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Foreign Language Learning Help

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by WillowMaiden, Jun 4, 2013.

  1. WillowMaiden

    WillowMaiden Guest

    Hiya! I'm in a language discuss-y mood.

    So, I want to learn two foreign languages or better yet, the kind of the same foreign language twice: Korean and Korean Sign Language.

    I know very few Korean words and just a bit more than that of KSL signs. For the short list of both, I do not know their Korean/Sign equivalent. (Like I know how to sign "name" and "I love you" in KSL, but don't know spoken Korean for "what's your name?" and "I love you." And the words I know in Korean, I don't know the signs for. Did I over explain that? Think I did. Moving on.) I'm ready to start learning them both for real now. My question is: should I learn spoken Korean first, then KSL or KSL, then spoken Korean? I could also learn both at the same time, so that's also an option, but do you think this would be too much? I don't know. It's not the same as when I learned ASL because English is my native tongue, so it was like learning a different, hand-based dialect of a language I already knew. With Korean/KSL, both are from total scratch, so I'm thinking it could go either way. With KSL, I'd end up learning a bit of spoken Korean anyways, right? ...eh, I still don't know. :shrug:

    I'm a language nerd. In general, I pick up languages pretty quick, so it's not a matter of which one will be easier. I'm just curious about what someone else would do, how would you go about it? Have you done anything like it, learned two versions (dialects, I think you would call it in this context) of a foreign language? By the way, does anyone know Korean? Any Korean peeps on this site? Just curious. I mean, I haven't seen many Asian natives around here. 96% of people seem to be from the UK, Australia, Australia Adjacent (a.k.a New Zealand), all the uber white countries in Europe, I think I saw Mexico a couple times, and America. ...:lol: Was that rude? Is there a known rivalry between Kiwis and Aussies or are you guys tight nationally? Do you get a bug up your ass when people confuse you two like the Sweds and Norwegians? Anyway, NZL, I'm just fucking with ya. :kiss: I love you superficially and without having been there because of Peter Jackson and LOTR. In apologizing to the Kiwis, did I somehow insult the Sweds and Norwegians? How deep is this hole gonna get?

    Alright umm, yeah anyway, discuss your language experiences as they pertain to this topic and uhhh, go fuck yourselves. :grin: :slight_smile:lol: I'm a little too free today with my true self gays and gals, I'm not wearing my dealing-with-people "mask"--if you know anything about ASD, you might know what I mean by that...are you still offended? Welp, go fuck yourself again.) :lol: Alright, I'm done.
     
  2. Candace

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    I'm fluent in English, French, Spanish and almost fluent in Italian and Portuguese.

    Learn one language at a time until you're at a comfortable level. I learned French first since my mom is from Québec. I learned Spanish from my Puerto Rican aunt, and four years of it in school. Oh yeah...since Spanish is really similar to French, Italian, Portuguese, you can learn all of them in a shorter amount of time then say German, Thai, and Zulu. Start on a family, like Norwegian, Faroese, Swedish, Icelandic, Danish or German, Dutch, Flemish, Afrikaans, etc. and you'll pick up a lot in no time.

    I like watching TV programmes (Disney movies, the Simpsons) in all five of the languages I speak. I sing songs to myself (Disney songs haha) to help with pronunciation. (I want to learn Polish, so it's needed hehe). Take your time with it and have fun. Try babbel, livemocha, or mylanguageexchange for conversing with natives. and use Skype as well! :grin:

    By the way, which languages DO you speak besides English?
     
  3. WillowMaiden

    WillowMaiden Guest

    Thanks for the tips. :grin:

    I speak French, too! <3 ASL (inspired by French Sign Language, so that fun fact made my lang nerd heart eek) and I'm currently learning Polish, which has been really fucking fun so I totally did a mental this --> (!) when you mentioned it. My number one loves are Slavic languages and second are the Asian langs. I also conlang (develop fictional languages) so there are languages that only I know, if that counts in this context. I agree on the having fun part. I always make sure I'm enjoying the langs I learn by choosing what excites me the most at the time and when I'm not having fun, I have to stop; stop usually meaning change my approach. French introduced me to the fun of learning language as a whole, but I didn't choose to learn it. My Aunt is French language teacher and I grew up around her, so one thing led to another and here I am. :grin:

    Question: I learned French from my Aunt who learned it from a France native, so how well would I be able to communicate with Quebec-French speakers? Is there a big notable difference between Canadian French and France French?
     
  4. Awkward Balloon

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    I'm fluent in English... But I'm developing Irish and French which are quite good at the moment. I really like languages and I wish my school would have more to offer :frowning2:
    My parents are trying to find my sister and I a German tutor, because we both have a good ear for languages and they're keen on us using our ability :slight_smile:

    I learned Spanish for two years but I really disliked it, so I chose French in my next school. Are the Latin based languages much easier to learn if you have one? Because I have been reading through a friend's Spanish book and I find that it's very similar to French, which I can understand well.
     
  5. Dublin Boy

    Dublin Boy Guest

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    How to study Korean
     
  6. WillowMaiden

    WillowMaiden Guest

  7. Ticklish Fish

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    1) i can't fellatio so I can't fuck myself
    2) I am born Chinese and I had to learn English, then I moved to US and was in ESL.
    Now I am probably better at English then chinese since I don't know how to write most traditional Chinese words anymore, but I can still talk and listen in Cantonese, and easily eavesdrop in mandarin more than speaking in that
     
  8. Dublin Boy

    Dublin Boy Guest

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    Your Welcome :slight_smile:
     
  9. WillowMaiden

    WillowMaiden Guest

    1. :lol: Touché
    2. Well it's a pleasure to meet you and congrats on your bilingual/kinda trilingual-ness. :grin:
     
  10. Aussie792

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    I agree with the idea of learning a family, but choose the right sort; I'm learning Romantic languages (French and Spanish, starting Italian soon) and each language helps you understand the others. Just don't choose a really hard family like the Hungarian/Estonian/Finnish family; I've had relatives try to teach me for years and I still can't say a single sentence properly.
     
  11. Awkward Balloon

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    I'd like to add Esperanto to my list of languages. I spent three hours on it last night and it is already at the same level of my French which I've been learning for two years..