naja...

mia // german langblr with climate science tendencies // i follow from torunarigha

[torunarigha]

gerade höre ich fast nur kraftklub (bin komplett von denen bessessen lol) und zwar so sehr, dass sie ständig in meinem kopf spielt. deswegen brauche ich dringend neue deutsche musik empfehlungen !!!

[liebelesbe]

my favorite prefix in german is "er-", meaning "to death" <3

[liebelesbe]

trinken -> to drink | ertrinken -> to drown

schießen -> to shoot | erschießen -> to shoot to death

würgen -> to choke | erwürgen -> to choke someone to death

stechen -> to sting | erstechen -> to stab to death

etc etc :]

[german-enthusiast]

*stechen -> to stab (as well, not just sting)

schlagen -> to hit | erschlagen -> slay (also: overwhelm)

drücken -> to press | erdrücken -> to crush

etc.

[daylightsavingcrime]

Completive transitive "er-" my beloved! It has a less productive counterpart in non-lethal transitive "an-".

anschießen -> to shoot non-fatally

anfahren -> to hit (but not run over) with a vehicle

[brandybradyrandyandyndy]

source

[gothhabiba]

men make it absolutely impossible to practice humility

[gothhabiba]

what you say: “I think this is the case”

what men hear: “I have no idea whatsoever, but here’s a totally random guess”

what you say: “I’m not an expert on this subject”

what men hear: “I don’t know anything about this subject and need its bare fundamentals explained to me”

what you say: “I could be better read in this area”

what men hear: “I have never read anything in this area”

[gothhabiba]

like okay fuck it nevermind I’m actually an expert in every subject I’ve ever read or heard about. in fact I know everything.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

If anyone's ever wondering why I come across as such an arrogant bitch on Tumblr it's because I used to work in science with a lot of men and never readjusted my communication style afterward.

[respectissexy]

This is one of my biggest seemingly low-stakes feminist soapboxes. Women are often encouraged to take hedging, consensus-seeking, and checking-in phrases out of their speech in order to seem "more confident". And listen, of course you do not need to say "I think" when you actually know for pretty damn sure, or double-check every little thing you say, or apologize for things that are out of your control.

But there are men in my life who I respect, who I think are generally good communicators, but who have admitted to me that if they do not know the answer to something they will just state their best guess in a confident tone of voice, with no hedging or clarification to warn the listener that what they just said was pulled from their ass.

I once asked my high school boyfriend what noise a platypus makes and he confidently told me "oh they quack" and I said "really? that seems like they'd have different noise-making structures than ducks since they're not birds" and he said "oh yeah you're probably right. I was just guessing." And had no idea why I was mad! I was like, so if I ask you a question you might just bullshit me?? What if I had believed you and gone and repeated that to other people? I could have looked like an idiot. I could have spread misinformation to a ton of people! But I have told that story to other men and had them say "oh yeah I totally do that."

This is so much worse communication than just saying "I don't know but I think..." There shouldn't be campaigns training professional women to sound "more confident," there should be campaigns training professional MEN to stop doing whatever THAT is!

[gothhabiba]

[ID: Chidi Anagonye from The Good Place saying “okay, but that’s worse. You do see how that’s worse, right?” End ID.]

[ctrsdoesart]

Meine Mutter hat sich beschwert, dass sie, wenn sie nach WhatsApp-Grußbildern sucht, nur KI-Müll bekommt, deswegen hab ich ein paar gezeichnet.

Könnt ihr gerne nutzen, wenn ältere Verwandten euch ein Guten Morgen schicken Hahaha

[pizzasoup42]

Die sind echt Klasse ich muss die tolle Idee selbst erweitern

[orofeaiel]

A Dramatic October Sunrise

[logogreffe]

Great advice in the comment section of this video!

[sims4blob]

if you don't know what you're saying then how is it helpful? or am I misunderstanding?

[logogreffe]

No no ! You need to understand what you're saying, but you should not be thinking about grammar/word order or conjugaison. You've learned the sentence as a whole/ a template. I'm not sure I'm explaining it well. It's shadowing, you're basically only ever using sentences you've heard before

[german-enthusiast]

utilizing chunks is a big part of being able to speak and write a language fluently!

and chunks come in various sizes! starting at "ein bisschen" (a little) or "noch nicht" (not yet), to "meiner Meinung nach" (in my opinion), to half-sentences like "ich denke, dass ...." (i think that) or "Ist dir __ oder __ lieber?" (Do you prefer __ or __?) and bigger ones: "etwas im Auge behalten" (lit.: to keep sth. in the eye; to keep sth. in view/mind, to follow up on sth)

native speakers use chunks all. the. time. themselves (unknowingly), because that takes up way less cognitive energy than constructing every part of every sentence bottom-up! and most daily conversations are script-heavy anyway! Think about how much variation there is in talks to cashiers, passersbys, etc — not much!

You may and should utilize set phrases in language learning; you do not have to reinvent the wheel every time you want to express yourself (and think hard about every word and inflection). You're absolutely allowed to use parts of or whole sentences you've picked up (and/or modifying them to fit your needs -> templates)

For more info on Chunks, you could start by checking out the Cambridge paper "Learning Language in Chunks" (the first half is about chunks in general, the second half is teaching-focused, but still informative!)

[dreamsy990]

i saw someone say nobody needs to know what a .txt file is anymore. what the fuck is the world coming to

[dreamsy990]

unironically i think we need to bring back computer labs because APPARENTLY some people WERENT taught basic computer literacy and internet safety in school

[dreamsy990]

things about computers/the internet i think kids should be formally taught in schools because theyre important to know and the amount of soon to be grown adults i know who know NOTHING about any of these is quite frankly almost all of them (and resources to learn if you dont know these things, because its never to late to get better with computers)

how to troubleshoot by yourself when you have a technical problem

what common file types are

some very basics on how to use ""developer tools"" on your computer (because i cant think of a better way to refer to them) like task manager and command prompt (and their mac equivalents, terminal and activity monitor ofc)

how to read and understand a privacy policy and what your personal data is, as well as what it being collected actually means and steps you can take to keep it private

how to understand terms of service (hey. if you have trouble with reading legalese and worry about being able to understand these policies anyways, here's a site that gives basic summaries of privacy policies and ToS)

what a cookie actually is

internet privacy and your digital footprint!! seriously i dont know why we stopped teaching people that they shouldnt be putting their entire real identity online in a world where your online actions can ruin you irl

basic safety measures like antivirus software (and why you should use it or if the built in one on windows or mac is enough for you) and backing up your computer (also a mac guide)

common keyboard shortcuts (and on mac)

as an additional note: things i think everyone should know on computers and the internet but schools may bit hesitant to teach about for whatever moral/legal standards schools pretend to operate on

vpns and adblockers! (btw for most of these where you can pay for things im purposefully not recommending any specific software but seriously just use ublock origin for an adblocker)

how to not get a virus while pirating something

what a temporary email is and when to use one

red flags that you shouldn't trust a website (and how to quickly check the security of a site)

what javascript on a website does and how to disable it to get around paywalls

[dreamsy990]

ok one last addition! if you want to take it one level higher, i think learning the very basics of at least one programming language is good for people. it makes computers less scary and it makes you feel very cool, and a lot of people get discouraged about it because it seems overly complicated and hard to learn outside a formal classroom setting, so heres some resources for learning the very basics of python (because i consider it the easiest language to learn and knowing one language will make it easier to learn others)

an online compiler so you dont need to download anything or worry about running code directly on your computer if that makes you nervous

a basic video guide to introduce you to python and walk you through beginner steps

a guide to some syntax and commands you should know (this was literally my lifeline in my first CS class)

some performance tasks to give you things to code to practice and assess yourself

[nubbsgalore]

grizzly bears in denali national park feed on berries, which grow every autumn from alaska’s otherwise barren tundra landscape, to fatten up for the winter. in order to meet their nutritional requirements, the bears will consume upwards of 200,000 berries in a single day. the plants with the red leaves produce blueberries. 

(x, x, x, x, x, x, x)

[cassiopeia404]

hey! im currently learning german in college and want to immerse myself more in the language. i would love if anyone has any recommendations for songs (or any other media, i just listen to music a lot) that are in german, and i will check them out. thanks! :P

[animentality]

[justalexx-things]

Wer erklärt denn jetzt dem Herrn Bundeskanzler, dass in Sonnenmilch keine Milch ist? Was ist mit den Kinderriegeln? Da sind keine Kinder drinnen!! Was ist mit Goldbären? DAS SIND DOCH KEINE BÄREN! Und Lakritzschnecken? Wo sind die Schnecken??? Und verwechselt bloß nicht Zahnpasta mit Pesto. UND Fleischtomaten beinhalten gar kein Fleisch. Und Baby Karotten beinhalten überhaupt keine Babys! Und in Bärchenwurst ist überhaupt kein Bär! Und in Kinder Pingui sind weder Kinder noch Pinguine!! Müssen Zimtschnecken jetzt aus Schnecken zubereitet werden, damit sie weiter Zimtschnecken heißen dürfen? *kaddi voice* Ich bin noch nicht sicher, ob ich Ihre neue Richtlinie richtig verstanden habe, Herr Merz. Herr Merz, ich finde Ihre Richtlinie sehr verwirrend! Das müssen Sie mir bitte nochmal genauer erklären, Herr Merz! Herr Merz, das hab ich noch nicht ganz verstanden!

[sometiktoksarevalid]

[german-enthusiast]

hey so i have a question about pronunciation. with words ending in -g like richtig, in my classes my teacher pronounces it with a hard g like the g in game. but on duolingo, i have only heard it pronounced as rish-tish (idk if this conveys the sound im talking about but its similar to this). are both of those right?

hi there!

you've got a good ear and recognized a major regional variant!

-ig is pronounced as "-ich"/"-ik"/"-isch" depending on region

The Atlas deutscher Alltagssprache provides this map:

So yes, all options are valid (only the -isch one is evidently rarer than the other two)

p.s.: a fun-fact: you think you hear it as a "hard g" with your teacher, because it's spelled with a g, but if they're a native, they're certainly making a k-sound. How can I be so sure? In German, a syllable (and thus a word) may never end in an voiced (de: stimmhaft) consonant, but instead must be unvoiced (de: stimmlos). k is the unvoiced velar plosive, g the voiced velar plosive. The same goes for the word "Hund" (dog) which is spelled with a d but we actually say "hunt", yet the plural "Hunde" we do pronounce with a d, because there the d is not the end of the syllable :)

-> this is called Auslautverhärtung

(this is also part of what makes a lot of Germans sound so german when they are speaking English)

__

fixed a word mixup that said the exactly opposite thing, thanks @ben-learns-smth for catching that!

[ruhua-langblr]

Duolingo Sucks, Now What?: A Guide

Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:

"I just want an identical experience to DL"

Busuu (Languages: Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Korean)

"I want a good audio-based app"

Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)

"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"

Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)

Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)

*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.

"I have a pretty neat library card"

Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)

Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)

"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"

AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)

"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"

AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone

"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"

lingory

"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"

ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)

"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"

Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)

[zegalba]

Lenticular Clouds

Altocumulus Lenticular clouds are stationary clouds that form mostly in the troposphere, typically in parallel alignment to the wind direction. They are often comparable in appearance to a lens or saucer. Nacreous clouds that form in the lower stratosphere sometimes have lenticular shapes.

[ihatecispeople]

i love it actually when nonnative speakers make mistakes that reveal how their native languages work.

lots of koreans online say they "eat" drinks which would assume they only have one word which covers the concept of consumption.

arabic immigrants in sweden (my mother included) have a hard time differentiating between "i think/i believe/my opinion is" which suggests that in arabic these different modalities of speaker agency is treated as one or at least interchangeable.

swedish speakers in english will use should/shall/have to/must with much higher nuance precision than native english speakers, to the point where they sound well awkward, because the distinction between these commands in swedish is much clearer than in english. i make mistakes between is/am/are and has/have constantly because swedish only has one pronoun covering all grammatical persons.

i've heard speakers of languages without gendered pronouns (finnish, the chinese dialects, and a tonne more) make he/she mistakes because it's hard(!!) to learn two or more gendered pronouns and when to use them correctly.

how neat is that?! it add a charm to international english usage in particular and make our appreciation of both our native languages and our learnt ones stronger...!!

[aandriskobold]

i love this! one thing i notice with a lot of people (native speakers of polish, romanian, french and others) is no differentiation between present simple (i go) and present continuous (I am going), because those languages only have one present tense to cover both. it's so lovely every time i hear it

i always think one of the most fun things about learning languages is that it teaches you how weird your own is! especially english phrasal verbs (the very different meanings of stand up, stand down, stand off, stand up to), or trying to explain the difference between being up to something and being up for something to my french friend. I love it!

[ihatecispeople]

another tag reminded me of how spanish speakers often mix up /v/ and /b/ because in panish they pronounced identically!

I wish more people had the ability to become bilingual because you're right, it makes you understand your own language at a more intimate and analytical level!!

[katakulio]

People whose native language is heavily gendered often apply gendered pronouns to English words that don't have them. For example, my Brazilian sports coach referred to my knee as "she" instead of "it". It's even more interesting when you realise that Old English did have gendered nouns, much like German, and we've essentially lost that entire element of our language.