Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to find out how to spell 'the dogs' when it's a mix of male and female when you're there ;-)
Seriously, have a great time anyway bud :-).
Seriously, have a great time anyway bud :-).
crazyg
Well-Known Member
Try somewhere close like the Pas de Calais, or, further south, Brittany or Normandy. Beaches, history, Calvados, Cider, beautiful scenery., and a bit warmer than the UK. Try Chez Nous or Welcome Cottages for accommodation - you'll be surprised at how cheap they are. Just the ferry/Shuttle costs to worry about to add to the travel, but you won't be fleeced for parking like you are over here. And, contrary to popular belief, the natives are friendly if you try to talk to them.
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I found it's relatively easy to understand written Spanish after a while on Duolingo or after a few lessons - however, trying to understand full speed spoken Spanish is a fuckin mare. Watch Spanish language series on Netflix with Spanish subtitles or slowed down Spanish language videos on youtube. Also, if you can handle it , listen to Latino music, tends to be slower so you can pick out more.
Mr Kobayashi
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- Joined
- 1 Oct 2020
- Messages
- 17,252
It’s the plural of the masculine word.
It also works for adjectives and verbs
As I said earlier, common in romantic languages.
Italian for boy/s: regezzo, regazzi
Italian for girl/s: regazza/regazze
Italian for group of boys and girls, basically guys or folk etc: regazzi
Doesn't matter if girls outnumber 99:1, masculine form of the word takes precedence as long as the group has a male element.
Third person plural pronoun for group with both masculine and feminine
Marie et Jean vont à la cantine. Now, according to the rule we should replace the noun with ils or elles according to their gender. But here there is a masculine as well as a feminine, so what sh...
french.stackexchange.com
MCFCTrick
Well-Known Member
Thanks for that .... Will check out all. (And apologies to the OP for derailing their thread!)
PragueBlue
Well-Known Member
I find the old Linguaphone courses the best for me personally. A bit old school and quite expensive but still work the best for me to get a good grounding in a language. Then find a local (or Skype) native speaker teacher to practise with.
Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
Ah thanks mate, I thought it may be but without actually knowing , cheers.It’s the plural of the masculine word.
It also works for adjectives and verbs
As I said earlier, common in romantic languages.
Italian for boy/s: regezzo, regazzi
Italian for girl/s: regazza/regazze
Italian for group of boys and girls, basically guys or folk etc: regazzi
Doesn't matter if girls outnumber 99:1, masculine form of the word takes precedence as long as the group has a male element.
Third person plural pronoun for group with both masculine and feminine
Marie et Jean vont à la cantine. Now, according to the rule we should replace the noun with ils or elles according to their gender. But here there is a masculine as well as a feminine, so what sh...
I'm With Stupid
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- Joined
- 6 May 2013
- Messages
- 20,540
Second language acquisition expert Paul Nation has a free book on how to best learn a language and the different techniques you can learn. At the very least, there are grey boxes with suggested activities for each skill.
Basically he says that four skills are necessary:
- Meaning-focused input (listening and reading at a level that just slightly pushes you to understand new language)
- Meaning-focused output (speaking and writing at a level that just slightly pushes you to use new language)
- Fluency practice (activities that help you use the language you already know more quickly)
- Language-focused learning (deliberately noticing and practising rules of the language).
He argues that 25% of your time should be spent on each.
So for example, you might read a book that you mostly understand but it has a couple of new words on each page and maybe a couple of new grammar forms throughout the book. You read it just to enjoy the story. That's your meaning-focused input. After you've read the book, you might discuss the book with a teacher or friend. That forces you to use the language from the book by definition. That's your meaning-focused output. Later on, you might go through the book and highlight some of those new words that you came across and then look up their meanings. Perhaps you make flashcards and write the English translation on the back, and then study them over the next week. Or maybe you look up the rules of the new grammar you found and look for some other examples. And maybe you write five of your own sentences using that grammar. That's your language-focused learning. And finally, once you're fairly confident you know the book, maybe you read the book again, trying to read it faster this time (perhaps even timing yourself and trying to beat that time next time). Or maybe you select a new book for a lower level learner and try to read that faster. That's your fluency practice.
Anyway, here's an interview with him too...
Obviously he's talking about learning English here, but the principles apply to any language, although of course languages that are closer to English allow you to get into reading more quickly.
Basically he says that four skills are necessary:
- Meaning-focused input (listening and reading at a level that just slightly pushes you to understand new language)
- Meaning-focused output (speaking and writing at a level that just slightly pushes you to use new language)
- Fluency practice (activities that help you use the language you already know more quickly)
- Language-focused learning (deliberately noticing and practising rules of the language).
He argues that 25% of your time should be spent on each.
So for example, you might read a book that you mostly understand but it has a couple of new words on each page and maybe a couple of new grammar forms throughout the book. You read it just to enjoy the story. That's your meaning-focused input. After you've read the book, you might discuss the book with a teacher or friend. That forces you to use the language from the book by definition. That's your meaning-focused output. Later on, you might go through the book and highlight some of those new words that you came across and then look up their meanings. Perhaps you make flashcards and write the English translation on the back, and then study them over the next week. Or maybe you look up the rules of the new grammar you found and look for some other examples. And maybe you write five of your own sentences using that grammar. That's your language-focused learning. And finally, once you're fairly confident you know the book, maybe you read the book again, trying to read it faster this time (perhaps even timing yourself and trying to beat that time next time). Or maybe you select a new book for a lower level learner and try to read that faster. That's your fluency practice.
Anyway, here's an interview with him too...
Obviously he's talking about learning English here, but the principles apply to any language, although of course languages that are closer to English allow you to get into reading more quickly.
ffs
Well-Known Member
LongsightM13
Well-Known Member
Yep the speed most Spanish people talk at is the real killer when learning the language