too many to learn

English (native) ∞ Spanish (B1) ∞ French, German (A2) ∞ Greek (A0)             interest: Lithuanian, Italian, Russian, Latin

[lang-queen]

💞Valentine’s Day Spanish vocabulary💞

Happy Valentine’s day to everyone! 

Valentine’s Day - Día de San Valentín / Día de los Enamorados / Día del Amor y la Amistad.

Lover - El enamorado -  La enamorada

Friend - El amigo - La amiga 

Friendship - La amistad

Love - El amor 

February - Febrero 

Candy - El dulce

Chocolate - El chocolate

Kiss - El beso

Dinner - La cena

Date - La cita

Ribbon - El moño

Ring - El anillo

Heart - El corazón

Cupid - Cupido

Rose - La rosa

Sweet - Dulce (adj.)

Happy - Feliz (adj.)

Arrow - La flecha

Poem - El poema

Song - La canción

Balloon - El globo

Bouquet of flowers - El ramo de flores.

Gift - El regalo

Romance - Romance

Romantic - Romántico (adj.)

Feeling - El sentimiento

Emotion - La emoción

Card - La tarjeta

Letter - La carta

Restaurant - El restaurante

Affection - El cariño 

Boyfriend - Novio

Girlfriend - Novia

To fall in love - Enamorarse

To hug - Abrazar

To love - Amar / Querer / Encantar

To smile - Sonreir 

Love at first sight - Amor a primera vista

You’re my best friend - Eres mi mejor amigo/amiga

My heart is yours - Mi corazón es tuyo

I’ll always be with you - Siempre estaré contigo

I’ll love you forever - Te amaré por siempre

         I love you or I love you?!

In Spanish there are two “I love you’s”: te quiero and te amo. The differences are pretty easy.

Te quiero is soft, like something you say to the friends you appreciate, to your pet or when you just started a relationship with someone. 

Te amo is stronger. It supposedly comes from the bottom of your heart and you mean it. It can be said between spouses or long-time relationships; also it can have a non-romantic connotation, since it can be said between parents and children. Some friends say it to each other, too, mostly joking. 

[gwendolynlerman]

Spanish grammar

Pronouns

Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses. The relative pronouns in Spanish are que, cual, quien, cuyo/cuya, cuanto/cuanta. Most of these pronouns also have a plural form.

Referred to a person or to a thing

que: Es imposible recuperar todo el tiempo que se pierde (It’s impossible to recover all the time that is lost)

el que/la que/los que/las que: El motivo por el que llega tarde es el tráfico (The reason because of which he’s late is traffic)

el cual/la cual/los cuales/las cuales: Esa es una causa por la cual vale la pena luchar (That is a cause that is worth fighting for)

Referred to a person

quien/quienes: Ayuda a quienes lo necesiten (Help whoever needs it)

Referred to possession

cuyo/cuya/cuyos/cuyas: Se trata de un libro cuyo autor he olvidado (It’s a book whose author I have forgotten)

Referred to amount

cuanto/cuanta/cuantos/cuantas: Enviaron una invitación para la boda a cuantos conocían (They sent a wedding invitation to everyone that they knew)

Usage

Que

The most commonly used relative pronoun in Spanish is que. It can stand for people or things. For example, El chico, que conducía muy deprisa, tuvo un accidente con el coche que su madre le había dejado (The guy, who was driving too fast, had an accident with the car that his mother had lent him).

We generally use que in relative clauses that are not introduced by a preposition.

When que relates to person who is the direct object, the preposition a is not used in the relative clause. This is only the case when the person is not defined or specified (defined: Juan, tu novio [your boyfriend]; undefined: el chico [the guy]). For example, El chico que conozco tuvo un accidente (The guy that I know had an accident); Juan, al que conozco, tuvo un accidente (Juan, who I know, had an accident).

El que/el cual

The relative pronouns el que and el cual (as well as the forms la que/cual, los/las que/cuales) can be used instead of que when done to avoid confusion. For example, La madre de Juan, el que/el cual tuvo un accidente, es mi vecina (Juan’s mother, who had an accident, is my neighbor) -> Juan had the accident; La madre de Juan, la que/la cual tuvo un accidente, es mi vecina (Juan’s mother, who had an accident, is my neighbor) -> His mother had the accident. As you can see, in English there is no way to know who had the accident: Juan or his mother.

The forms of el que and el cual are prefered in relative clauses that are introduced by a preposition. After long prepositions or prepositional phrases, the forms of el cual are more common. For example: Juan buscó un taller donde llevar a arreglar el coche con el que/el cual tuvo el accidente (Juan looked for a garage where he could have the car that he had the accident with repaired); Es una difícil historia a la que tiene que enfrentarse (It’s a difficult story that which he has to face); Es la señal de stop contra la cual se estrelló (That’s the stop sign against which he bumped).

If there is no antecedent (a word indicating what noun the pronoun refers to), you can only use the forms of el que. For example, Los que habían visto el accidente informaron a la policía (The ones who saw the accident told the police).

When the relative pronoun refers to an entire clause instead of just a single word, then we use lo que or lo cual. For example, Juan ha destrozado el coche, lo que/lo cual va a molestar mucho a su madre (Juan has totaled the car, which is going to make his mother very mad).

Quien

The relative pronoun quien can be used as an alternative form of que, mainly in relative clauses that are introduced with a single-syllable preposition and refer to a person. For example, Juan es el chico con quien fui al cole (Juan is the guy with whom I went to school).

We often find the relative pronoun quien used without an antecedent in proverbs and idiomatic sayings. For example, Quien cava una fosa, en ella caerá (Whoever digs a hole will fall in it).

Cuyo

Unlike the English relative pronoun “whose” , which has only one form, the Spanish one (cuyo/cuya/cuyos/cuyas) agrees in number and gender with the noun it precedes. For example, Tiene miedo de hablar con su madre, cuyo coche ha destrozado (He’s scared of talking to his mother, whose car he has wrecked).

Cuyo sounds very formal, so it is generally only used in written Spanish. In spoken Spanish, it’s better to rephrase the sentence in order to avoid using the various forms of cuyo.

Cuanto

The relative pronoun cuanto/cuanta/cuantos/cuantas is used without an antecedent in the sense of the forms of todo lo que/todos los que (everything that/everyone who). For example, Cuantos estaban fueron a ayudarle (Everyone who was there went to help him); Le contó a la policía cuanto recordaba (He told the police everything that he remembered).

[foxlanguages]

Friend Appreciation in Spanish

Note: I used “@” as a way to refer to the different endings of words depending on their article. Mostly for the words amigo and amiga, so I didn’t have to write them twice or do lots of slashes

Vocabulary

el amigo / la amiga - friend

el compañero / la compañera - partner (not in a romantic way)

la amistad - friendship

la relación - relationship

amistoso / amigable - friendly

la simpatía / la amistad - friendliness

volverse amigos (con alguien/ hacerse) amigos (con alguien) - to become friends (with someone)

el cuate / la cuata* - mate/dude/pal/buddy

*this word is used in Guatemala, other countries use different terms but I’m not sure about them. Please add some if you’d like and say which country they’re used in

Phrases

(Nosotr@s) somos amig@s - we are friends

Ella/él es mi mejor amig@ - she/he is my best friend

Un amigo para toda la vida - a friend for life

Eres el mejor amig@ que pudiera desear - you’re the best friend one could wish for

Estoy agradecid@ por ti - I’m grateful about you

Estoy tan agradecid@ de haberte conocido - I’m so thankful that I know you

Estoy orgullos@ de ti - I’m proud of you

Eres el/la mejor - you’re the best

Eres el/la mejor amig@ del mundo - you’re the best friend in the world

Quiero ser tu amig@ / me gustaría ser tu amig@ - i want to be friends with you

(estamos juntos) en las buenas y en las malas - we go together through think and thin

De nada, para eso son los amigos - you’re welcome, that’s what friends are for

Eres genial de la manera en que eres - you’re great the way you are

Other versions: German

[foxlanguages]

Friend Appreciation in German

Note: I didn’t include the different ways to say the phrases if you’re using “Freund” or “Freundin” so you’ll have to change some things to fit what you mean, it’s just changing some words and endings.

Vocabulary

der Freund / die Freundin - friend

der Partner / die Partnerin - partner

die Freundschaft - friendship

die Beziehung - relationship

freundlich - friendly

die Freundlichkeit - friendliness

sich anfreunden - to become friends

der Kumpel - mate/dude/pal/buddy

Phrases

Wir sind Freunde - we are friends

Sie ist meine beste Freundin - she is my best friend

Ein Freund fürs Leben - a friend for life

Du bist die beste Freundin, die man sich wünschen kann - you’re the best friend one could wish for

Ich bin dir dankbar - I’m grateful to you

Ich bin so dankbar dich zu kennen - I’m so thankful that I know you

Ich bin stolz auf dich - I’m proud of you

Du bist wirklich die Beste - you’re the best

Du bist der beste Freund der Welt - you’re the best friend in the world

Ich will mich mit dir anfreunden - i want to be friends with you

Wir gehen gemeinsam durch dick und dünn - we go together through think and thin

Nichts zu danken, dafür sind Freunde da - you’re welcome, that’s what friends are for (not a literal translation)

Du bist toll so wie du bist - you’re great the way you are

Other versions: Spanish

[germanenthusiast]

Elemente eines literarischen Werkes / Elements of a literary work

der Dialog - the dialogue

der Gegenspieler - the antagonist

die Personen - the characters

die Beschreibung - the description

das Ende - the ending the outcome

die Redewendungen - the figures of speech

die Metaphorik - the imagery

der ironische Ton - the ironic tone

die Ironie - the irony

die sprachlichen Mittel - the literary devices

die rhetorischen Mittel - the rhetorical devices

die Metapher - the metaphor

der Erzählrahmen - the narrative frame

der Erzähler - the narrator

der Inhalt - the plot

die Erzählperspektive - the point of view

die Hauptperson - the protagonist the main character

der Gleichnis - the simile

die Geschichte - the story

die Struktur - the structure

der Stil - the style

das Thema - the theme

die bildlichen Ausdrücke - the tropes

[lang-queen]

Colours in Spanish

Colour -  Color

Rainbow - Arcoíris

Amaranth -Amaranto

Amber - Ámbar

Amethyst - Amatista

Apricot - Albaricoque

Aquamarine - Acuamarina 

Azure - Azur

Baby blue - Celeste

Beige - Beige/Beis

Black - Negro

Blue - Azul

Blue-green - Azul verdoso

Blue-violet - Azul violeta

Blush - Rosado

Bronze - Bronce

Brown - Café

Burgundy - Borgoña

Byzantium - Bizancio 

Carmine - Carmín/Bermejo

Cerise - Cereza

Cerulean - Cerúleo

Champagne - Champán/Champaña

Chartreuse green - Verde amarillento

Chocolate - Chocolate

Cobalt blue - Azul cobalto

Coffee - Café (The word “café” means both brown (colour)  and coffee (drink))

Copper - Cobre

Coral - Coral

Crimson - Carmín 

Cyan - Cian

Desert sand - Arena del desierto

Electric blue - Azul eléctrico

Emerald - Esmeralda

Gold - Dorado/Oro

Gray - Gris

Green - Verde

Indigo - Añil

Ivory - Marfil

Jade - Jade

Jungle green - Verde selva

Lavender - Lavanda

Lemon - Limón

Lilac - Lila

Lime - Lima

Magenta - Magenta

Magenta rose - Rosa magenta

Maroon - Magenta

Mauve - Malva

Navy blue -  Azul marino

Ochre - Ocre

Olive - Oliva

Orange - Naranja

Orange-red - Naranja rojizo

Orchid - Orquídea 

Peach - Durazno/Melocotón

Pear - Pera

Periwinkle - Vincapervinca

Persian blue - Azul persa

Pink - Rosa

Plum -  Ciruela

Prussian blue - Azul de Prusia

Purple - Morado 

Raspberry - Frambuesa

Red - Rojo

Red-violet - Rojo violeta

Rose - Rosa (The word “rosa” means both pink (colour) and rose (rosa); to say “a pink rose” in Spanish, you say “una rosa rosa”. Ha!)

Ruby - Rubí

Salmon - Salmón

Sangria - Sangría

Sapphire - Zafiro

Scarlet - Escarlata

Silver - Plata

Slate gray - Gris pizarra

Spring green - Verde primavera

Tan - Bronceado 

Taupe - Gris pardo

Teal - Cerceta

Turquoise - Turquesa 

Ultramarine - Azul ultramar

Violet - Violeta

Viridian - Viridiano/Verde encendido

White - Blanco

Yellow - Amarillo

[italian-native]

Yesss I did it!

Ok so, I just finished uploading 500-and-something files on google drive:

- books in Italian (I included also my mom’s books, they are not all in the same format so I hope you’ll find something you can read)

- Italian university books/slides/stuff

- Italian uni english stuff 

- books in Russian (I only have “A series of unfortunate events” that someone kindly gave me) 

- Russian grammars/exercises/stuff (this migh actually be the most useful out of all but hey)

I hope this actually proves helpful or at least interesting to someone!

I want to thank @wannahavesuccess for the “google drive” tip! 

EDIT: let me know if it doesn’t work!

[lingolden-deactivated20200629]

In Spanish, if a feminine noun begins with an a/ha and the stress falls on the first syllable, the article in front of the noun is masculine (el/un/este/algún/etc). However, the word itself is still treated as a feminine noun. For example: el agua ↦ el agua fría.

The following feminine words take masculine articles:

el arca | chest

el agua | water

el águila | eagle

el ancla | anchor

el ala | wing

el alba | dawn

el álgebra | algebra

el alma | soul

el ama de casa | housewife

el área | area

el arpa | harp

el asa | handle

el asma | asthma

el arma | weapon

el aula | classroom

el aura | aura

el hacha | axe

el hada | fairy

el hambre | hunger

[staigylang]

Spanish is so confusing why do I love it this much?

[wonderful-language-sounds]

Free Online Language Courses

Here is a masterpost of MOOCs (massive open online courses) that are available, archived, or starting soon. I think they will help those that like to learn with a teacher or with videos.  You can always check the audit course or no certificate option so that you can learn for free.

American Sign Language

ASL University

Arabic

Arabic for Global Exchange (in the drop down menu)

Arabic Without Walls

Intro to Arabic

Madinah Arabic

Moroccan Arabic

Catalan Sign Language

Intro to Catalan Sign Language

Chinese

Beginner

Basic Chinese

Basic Chinese I. II, III, IV , V

Basic Mandarin Chinese I & II

Beginner’s Chinese

Chinese for Beginners

Chinese Characters

Chinese for HSK 1

First Year Chinese I &  II

HSK Level 1

Mandarin Chinese I

Mandarin Chinese for Business

More Chinese for Beginners

Start Talking Mandarin Chinese

UT Gateway to Chinese

Chino Básico (Taught in Spanish)

Intermediate

Chinese Stories

Intermediate Business Chinese

Intermediate Chinese

Intermediate Chinese Grammar

Dutch

Introduction to Dutch

English

Online Courses here

Resources Here

Faroese

Faroese Course

Finnish

A Taste of Finnish

Basic Finnish

Finnish for Immigrants

Finnish for Medical Professionals

French

Beginner

AP French Language and Culture

Basic French Skills

Beginner’s French: Food & Drink

Diploma in French

Elementary French I & II

Français Interactif

French in Action

French for Beginners

French Language Studies I, II, III

French:Ouverture

Intermediate

French: Le Quatorze Juillet

Passe Partout

Advanced

La Cité des Sciences et de Industrie

Reading French Literature

Frisian

Introduction to Frisian (Taught in English)

Introduction to Frisian (Taught in Dutch)

German

Beginner

Basic German

Beginner’s German: Food & Drink

Conversational German I, II, III, IV

Deutsch im Blick

Diploma in German

Rundblick-Beginner’s German

Advanced

German:Regionen Traditionen und Geschichte

Landschaftliche Vielfalt

Reading German Literature

Hebrew

Alphabet Crash Course

Know the Hebrew Alphabet

Hindi

A Door into Hindi

Business Hindi

Virtual Hindi

Icelandic

Icelandic 1-5

Indonesian

Learn Indonesian

Irish

Introduction to Irish

Italian

Beginner

Beginner’s Italian: Food & Drink

Beginner’s Italian I

Introduction to Italian

Italian for Beginners 1 , 2, 3 , 4 , 5, 6 

Oggi e Domani

Intermediate

Intermediate Italian I

Advanced

Advanced Italian I

Italian Literature

Italian Novel of the Twentieth Century

La Commedia di Dante

Reading Italian Literature

Japanese

Beginner’s Conversational Japanese

Genki

Japanese JOSHU

Japanese Pronunciation

Sing and Learn Japanese

Tufs JpLang

Kazakh

A1-B2 Kazakh (Taught in Russian)

Korean

Beginner

First Step Korean

How to Study Korean

Learn to Speak Korean

Pathway to Spoken Korean

Intermediate

Intermediate Korean

Latin

Latin I (Taught in Italian)

Nepali

Beginner’s Conversation and Grammar

Norwegian

Introduction to Norwegian

Learn The Norwegian Language

Norwegian on the Web

Portuguese

Curso de Português para Estrangeiros 

Pluralidades em Português Brasileiro

Russian

Beginner

Basics of Russian

Easy Accelerated Learning for Russian

Russian Alphabet

Russian Essentials

Russian Phonetics and Pronunciation

Reading and Writing Russian

Advanced

Reading Master and Margarita

Russian as an Instrument of Communication

Siberia: Russian for Foreigners

Spanish

Beginner

AP Spanish Language & Culture

Basic Spanish for English Speakers

Beginner’s Spanish:Food & Drink

Fastbreak Spanish

Introduction to Spanish

Restaurants and Dining Out

Spanish for Beginners

Spanish for Beginners 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Spanish Vocabulary

Intermediate

Spanish:Ciudades con Historia

Spanish:Espacios Públicos

Advanced

Corrección, Estilo y Variaciones 

La España de El Quijote

Leer a Macondo

Spanish:Con Mis Propias Manos

Spanish: Perspectivas Porteñas

Reading Spanish Literature

Swedish

Intro to Swedish

Swedish Made Easy 1, 2, & 3

Ukrainian

Read Ukrainian

Ukrainian for Everyone

Ukrainian Language for Beginners

Welsh

Beginner’s Welsh

Discovering Wales

Multiple Languages

 Ancient Languages

More Language Learning Resources & Websites!

Last updated: March 1, 2017

[korean--chinese]

For all my language learning buddies

[italiano-inglese]

MOOCs are great.

[staigylang]

too save a life

[staigylang]

I did a journal entry 2/5/19

background: I’m going to Québec at the end of this month. I’ve recently been struggling with finding a job. I posted something about a CEFR scale and long term goals (it should be right below this)

______________________________________________________________

Estoy tan feliz! Voy a trabajar a McDonald’s. Empiezo en sábado a las 2. No estoy estresada sobre dinero nunca más. Bueno, estoy una poquita preocupada si tengo bastante dinero para mi viaje a Québec, pero ya sé que por lo menos voy a tener unos dineros. Y supongo recibir mi retorno del impuesto pronto. Ojalá que es antes me viaje.

Hoy encontré una publicación en Tumblr sobre nivel de idioma de CEFR. Me inspiró tener unas metas para aprender idiomas. Esas metas quiero completer al fin de mi primero año en universidad (entonces, el mayo de 2020, creo. Posiblemente el junio de 2020. Ya no sé cuándo el segundo semestre va a terminar.)

Ahora, creo que estoy en estos niveles en los idiomas que aprendo:

español (B2)

francés (A2)

alemán (A2)

griego (A0)

lituano (A0)

En la publicación, los niveles se describen así:

A0 - nada.

A1 - un poquito de conocimiento

A2 - los básicos

B1 - intermedio

B2 - intermedio avanzado 

C1 - avanzado

C2 - competente

Y ahora mis metas:

Español: 

Quiero estudiar español seriamente. Quiero ser C1. Quiero pensar con más fluencia y entender mucho más. Quiero practicar hablando muchísimo. Quiero hacer llamadas de Skype con Gaby y su familia en español completamente o casi completamente. Y les quiero textear con mucho más frecuencia. Ojalá que puedo visitarles. Con la gramática, quiero repasar mucho: los verbos - el pretérito, el imperfecto, el futuro, y el condicional. Tengo que aprender cuándo usar el condicional. Tengo que estudiar más como usar por y como usar para. Quiero entender que es el subjuntivo y también como usar el subjuntivo presente. Quiero aprender mucho más vocabulario. Quiero escribir en esto diario todos los días y aprender el vocabulario que usaré. Y también quiero leer un libro en español y ver muchas más programas de televisión y escuchar más música.

Francés:

No sé si quiero continuar estudiar el idioma francés. Y también voy a estudiar más para mi viaje a Québec. Quiero que hablar bastante con confianza. Voy a terminar mi clase de francés en la escuela y antes, voy a “hacer una pausa” con francés. Quiero decidir si quiero continuar estudiando francés para el septiembre de 2019 (un poquito después de empiezo la universidad). Mientras tanto, voy a estudiar para clase y para Québec pero nada más hasta que tengo una decisión. Y en el verano, no voy a estudiarlo con frecuencia, pero tal vez una vez por semana o una vez cada dos semanas. Si decido que sí, quiero encontrar un amigo quien habla el francés de forma nativa y textearle un poquito. Y quiero aprender más vocabulario y leer mucho más.

Alemán:

 Voy a tomar mi tiempo con este idioma. Quiero repasar la gramática - los verbos en el presente, el pretérito, y el futuro y los artículos y casos. Quiero aprender como usar adjetivos correctamente (Der kleiner vs. klein). Quiero que aprender mucho más vocabulario como un B1. Básicamente, quiero poder viajar a Alemana sin estudiar el idioma. No voy a viajar. Alemana :( pero quiero saber palabras se usan todos los días y así. También, quiero encontrar un amigo nativo y textearle.

Griego:

 Quiero aprender el p!nche abecedario y como pronunciarlo. Quiero escuchar griego en películas y en Youtube y música. Después, quiero saber un poquito de los básicos. Saludos, frases básicos (gracias, de nada, sí, no, etc.), colores, días de semana, meses del año, números, y como preguntar y contestar “¿Cómo estás?”

Lituano: 

De nuevo, voy a tomar mi tiempo con este idioma. Quiero aprender el abecedario y cómo pronunciarlo. Quiero aprender frases básicos (lee más en griego). Quiero completar Lección 1 en el libro “Colloquial Lithuanian” y quiero completar Lecciones 1 y 2 en el libro “Beginner’s Lithuanian”. Quiero escuchar el idioma en Youtube y música y quiero aprender más sobre la historia y cultura del país.

Y eso es. Quiero que voy a guardar mi ropa y voy a dormir.

Vocabulario

Nunca más - anymore

El impuesto - tax

La publicación - post

Se describen - they are described

El conocimiento - knowledge

Intermedio - intermediate

Avanzado - Advanced

Competente - Proficient 

Repasar - to review

Mientras tanto - In the meantime

Hasta (que) - until

Contestar - to answer

Guardar ropa - put away laundry

Original post about CEFR levels @helplessgermanstudent

[helplessgermanstudent]

How to know which language level you’re at and tips for improving your skills - divided by proficiency level!

These are all my personal thoughts and experiences from reaching a proficient level in one language, and an intermediate in another!! Feel free to correct me or add whatever you wish<3

 1. A0 - Knowledge Level: Nothing

At this stage, you have absolutely no knowledge or very little knowledge about a language. My advice is to start out slow: the alphabet, pronunciation rules, basic pronouns, colors, etc. At this point, there’s not much you can improve on (Reading/Writing, Listening and Speaking) since you’ve got no actual knowledge to expand upon. Try apps like Duolingo, have fun with translating words such as your favorite animal, plant, or swear word. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself at this point, it’s all in good fun! Try starting a notebook in which you write down new words, (i.e. all of them) or watching a couple videos on Youtube, even if you don’t understand much.

2. A1 - Knowledge Level: Just a Bit

This is when you slowly exit the stage of “is this even a language” and enter the “beginner” world. You know a couple basic verbs (to be, to have, eat, sleep, walk, talk, etc) and some sets of basic nouns/pronouns. (weekdays, months, numbers, colors, objects you find around the house, and all that fun jazz.) You can string together a couple sentences you’ve heard twenty times on Duolingo! Regardless of the fact that “The boys drink milk” is not really something you’ll need in irl conversation, it’s good that you’re getting familiar. By this time, you should start looking into proper grammar rules such as verb terminations, tenses, noun declinations, pronouns, etc. Children’s books are a good way to learn a lot of stuff you’d need. The language is simple and it goes straight to the point, which is the only type of writing you understand, mostly. Right now, speaking is not really an option aside from learning to pronounce words right. Listening, on the other hand, can be done really easily! If you find that Youtube channels in your target language are boring or too hard to understand, music is the way to go. You’re especially lucky if you’re a Disney fan, because most of their songs are easy to remember and are dubbed in a lot of languages, so have fun with finding what fits you best!

3. A2 - Knowledge Level: Basic/Preliminary

Now we’re beginning to see some major improvements. You pick up words easier, you can read almost perfectly even if you don’t understand everything, and you can form really basic sentences by yourself. For speaking, by now you should be able to say your name, the place you live in, and maybe talk about your hobbies or your favorite stuff! It depends on if you’ve worked with a teacher until now or not, so don’t worry if you’re still struggling. As a stepping stone between beginner and intermediate, this level can either be the one when you slowly improve or make a really big jump in your skills. Listening to songs and youtube videos should be easier, but nobody is expecting you to actually comprehend everything. As for vocabulary and reading, learning new words should come more intuitively by now, but again, you’re still in the early days. Writing is still something that can be difficult, so try maybe linking a couple sentences together to make a short story and translating some simple texts. But it you don’t find it difficult, writing a hundred words once a couple days may be the way to go.

4. B1 - Knowledge Level - Intermediate

Finally, we’ve reached the intermediate stage! By now you should be able to hold very basic conversation and reveal information about yourself. You should be able to pick up words you know from the people around you, and understand mostly everything if spoken slowly and clearly to. Reading light books or magazines should be challenging but okay, while you should be able to remember certain words without making too big of an effort. By this stage, active learning is still essential, as you probably have a lot more ahead in your language learning journey. I encourage you to write short stories or several sentences about your day in a diary, depending on what works for you. Watching Youtube videos should be something you do often, because it improves listening skills greatly and gets you accustomed to informal speech patterns and filler words.

5. B2 - Knowledge Level - Advanced Intermediate

Yay! You have officially reached the advanced intermediate stage! You should be able to hold everyday conversation without too big of a headache, listening probably isn’t a breeze for you but still, if you watch a basic youtube video you can pretty much get all of it. YA books should be a regular part of your reading, since they’re not too hard to comprehend but still a good reading exercise. Vocabulary probably isn’t a bother anymore, since you know most of the words you need and the ones you don’t, you hear them once or five times and they stick to you. At this level you can probably write some basic fanfiction, or anything that doesn’t require advanced language skills but is still challenging. Congrats! You’re almost at an advanced level!

6. C1 - Advanced

If you’re still here, means you’ve got a strong sense of dedication. C1 is the advanced level, where you have pretty much everything that you need to comfortably live your life in a country which speaks your target language. If you’re already here and most of the above things seem far, far away to you, then maybe it’s time to get down on some serious reading. Look up local classics, or contemporary works that stimulate your mind. Writing essays, reviews, reports, etc, should be something you are able to do, as you have a good grasp on both formal and informal language, both literary concepts and idioms/phrasal verbs/slang. Listening should come easily, with the ability to understand everything that is spoken to you without worries, as long as they don’t have an alien accent. Speaking, too, should be a breeze by now, with everyday conversation being a piece of cake and more formal conversations not posing too big of a challenge. If you want to reach the next– and last– level, it can be done through thorough preparation of skills that are usually required by exams or for language-related jobs. If you don’t care about either of these, congrats! You learned a language! 

7. C2 - Proficient

Long past fluency, you now wish to master a language, down to its very core and history. Pick up some of the big classics to read. Watch a bunch of those complicated videos explaining complicated concepts. Write poetry and prose,and speak to people in contexts which require more than the average range of vocabulary. If you’re still not satisfied, get a damn teacher. Tumblr can’t help you now.

[staigylang]

I feel like this is simple enough to really understand and grasp without too many technical terms and “what-if” situations.

My progress:

Spanish (B2)

French (A2)

German (A2)

Greek (A0)

Lithuanian (A0)

My just general goals that I want to accomplish by the end of my freshman year at university:

-Hardcore Spanish: get that baby up to C1. Converse with natives (speaking; not texting or replying in English) fairly frequently (like every other time I Skype my Mexican bff do it in Spanish). Grammar: have a confident grasp on preterite, future, and conditional verbs (review), as well as the usage of por vs. para. Understand the difference between subjunctive vs. indicative, and begin to use the present subjunctive. Vocabulary: journal every day and record the vocabulary from that journal. Buy and read a Y/A book or other easy-ish novel. (I don’t have anything to read in Spanish other than Wikipedia articles, news, readers, and a free book about Pope Francis so this should be a change).

-French: I’m still considering dropping this language. I’m going to follow through with my senior year French course. I plan on really polishing up in it a lot before the end of February when I go to Québec so I can effectively communicate there *with confidence* and talk and understand some conversational topics that are more on a B2 level. Once I’m finished with my French course, I want to put this language on “hold” - just brushing up every so often (maybe like a study session every other week) until I make a decision on what I want to do with it. I would like to make that decision no later than the beginning of September of 2019. if I decide to continue with my studies, I would like to focus on acquiring vocabulary and finding a native speaker to text with in French.

-German: Similar situation as with French. I’m sure that I want to continue on with this language, however I really want to take my time and nurture it. Over the course of the summer, I would like to find a native speaker to text with a bit in German and really get a grasp of writing in the language again. I want to focus on grammar - mostly verbs as well as articles and cases. Most of this would be review, so it’s a feasible goal, however I would like to get a confident grasp on the present, future, and past tense of all verbs and the declensions of articles/pronouns and what exactly that means. New grammar topic: when and how to decline adjectives. Slowly build vocabulary levels up to B1. (pretty much be able to go on a week long vacation to Germany without having to study beforehand. Not going to happen, but it’s the skill that counts. Order food, hotels, talk about me my family and my pets, shop, hospitals, basic feelings and opinions, directions, tell a basic story, etc.)

Greek: Figure out the d!mn alphabet. Write the alphabet fairly easily/legibly. Also, listen to lots of Greek (I’m looking at you, illegal Greek Barbie movies on. Youtube.) Learn greetings and goodbyes as well as basic phrases (please, thank you, etc.) Learn colors and numbers. Learn days and months. Learn how to basically ask/answer “How are you?”.  If comfortable, build progress and slowly bridge into A1. example: “How are you?” “I am well/unwell.” “I am tall.” “It is green.” etc.

Lithuanian: Learn alphabet and sounds. Learn and get a grasp on basic conversational phrases. Learn personal pronouns, present tense of būti and eīti as well as regular verbs. (Pretty much Ch 1&2 of Beginner’s Lithuanian and Chapter 1 of Colloquial Lithuanian). Learn basic vocabulary offered in the books. Learn days of week, months of year, colors, and basic adjectives. example: “The man is tall.” “The students study Lithuanian.” “July is hot.” etc.

If you had to judge, where are you at with your studies? What longterm or short term goals do you have in place? Please share. I think it’s so interesting to read about what different people are studying, how, why, and what levels they’re at. 

[mondlylanguages]

⚔ THE LANGUAGE BATTLE: English VS German 

LIKE & TAG a friend who is learning German

[staigylang]

always reblog because it took me such a long time to learn this

[langsandculture]

Can you recommend any original Spanish novels appropriate for a B1 level? Or know of someone who can?

yes, sure! sorry it took me a bit long to reply i read your ask a few days ago but wanted to think about it before recommending anything. this is going to be mostly books for children and teenagers

manolito gafotas, by elvira lindo. this is a classic from the 90s and early 2000s. it talks about manolito gafotas and his experiences with his friends and family. the books can be read independently.

anything by laura gallego garcía, as long as IT IS NOT FANTASY. she mostly writes fantasy, but you have, for example, the series “Sara y las goleadoras”. It’s about a female football team (6 books in total)

if you don’t mind reading translated fiction into Spanish, then you can try el pequeño nicolás, by Goscinny-Sempé. There’re many books about this character and they’re quite easy to read

anything by jordi serra i fabra. he has written over 420 books, in spanish and catalan. his most well-known book is probably campo de fresas. you can find the list of his novels here

non-fantasy books by javier ruescas. some are: play (it’s the first part of a series), El (Sin)sentido del amor or pulsaciones

sin noticias de Gurb, by eduardo mendoza. this is the story of an alien who lands in barcelona and he pretends to be a human and it’s basically about the adventures he has in the city while trying to fit in.

el mundo amarillo, by albert espinosa. this book talks about the author’s experience with cancer. it was adapted into a tv show in catalan (polseres vermelles). he’s also the author of “todo lo que podríamos haber sido tú y yo si no fuéramos tú y yo” and “si tu me dices ven lo dejo todo… pero dime ven.”

mortadelo y filemón, by f. ibáñez. this is A CLASSIC. mortadelo y filemón are the main characters of comics created by francisco ibáñez. they’re two spies from la TIA and they’re a disaster. it’s obviouslyfilled with humor and a key part in Spanish culture.

mafalda, by quino. malfada is an argentinian child who is the main character of quino’s comics. she has a turtle called democracy because it’s too slow and the stories talk about world problems form a child’s point of view.

and there’re more, of course! since YA is easier to read, here you have the website for YA books of La casa del libro, one of the largest bookshop chains in Spain. there’s also a national prize for YA and children’s literature. you can check the authors who’ve won the prize here.

i hope this helps! if it’s not enough, you can always send me another ask!!

[staigylang]

I really gotta start reading in Spanish

Tengo que leer más en general 🙃

[spanishlandia]

May you do some theater related spanish vocabulary, please!

Sure ! 

Theater Vocabulary in Spanish

Listen while studying ✨Requested by @lixiawinter

el Actor. Actor

la Actuación. Performance

el Anfiteatro. Amphitheater 

la Actriz. Actress

la Audiencia, el Público. Audience

los Camerinos, los Bastidores, el Backstage, Entre bastidores. Backstage

la Comedia. Comedy

el/la Compositor/a. Composer

la Coreografía. Choreography

el/la Coreógrafo/a. Choreographer

el/la Director/a. Director

el/la Director/a de orquesta. Conductor

los Disfraces, el Vestuario. Costumes

el Drama. Drama

el Dramaturgo. Dramatist, playwright

la Escena. Scene

el Escenario. Stage

la Escenografía. Stage design

el/la Escenógrafo/a. Stage designer

la Estrella. Star, celebrity

el Intermedio, descanso. Intermission

la Joven estrella. Starlet

el Miedo escénico, miedo al público. Stage fright

el Musical. Musical 

el Nombre artístico. Stage name

la Obra (de teatro). Play

la Ópera. Opera

el Palco. Box (private stall)

el Pasillo. Aisle

la Platea. Stalls, main floor

el/la Productor/a. Producer

el Programa. Program

el Reparto, el Elenco. Cast

el Teatro. Theater

el Teatro de la ópera. Opera theater, opera house

la Temporada. Season

my vocab lists ✨literature ✨places ✨ request here

[l-o-v-everyone]

JOURNAL TOPICS

I’ve personally found journaling to be very advantageous to both my recovery as well as my overall psyche, and I’d suggest it to anyone. Below I’ve comprised a little list of daily journaling topics that individuals in recovery as well as others may find to be enjoyable. 1.) Write 3 things that were great about your day. 2.) Keep a daily gratitude list and jot down one thing you’re thankful for every morning. 3.) Write down one affirmation every day and repeat it to yourself (be sincere). 4.) Write about what you have learned this week (no matter how mundane it may seem). 5.) Journal about the best thing that happened to you this week (give details). 6.) Write what your biggest challenges were for the week. 7.) Journal about things you did for the first time. 8.) Write down your top three priories for the upcoming week. 9.) Make a “Positives List” and write down: -anything you’re proud of -positives changes you’ve experienced (in recovery or in general) -things you like about yourself -positive statements loved ones may use to describe you -what makes you unique/special -things you are good at *Refer to this list regularly and add to it as needed* 10.) Comprise a list of negative core beliefs and then go back and reframe them all with an affirmation towards yourself. 11.) Journal about where you envision yourself to be within the next 5 years. 12.) Write a letter saying all the things you’d like to voice to someone you dislike with no intentions of sending it. 13.) Schedule a date with yourself once a month; write about all the things you’d like to do, and do them. 14.) Write an amends letter to yourself; then write a thank you letter to yourself. 15.) Keep a dream log. Write down what you dreamed the night before as soon as you wake up (include as many details as possible). 16.) List all your favorite quotes. Underneath write why you enjoy them so much and how they apply to you.

For those in recovery, you may find it beneficial to set aside 10 minutes everyday and answer these following questions: 1.) Did my recovery go as planned today? 2.) What impediments, if any, were there to my recovery? 3.) What can I do to remove these impediments next time? I’ve also included some journaling assignments you may find to be helpful: 4.) Create a list of what is good about staying the same and what is bad about staying the same. Then form a list of good and bad outcomes of making a change. 5.) Create a plan/schedule in advance to help you steer clear of temptations that may throw you off course.

If you can think of any additions to add to this list feel free to message them to me. I’m always open to new journaling assignments. Hopefully you all can find at least one of these suggestions to be fun and constructive. Happy journaling to you all! PS- I’d love to read any of your entries; feel free to message them to me.

[staigylang]

lets just reblog for journaling topics for language learning.

[staigylang]

I did a journal entry 2/4/19

Context: I started midway through my normally English journal. One of my last thoughts in English was worrying about finding a job. Then, I realized I could and should journal in Spanish. Feel free to correct.

Update: Voy a escribir aquí en español. Procrastino mucho más que debo. Necesito practicar este idioma más porque tengo que desarrollar más de una conexión con el. 

Y ahorita siento mucho mejor. Tengo dos entrevistas para trabajos - una mañana en McDonald’s y una en viernes en el cine. No sé cuál trabajo quiero, si me emplean. Trabajando en McDonald’s - no me gusta muchísimo porque es comida rápida, pero los horas son más cortos que el cine. Pero, en el cine, no voy a trabajar con comida muchísimo. Voy a vender boletas y limpiar. Solamente trabajo con comida si me necesitan. 

Pues, no voy a saber cuándo voy a trabajar hasta estoy empleada. Esperamos y veamos.

En cada situación, creo que estoy cómoda con hablando español a trabajo. Creo que si trabajo con comido, tengo que aprender como se dice unas comidas en español. Por ejemplo, si trabajo al cine, no sé como se dice ‘cotton candy’ (el algodón de azúcar). Y si trabajo a McDonald’s, no sé como se dice algo como ‘barbeque sauce’ (la salsa de barbacoa). Pero, honestamente, esas son palabras que tengo que aprender en general :/

Estoy emocionada trabajar de nuevo. Ojalá.

Ahora voy a ducharme y también dormir.

Vocabulario:

Procrastinar - to procrastinate 

Desarrollar una conexión - to develop a connection

Emplear - to employ/hire

El algodón de azúcar - cotton candy

La salsa barbacoa - BBQ sauce

[languageloveaffair]