For the love of language

Anna | 24 | Canada | main: orchid--fire | LANGUAGES: English (N), ASL (C1), Spanish (B2-C1), French (B1), German (B1), Portuguese (A2-B1), Norwegian (A0-A1) | Interested in: Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Icelandic, Turkish

[orchidfire--lang]

Goals for May

So it looks like I may very likely be staying in a Spanish-speaking country for a few months starting in June for work.... so it looks like my language goals are changing!

My original plan was to focus most of my energy on Italian this month, but it looks like that due to these new circumstances, I’ll be switching it out for Spanish! My level is already quite advanced, but I’m hoping to take it even further and even brushen up on it a bit.

With that being said, here are are my updated goals for May:

🇨🇴

Focus: Speaking & Vocabulary

~ Take one iTalki lesson a week (or every other week)

~ Attend one (or two) online exchange groups a week

~ Read every morning

~ Write a journal entry for the month

~ Analyze a poem (may do this with an iTalki tutor)

~ Refresh myself on the idiomatic expressions and slang I’ve learned so far

~ Learn one new idiomatic expression a week

🇧🇷

Focus: Speaking

~ Attend online exchange group on Saturdays

~ Read from Brazilian Portuguese for Beginners every Friday or Saturday

~ Write one journal entry

🇮🇹

Focus: Writing

~ Learn how to use “ormai” and “magari” correctly

~ Read from Short Stories in Italian for Beginners once a week

~ Continue daily morning routine with Busuu (and maybe Online Italian Club?)

~ Also write one journal entry

🇩🇪, 🤟🏻, 🇫🇷: maintenance

No goals for 🇷🇺; just work on it whenever I feel like it

And that’s it! As for the quarterly updates, I’m not sure if I’ll be sticking to them, as my plans tend to fluctuate every month. So instead of quarterly goals, I’ll be setting them monthly instead!

What are your goals for this month? Let me know! Happy language learning 😄 ~ Anna

[orchidfire--lang]

Update on 2021 Goals

Now that we’re in May, I figure I should give an update on the language goals I set out in January:

~ March was undoubtedly the best month for my German. I had 7 iTalki lessons with a tutor throughout the month (around 2 lessons a week), and her lessons were perfect! We had several interesting conversations and honestly I feel so much more comfortable with my German speaking abilities.

~ Since January I’ve attended an online Portuguese speaking group at least once a month, sometimes twice!

~ I returned to Italian! I decided after a long break of no learning or practicing to come back and refresh it, which started sometime in March. Since school ended near the end of April I’ve been having an intensive active study week for Italian, and I already had my first iTalki lesson on May 4!

~ Norwegian was dropped, I realized that it’s too much to handle now that I’m focused on Italian and improving my already higher-level languages. But I still love it and will definitely come back to it, maybe in a few months or next year!

~ I promised myself I wouldn’t do this, but I did... I started dabbling in Russian! It’s only been 2 months of learning and I only know a couple phrases, so for now it’s not a serious project.

[orchidfire--lang]

Language Goals 2021

I’ve decided not to focus on levels this year, so I won’t be saying “I want to go from A2 to B1” or “B2 to C1,” etc. I want to achieve specific skills for each language, using a variety of resources to achieve it.

I’m also not going to be too harsh on myself this year. Last year I’d feel bad if I missed a day or two of study, an exchange meetup, etc. But if I have to miss something language-related due to school, my mental health, my personal life, etc., then so be it. That it’s okay and healthy to have breaks.

I’m also not going to be projecting goals for the entire year, and instead change them every 3 months or so, with each month coming back to my goals and changing them up if I want to. So for example, I’ve already decided to have French, Portuguese, and Norwegian as my primary focus languages from January-March, but of course will still be working on/maintaining the others.

If anything, these goals are a general guideline.

My Goals:

🤟🏻: No goals except to continue with everything I was doing this year. Attend my interpreting classes, receive feedback through there, and attend online Deaf events as often as I can

🇨🇴: I already have a level of fluency, but I want to move into the more advanced level. That means speaking weekly or twice a week with groups, journaling once or twice a month, completing a novel, make a video in the language, and (maybe) taking italki lessons once a month. I also want to write an essay on a social topic I find interesting, we’ll see how that goes

🇫🇷: Complete the Busuu B1 and B2 courses, sound more fluent in conversation, speaking weekly with an online group, journaling once or twice a month, finish a novel, make a video in the language, and (maybe) take an italki lesson a month (at least from January-February). Also really want to familiarize myself with idioms

🇩🇪: My goal mainly is to keep climbing through the intermediate plateau. I’ve completed the B1 course on Deutsch-Welle, now my plan is to go through and complete the B2 course on there. I will also be using the book Enjoy German when I come back to focus on the language, attend a monthly online speaking group, finish a novel, and (maybe) have some italki lessons during the year (if expenses allow)

🇧🇷: My goal is to work through and complete the B2 course on Busuu, and use Readlang on a daily basis (at least from January-March). I also want to finish the book Short Stories in Brazilian Portuguese, make a video in the language, journal once or twice a month, and again, we’ll see if italki happens. I also want to familiarize myself with idioms and reduce the mix-up between Portuguese and Spanish

🇳🇴: My plans aren’t too high, as I’ve just started in December 2020. My objective is solid beginner, which means being able to have a basic conversation about myself, my personal life, my family, my nationality, my interests, etc. To do this I will be completing these daily: a lesson from the book Mystery of Nils, 15 minutes of Duolingo, and at least one video. I’d also like to film a short video in the language in February or March to document my progress

As for 🇮🇹, it is now on hold. However, I do want to come back to it one day, I’m not sure if that will be in 2021, or maybe 2022. We’ll see how the year goes.

I have a lot going on not just in languages but my life in general for this next year, so I doubt that I will be picking up or dabbling in any new languages (besides Norwegian, which is still relatively new) for the year.

[orchidfire--lang]

September Update & October Goals

~Some HUGE things (for me) that I did in September~

German:

-I attended a virtual meeting with a language exchange group, entirely in German! Speaking terrifies me in language learning, but this meeting showed me that I’m much more conversationally fluent than I thought I was. I still have a LONG way to go, but this was huge for me!

-I also made it halfway through my B1 course, finishing a lesson every other day

-I also wrote a journal entry this month, which I didn’t set out to do, but am glad I did!

Spanish:

-As I promised to myself, I attended language exchange groups (almost) every week, which again is a big deal for me

-I exposed myself to the language everyday

-I had a goal to write at least 1-2 journal entries in Spanish this month... unfortunately, I ended up writing 0

French:

-I set out a looot of goals for French in September and honestly... I didn’t achieve most of them

-I still need to work on listening to faster-spoken dialogue

-I didn’t complete a story on Parlez-vous FRENCH? per week, as I set out to do (listening + answering questions)

-I did attend maybe one or two meet ups during this month, but didn’t attend them consistently

ASL:

-I’m currently in an ASL-English Interpretation degree program, and half of my classes are Deaf-run and conducted in ASL

-I attended one meet up this month and consumed ASL content regularly in my free time

-But again, most of my exposure and output of ASL was through my program

~My Goals for October~

Focus: German, Spanish, Portuguese

German:

- Attend at least one meet up this month (attendance already confirmed!)

- Write at least 1-2 journal entries this month

- Finish 4 more units of online DW B1 course

Spanish:

- Attend meet ups on a weekly basis

- Work with an iTalki tutor at least once this month (already confirmed for a future lesson!)

- Write at least 1-2 journal entries this month

Portuguese:

- Write at least 1-2 journal entries this month

- 20 minutes of Duolingo review every morning

- 20 minutes of a podcast daily

- Record a video of self speaking once in the month

I’m not setting any goals for ASL, Italian, or French this month, and likely for November too. ASL because I’m already set thanks to my academic program, and Italian because it’s not my priority right now and I already have a plan to come back to it in December. As for French, I’m very lost on what my goals even are for this language, and honestly it’s also not a priority right now. I am also setting it to December, re-evaluating my goals (when I have the time, of course), brushing it up, and (hopefully) becoming more advanced!

I am resisting the STRONG urge to starting Russian, which I have already been dabbling in here and there. I want to start it in December or January, but then may instead push it to Spring 2021... we’ll see. Once I achieve my goals in December with French and Italian, I MAY very likely start learning Russian officially... I’m so excited! :D

[cadaverkeys]

really it is wild that sign language exists and is perfectly accessible and yet its not a taught second language in schools

[linguisten]

really it is wild that sign languages exist and people still think they are all just one

[mexisco]

Mexican sayings everyone should live by:

“Mejor solo que mal acompañado” = “It’s better to be alone than in bad company” (normally refers to romantic relationships).

“Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres” = “Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are” (it means that you should be careful who you’re friends with because their attitudes or ideals might rub off on you).

“Agua que no has de beber, mejor déjala correr” = “Water that you won’t drink, it’s better to let it run” (if you can’t control something, it’s better to let it go).

“No mates pulgas a balazos” = “Don’t kill fleas with gunshots” (it means that you shouldn’t waste your time or effort in things that aren’t worth it).

“Ni tanto que queme al santo, ni tanto que no lo alumbre” = “Not too much so that it burns the saint, but not too little so that it doesn’t give him some light” (basically, it means it’s equally as bad to suffer from excesses than from insufficiency).

“Dime de qué presumes y te diré de qué careces” = “Tell me what you brag about and I’ll tell you what you’re lacking” (it aludes to the fact that most of the times the things people brag about the most are the things they are the most insecure about).

“Más sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo” = “The devil is wiser because of his age, than for being the devil” (it means that knowledge and wisdom normally come with age and experience).

“Donde come uno, comen dos” = “Where one can eat, two also can” (meaning that you should never be greedy, and you should always share what you have).

“Cuando el río suena, es que agua lleva” = “When you can hear the river running, it’s because it’s carrying water” (it means that if you are suspicious about something, there’s probably a good reason for you to be).

“Donde hubo fuego, cenizas quedan” = “Where there was fire, ashes remain” (aluding to the fact that if a person has history with someone, you can never erase that).

“Entre broma y broma, la verdad se asoma” = “Between jokes, the truth shows itself” (meaning that if someone says something repeatedly “as a joke” it probably carries some truth).

And of course “barriga llena, corazón contento” = “full stomach, happy heart” (good food will always make everything better).

[tieflang]

Please like/reblog if you are a langblr that studies Japanese, American Sign Language, or Spanish (Latin American Spanish is preferred). I'm in need of finding more langblrs to follow for inspiration! :)

[learnelle]

Here are some of my unusual ways of studying German! I hope this helps some of you out✨

Mentioned Blogs : @learngermanblog / @mutant-german / @ich-bin-der-baer / @myhoneststudyblr / @crazy-languages / @weltreise / @langsworldmemes01 / @productive-tips / @studyblr-support

[orchidfire--lang]

July-August 2020 Goals

I’ve been pretty quiet in the online language learning community these past few months, I’m still trying to figure out what and how often I want to post on here. Plus, life has been a bit crazy and I haven’t been able to focus on languages as much. But I’m hoping that will change! Now that I’m settled into a routine, I’m ready to set out my language learning goals for the summer! 

I’m going to attempt posting on this blog bi-weekly updating you guys on my progress, we’ll see how that goes! 

My focus languages for the next 2 months are Spanish and German, but I am also looking to revive my rusty/barely-touched French, and simply maintain ASL. As for Italian and Portuguese I’m just hoping to have fun with them; I want to take them more seriously soon, but not now.

~ SPANISH: Fully master the subjunctive tense, journal weekly, and attend weekly online language exchanges and/or find a penpal! Speaking is a huge fear of mine so I’m really hoping to overcome it!

~ GERMAN: Complete my online B1 course by the end of the summer. To do this, I’m aiming to complete 2 lessons per day, or even 1 depending on the lesson’s length. Also, go over 1 lesson in grammar textbook per day (for a new concept or review).

~ FRENCH: Review tricky grammar concepts, master the subjunctive tense, and listen to one advanced-level story per week along with exercises (from a great website I found that has audio stories in French, along with comprehension questions to go with them). 

~ ITALIAN & PORTUGUESE: Like I said, I’m not taking these two languages too seriously this summer. Thus, I don’t have any set goals or plans for either one of them. My goal is to simply keep contact with these languages, ie., podcasts, shows, YouTube, journaling, etc., as frequently as possible.

And that’s it! Hopefully by making these goals public, it will encourage me to maintain consistency with them. So, what are your language goals for the summer? Are we studying any of the same languages? Let me know!

~ Anna / orchidfirelang

[miileskine]

this is the realest shit i’ve ever read

[miileskine]

all the french in the notes are like

[journeyduringthelife]

How I made my German teacher be productive- Part 1.

Ich bin hier, um Deutsch zu lernen.

Ich bringe dir Deutsch bei, damit du fließend  spricht. beibringen-  to teach fließend-  fluently The difference between um….zu and damit :  -  We use um… zu , when we mustn’t change the object. - We use damit when we can change object.( Ich and du as it is shown in the example) Ich glaube, dass es Aliens gibt, weil das Universum riesig ist. riesig- huge dass- that weil-  because Ich glaube, dass es Aliens gibt, denn das Universum  ist riesig . denn-  because.

The difference between weil/ denn: -  We use the inverse word-order after weil   and  direct  word-order after denn. - We always need a sentence before denn, for instance  “Ich glaube, dass es Aliens gibt”.  It’s not necessary for weil. -  We can start sentence with weil Zum beispiel: - Warum glaubst du, dass es Aliens gibt. -Weil das Universum riesig ist.   obwohl- even though trotzdem-  still/ in spite of that   Ich esse, obwohl  ich keinen Hunger habe. Ich habe keinen Hunger, aber trotzdem  esse ich. ODER :  Ich habe keinen Hunger,  aber  ich esse trotzdem. trotz + Genetive-  in spite of Trotz des schlechten Wetters, bin ich draußen . Draußen- outside Dank + Dative- thanks to Dank der Sonne, bin ich braun/ gebrännt

Als ich ein Kind war, war ich süß. Ich war süß, als ich ein kind süß war. während + Genetiv/Dativ-   during/ while Während des Krieges (dem Krieg), sind viele Leute  gestorben.* Während dieses Woche , arbeite ich. Der Krieg- war Krieg bis aufs Messer- war to the last drop of one’s blood sterben- to die stirbt-starb-ist gestorben das Messer- knife Wegen+ Gentive/Dativ-  because of Wegen des Regens  (dem Regen)  bin ich zuhause geblieben.* Wegen der Bahn   bin ich zu spät gekommen. In the examples (*), we use Dativ mündlich (orally ).

[germanenthusiast]

Verstärkungswörter / Strengthening words

absolut - absolute/absolutely

total - total/totally

völlig - complete/completely

vollkommen - complete/completely

äußerst - extreme/extremely

überaus - extreme/extremely

brutal - brutally

irre - insane/crazy

entsetzlich - horrible/horribly

grässlich - awful/awfully

widerlich - disgusting

riesig - huge

furchtbar - frightful/frightfully

fürchterlich - dreadful/dreadfully

leidenschaftlich - passionately

großartig - awesome

unheimlich - uncanny

sehr, sehr - very, very

hoch- - high

ausgesprochen - decidedly

wahnsinnig - crazy

immer alles ganz - always the same

schrecklich - terribly

phantastisch - fantastic

ehrlich - honestly

bestimmt - great

sicher - certain/certaintly

sicherlich -certain/certaintly

echt - real

toll - great

prima - super

klasse - great

Spitze - top

bestimmt - certainly

wirklich - really

super - super

extrem - extreme/extremely

arg - very

verdammt - damn

ziemlich - somewhat

unverschämt - outrageous/outrageously

[gofollowthenewkindofapolyglot]

FAMILY MEMBERS IN BULGARIAN

I find the amount of terms for different family members we have very interesting and, quite frankly, a bit unnecessary, so I decided to share some of the weird words we have.

First of all - the close family members:

ма̀йка - mother

баща̀ - father

син - son

дъщеря̀ - daughter

брат - brother

сестра̀ - sister

ба̀ба - grandmother

дя̀до - grandfather

внук - grandson

вну̀чка - granddaughter

братовчѐд - cousin (m)

братовчѐдка - cousin (f)

плѐменник - nephew

плѐменница - niece

And now comes the fun part - the complicated terms! Even natives often mess these up:

снаха̀ - if you have a son, this is your son’s wife

зет - if you have a daughter, this is your daughter’s husband

тъст - if you are a man and are married to a woman, this is her father to you

тъ̀ща - if you are a man and are married to a woman, this is her mother to you

свѐкър - if you are a woman and are married to a man, this is his father to you

свекъ̀рва - if you are a woman and are married to a man, this is his mother to you

сват - your child’s partner’s father

сва̀тя - your child’s partner’s mother

чѝчо - your father’s brother

чѝнка/стрѝнка - your father’s brother’s wife

лѐля - your mother or father’s sister (aunt)

сва̀ко - your aunt’s husband

ву̀йчо - your mother’s brother

ву̀йна - your mother’s brother’s wife

дѐвер - your husband’s brother

шу̀рей - your wife’s brother

балдъ̀за -  your wife’s sister 

зъ̀лва - your husband’s sister

баджана̀к - this is the husband of your wife’s sister 

етъ̀рва - this is the wife of your husband’s brother

[phaenomenon-tenebris]

Rare words in portuguese [BR]

Today, I came to bring some rare words in the Portuguese which has a beautiful meaning and I particularly love the sonority. I hope you like it ♡ (And sorry if my english sucks)

Perene — Immortal, that lasts forever

Lirismo — Exaltation of personal feelings

Taciturno — Characteristic of those who speak little; draft: taciturn student. Who is funereal or who remembers thoughts about death.

Tênue — Fragile; Weak.

Ocaso — Sunset

Ígneo — Property of fire; which is fire or resembles it; Produced by or resulting from the action of fire. “Electrolysis”; Fig. full of enthusiasm; burning, inflamed. “Temperament”.

Seral — Something that belongs at night or relative to night;

Pérvio — What gives way; passable

Ustular — Burn lightly

Eloquência — The beauty of expressing yourself.

[gvancal]

Let’s Learn Japanese! Through Sentences #7

Key Word: 人

人 represents a side view of a person

①   あの人の手は小さいです。

        That person’s hands are small.

あの＝that

人（ひと）＝man; person

手（て）＝hand; arm​

小（ちい）さい＝small; little; tiny

②    男性であれ、女性であれ、人間としての権利は同じはずだ。

         Whether one is a man or a woman, one’s rights as a human being should be the same.

男性（だんせい）＝man; male

女性（じょせい）＝woman; female

人間（にんげん）＝human being; person; man;

として＝as (i.e. in the role of); for (i.e. from the viewpoint of)

権利（けんり）＝right; privilege

同（おな）じ＝same; identical; equal; 

はずです＝be supposed or expected to (do); be sure to (do); ought to (do)

③     キムさんは韓国人だ。　

           Mr. Kim is Korean.

キム＝Kim (surname)

さん＝Mr.; Mrs.; Miss; Ms.; -san​

韓国人（かんこくじん）＝South Korean person.

④      蚊がこの病気をうつす。

           Mosquitoes transmit this disease to people.

蚊（か）＝mosquito

この＝this​

病気（びょうき）＝illness

うつす＝to infect​;

Afficher davantage

[paintedbluw]

Hi!🌸✨

I want more language-related content in my feed, so reblog if you’re an active langblr who posts about French, Finnish, Korean, Russian, Spanish or Norwegian and I’ll follow you!

[multilingual-masha]

Speaking another language is like gaining a new you, you have a new mindset, a new personality, a new way to express yourself. You’re able to reach into a new culture and see a whole new side to how life can be. Speaking another language gives you a gift that being monolingual cannot ever offer. It’s worth it. No matter what language you are learning, no matter what people say, no matter your reason it’s worth it.