Language Club- How do you say...? Languages, Translations...What's the word, yo?! |
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05-09-2007, 09:14 PM
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#1
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Members
Join Date: May 2007
Location: AUSTRALIA
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i want to learn a language
i wasnt sure where i should post this so i'll put it here.
i want to learn a new language. the only language i can speak it english and a little bit of italian i learnt in primary school about ten years ago!
i dont have time to go to classes but i know you can buy kits that you can learn at home with. does anyone know of any good ones that i can get either in the shop here (oz) or over the net?
im thinking either dutch or german.
thanks guys.
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05-09-2007, 09:30 PM
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#2
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Mod
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Australia
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the BBC website has a pretty good basic language course that will get you started quickly. i did the german course and you pick it up very easily and remember the phrases well. past that, I found it hard to learn from any other 'learn at home' type things - the CDs were useless to me (in one ear and out the other).. i learned most german from being around german people. if you cant go to classes or dont know any native speakers, i think there are a few websites that hook you up with penfriends who speak the language you want to learn. often you have to teach them english in return. i just find that the best way to learn a language is to use it.
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05-09-2007, 10:30 PM
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#3
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To Smart For Mensa
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Salt Lake City
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Many of us here have had great success with Pimsleur
I was able to pirate every one they've ever made off of the internet through torrents but if you are not into that it is still worth the money. Best program to learn at home, bar none.
__________________
Adventure needs to be as much about discovering yourself as it is about discovering the world.
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05-10-2007, 08:45 AM
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#4
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Artist of Life
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Ottawa, Canada aka O-town
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Two words... ROSETTA STONE. Revolutionary langauge learning software. Instead of translating, the system consists of images and words, so you learn the language as a child would... its very effective.
http://www.rosettastone.com/en/
You can download it here: http://www.torrentspy.com/
__________________
Vincent: "So what you gonna do?"
Jules: "Well, basically, I'm just gonna walk the earth."
Vincent: "What you mean 'walk the earth'?"
Jules: "You know, like Kane in 'Kung Fu'...go places...meet people...get in adventures."
Trips (only counting recreational travel):
FIRST TRIP (2005): FIRST EUROTRIP EVER! UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland
SECOND TRIP (2007): First Solo Trip! Greece, Turkey, Syria, Spain
2008: China (Beijing, Shanghai, Yangshuo) ...right before the Olympics!
2009: Japan & HK, Southern Spain
[size=1]2010: All over Lebanon, Ibiza (Spain), Oktoberfest (Germany), Thailand.
2011: India (Goa), Jordan, Jerusalem, San Sebastian (Spain), Amsterdam (again), London, Driving from Vancouver to L.A. (stopping in Portland, Seattle, San Fran and all the little stops), Montpellier (France), Geneva and Lausanne (Switzerland)
"Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it."
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05-11-2007, 02:34 AM
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#5
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**Wacktose Intolerant**
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Currently back in Canada... Saving and plotting my next adventure!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheJake
Many of us here have had great success with Pimsleur
I was able to pirate every one they've ever made off of the internet through torrents but if you are not into that it is still worth the money. Best program to learn at home, bar none.
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Which torrent service do you use Jake? I haven't had any real luck finding a good one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Canadian Bacon
Two words... ROSETTA STONE. Revolutionary langauge learning software. Instead of translating, the system consists of images and words, so you learn the language as a child would... its very effective.
http://www.rosettastone.com/en/
You can download it here: http://www.torrentspy.com/
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I really like Rosetta Stone... It worked well for me anyway.. I've had much better memory retention with it than with other programs, the only problem is that it is aimed for people who want to become fluent in the language, so it goes about things in a very round about way... If you're looking more for sentances that might help you with travel, this probably isn't the best program for you...
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05-11-2007, 08:01 AM
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#6
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TPunk Recognized
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Canberra
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why would you want to learn a language as useless as dutch?!?!!
haha ok thats bit mean and dutch is actually kind of cool to learn. a lot of it is VERY similar to english except for the coughing g sound. and knowing a more obscure language is useful to pretend you are from a different country and if you want to avoid communicating for some reason. i did it with the portrait sketchers in paris. actually all i said was, "nee, nee, nederland, nederland!!!" they were very confused about how someone could be walking around france without knowing any french or english.
oh and i recently discovered that knowing dutch means you can understand a bit of german. i was talking to a turkish guy who only knew german and he managed to communicate that he left his wife because one of them was a good muslim and one was a bad muslim... :S.... i think that's what he said..
but also, knowing german and english means that you can understand dutch too.
i know you werent asking for which lanugage to choose, sorry.... just trying to be kinda helpful, maybe...:S
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05-11-2007, 08:35 AM
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#7
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Artist of Life
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Ottawa, Canada aka O-town
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Majestic58
I really like Rosetta Stone... It worked well for me anyway.. I've had much better memory retention with it than with other programs, the only problem is that it is aimed for people who want to become fluent in the language, so it goes about things in a very round about way... If you're looking more for sentances that might help you with travel, this probably isn't the best program for you...
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Very true. So far I am learning Arabic, I can say "the boys run" or "the car is yellow"...but I can't ask for directions
__________________
Vincent: "So what you gonna do?"
Jules: "Well, basically, I'm just gonna walk the earth."
Vincent: "What you mean 'walk the earth'?"
Jules: "You know, like Kane in 'Kung Fu'...go places...meet people...get in adventures."
Trips (only counting recreational travel):
FIRST TRIP (2005): FIRST EUROTRIP EVER! UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland
SECOND TRIP (2007): First Solo Trip! Greece, Turkey, Syria, Spain
2008: China (Beijing, Shanghai, Yangshuo) ...right before the Olympics!
2009: Japan & HK, Southern Spain
[size=1]2010: All over Lebanon, Ibiza (Spain), Oktoberfest (Germany), Thailand.
2011: India (Goa), Jordan, Jerusalem, San Sebastian (Spain), Amsterdam (again), London, Driving from Vancouver to L.A. (stopping in Portland, Seattle, San Fran and all the little stops), Montpellier (France), Geneva and Lausanne (Switzerland)
"Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it."
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05-11-2007, 11:23 AM
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#8
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To Smart For Mensa
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Salt Lake City
Posts: 5,585
Thanks: 3
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http://www.torrentz.com/da4f725f5da9...81182d604a3c49
there's the torrent for the complete language set. It's HUGE and takes awhile to download but I think every life-long traveler should have it.
__________________
Adventure needs to be as much about discovering yourself as it is about discovering the world.
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05-11-2007, 12:12 PM
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#9
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call me Condi!
Join Date: Oct 2006
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Canadian Bacon
Very true. So far I am learning Arabic, I can say "the boys run" or "the car is yellow"...but I can't ask for directions
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J - just say "ayna" (sounds like "eye-nah"). It means where. So you can say "where" and gesture or say the name of a city or site (most are really close to the Arabic - Aleppo is Heleb, Damascus is Dee-mah-shq). Believe me, they know what toilet is. Or WC. And if you wanna know "how much" just say "Kem." Or if you want to be more specific, say what you're asking for after kem so "How many Dirhams (or whatever currency)" is "Kem Dirham?"
And Louse, I know TV words in Dutch. My host mom in Germany, you know, so I could learn *German* was from the Netherlands! So she paid for Dutch TV. Which was awesome because they subtitle whereas the Germans dub, so I could get a breath of English. But I learned some TV words from the advertisements. "Vanavond!!!"
__________________
"I set out alone, finding no companion to cheer the way with friendly intercourse, and no party of travellers with whom to associate myself. Swayed by an overmastering impulse within me, and a long-cherished desire to visit those glorious sanctuaries, I resolved to quit all my friends and tear myself away from my home."
---Ibn Battuta, CE 1325
Latest travel crushes - Arizona, Morocco, The Baltic States, Tunisia, Portugal, Mexico
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