Oghenekevwe's recent topics

Thanks to a Chrome extension called Language Learning With Netflix, you can now learn a new language by watching Netflix.

All you need to do is install the Language Learning With Netflix Chrome extension. Then, you pick a film to watch, select the language you want to learn how to speak and the language you can already speak, and away you go. It really is that simple.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/learn-new-language-watching-netflix/

See for yourself. 

The French language is a very beautiful language - very polite and very classy.

It can be very hard although to understand or decipher.

One of the things i find really frustrating is that, French has a lot of ways of saying things. Take for example, my previous post on the translation for "A farmer".

Also, the pronunciation is so complex! You'll think you've found a rule that works, only to discover there are exceptions to that.

The last but not the least, Written French is different from spoken French.

I do love the process, but it can get very frustrating at times.

What are some difficulties you're currently facing in the language you're learning?

Pdigin English is widely spoken in West Africa and has been for a few hundred years. It is very similar to Caribbean English based Creoles like Jamaican patois. The language varies among nations and ethnic groups.

Sometimes when i log on to check my notification and click on one,it doesn't respond. I try refreshing but it still doesn't work till i log out and log in again. I don't know if I'm the only one experiencing this.

I was looking up farmer in my dictionary and found different french words corresponding. I was wondering what the different nuances are between them: 

un fermier 

un cultivateur 

un agriculteur 

Any thoughts? 

And please in the most simplified way possible.

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/study-speaking-parentese-helps-baby-s-language-learning/4764116.html

From what I gathered,they think mimicking a baby's babble and speaking baby language will slow down their language learning process. 

How realistic is this "parentese"

I've heard a lot of people say "I need someone who speaks English with little or no accent". I'd like to know what the deciding factor is. Which is the standard English with no accent?

Who decides how English should sound like generally? 

I came across this article. I didn't even know there were similarities. Maybe I knew but i didn't look deeper. Especially with the loan words...

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/french/similarities-between-english-and-french/

They are not there just for decorations obviously. They are meant to aid you in pronunciation. Just as in English—where if you don’t dot your “i” or cross your “t,” you’re left with a stubby little line that is dangerously close to becoming an “l”—French accents are used to distinguish between letters.

Thank goodness there are just five I should know;four accents from vowel(a,e,i,o,u)and one from consonants(c). 

That's what I'm currently learning, What are you doing? 

https://edl.ecml.at/Home/tabid/1455/language/en-GB/Default.aspx

https://languageshowlive.co.uk

Have a look at it for yourself. There are fun language quizzes that you can take too.

https://www.greatbigstory.com/stories/the-ultimate-polyglot-this-man-speaks-32-languages

https://www.worldcrunch.com/culture-society/hyper-polyglot-greek-translator-speaks-32-languages

For him it is all about getting immersed and absorbing the foreign culture - even to the point that he changes religion and eating habits according to his current projects.According to what I've read, He learned through total immersion without ever doing a formal study!

http://testyourvocab.com/

Just a short test to find out how many words you know. I scored 16,400. 

What's your score?

Mine is those who use "am" instead of "I'm". It really pisses me off.

What's yours?

It's a very old writing system here in Nigeria. It's so old only a few people know about it. Read about it yourself here;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nsibidi

http://nsibidi.wikia.com/wiki/Nsibidi_Wiki

I hope you really enjoy it like I did!

It's a game where you guess the language that is being spoken.

It's really fun, I hope you like it!

https://www.languagesquad.com/

This simply means; understanding a language but not speaking it.

It's funny but that's what I and my brother are experiencing. We understand our language perfectly when you speak it to us. Speaking it back is a whole other thing.

Anybody has any suggestion about how to fill the gap between the level of understanding and the level or capacity of speaking in that language?

This article says more, take a look

https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/how-can-we-sometimes-understand-a-language-but-not-speak-it-very-well.html

I've noticed that if i log on to this site from my laptop, I don't have any issues. But with my phone, it hardly refreshes for me to see new notifications.

Yesterday, i went out to buy something from a shop and gave the shop owner money with my left hand. The next thing he says is, "Give me that with your right hand". I didn't do this intentionally, i am left-handed. I was pissed, i asked him what the problem was with my left hand and he says It's disrespectful. It's crazy, i was born this way and i don't need a constant reminder that being left-handed is bad luck. I don't have to explain myself to everyone i meet.

Okay I'm done ranting.

Honestly, i wonder why it's so complicated and confusing at times.

Light can help you see in the dark, be the opposite of heavy, or a way to make your fireworks do something interesting.

Just imagine how confusing it must be for someone who wanted to learn it from the scratch.

I came across this in my many reads and I'm wondering if anyone here has heard about this or actually used it and it worked for them.

From what I gathered, it works like this; you give your memory a shape. It could be anything but make sure its something easy for you to remember. Then you pay a visit to this place with your mind's eye and pick up bits and pieces you may have lost along the way.

Take a look at the article yourselves and tell me what you think. Can you use this same approach to language learning, is it really doable?

https://curiosity.com/topics/use-the-memory-palace-technique-to-remember-basically-everything-curiosity/

Ubang community is a place in Cross River, Nigeria where the men and women speak different languages but understand themselves perfectly. Amazing right?

The elders said God descended on one of the mountains in the villages of Okiro and stood on the rock at the peak of the mountain and distributed languages.

Here's a link to the article.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/tower-babel-ubang-criver-community-men-women-speak-different-languages/

http://www.wordprof.com/ 

The vocabulary software is good for self-testing though it could be more flexible. I've been practicing on the vocabulary and it really helps.

Ever heard of the story of 'the tower of babel' from the Bible? Where everyone communicated in one language and then the Lord saw they made such progress and decided to create confusion by making them speak different languages. 

Just imagine how easy it would have been if we all spoke one language. IMO, it would have impressed upon us the mentality of us being brothers and sisters. I think the world would have been just a little better.

Hello everyone,

So I was studying and practicing some french vocabulary the other day, my friend saw me, laughed and said "I'd be studying German if I was you". He said this because he thinks the usefulness of French is often over stated, and that although French was spoken in more countries, German had more native speakers. For me, I think it all comes down to the reason for learning a particular language. If the culture appeals to you, learn it. German looks pretty difficult to me,is it possible to learn them together? In your opinion,do you think French is overrated?

1) SLAGROOM- 

        Language- Dutch Translation- whipped cream

2) BICHE-

        Language- French Translation- doe

3) FAHRT-

        Language- German Translation- drive,ride,trip

4) Prick-

        Language- Swedish Translation- dot,check,spot

5) PHOQUE-

        Language- French Translation- seal

6) DAMIT-

        Language- German Translation- with it/them,thereupon,thus,so that

7) KANT- 

         Language- Dutch Translation- side,border

8) SLUTSPURT-

          Language- Swedish Translation- finish

9) FACA- 

         Language- Portuguese Translation- knife

10) COQUE- 

        Language- French Translation- seashell

11) DICK-

         Language- German Translation- thick,fat

12) DRUG-

       Language- Russian Translation- friend

13) WOMIT-

       Language- German Translation- whereby,with what

Feel free to add some more to this list guys...

Hi guys

I am sure you have heard this question many times before but I am going to ask it anyway.

I have a couple of goals I want to hit and I am trying to build a language routine to do at least something every day but I keep getting myself really confused. 

What's your routine like,do you start with alphabet or phrases, or do you try listening first. I've learned a couple of words and phrases but I'm uncertain as to how to progress from here...

So today, I learned that the end of a verb changes depending on who you're talking about. For example,

To speak- tu parler

You speak- tu parles

I speak- je parle

Basically you add -e at the ending for 'i' and -es for 'you'

Also new words I learned;

a bientôt- see you later

au revoir- goodbye

So I'm confused as to how these words are to be used. Bonsoir means good evening, or can be used to say hello in the evening time. An example of bonsoir is how someone would greet another when walking into a Paris restaurant for dinner. Now Bonne soirée means 'have a good evening'. My question is this; can it also be used to greet someone in the evening time, or is it used when you're about leaving a place like you would say 'have a great day'.

During my study, I noticed that people pronounce words differently. For example, one person's way of saying 'bonjour' will sound just a little bit different when someone else says it so it's kind of confusing for me. How do I find the correct way to pronounce words?

You know that thing that say about not taking yourself too seriously when learning a language, I think I fully comprehend it today. I just downloaded memrize and I'm learning the basic words in French for a start. This is what I've learned so far;

Hi- Salut(Pronounced 'saluu')

What's up- quoi de neuf(literal translation is 'what of new') still learning how to pronounce this.

Allons-y!- Let's go(pronounced Alunsiii)(literal translation is 'we-go-there)

Santé!- Bottoms up!(pronounced 'sontay') (literal translation is 'Health')

Oui- Yes (pronounced as 'we')

Non- No (still practicing pronunciation)

S'il vous plaît- Please ( I'm here wondering why such a short word deserves such long translation in French)

Merci- Thank you (I noticed there's a guttural sound to it when pronouncing this)

Bonjour- Good morning or good day.

Bonne nuit- goodnight (pronounced bon nuwit)

I think that's enough for today. I'll just go ahead and keep repeating these words.

Whistled language is a rare form of communication that can be mostly found in locations with isolating features such as scattered settlements or mountainous terrain. The most thoroughly-researched whistled language however is Silbo Gomero, the language of the island of La Gomera (Canary Islands).

by Matthias Rascher 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.atistudios.ispeak.fr

For someone like me that hates the conventional and gets bored easily, this app seems to be of great help to me.

 It's a free app mainly aimed at beginners and travelers. It contains about 800 commonly used French words and expressions. It also allows you to work on your pronunciation as you can listen to these terms in an authentic pronunciation and repeat them. You can store your favorite sentences too. You're welcome!

I was just surfing the internet and came across this language nicknamed as "The devil's language" for its complexity and difficulty. Anyone here know this language? I'm curious, I want to know more about it.

I found this really interesting and thought to share...

You're fired..." This is most employees worst fear, and the roots can be traced to the early 1900s at National Cash Register. Legend has it founder John Patterson sent an employee out on a business call and when he was gone put his desk outside and set it on fire to signify that he no longer had a job when he returned.

The usage of these words have always confused me. Can they be used interchangeably?

I found this really interesting...

Well, as you may already know, there is a significant amount of loanwords in English from other languages, and, of course, vice versa. A loanword is a word borrowed from other languages, and like you might have noticed already, they might sound or look similar to their language of origin.

So, let's see if you can guess the origins of the words below (without Googling, that is ;)):

tsunami

oxygen

guitar

sky

Mine would be, you really don't have to wear makeup all the time. You can get comfortable with your natural self and when you start to exude confidence, people will naturally find you attractive.

This is a special shout out to those learning multiple languages at the same time! Y'all the real MVP. How do you guys manage that,what's the routine like?

Double shout out for those who know more than five languages, I can't even begin to wrap my head around how you guys did it.

For me it's easier speaking cos I can find short cuts, but with writing, you have to be exact. What do you guys think?

Hello, everybody! How are you?

Let's discuss a very hypothetical situation:

If there were no English in this planet, which foreign language do you think we'd be learning instead, and why?

For me, I think it'll be the tower of Babel all over again :grin:

That would be to show kindness to whoever and whenever, and expecting nothing in return. Because expectations is the major reason for disappointment.

Be kind just because,

Do good to those who can't pay you back, volunteer for a good cause and forget about your problems. In helping people,you find true happiness.

Have a blessed day!

Hello,

I am struggling to learn French and would be really grateful for some practical advice on what to do.

At the moment, I spend half an hour doing Duolingo, followed by half an hour of reading French for Dummies.

In the evening, I also try follow the Learn French with Alexa course on Youtube.

I would be really grateful for some advice on whether this is a good regime to stick with or whether my time could be spent with better resources.

I do not feel that I am getting that much better but maybe I am overestimating the time it takes to become any good at all with French.

Thanks.

This question popped up because just yesterday a foreigner used one of our slangs and it sounded really off and awkward. I know he was trying to blend in and sound cool but it just didn't work out. This is not the only scenario I've seen, I've seen countless of this stuff happen and most times,it doesn't go as planned in your head.

As for me,it's a yes and no in my opinion. I’d say that knowing slang is integral to comprehension but using it totally depends on the circumstances.Slang in French can be hard to keep up with as is true of all languages but the stuff that is here to stay will keep you abreast of what is being talked about. In terms of using slang then I’d say use soft slang pretty carelessly. Use taboo slang with people you know won’t mind or if you’re too drunk to care. Use the taboo words with extreme caution – only use during a fight with your French lover or if someone half-inches (pinches/takes) your drink.

The long and short of it is, If you don’t want to cause offence then be sure of the meaning, connotations and choose your audience wisely.

If you've ever made up a language just to communicate specially between you and your folks,raise your hands! I have and it's funny how we understand ourselves so well!!!

Hello my fellow language learners,

How are you all doing today? I was just seeing this movie titled 'Eat Pray Love's and the part that caught my attention was when the lady traveled to Paris and learned a bit about their language and culture and how deeply connected they both are. For example, there were particular hand gestures you make when saying thank you or when someone offends you and the likes. I think it's absolutely beautiful and it's something new I've learned. In learning any language,go the extra mile and learn the culture of these people and you will find out interesting things you will never find documented in books.

So here's something I noticed, whenever I get a new notification,the new notification is not highlighted so I have to go through all my notifications to figure out where I got a new reply.

In the mail it tells you exactly where but then I think new notifications should be highlighted for ease of access.

So I'm sure most of you must have heard most often than not that children learn languages faster than adults. That it is easier to pick up a language as a child than as an adult. What do you think guys, is this entirely true?

Mine has to be "It's just too hard" and "I probably should have started when I was much younger.

But now I'm challenging myself and I know I can do it.

 You see, the trick is to laugh at your mistakes but at the same time know that making those mistakes is improving your language. Don't try to take yourself too seriously!

Most important of all relax, enjoy and have fun!

Hello everyone, I'm happy to be among a community of people who are all interested in learning new languages. I'd love to learn French, I fell in love with the language when I heard my french teacher in high school speak it. It's such an exotic language and so widely spoken, it'd be great to be able to speak and hear it.