can’t buy that.

2.はい、鉛筆を借りてもいいです。(hai, enpitsu o karite mo ii desu.) Yes, you may borrow a pencil. 

4. Attaching other verb suffixes such as くれる　and もらう

A te form verb +くれる (kureru/kuremasu) implies a favor someone else does for you. Such as “鉛筆を貸しますか？”(enpitsu o kashimasu ka?) which means “will you lend me a pencil” , but that’s not very common. What people often say is 鉛筆を貸してくれますか？(enpitsu o kashite kuremasu ka?) which has the nuance of “will you do me a favor and lend me a pencil?” Other common versions of this are te form plus くれませんか (kuremasen ka?) (won’t you do me a favor of ___?) or te form plus くれない (kurenai?) 

Example: 手伝ってくれませんか／手伝ってくれない？(tetsudatte kuremasen ka?/tetsudatte kurenai? won’t you please help me/do me a favor of helping me out/lend me a hand?) 

もらう (morau/moraimasu) is another common one which turns the meaning of a verb to “to have someone ___ for you”

example:

彼が私の詩を読んだ。(kare ga watashi no shi o yonda)- he read my poem

彼に私の詩を読んでもらった。(kare ni watashi no shi o yonde moratta.) I had him read my poem/I had him do me the favor of reading my poem. (ni goes after the person you had do you the favor.) 

There are TONS of other examples of ways to use the te form that you will learn as you progress in your studies, I just gave you a few basic examples. Sorry if anything I explained was hard to understand ^^;

Abby~

[polyglotweekly]

When You Look in the Mirror

Last week I wrote about what I see as the #1 reason why many people don’t learn languages.  They start off with the best of intentions, but don’t actually make consistent  use of the tools they acquire.

This IS a huge reason why many people don’t end up being the bodacious bilinguals they want to be.  But there is a sadder reason why others don’t achieve it.

 They don’t think they can.

                     I have met so many people who tell me they just don’t have what it takes to learn a language.  Their reasons often include:

-       I’m not smart enough.

-       My memory sucks.

-       I just don’t have a “knack” for languages.

-       I’m too old.  (Often spoken by people under 40.)

This saddens me folks, because scientifically speaking you absolutely DO have a knack for languages.  Your brain is hard-wired to process it- it’s been doing so since you were born.  If you competently speak your first language, then you ARE capable of speaking a second or even a third or more languages.

(To those worried about not possessing an innate ability or talent for languages, I’d like to mention that linguists are actually in hot debate over whether or not such a thing actually exists.  The two primary professors of my graduate program in TESOL studies differed greatly.  My advisor did NOT believe there was such a thing as “innate talent for languages” while my other professor did think some people had more of a knack for it than others.  I’ll debate this topic at some point with a few polyglot friends of mine but for now take comfort in the fact that there have been NO conclusive studies to show that certain people have any more talent for languages than others.  You CAN do this.)

Intelligence and memory do help.  I’d be lying if I told you otherwise.  BUT intelligence is multi-faceted and where it seems inadequate in one area, it often more than makes up for it in another.  Memory can be improved and there are a plethora of ways to do so.  (Some will be discussed here.)  But also realize this- you really only need about 500 words to start reading and speaking at a basic level in any language.  That sounds like a lot until you realize the average language has 250,000 words.  That means you only need to learn 0.2% of the vocabulary available in order to really get started.  I promise once you get started, vocabulary will generally add itself naturally to your mental inbox, just like it does in English. 

(Sidenote- English, last I checked, has more than 1 million words still listed as in effective use.  You speak this language without knowing all of them- you can do it for another.)

        (For the record- I love this lady.  She kept it real.  I don’t mean any disrespect in posting this.)

Finally, to my favorite MYTH to crush.  “Young people learn languages faster… you’ll never be bilingual if you didn’t learn as a child… I’m too old.”  This is one misconception that I’d love to annihilate from the planet because it is absolutely, completely, 100% FALSE.  That’s right, folks.  Your age does NOT impair your ability to learn language.

      In fact, studies have shown that adults are capable of learning languages much FASTER than their kid student counterparts.  Why?  You have all this awesome background knowledge to help you!  You know  by this point how to study (though we could all use a few pointers in a new subject area), you know a first language solidly and can make connections across languages, and you even have a wide array of mental images and memories that you can attach new information to, helping your brain access it faster and more efficiently.

The ONLY aspect of language where children excel beyond adults is in pronunciation.  As we age, the cilia in our ears decrease.  That’s why you can’t hear as high of frequencies with age.  This also means your ability to discern nuances between sounds (specific phonemes) also decreases.  However, you are still more than capable of speaking the language within the “range of acceptability”- i.e. in a manner that native speakers can understand you.                    

The big difference between kid and adult learners is kids don’t consciously realize they are learning a language and they often feel they HAVE to learn the language in order to get what they want.  If Mom only speaks Spanish (at least to them), then if they want milk, by golly they’ve got to learn that word leche.  We learn what we have to in order to satisfy our own needs and desires.  I am certain at some point in your career you have been tasked with something you were uncertain how to do.  (If you haven’t, *SPOILER ALERT*, you will be.)  Your choice was learn how to do the task or find another job.  I’m guessing most chose the former.

                   Okay, I’ve rambled enough.  What’s my point?

My point is this- if you look in the mirror everyday and the person you see is someone incapable of learning a new language, then my friend you’ve lost before you’ve even begun.  As Henry Ford once said:

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re probably right.”

Most of us life-long learners like to make goals and that is fantastic.  What’s important is to remember there are three kinds of goals: appearance, performance, and identity.  (Please see this blog for a way more thorough and much better explanation than I’m about to give.)

Appearance goals are the ultimate achievements.  Your appearance goal as a polyglot is likely a visual image of yourself conversing easily with natives of your target language.  This is great- but ultimately you don’t have a lot of control over this BIG goal.  The control you do have comes from achieving a series of smaller goals that all contribute to it.

These are called Performance goals.  This could be to learn twenty words a week, or spend ten minutes a day listening to the news your L2, or even read the newspaper in your new language once a month.  These are tangible, actionable pieces that are invaluable to you achieving your ultimate, appearance goals.  But before you start creating these, there are one more set of goals you HAVE to address.

  Identity goals are, in my humble opinion, the KEY to achieving the rest of this puzzle.  This is about how you see yourself.  Are you someone who is incapable or incompetent at learning languages?  Or do you see yourself as a future polyglot?  Do you look in the mirror and see an explorer ready to tackle a new set of words and syntax, a voyager into the lands of verbs unknown?  If you start seeing the potential in yourself, the rest of the goals are going to be MUCH easier to achieve. 

NOTE- I said easier and not easy.  You still have to do the work and there will be days you don’t want to.  But if you see yourself as capable of mastering your L2, if you stop seeing your brain as an obstacle and rather as a fantastic tool, you CAN become the polyglot of your own dreams.

Now, for a bit of tough love before I sign off.  Many people use the “I can’t learn a language” phrase to mask this reality: “I’d like to be able to speak another language but I don’t want to put in the work.  To these people let me say this:

It is perfectly OK if you do not feel you have the time, energy, or motivation to devote to learning a new language.  What is NOT okay is perpetuating the idea that some people are incapable of doing so.

Every time you say that about yourself, others hear it and absorb that message.  Particularly young ears.  They become convinced that the ability to pick up a new language is something “you’ve either got or don’t.”  And far too early students convince themselves they don’t got it.  That’s the sad part.

Be honest with yourself.  Do you really WANT to learn a new language, to the point that you are willing to make the relationship sacrifices I discussed last week?  If not, fine.  Just admit that to yourself and others. 

But if you are, do NOT let anyone, especially your inner demons convince you that you can’t.  You are more than capable, and with the right set of tools, you are unstoppable.                                     

[spanishskulduggery]

Idiomatic Expression - el uno por el otro la casa sin barrer

This expression in Spanish is one that I don’t think we really have in English, but the idea translates pretty well, although the expression doesn’t.

Literally the expression is something like, “One (waits) for the other, the house doesn’t get swept.”

The idea here is that everyone has gone off on their own, and each person believes someone else is going to do something… and so it ends up not being done. Basically, everyone assumes someone else will do it and so no one does it.

It’s actually the opposite of “too many cooks in the kitchen”. 

And it’s sort of similar to the “bystander effect”. The “bystander effect” is more of a sociological/psychological event where no one helps someone in trouble because they believe someone else will.

And this expression can also be seen as los unos por los otros, la casa sin barrer …I don’t think there’s any real difference.

To me, this expression feels like it belongs in a sitcom.

"I thought you were gonna do it!" "Well, I thought you were gonna do it!" "Well, if you’re here… and I’m here… then that means… uh-oh!!" 

[talklikeaspaniard-deactivated20]

Cabrearse

Cabrearse is a very common way of saying “to get angry”, especially if it’s in a obvious, irated way:

Susana se cabreó mucho anoche. Susana got really angry last night.

The reason why somebody is angry is introduced by the preposition por:

No te cabrees por eso, no vale la pena. Don’t get worked up over that, it’s not worth it.

On the other hand, the object towards which the anger is expressed is introduced by the preposition con:

Este entrenador se cabrea mucho con sus jugadores si no rinden en los partidos. This coach gets very angry with his players if they don’t perform well at the matches.

Mis padres se cabrearon conmigo por no hacer los deberes. My parents got angry at me for not doing my homework.

You can also provoke somebody to get angry, in which case the verb stops being pronominal:

Me cabrea ver que no se lo toma en serio. It makes me angry to see s/he’s not taking it seriously.

Estoy seguro de que lo hace para cabrearme. I’m sure s/he’s doing it to make me angry.

The derived adjective is cabreado/a, meaning “angry”:

No vayas a hablar con él ahora, todavía está muy cabreado. Don’t go talk to him now, he’s still very angry.

Nunca la había visto tan cabreada. I had never seen her so angry.

The state of being angry is called a cabreo. Tener un cabreo is another way of saying estar cabreado, useful if you want to augmentate or otherwise use an adjective with the cabreo:

Fernando rayó el coche y ahora tiene un cabreo tremendo. Fernando scratched his car and now he’s really raging.

Another equivalent option is to use estar con un cabreo:

Está con un cabreo considerable desde las últimas elecciones. S/he’s quite pissed ever since the last elections.

To talk about the moment the cabreo started, you can use either cogerse un cabreo, agarrarse un cabreo or pillarse un cabreo:

Se cogió un cabreo monumental cuando se enteró. S/he got quite pissed when s/he found out.

Siempre se agarra un cabreo cuando pierde. S/he always gets mad when s/he loses.

Me voy, que mi novio se va a pillar un cabreo si llego tarde. I’m leaving now, my boyfriend will get mad if I’m late.

And when it’s all over, we use the expression pasarse el cabreo:

Por suerte, al día siguiente ya se le había pasado el cabreo. Luckily, the next day s/he had calmed down.

Estoy esperando a que a Ana se le pase el cabreo. I’m waiting for Ana to calm down.

[dracomalfoyi]

In Spanish we say “I’m sorry”, as “Lo siento”. That translated literally into English means, “I feel it”. And I just love that

[alisonogl]

Community Post: 21 Everyday Frustrations Bilinguals Will Understand

[homestucklinguists]

Now, which language do I write this post in again…?

[henrydoeslanguages]

On approaching a new language: a guide

How does one begin learning a new language? If you’re anything like I was (and now thinking about it, still am), you may find it a little daunting trying to find a nice place to start. Here’s my two cents on the topic.

1. Find out where your language is spoken, and who speaks the language. This seems like a no brainer, but knowing a little bit about the culture that surrounds your language goes along way in understanding it later on. Historical context is also a plus if you’re into linguistics.

2. Writing system: If the language you’re trying to approach doesn’t use the Latin alphabet or something similar, you’re going to have to get to know it pretty well. However based on my personal experience, I don’t think you need to remember the whole thing and all the pronunciations/spelling rules: You’ll build those additional (still essential though) skills along the way, as you get into reading and speaking.

3. Sounds: you also need to get used to how the language sounds. What I mean by this is you need to be able to recognise the language when it is used in speech, and you also need to be able to know the basics of translating the sounds to writing (although linking back to 2. , this is a skill that is developed over time). This means listening to the language whenever you can- music, radio or even just people speaking in youtube videos.

4. Grammar: get a good idea of the grammar. SVO, SOV or something else? Are nouns declined with case/number/gender? What kinds of tenses? Right branching or left branching? If you know the general answers to these questions early on, learning harder grammatical structures will be a little easier.

5. Spend the time. Whether its 10 minutes a day writing three kanas or 30 minutes a day reading sentences in Arabic aloud, put in that time. It really builds that solid foundation that you do need when you get onto harder stuff. Also, practice the language whenever you can with whoever you can, and don’t be afraid of making mistakes.

I think after all these steps, learning the language becomes considerably easier (for quite a while anyway) and you can learn faster and apply what you’ve learnt easier and more enjoyably- be it greetings or using the subjunctive. And then in no time, you’ll be looking back on those vaguely enjoyable memories, about to start yet another language, and thinking to yourself, “How the hell did I do that last time”.

If you have any suggestions on how to start a new language, feel free to share!

[spanishskulduggery]

Hi, thank you so much for the work you do on your blog - so interesting and helpful to Spanish learners like me. I'd love to get my head around the differences with quedar and quedarse if you have some time in the future to talk a bit about this verb! Best wishes!

Sorry for the wait. This ask was haunting me haha.

In general, the verbs have two different meanings, so it might be easier to differentiate them that way.

Quedar means “to remain” or “to be left over”. This is especially useful in math, or equations, or when there’s some vaguely mathematical application involved.

*Note: quedar can also mean “to keep” or “to maintain”… for instance quedar caliente means “to keep (something) warm”… usually in the sense of food. And quedar blanco/a means “to keep (something) white in color”… often in the sense of clothing.

No nos queda mucha comida. - There’s not a lot of food left (for us). 

No queda mucho tiempo. - There’s not a lot of time left.

No quedan días de verano. - There are no summer days left. [Part of a song; días de verano by Amaral.]

Es mucho lo que queda por hacer. - There’s still a lot left to do. [lit. “That which remains to do is a lot.”]

Todo lo que queda es arena. - Sand is all that remains.

Se murió y todo lo que queda es su cuerpo. - They died and all that remains is their body.

Sólo quedan dos. - Only two are left.

Me quedan diez dólares. - I have 10 dollars left.

Quedarse has two major meanings. The first is “to stay behind”. Which makes complete sense because the -se means “oneself” so… “to remain oneself” = “to stay behind”.

It also can mean “to keep ___” as in “to keep still” or “to keep quiet” if you add the adjective.

No quiero quedarme aquí. - I don’t want to stay here.

Es importante que se queden. - It’s important that they stay behind.

A ella no le gusta el club, así que va a quedarse en casa. - She doesn’t like the club, so she’ll stay home.

Estás enfermo, quédate en casa. - You’re sick, stay home.

Quédate aquí. - Stay here. [tú command]

Quédese quieta. - Keep still. [Usted command]

Quédense quietitas, señoras. - Keep very still, ladies. [Plural command]

*Note: Another application of quedarse is “to end up with”, often used with con. Its application is more used for inheritance or settlements, or of a legal nature.

El hombre se quedó con la casa. - The man ended up with the house.

La mujer se quedó con el carro/coche/auto. - The woman ended up with the car.

Los abogados se quedan con un porcentaje de cada indemnización. - The lawyers receive a percentage of every settlement/agreement.

The other very common application of quedarse is as a “verb of change”; meaning that quedarse can mean “to become” in a sense.

The implication of quedarse as a verbo de cambio is a dramatic and often life-altering event. Typically it gets used with ailments or very serious or potentially long-term effects; not always bad, but something that changes one’s life.

Se quedó ciego. - He became blinded. / He was blinded. / He was struck blind.

Se quedó sorda. - She became deaf. / She was deafened. / She was struck deaf.

Se quedó mudo. - He became mute. / He was struck dumb.

Se quedaron paralizados. - They became paralyzed.

Se quedó embarazada. - She became pregnant.

*Note: This is just a supplemental note; many of these ailments only use quedarse if it indicates a change. Put simply, if someone is ciego/a de nacimiento “bind from birth”, they couldn’t “become” blind… they always were. 

Also note, that the verb quedarse is sometimes translated as “to be stricken with” or “struck ___” especially in a Biblical setting. 

Supplemental:

Many uses of quedar on WordReference

"To Become" - los verbos de cambio

[spanishskulduggery]

What's the easiest way to tell if you need present subjunctive or imperfect subjunctive?

So, if you’re asking how to tell the difference, I assume you know about the individual functions of the imperfect subjunctive that are totally particular to it and it alone.

…Which would be imperfect subjunctive + conditional, como si fuera (“as if it were”) type constructions, and so on.

…

So we’re just talking about tense here. And really, it makes more sense if you think of what a grammatical “tense” is in Spanish. It’s el tiempo… which is also “time” or “weather”.

In my mind, a tense is like… “when is it the appropriate time to do this?” or “at what point should I expect rain or the imperfect subjunctive?” if you know what I mean.

Really, the core thing that differentiates them is that one is present tense (mostly) and the other is preterite/imperfect (mostly).

You’ve already written it as “present subjunctive”, and “imperfect” really just refers to a past tense that may be ongoing.

Or in other words, which subjunctive you use depends on the tense of the clause that precedes it, in very smartypants talk.

It’ll probably be easier to understand by example:

Ojalá que llueva. - I hope (to God) that it rains. [Present subjunctive]

Ojalá que lloviera. - I hoped (to God) that it would rain. [Imperfect subjunctive]

They’re the same basic idea in concept, only differentiated by the “time” tiempo in which they occurred. That is the major difference there.

Sugiero que estudies. - I suggest that you study.

Sugerí que estudieras. - I suggested that you study.

Nos vamos después de que comamos. - We’ll leave after we eat.

Nos fuimos después de que comiéramos. - We left after we ate.

Dudo que hayan comido. - I doubt they’ve eaten.

Dudaba que hubieran comido. - I doubt they would have eaten.

Aunque sea la verdad… - Even if that’s true…

Aunque fuera la verdad… - Even if that were true…

Now, that’s not to say that you can’t have present tense followed by imperfect subjunctive.

That absolutely happens. But the meaning is again, slightly different. The core difference here is what your intention is with the “time”.

But in general, you don’t really want to mix tenses, because even if it can be done, it does sound a little bit strange. It’s not technically incorrect, but there are people who would argue that it’s not how you do Spanish.

The best ways to use subjunctive.

1. Quiero que nieva. - I want it to snow. [Present subjunctive]

2. Quería que nevara. - I wanted it to snow. [Imperfect subjunctive]

3. Quisiera que nevara. - I would have it snow. [Double imperfect subjunctive]*

*#3, the use of double imperfect subjunctive is very much a poetic tone. It’s not overly common. It’s a little bit… Shakespearean era kind of… “Oh, would that it were true!” kind of dramatic sense. But it is very much utilized in poetry.

I would say that the use of double subjunctive sounds like a supplication to a higher power; because the first imperfect subjunctive is a very deferential tone, wishing to something and being very polite… and the second is just because it applies to a subjunctive clause.

The overall effect is very much… “Wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight”. 

You really don’t say that unless it’s supplication or poetry.

[7ashiish-deactivated20150713]

One of the most beautiful things about the Arabic language is that you can play with your words and create the most beautiful of sayings. Instead of “I love you” you can say ‘to’borni’ which is bury me. Also there are a million ways of expressing yourself without outwardly saying it like: “I am jealous of your eyelashes,” [or] “I will keep you hidden between my ribs.” It’s like the perfect language for if you’re shy about your feelings because you can get as poetic as you want without actually saying them.

[prototumblinguist]

Hello kind sir! I am interested in self-learning Polish, and I was wondering whether you or any of your followers have any podcasts that you/they could recommend? Thanks so much in advance!

Hello benevolent anon! It’s quite interesting that you want podcasts specifically, but it’s certainly a good idea to have something to listen to (you know with the whole “immerse yourself in every way with the language” thing)! Sooooo here’s what I found after a quick Google search:

There’s this series of language podcasts called [Language]Pod101.com, and here is the Polish one on the iTunes website 

Here is a forum about podcasts in Polish with various suggestions that I will allow you to peruse

Radio LIngua is a pretty cool podcast producer, and here’s their Polish one

Other than that, here are some other Polish resources besides the obvious Wikipedia pages, Wikibooks, Memrise and such

http://www.languagesgulper.com/eng/Polish.html (pretty cool for an intro)

http://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/languages/polish.html

http://www.101languages.net/polish/

Here’s a Polish dictionary! http://pl.thefreedictionary.com/

When you get pretty good, you can give some radio stations a try! http://www.listenlive.eu/poland.html

[linguaphilioist]

La Trahison - Betrayal

il a été pris en flagrant délit - he was caught red-handed

en vouloir á qqn - to have a grudge against someone/to be mad at someone (“Il en veut au…” / “Tu m’en veut?”)

de façon involantaire - involuntarily/accidentally

les attitudes qui sévissent - attitudes which are common/widespread

il les malmenait - he was leading them astray

se culpabiliser - to feel guilty

trahir - to betray

dénouncer - to denounce

collaborer - to collaborate/work with

se venger - to get revenge

le traitre - traitor

la dénonciation - denounciation

la collaboration - the act of collaborating

le collaborateur - a person who collaborates

In french, you usually have positive feelings towards someone (Il est heureux envers…) but negative feelings against someone (Il est fache contre…)

[spanishskulduggery]

yoooquierotacobell answered: Hi! What exactly does “tanto” mean, and how do you use it?

The word tanto in Spanish has a few applications. It’s related to tan which is “as”. So tanto is “as much” or “so much”.

Uhh… tan is to tanto what muy is to mucho. Which means that tanto can be masculine, feminine, or plural… and plural can be masculine or feminine.

In other words, tanto can work as an adjective just like mucho.

The most common application is “so much” or “(so) many”.

Hay tanta gente… - There are (so) many people…

Hay tantos hombres… - There are (so) many men…

Hay tantas mujeres… - There are (so) many women…

Tenemos tanta comida. - We have so much food.

Tengo tanto trabajo. - I have so much work.

Tengo tanto miedo. - I am so afraid. [lit. “I have so much fear”]

Tantas veces… - So many times…

Te quiero tanto. - I love you so much.

The other way that tanto is used as just tanto is in various phrases or idiomatic expressions. These are learned as you go pretty much.

Me gusta español tanto como inglés. - I like Spanish just as much as English.

Voy a mantenerte al tanto. - I’ll keep you up to speed.

Entretanto… / Entre tanto… - Meanwhile…

Por (lo) tanto… - Therefore / In as much…

tanto como sea posible - as much as possible

tanto mejor - so much the better | tanto peor - so much the worse

Tanto más haces… - The more you do…

Tanto menos haces… - The less you do

Tanto a mí como a ellos… - Me as much as them…

Nos importa la salud, tanto la mía como la de mis hermanos. - Health is important to us, mine as much as my siblings.

It has so many different applications, that it’s more a case by case basis, but WordReference or www.linguee.es might be able to help you see tanto in action better.