langspiration

20, nz. linguistics enthusiast

[langspiration]

lmfao i just found out i’m on the spectrum

[staedtlers-and-stabilos]

The four skills are listening, speaking, reading and writing. Don’t be discouraged by slow progress!

Listening

Practice listening! Infants “listen” for more than a year before they can say anything close to “mom” or “dad”. 

Watch videos and listen to music in your language.

Try to recognize words, even sounds. 

Don’t bother trying to understand, just get used to the sound of the language.

When others in class speak, listen for what they say and mentally build images of their answers—in the language itself.

Speaking

Read aloud: think of it as training your mouth to make the new sounds.

Learn a short standard sentence, then substitute vocabulary/

Subject and verbs can change (I am going; you are going; etc.)

Objects can change (I buy a car; I buy a CD; etc.)

In class, if your “answer” does not come to mind, repeat the question in the language.

 Stay in the mind set of the language, giving your brain time to work in the new language.

Reading

Do not read word-by-word, or translate word-by-word.

Prepare yourself for a reading: 

study its vocabulary first; 

review the advance questions.

Then put aside everything and just read, even twice.

Do not look up vocabulary while reading.

Do not write in your text book - separately develop a vocabulary list

Go beyond your textbook!

Children’s books are illustrated and easy to read!

Websites are rich opportunities to explore your hobbies in other languages, 

Read/sing song lyrics of the language!

As you advance, read novels- but read for the story, not vocabulary.

Writing

Some languages have unfamiliar alphabets, so practice!

Write out sentences you have practiced orally.

Carefully construct patterns and then write out the sentences with substitute words–multiple times. 

If you have spell check and the “autocorrect” grammar feature in your word processing, use it!

When you get corrections, re-write them.

Correct what you got wrong, even repeating in order to embed it in your mind.

[sayitaliano]

Some random Italian slang

Com’è? = how is it (going)? How are you? What’s up? Dai = come on / forza / please (according on the tone, i.e. “dai, dimmelo!” = please tell me! // “dai!!” = come on!!) Meno male = luckily Boh = Idk, whatever Magari = maybe / if only / I wish so! (according on the tone, i.e. “magari piaci anche a lui” = maybe he likes you back // magari piovesse! = If only it rained! // ti piacerebbe andare al cinema? - ma magari! = would you like to go to the cinema? - I wish so!/I’d love to!) Che palle = I’m so bored / Oh crap (i.e. “non so che fare oggi, che palle” = Idk what to do today, I’m bored // Che palle, pure la pioggia! = Oh crap, here’s the rain too!) Merda! = Shit! Che figata! = This/that is so cool!! (at times is used also ironically) Basta = Enough Piantala! / Smettila / Adesso basta! = That’s enough, stop it! (piantala = lit.: plant it) Che schifo = This/that sucks Bella merda = it sucks (lit.:nice shit) Mi fa cagare / mi fa schifo = It makes me sick, I’m disgusted (lit.: mi fa cagare= it makes me shit) Vai/Va’ a cagare! (vaffanculo) = go take a shit! , fuck you! Ma sei fuori/sei grullo/sei matto? = Are you crazy / our of your mind? Mollare qualcuno = To break up with somebody Mettersi insieme = To start a relationship, to become a couple (ex. Luca e Maria si sono messi insieme = Luca and Maria became a couple) Ricco sfondato = filthy rich (lit.: limitless rich) Con la testa tra le nuvole = with the head in the clouds Veloce come un razzo = (lit.: as fast as a rocket) extremely fast Amore a prima vista = love at first sight (=lit.) Guastafeste = party pooper, killjoy Gufare = to bring bad luck, to jinx (ex. non gufare! = don’t bring bad luck, especially in sports, you “gufi” the team you want to lose, by saying stuff like “tanto oggi perdete!” = you’ll lose today!) Pisolino = nap Saccente (sapone - masculine / sapona - feminine) = know-it-all, smartass (btw sapone is commonly used for “soap”) Non starmi addosso = Don’t push me / Don’t stress me / Don’t stay on me (=lit.) (i.e = allora hai fatto quela telefonata? - la farò, non starmi addosso = did you make that phone call? - I will, don’t keep asking me/don’t stress me )

Bella! = Hi! Raga / Regaz / Raghi = shorten for ragazzi = Guys ( even as “bella raga” = Ciao ragazzi - pretty famous especially some years ago was the sentence “bella raga tutto rego?” = ciao ragazzi tutto bene (rego = regolare)? = Hi guys is all fine?) Fra’ / Frate’ / Fratello = Bro’ / Brother Sore’ / Sorella = Sister (beware commonly “sorella” is used for nuns) Gente = people / guys

A fagiolo - (lit.:to the bean.) “to the letter.” Quattro gatti -  (lit.:four cats.) really few people. i.e. “nel pub c’erano quattro gatti” = at the pub there were only four cats Avere le batterie scariche - To have a run-down battery  Spettegolare - to gossip Botte da orbi - (lit.:barrels from blinds.) “a knock-down-drag-out.” Uccel di bosco - (lit.:bird of the woods) when you can’t find someone, that person cannot be reached/disappeared to not do something, i.e. if your mum cannot find you to help her clean the house she might say you’re “uccel di bosco” Non sapere che pesci prendere -  (lit.:to not know what fish to take.) to not know what to do. Piove sul bagnato - (lit.:it rains on the wet.) “when it rains it pours.” Cotto a puntino - (lit.:cooked to the little dot.) a meal cooked perfectly  Sei proprio cotto! = You’re so in love! / You are crazy in love! (lit.: you’re cooked for real) Innamorato perso = (lit.: lost in love) crazy in love Da cosa nasce cosa -  (lit.:from thing is born thing.) “one thing leads to another,” Pavoneggiarsi -  (lit.:to peacock oneself.) to show off

(Some more of these sayings can be found on our twitter page)

[laursstudies]

hello hello hellooooo! (or bonjour bonjour bonjouuuur, I must say!)

okay, i’ve had a few messages about learning French soooo I’ve created this masterpost on studying foreign languages! I’ve been learning the French language since I was four and I am now studying French at Higher level and hope this post helps a lot of you!

please note!!!!!!: like any other skill, it takes a lot of dedication and effort to learn a language. it won’t be easy but if you practice a little everyday you will be totally fine!! i’m here if anyone needs a hand x 

reasons to learn another wonderful language

∙        you make lovely friends when u go abroad

∙        it’s like speaking a secret language cause you might be the only one in your friendship group/family that know the language

∙        you can curse under your breath without ur parents knowing??? hahaha bonus

∙        uhhhh it’s fun?

∙        u can get a better job

∙        it makes u feel pretty awesome when you go abroad and understand things

∙        improves your first language (grammar etc. etc. etc.)

∙        gain respect for someone elses culture

∙        u can move/live abroad

∙        the opportunity to do more things abroad with ur extra language skill

∙        there are loads more reasons but it would take up the whole post:)))

so u wanna teach yourself??

∙        bbc languages - choose from 40 languages to self-teach

∙        duolingo - good ole’ duolingo is an amazing smartphone app (and u can use it on ur laptop etc) that lets you teach yourself a language

∙        languages online - more grammar based work on languages that you can do yourself

∙        babbel - online lessons on learning a foreign language - there are 14 to choose from (you get a trial but after that i think you have to pay)

∙        hellotalk - an amazing app on your phone that allows you to speak to people in your target language and you can help them learn English etc. it’s a win win situation guys

∙        101languages – amazing site. just visit it. okay thank u!

∙        polyglot club – meet people just like u who are wanting to learn language!! fun right???

∙        youtube – there are loaaaaads of channels on youtube which help you to learn a language. check out some of these :)))

∙        digital dialects – games based activities for over 70+ languages to choose from to begin learning

∙        forvo – basically this is a dictionary but it pronounces the words for u

∙        lyrics training – this is mainly European languages but you are to fill in the gaps from songs :))

∙        babadum – one of my favourite websites! You can pick and choose which languages you learn, it’s great

∙        livemocha – you can learn and teach people languages

∙        memrise – a fun way to learn vocab

  specific languages

-          spanish

∙       udemy – learn spanish (beginners)

∙       spanishdict

∙       mi vida loca – spanish course for beginners – it’s pretty good!

∙       spanish with paul (youtuber)

∙       fluencia

∙       spanish radio stations

  -          french

∙        bonjour – learn french using this site!! it’s brilllll

∙        francolab

∙        français interactif

∙        vogue – read the French edition of Vogue for reading practice

∙        comme le francais (youtuber) – I watch these videos regularly! They are so helpful with grammar and vocab

∙        ls french

∙        french radio stations

  -          german

∙       deutsch lernen- online lessons on German

∙       der die das – phone app which helps you learn noun genders

∙       mission berlin - german adventure game which helps with vocab

∙       german connection – kids vocab games

∙       germanpod101

∙       german  (duolingo) – everyoneeee knows duolingo, its basically a handy little app that lets u learn loads of languages

  -          russian

∙       russian lessons – videos and activities on learning all things russian

∙       dictionary (russian)

∙       quizlet – revision, games, flashcards and tests on russian

∙       master russian - various activities/topics in russian

∙       bbc: a guide to russian – website to teach you the basics of russian

∙       learn russian

  -          chinese

∙       mandarin lessons –audio clips provided to help u learn chinese??

∙       bbc: learn chinese – website to teach you the basics of chinese/mandarin?? (sorry I don’t speak it)

∙       chinese tools

∙       digital dialects (Chinese) – vocab games

∙       hello world – games to help you learn mandarin

  -          arabic

∙       my easy arabic - learn basic Arabic (including alphabet and vocab)

∙       salaam arabic – beginner or intermediate levels of learning :)))

∙       madinah arabic – online courses in Arabic! They also offer a free 1-hour tutoring session via. Skype

∙       Haliae’s Arabic masterpost - @rockinspired.tumblr.com

    other language masterposts

∙        areistotle - omg i am in love with basically all her masterposts but this is her ‘foreign language learning’ one, it is fab-u-lous!

∙        z-co - this is a masterpost and a half!!

∙        romancing the languages – variety of language resources can be found here!!

∙        language adventurer – maaaaaassiiiiiive language resources masterpost :)))))) I loooove this!

∙        les langues sont ma vie – masterpost of helpful websites to use when studying languages! it is huuuuuge

  extras??? Who doesn’t love those??

·          aesthetically pleasing notes- rewrite notes as revision and make them pretty. it makes them easier to read/come back to

·          listen to the radio (in your target language) – to listen to French, I personally listen to Ado FM (it has the right balance between English and French music/speech)

·          take a break – learning a language takes time remember!! u r constantly learning so chill out sometimes :))

∙       word reference – rather than using Google Translate, try using this app because it tends to be more accurate and requires you to put in a little bit more effort. like a dictionary, only its electronic??? if that makes sense

[ If you need a study buddy or just someone to talk to, give me a message or ask and I’ll help u out!! ]

[studyblr]

[paul-e-glot]

the duo owl was confusing me so i made a handy guide

[blackberrybisexual]

Tips for Speaking Your Target Language(s)

I don’t usually make this kind of post, but I’ve been collecting these ideas on my phone for a long time, so I thought I’d share, since they’ve helped me.

1. Get A Conversation Partner A native or another learner – pretty much anyone who speaks the language to some degree. Make sure this person is nice(ish), so you can speak to them without worrying (too much) about mistakes. If there are speakers in your area, try to get yourself out there and talk to them! If not (or if you don’t feel ready for that yet), try apps or something (HelloTalk, Tandem, etc.) with voice message options so you can actually, you know, speak.

2. Find Non-Judgemental People (Things?) Find someone (something?) to talk to who doesn’t know the language (and therefore can’t judge your mistakes). My 3 year old brother only knows a tiny bit of Mandarin, so I talk to him in it a lot. I also volunteer at a humane society, and speak to the animals in Chinese. (Pets also work well, if you’ve got one.) If you don’t have access to animals or small children, I suppose you could talk to the wall or something. Or an imaginary friend. Idk.

3. Have Shower Conversations This is one you’ve probably heard before, but it actually helps. Just talk to yourself in the shower, in your target language. You have to keep up both sides of a conversation, plus you’ll find any gaps in your knowledge. The shower is a nice, private place (usually) to practice. But if talking in the shower is too weird for you, do it in your bedroom or something. It doesn’t really matter where, as long as you’re practicing.

4. Narrate Your Life (Aloud!) Try to say what you’re doing as you do it. (Or what you want to be doing, it doesn’t have to be realistic.) Again, this forces you to find gaps in your knowledge. Even if it’s as simple as “I am sitting. I am walking. I am eating food.” You’re practicing your speaking skills. If you don’t know the words, look them up and practice those. Try narrating other people’s lives too. (See how long it takes them to catch on.)

5. Say New Words Out Loud This one is pretty self-explanatory. Say new words aloud as you learn them.  Exaggerate it – say it slowly, drag out the sounds, then say it quickly. Then say it normally. Use it in a sentence, even if it’s a really simple sentence. Learned ‘love’? Say ‘I love you. You love him. She loves me.’ Whatever. Just say it, preferably in context. (And make sure you’re saying it correctly! Don’t learn incorrect pronunciations!)

6. Work on Your Pronunciation This seems like a no-brainer, but make it a priority. I’ve kinda failed at this with Swedish, and it’s taking forever to actually learn proper pronunciation. It’s a hard habit to break, but if you want to be understood, you need to know how to pronounce stuff. Especially in tonal languages like Chinese, pronunciation is incredibly important. Learn what rules there are, and practice practice practice. (Forvo is usually pretty helpful for checking your pronunciation.)

7. Learn (and Sing!) Songs I know from experience that singing, whether you’re good at it or not (I’m not), is very helpful for pronunciation. You don’t have to understand all the words, you just need to practice saying them. Focus on saying the words together, not just separately. Do they kind of blend together? Try to mimic that. Try to sound like the singer does, at least in the sense of pronunciation.

8. Read Everything Aloud Remember when you were a little kid and people read books to you? Now you get to do that for yourself, your dog, your imaginary friend, whoever. In your target language. It can be a book, a dialogue, journal entry, song lyrics, anything really. Again, you don’t have to understand all the words. If you can’t sound words out (looking at you, Mandarin) or aren’t sure how to pronounce it, hum and move on. (But remember it and learn how to pronounce it later!)

9. Record Yourself Speaking I know a lot of people hate hearing their recorded voice. I do too. But it’s a requirement for my Chinese class and it’s actually been really beneficial. I read a dialogue, record myself, then listen to it and read along (silently). I figure out what I’m saying incorrectly, then repeat until I’m satisfied. Basically, just record yourself reading something. Then “grade” yourself (but not too harshly). Figure out which words you’re saying wrong, and work on fixing them. It helps.

10. I actually don’t have any more tips right now, ten was just a nicer number than nine.

Anyway, hopefully this is at least a little bit helpful for somebody. Please feel free to add any other tips you might have, as well!

(P.S. - sorry this got so long)

[my-messy-langblr]

Also, if I may add:

Talk to your TV

Put on a TV show or movie (hell, the news works too) that’s in your TL, and respond to what people do/say.

If someone says ‘hello’ on screen, say ‘hello’ back. If a character is entering a (clearly haunted) building, ask them wtf they’re doing, it’s dangerous!

If someone is wearing a nice shirt, say ‘I like your shirt, where did you buy it?’ to them.

At first you’ll feel a bit silly for talking to the TV, but it helps you not only practice your listening skills, but also conversation skills/ expressing your opinions at a more natural conversational speed, without the pressure of having someone waiting for your response.

[blackberrybisexual]

Wow I love this idea thank you!!

[norwegianlearner]

Greetings

Different ways to salute someone:

hei, hallo, halla, halo, heisann, hei hei

hei på deg

hei alle sammen

mårn

takk for sist

god morgen, god dag, god ettermiddag, god kveld

Different ways to ask someone how they are:

+ hva skjer?

- ikke mye.

+ hva skjer’a?

- ikkeno, ass.

+ hvordan går det?

- det går bra, og med deg da?

+ hvordan har du det?

- ikke så verst, du da?

+ sjæl!

+ hvordan står det til?

- takk, bare bra.

+ hva gjør du?

- jeg slapper av.

Different ways to bid someone farewell:

oi, er klokka så mye?

ha det, ha det bra, ha det fint, ha det godt

hei, adjø, farvel

mårna

vi ses, vi sees, vi høres, vi møtes

vi snakkes senere

på gjensyn

god helg

god tur

kos deg, kos dere

god natt, natta

sov godt, drøm søtt

[mot-du-jour]

Hey guys, so today I decided to give you a list of words that French people like to shorten. (And by “like to” I mean “always”)

This is based on the words I use and hear in my everyday life.

Keep in mind that these shortened words are used in the oral language only.

[kstudiys]

Radio Stations for Language Learners Masterpost!

One of the best ways to improve your listening skills in your target language is by listening to various music stations in that language. It’s certainly helped me a lot when it comes to improving my listening (which I used to really suck at, to be honest). With that in mind, I thought about compiling some of my favorites for you guys.

French  

NRJ (www.nrj.fr ) 

Hotmix radio Frenchy (www.hotmixradio.fr/frenchy)

Gold FM (www.goldfm.fr) 

Chante France (https://www.chantefrance.com)

France Inter (https://www.franceinter.fr/) 

Spanish 

AM950 Belgrano (www.am950belgrano.com) 

Sensacion 95.5 (http://www.955sensacionfm.com)

Rock FM (http://www.rockfm.ro) 

Cadena Dial (http://www.cadenadial.com)

ENERGY Latino (http://www.energy.de) Based in Germany

Italian 

R101 Radio (http://www.r101.it/homepage)

Deejay (http://www.deejay.it)

Kiss Kiss (http://www.kisskiss.it)

M20 (http://www.m2o.it/m2o/home)

German

Antenne Frankfurt (http://www.energy.de/digital) 

NDR 2 (http://www.ndr.de/ndr2) 

Radio Nordseewelle (http://radio-nordseewelle.de)

Radio Discofoxhimmel (http://www.discofoxhimmel.de) 

Ö2 Radio Niederösterreich (http://www.orf.at)

Russian 

The Voice of Free Russia (http://freerutube.info)

Kavkaz Radio (http://tunein.com/radio/Kavkaz-Radio-908-s210988) 

Pervoe Radio (http://pervoe.fm)

Narodnoe Radio (http://www.narodnoe-radio.ru)

Portuguese 

Rádio Antena Sul Almodôvar (http://www.antenasul.pt)

Radio Horizonte Algarve (http://www.radiohorizonte.com)

Radioeste (http://www.radioeste.pt)

Norwegian 

Radio Alesund (http://www.radioaalesund.no)

Radio Lyngdal (http://www.radiolyngdal.no)

Kristen Riksradio (http://www.kystradioen.no)

Siddis Radio (http://www.siddisradio.no)

P4 Radio Norge (http://www.p4.no)

Swedish 

Radio Soderhamn (http://www.radiosoderhamn.se)

P4 Sörmland (http://sverigesradio.se/sormland)

Radio Active (http://radioactiveystad.se)

Icelandic 

Bylgjan FM (http://bylgjan.visir.is)

Lindin (https://lindin.is)

Greek 

Iera Arhiepiskopi Kritis (http://www.iak.gr/gr/index.html)

2000 Fm (http://2000fmsamos.blogspot.com)

AIGAIO live (http://aigaiolive.gr/radio) 

Radio Sfera (http://www.sfera.gr) 

Radio Thessaloniki (http://www.rthess.gr)

There are a ton more out there than just all these. Here are just some of my favorites. Enjoy! 

[betopetiches]

RIP Stephen Hawking

[nessunuomo-deactivated20180927]

What do I do in my free time? Italian vocabulary

guardo un film - I watch a movie

guardo una serie tv - I watch a tv show

faccio una passeggiata - I take a walk

vado al cinema - I go to the cinema

vado a teatro - I go to the theatre

leggo un libro - I read a book

scrivo - I write

esco con i miei amici - I go out with my friends

dormo - I sleep

faccio un sonnellino - I take a nap

disegno / dipingo - I draw / paint

costruisco un puzzle - I make a puzzle

ascolto la musica - I listen to music

ballo - I dance

gioco a calcio / pallavolo / basket - I play football / volleyball / basketball

gioco con il mio gatto - I play with my cat

vado a fare shopping - I go shopping

cucino - I cook

cucino dolci - I bake

esploro la città - I explore my city

vado in spiaggia - I go to the beach

[jeparletoutesleslangues]

Colloquial Phrases English ↔ French (an infographic I found on pinterest)

**click to enlarge!**

[paleaged]

me: logs into gmail from a different computer

my phone, having a nervous breakdown: if you don’t confirm your identity in the next ten seconds i’m gonna shoot your whole family and then myself

[detailedart]

[lingolden-deactivated20200629]

Italian Verbs: Compound Tenses [A Guide]

Compound tenses are less frequently used, but still important to know. They all involve one of the more common tenses (imperfect, conditional, etc.) in combination with the verb’s past participle.

Pluperfect:

This tense is used to discuss an event that occurred before another event in the past.

”Ero già andato a letto quando è tornato a casa.” I had already gone to bed when he came home.

Future Perfect:

Used to express something that will happen in the future, but before other actions or events that will happen even further into the future (complicated, i know):

“Mi sarei sposato prima di avere figli.” I will have gotten married before having children.

 Conditional Past:

To convey consequence in a conditional statement:

“Avrei portato il mio ombrello se avessi saputo che sarebbe piovuto.” I would have brought my umbrella if I had known it would rain.

To discuss something that happened or should have happened after an aforementioned event in the past:

“Mia madre mi ha detta che avrebbe preparato dei biscotti.” My mother told me she would bake cookies.

To soften a statement or opinion, making it more polite:

“Io penso che avreste dovuto studare per l’esame.” I think you guys should have studied for the test.

To refer to something that is unconfirmed or supposedly happen, often used by the press:

“Secondo il governo, la disoccupazione sarebbe diminuita lo scorso mese.” According to the government, unemployment went down last month.

Past Anterior:

Like its parent tense, the simple perfect, this tense is usually more limited to formal writing. It’s also always introduced by a conjunction.

“Dopo il presidente ebbe pronunciato il suo discorso, la folla iniziò ad applaudire.” After the president had given his speech, the crowd started applauding.

Conjugations: 

[lingolden-deactivated20200629]

Italian adjectives often have four different forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural. o –> a, i, e, respectively. On the other hand, some adjectives that end in e in their base form are also e for feminine nouns, and change to i in both plural forms. Just posting this as a reference so that you know what to do with the following verbs ;)

Colors:

rosso | red

arancione | orange

giallo | yellow

verde | green

blu | dark blue

azzurro | light blue

viola | purple

rosa | pink

marrone | brown

grigio | gray

nero | black

bianco | white

colorato | colorful

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