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Duolingo, anyone?

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eric strt6

Resident Curmudgeon
Sep 8, 2001
24,372
15,135
directly above the center of the earth
Deutsch or dutch? Sorry, couldn't resist...
Deutsch is one of the harder languages to learn. We got so many irregularities and sometimes plain stupid rules in grammar, it's even hard for our kids. Take numbers for example. Every other language I know of first name the digits from left to right - not so in German. It's not thirty-one but one-thirty - stupid!
eins und dreissig dumbkopf
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
20,050
8,769
Nowhere Man!
Arroz y frijoles with my Bacalhau. Deez chips are wicked salty. Does chips are cold. Dem folks are loud when dey fight in the street. Cape Cod pizza is aight. I like Papa Ginos betterer. I speak Brockton pissah...
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
7,743
7,086
I use it once in a while to try to brush up on my German. Took 3 years of it in HS and went on a couple week long ski trip to Bavaria in my early 20s. I ran into the issue that most classes on German language teach you High German but when in Bavaria people spoke Low German (kinda like the North and the South in the US using different slang and accents).

I've recently tried using it to learn Spanish but so far I suck at it.
I remember learning phone numbers at school, what a mindfuck that was.
All I really remember now is some parts of Puff The Magic Dragon and some nursey rhyme where a hare may have been shot, oh and "Nein Prinz, das ist mein Hamburger!".
German got too hard so I went to computing studies, learning hexadecimal was really helpful.........should have stayed with German.
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
11,135
8,771
Exit, CO
Yo uso una camiseta negro, un sombrero negro, pantalones gris, y zapatos.

Except Google translate tells that actually "Estoy usando" all those things, but I haven't gotten to the part of my Spanish learning where we conjugate past and/or future tenses. Coming up on a 90 day streak, and just learned the verb for "use" which apparently can also translate as "wear". Funny how learning one word feels like it unlocks a bunch of communication.

¡Necesito usar el baño ahora, hijo de puta!
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,795
5,625
Ottawa, Canada
Yo uso una camiseta negro, un sombrero negro, pantalones gris, y zapatos.

Except Google translate tells that actually "Estoy usando" all those things, but I haven't gotten to the part of my Spanish learning where we conjugate past and/or future tenses. Coming up on a 90 day streak, and just learned the verb for "use" which apparently can also translate as "wear". Funny how learning one word feels like it unlocks a bunch of communication.

¡Necesito usar el baño ahora, hijo de puta!
In certain cases, use and wear are interchangeable. As in "my shoes are worn" - "mis zapatos son usados". So using one word in google translate can lead to problems as the often have several meanings.

You ever see this guys YT videos?! They're fun: https://youtube.com/shorts/XYpM-8j66qg?feature=share

 
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4xBoy

Turbo Monkey
Jun 20, 2006
7,246
3,267
Minneapolis
I worn my worn shoes in the house last night.

Then a dove dove at my nuts.

:close:

My wife has a strong accent, 10 years with her and still can say words she has never heard or has any understanding of there context.

I can barley spoke English.
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
11,135
8,771
Exit, CO
In certain cases, use and wear are interchangeable. As in "my shoes are worn" - "mis zapatos son usados". So using one word in google translate can lead to problems as the often have several meanings.

You ever see this guys YT videos?! They're fun: https://youtube.com/shorts/XYpM-8j66qg?feature=share

Teh Spousal Unit™ is also Duolingo-ing and gets frustrated by the "oddities" (different rules) of Spanish (e.g., adjectives after nouns, gendered nouns, words that are the same except for an accent) so I sent her that. Freaking hilarious. I'm also gonna send her this one, because English is equally stupid: https://youtube.com/shorts/Q1A5A8Xe22s?feature=share
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
55,997
22,032
Sleazattle
Teh Spousal Unit™ is also Duolingo-ing and gets frustrated by the "oddities" (different rules) of Spanish (e.g., adjectives after nouns, gendered nouns, words that are the same except for an accent) so I sent her that. Freaking hilarious. I'm also gonna send her this one, because English is equally stupid: https://youtube.com/shorts/Q1A5A8Xe22s?feature=share

English is a mish-mash of languages from all the different occupiers of the islands. Start with some Celtic languages, throw in some Old German from Vikings, Latin from the Romans, then some French, then add a bunch of words adopted from a world of colonies.
 

rideit

Bob the Builder
Aug 24, 2004
24,685
12,478
In the cleavage of the Tetons
I have about 50 days doing French as well (I spoke it crudely in college in France), I’m going to do a year, and then add another language, TBD. Probably another Romance language, it really depends on who I meet or want to visit between now and them.
Maybe I’ll learn Glaswegian Or Boston Southie.
 

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
17,224
14,697
I have about 50 days doing French as well (I spoke it crudely in college in France), I’m going to do a year, and then add another language, TBD. Probably another Romance language, it really depends on who I meet or want to visit between now and them.
Maybe I’ll learn Glaswegian Or Boston Southie.
Welsh.

Good riding there too.
 

JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,548
2,174
Front Range, dude...
I worn my worn shoes in the house last night.

Then a dove dove at my nuts.

:close:

My wife has a strong accent, 10 years with her and still can say words she has never heard or has any understanding of there context.

I can barley spoke English.
20+ years with my Frau and I still dont understand her...
 

Toshi

butthole powerwashing evangelist
Oct 23, 2001
39,748
8,748
I started using Duolingo a few days ago.

until I realized I could test out of each section it was very repetitive/boring. now I'm at a good level. I still know the grammar but refreshing on the kanji is good for my brain.
 

two-one

Monkey
Dec 15, 2013
205
211
Eindhoven, the Netherlands
I'm now on streak day 119, and I'm now capable of telling my girlfriend in Polish that I know a horse that likes cookies...

... so at this point I'm tempted to switch it to French on a higher level, so I can at least add some vocabulary for whenever I need to order some afterride snacks while riding in the Alps.
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
11,135
8,771
Exit, CO
I'm now on streak day 119, and I'm now capable of telling my girlfriend in Polish that I know a horse that likes cookies...

... so at this point I'm tempted to switch it to French on a higher level, so I can at least add some vocabulary for whenever I need to order some afterride snacks while riding in the Alps.
You might be doing better than I am, because after 147 days I am unable to tell my wife that I know a horse that likes cookies in Spanish. But I can tell her that I have a dog that drinks red wine!

¡Yo tengo un perro y él bebe vino rojo!
 
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Jozz

Joe Dalton
Apr 18, 2002
6,154
7,849
SADL
I'm now on streak day 119, and I'm now capable of telling my girlfriend in Polish that I know a horse that likes cookies...

... so at this point I'm tempted to switch it to French on a higher level, so I can at least add some vocabulary for whenever I need to order some afterride snacks while riding in the Alps.
Je connais un cheval qui adore les biscuits.
 

Toshi

butthole powerwashing evangelist
Oct 23, 2001
39,748
8,748
The hiragana pronunciations for kanji are disappearing from my current lessons.

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