bob Posted March 15, 2013 Posted March 15, 2013 Oh my god Accusative pronouns was my downfall. I had to cheat a couple of time because i kept failing it. Seriously it's just impossible! They all look the same and you have no idea which way round it's supposed to be! Ihr/ihn/ihm/ihre/sie/Sie Plus, there are sentences like Mag er ihr? Or some shit like that, and you're all like; Does that mean, he likes her? Or they like him? Or it likes him? I don't bloody well know. I'm never correcting another person's English online ever again for fear it might be a poor German person having to put up with some stupid weird English rules.
Oxigen_Waste Posted March 15, 2013 Posted March 15, 2013 Question to all of our foreign members. What do you think of your system of gendered nouns? I find this very strange and completely illogical. I understand that different languages developed different forms of grammar, such as French's different syntax structure, which seems weird when you encounter it as a foreigner, but it makes sense within that language. But the gender system doesn't make any sense to me. There's no rules, e.g. "It's male when it's a proper noun, and female when it's not". That would make sense. But it just seems to be a case of "you just have to remember which ones are which. So yeah, thoughts please. It's silly and makes no sense. Glad I was born in a country where we have it, though, as I imagine I wouldn't be able to understand it, otherwise... and it sure did come in handy when learning French and Spanish.
Jonnas Posted March 15, 2013 Posted March 15, 2013 Oh my god Accusative pronouns was my downfall. I had to cheat a couple of time because i kept failing it. Seriously it's just impossible! They all look the same and you have no idea which way round it's supposed to be! Ihr/ihn/ihm/ihre/sie/Sie Plus, there are sentences like Mag er ihr? Or some shit like that, and you're all like; Does that mean, he likes her? Or they like him? Or it likes him? I don't bloody well know. I'm never correcting another person's English online ever again for fear it might be a poor German person having to put up with some stupid weird English rules. For starters, that's actually the Dative case you're talking about. (Oddly, I didn't find it that difficult since it's pretty similar to English, with Ihm=Him and Ihr=Her) That said, it's easier the more you see them be used naturally (texts, articles, songs, films, etc.). Nowadays, I can use it well. "Mag er sie" looks correct when written, but Germans don't talk like that. The more used expression is "Gefällt sie ihm?" (Literally, "Is she fallen by him?"). It's weird, but it's how the expression goes ("Das gefällt mir" being the correct translation to "I like it", but literally meaning "That's fallen by me") And most people online with bad grammar are native speakers themselves, I'm sure
Will Posted March 20, 2013 Posted March 20, 2013 Just got my latest Japanese results - 95% - not bad at all. So on to the next level in a few weeks time. Really enjoying it still, just wish I had time to learn at a faster pace.
Beast Posted June 6, 2013 Author Posted June 6, 2013 I've learned quite a bit of Urdu. I can now greet, say thanks, ask how people are, say "excuse me" to get information and to get past, say I'm doing good/bad, tell them I can talk a little Urdu and that I'm learning and there's some more but yeah, doing great. I'm trying to find someone who can talk Urdu who could help me a little more. I think there should be some kind of website that specialises in people who would want to learn other languages and have people teach them over Skype or something. There are some sites I've seen that are kind of like this but the connection is buggy and slow. Shame!
Diageo Posted June 7, 2013 Posted June 7, 2013 Using Duolingo to increase my French skills and keep up my Portuguese. It's a fantastic site and I would recommend it to anyone. Uses gamification to increase motivation and uses many different ways to teach the language.
Jonnas Posted June 7, 2013 Posted June 7, 2013 I did hear good things about Duolingo. I didn't use it, since my German was already decent enough when I got here, but a lot of people I've met here (who were on a beginner level) used it to great effect.
Diageo Posted June 7, 2013 Posted June 7, 2013 I'd say even if your language efficacy is decent enough, you could do with some of the more advanced levels for practice.
Jonnas Posted June 7, 2013 Posted June 7, 2013 Indeed, I ignored Duolingo mainly because it would take several hours to reach my level (if I understood the system correctly), when I could just practice on the Germans themselves. But once I return, I'll probably use it to keep it in check.
MoogleViper Posted June 7, 2013 Posted June 7, 2013 (edited) Do you need to be at a certain level for Duolingo? Or is it for absolute beginners? EDIT: Urgh, they have "Duolingo offers courses in: *American flag* English". Edited June 7, 2013 by MoogleViper
bob Posted June 7, 2013 Posted June 7, 2013 It's hard to say really. It's supposed to be for beginners, but they do start off pretty difficult. Having already known lots of German before i started, i found the first few rounds really easy, but i don't know what it would have been like for someone starting from new...
The fish Posted June 7, 2013 Posted June 7, 2013 Well, I've been meaning to improve my moderate German and poor French for a while, so I guess there's no time like the present! Duolingo looks good, I also recommend Memrise. They're pretty similar. Anyone else learning French or German want to compete? I can't do too much until next Friday as I have a politics exam next week I need to study for, but I've got a summer free!
MoogleViper Posted June 7, 2013 Posted June 7, 2013 I don't have much time (or a summer free), and I'm a complete beginner, but I will happily take you on at German. I'm sure we can base it on level of improvement rather than actual level of language. Even so, I'm sure we can still try and motivate each other.
Diageo Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 Indeed, I ignored Duolingo mainly because it would take several hours to reach my level (if I understood the system correctly), when I could just practice on the Germans themselves. But once I return, I'll probably use it to keep it in check. Do you need to be at a certain level for Duolingo? Or is it for absolute beginners? EDIT: Urgh, they have "Duolingo offers courses in: *American flag* English". It starts you off at the very beginning and teaches you as you go along. However, for people who are already at a certain level, you can take progress exams to jump you up a few levels. Well, I've been meaning to improve my moderate German and poor French for a while, so I guess there's no time like the present! Duolingo looks good, I also recommend Memrise. They're pretty similar. Anyone else learning French or German want to compete? I can't do too much until next Friday as I have a politics exam next week I need to study for, but I've got a summer free! I've been learning French for a good while so I'll take you on
The fish Posted June 15, 2013 Posted June 15, 2013 I don't have much time (or a summer free), and I'm a complete beginner, but I will happily take you on at German. I'm sure we can base it on level of improvement rather than actual level of language. Even so, I'm sure we can still try and motivate each other. Sounds like a plan - I'm super-busy this weekend, but then it's going down! Or, rather, es geht nach unten, if you prefer... I've been learning French for a good while so I'll take you on I've been learning very little, sooooo... How the heck do you add people?
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