Mostly Russianing and Germaning

Langblr. Native Italian and fluent in English (B2/C1). Learning: Русский, Deutsch, Français, Español. Some Japanese but too scared to be serious about it. Shoot me a message if you're interested in learning Italian - I'd be happy to help! Or if you have any questions, my ask box is always open!

[inkecl]

saw this on twitter, thought it might be helpful!

source: alisonykim

[insomniac-arrest]

tumblr: on languages

[alias-milamber]

The thai for “5″ is pronounced roughly “Ha”, and so where english internets would generally put “lol” or something, they put “555555555″.

[drawnsnake]

I was looking for this post for so long

Finally it has returned

[wonderful-language-sounds]

hi! i recently started learning russian and i'm currently tackling conjugation of present tense verbs. i'm wondering if you have any exercise/workbook links to practice it? thank you, hope you have a lovely day!

Hello!

For websites/apps, there are the following:

Russian verb blitz app

Russian verb trainer (paid app)

Cooljugator website

For worksheets/books, there are the following:

The big silver book of Russian verbs PDF

Verb cheatsheet

Verb conjugation sheet by @apamexico

[langblrwhy]

◇ How to improve your knowledge in languages ◇

1 Don’t translate the new words, just use a dictionary, such as you do in your native language.

2 Rewatch movies - because now you can understand the movie, even if you don’t know exactly what are they saying

3 Read Wikipedia™

4 Talk alone

5 Learn your favorite songs and write their lyrics in a paper

6 Read a book or whatever

7 Watch recipes videos to learn food vocabulary

8 Force yourself to consume content even if is boring because you can’t understand what is happening

9 When you’re consuming some content, have an open tab with Google Translator - this makes the movie/book/video more dynamic and less boring

10 Tandem is a free app which allows you to practice your target languages with natives and this is awesome.

[sylviasantelle]

Fruit Vocabulary in Russian

фрукт - fruit

яблоко - apple

абрикос - apricot

банан - banana

ягода - berry

ежевика - blackberry

черника - blueberry

вишня - cherry

клюква - cranberry

кокос - coconut

виноград - grape

грейпфрут - grapefruit

киви - kiwi

лимон - lemon

манго - mango

дыня - melon

апельсин - orange

персик - peach

груша - pear

ананас - pineapple

слива - plum

чернослив - prune

малина - raspberry

клубника - strawberry

арбуз - watermleon

Please let me know if you see any mistakes! 

[haxyr3]

About to

@republicsprodigy reminded me absolutely correctly (Thanks!) that there is another way to say “something is about to happen” in Russian. Instead of an imperfective verb, you may use сейчас + a perfective verb or вот-вот + a perfective verb. 

When you use a perfective verb , you describe an action as an event that has a beginning or/and an end. У меня батарейка садится = it’s a process, it is happening now. Сейчас батарейка сядет or Вот-вот батарейка сядет - there is going to be a moment in the future when the battery will turn dead. This is the difference between imperfective (lasting) and perfective (non-lasting) verbs. 

[ruspeach]

In what situations what cases to use. Nominative case See the English version of a table and other cases here - https://www.ruspeach.com/en/learning/3466/ В каком случае какой падеж использовать. Именительный падеж Смотри английскую версию таблицы и другие падежи тут - https://www.ruspeach.com/learning/3466/ www.ruspeach.com

[ruspeach]

SOUND: https://www.ruspeach.com/en/news/5406/ жарко [zhàrka] - it’s hot Возьми с собой освежающего пингвинчика! Take a refreshing penguin with you! www.ruspeach.com

[how-to-make-mistakes]

Russian equivalents to popular English colloquial expressions

How does one say…

I know, right?

Не то слово! — “that’s not the right word” (=“in fact things are even more *whatever* than you say”)

Не говори! — “don’t (even) say (that)”

Точно!/Именно! — Exactly!

Так и есть — that’s true

Вот-вот! — that’s it!

In the end, Ultimately

В конце концов = “after all”

В итоге — eventually

В конечном счёте

Yeah sure!

Ага, конечно!

Ну да! (intonation significantly goes DOWN, otherwise you’ll just show agreement without any sarcasm)

Ага, щас (distorted сейчас)! — “yeah, right now!”

I’ve had enough!

С меня хватит!/С меня достаточно!

Мне (это) надоело!

Меня это достало! (slang) — I’m sick of it!

Я сыт/а по горло! — I’m fed up; this one is really dramatic

Хватит! — Enough!

So what?

(Ну) и что?

И что с того? — less common now. Probably used to be the first version of the phrase, that got shorter over time.

Nope

Не — Nah

Не-а — Nope

Like

Типа — sort of, kinda

Такой/ая — for ‘someone was like’, ‘and then someone goes’,

ex.: Ну он мне говорит: «Иди домой!»,

а я такой: «Не-а!» —

So he says, “Go home!”, and I go, “Nope!”.

Note: you can use this one for citing, as well as for paraphrasing.

[haxyr3]

what are your favorite Russian singers?

The list is very long! I like the old school Russian rock. Unfortunately, in the past ten years, many of the rock bands soiled themselves in the sinister politic games. I still love Борис Гребенщиков & Аквариум, Пикник, Кино, Башлачёв, ДДТ, Машина времени, Чёрный Кофе…When I was a teenager, I was crazy about Крематорий, but now I can’t stand them - the music is horrible LOl I love some of the Soviet эстрада, too: I think Алла Пугачёва is very talented. I like Браво and Жанна Агузарова. Сергей Минаев is very underappreciated - he is fantastic! 

I like the Russian rock and pop of 2000s in general and still enjoy Нож для Фрау Мюллер and Ундервуд, and the naive trash-pop of 1990-s makes me smile today. Google for the band Фристайл, for example, to get the taste of the Russian pop of 1990… 

I can go on and on - I like all sorts of music, and if it is well-done, I like it even more! 

Thanks for asking!

[haxyr3]

Mr. Freeman - now in English!

Wow, one of the most interesting online projects - a series of cartoons Mr. Freeman (Мистер Фриман) is now available in English! 

Mr. Freeman is “a Russian animated web series named after its main character. The series appeared on YouTube on September 21, 2009 and got considerable popularity in Runet. The main content of the series is monologues which in a harsh manner criticize the lifestyle of modern everyman. (Wikipedia) 

Here is Mr. Freeman in English   And here is the original Mr. Freeman in Russian 

[studyblr]

how to: motivate yourself

create a vision board

a vision board is a collage of pictures and quotes of your dreams, goals, and things that make you happy

the purpose of it is to bring everything on it to life

it should focus on how you want to feel

these visualizations serve as a motivation to achieve said dreams and goals

here’s a helpful wikihow article on how to make one: x

set up a reward system

this one is pretty self-explanatory

remember to reward yourself for reaching small goals, as well

aced your last test? great, it’s time to celebrate!

finished your homework? go eat that chocolate in the fridge!

most often, we don’t see the results of our hard work as soon as we’d like, so you just have to give them to yourself

surround yourself with positivity

may it be inspiring tumblr posts or a supportive group of friends, it’s so important to be around people who are rooting for you!

try to distance yourself from people who want to see you fail, or who don’t believe in you

if that’s not possible, try to see them as an extra motivator: do the thing they think you’re not capable of! prove them wrong!

start small

break big goals down to smaller ones that are doable

so instead of a 4.0 GPA, start with „studying every day for the next 7 days“

if you have a list of tasks, start with the smallest one

the little confidence boost you get after finishing one of your tasks is extremely helpful

it gets the ball rolling and suggests that you can actually tackle your to-do list

find like-minded people

the studyblr community is perfect for this

it’s full of supportive, ambitious and positive people who are always ready to help

share your achievements and failures with them

having a great support group to lean on in times of stress is super important

keep track of your progress

whether through the usage of a bullet journal or a blog, it’s helpful to have the ability to actually see what and how you’re doing

also, bullet journals are extremely fun to make and help you be organized in general

bullet journal tutorials: x x x 

don’t compare yourself to others

one of the biggest motivation killers is comparison

i know it’s hard to stay motivated when you feel like everyone around you is doing better than you

still, it’s crucial to try and compare yourself only to your past self

try to improve a little, to put a little more effort into something

there will always be someone who has achieved more, it will only put you down

so just try to give your best, because that’s all one can do

[heyemmateach]

I started using Slowly after @historyandlanguages posted about it. Here is my opinions and assessment after having used the app for 7 days

there are surprisingly a LOT of people on the app

I receive about a message/two messages a day which means that, even though the mail is ‘slow’, people maintain the conversation

I compare this to Tandem where I only have about two to three solid conversations after like months of using the app

people usually message based on shared topics or shared languages, so we aren’t having super awkward and stunted letters

you can adjust the age range/filter by language, so I only get messages from people my age

I could set it to get only messages from my target language, but I chose to leave it open. This way I can help others practice English

profile is not invasive (you can have a username and you don’t have to post your photo or phone number like in Tandem)

I have not received anything inappropriate like I would in HelloTalk (e.g. spam links, fake job offers, anything sexual)

you get to see where your letters come from on a map, which makes it exciting

you get “stamps” based on where your letters are coming from/going

what I don’t like is the home page (not pictured). It feels a bit cluttered since it contains all letters in one row. Because of this, a person who has maintained a conversation with me’s letter got buried under new first-time letters. I wish it had folders or could be filtered

I also wish the pen pal page could be filtered or if I could mark people as priority

you can’t delete letters (at least, I haven’t figured out how), so I worry that everything will get very crowded

my last negative is that I have not found a way to adjust the font or sizing. I have received very very lengthy letters that are hard to scroll through

Overall, I actually like this more than Tandem! The pressure to reply is not there. The people are more appropriate and committed. The design is easy to use and follow. Despite the possibility of cluttering, it is still worthwhile! 

Just wanted to share :) and to say “thank you” to @historyandlanguages for sharing the app!

[athenastudying-deactivated20220]

My Masterposts about German

Hope it helps! I’ll update this regularly :) 

General

German Language (general)

What German is Like

weird fun facts

Resources and Grammar

German Comedies

Resources for learning German

German Cases

German Grading System

Konjunktiv 1 & 2

Vocabulary

10 German Words that are commonly confused

German Phrases part one

German in Usage 1: Pronunciation and Grammar

German in Usage 2: Informal vs. Formal

German in Usage 3: Dialects

Tourism Vocabulary

Christmas Vocabulary

Writing letters/postcards

Random Advanced German part one / part two 

Words for Stuff

Words for Money

My favourite words part one / part two

[you-had-me-at-e-flat-major]

Russians believe the same thing as Germans about early congratulations. And we commemorate those who passed away the day before their death day.

oooo interesting, i’ve never heard of that last one being done in germany but maybe I’m ignorant

[dubiousculturalartifact]

I just accidentally invented a new idiom, maybe?

“Licking a tree & hoping for maple syrup.” 

aka “A attempt at resolving/achieving something with less effort than is required for success, & a high probability of it proving merely futile & faintly unpleasant’

[nudibranchparty]

I can support this as a turn of phrase.

[superlinguo]

Linguistics and Language Podcasts

Looking for podcasts about language and linguistics? Here’s a comprehensive list with descriptions! I’ve also mentioned if shows have transcripts. If there are any I missed, let me know!

Linguistics

Lingthusiasm A podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne (that’s me!). Main episodes every third Thursday of every month, with a second bonus episode on Patreon. (Transcripts for main episodes)

Talk the Talk Every week Daniel, Ben, and Kylie cover the news in linguistics and tackle a particular topic.

The Vocal Fries Every episode Carrie Gillon & Megan Figueroa tackle linguistic discrimination in relation to a particular group. (Transcripts for some episodes)

Language

The Allusionist Stories about language and the people who use it, from Helen Zaltzman (Transcripts for all episodes) (my review)

Grammar Girl Episodes are rarely longer than 15 minutes, but they’re full of tips about English grammar and style for professional writing, and more! (Transcripts for all episodes).

The World in Words From PRI, The World in Words has been delivering wonderful interview-drive stories about language and life since 2008.

Conlangery Particularly for those with an interest in constructed languages, they also have episodes that focus on specific natural languages, or linguistic phenomena. 

Subtext a podcast about the linguistics of online dating.

English

History of English Meticulously researched, professionally produced and engaging content on the history of English. I have already reviewed it three times (episodes 1-4, episodes 5-79, bonus episodes).

Lexicon Valley Hosted by John McWhorter, with a focus on English.

That’s What They Say Every week linguist Anne Curzan joins Rebecca Kruth on Michigan public radio for a five minute piece on a quirk of English language.

A Way With Words A talk-back format show on the history of English words, cryptic crosswords and slang.

Dictionaries

Word For Word From Macquarie dictionary, with a focus on Australian English.

Fiat Lex A podcast about making dictionaries from Kory Stamper & Steve Kleinedler.

Words/etymology

Words for Granted In each episode Ray Belli explores the history of a common English word in around fifteen minutes.

Very Bad Words A podcast about swearing and our cultural relationship to it.

Lexitecture Ryan, a Canadian,  and Amy, a Scot share their chosen word each episode.

Animology Vegan blogger Colleen Patrick Goudreau uses her love of animals as a starting point for exploring animal-related etymologies.

Translation

Speaking of Translation A monthly podcast from Eve Bodeux & Corinne McKay.

LangFM Stories of people from the world of language, including interpreters, translators, dialect coaches and many more.

Troublesome Terps The podcast about the things that keep interpreters up at night.

Back catalogues and Odds & Ends

There are also a number of podcasts that have only a few episodes, are no longer being made, or are very academic in their focus:

Language Creation Society Podcast (8 episodes, 2009-2011)

Given Names (four part radio series from 2015, all about names. My review)

Speculative Grammarian Podcast (from the magazine of the same name, about 50 episodes from Dec 2009-Jan 2017)

Linguistics Podcast (on YouTube, around 20 episodes in 2013 introducing basic linguistic concepts)

Evolving English: Linguistics at the Library (8 episodes 2018), from the British Library.

How Brands are Build (season 1 of this show focuses on brand naming)

The Endless Knot is not strictly a language podcast, but they often include word histories, fans of the Lingthusiasm colour episode may find their colour series particularly interesting

Word of Mouth (BBC 4, also available as a podcast)

LingLab (very occasionally updated podcast from graduate students in the Sociolinguistics program at NC State University)

Silly Linguistics (ad hoc episode posting, but episode 7 is an interview with Kevin Stroud for History of English fans)

WACC Podcast (guest lectures at Warwick Applied Linguistics)

Sage Language and Linguistics

Let’s Talk Talk

Queer Linguistics has a couple of episodes, with a bit of classroom vibe

This is a completely revised listing from June 2018. The March 2017 list kept growing (yay!) so I’ve now completely restructured it based on themes. I’m always excited to be able to add more podcasts to the list, so if you know of any linguistics/language podcasts not here, please let me know! (I usually wait until a show has at least 3 episodes before I add it to the list)

[allthingslinguistic]

This is a very useful list that I keep coming back to and it’s great to see that @superlinguo is still keeping it updated!