Language learning thread

>>1235071
>Do you try to learn the language when you go somewhere?

Sort of. Unless you've been studying for years how much can you honestly hope to learn?

I plan my trips at most 8 months in advance, to become fluent or even decent with a foreign language I feel like that would require a huge and impractical commitment in such a short span of time.

>>1235071
I'm learning German currently.

I have a little class and i do as much online stuff as i can find. After literally probably ten years of wasting my time trying to learn solo (and last summer trying to have a conversation with a German girl with embaressing results) I'm keen to admit that an actual class or tutor at least for language learning is completely vital. It is a means for interpersonal communication after all.

Duolingo is an ok start. Memrise is very good and the Michel Thomas audio lessons are really worth it too for German learners.

I'm doing the opposite, kind of. I've been studying French for quite a while now(German native) and I'm mostly doing countries where French is spoken at the moment.

I've been to Quebec and Belgium last year, and France this year. In summer, I will go to Francophone Switzerland and probably some Maghreb country next year(probably Morocco). If I'm brave enough I might even try West Africa(Senegal) afterwards.

I've made quite a lot of Internet friends and regular exchange partners over time on apps like HelloTalk on whose sofas I could sleep for free a few times. It's been a pretty great experience to stay at a place of a native and become part of a local social circle and get to practice the language.

I'm not 100% fluent but I can conduct a conversation and I already know that I will do Spanish next.

The general rule is that learning at least some phrases will boost your sympathy points, wherever you go.

Trading Turkish language for German. Takers? Drop an email/discord.

>>1235104
Sounds like Switzerland and Belgium are the perfect places for you, good luck with your struggle.

Is HelloTalk any good?

>>1235122
we have enough here, thanks

>>1235596
In my personal opinion, the best way to do online language exchanges. I've probably talked to more than a hundred people at this point(voice chat only).

It's only suffering from a few problems that are shared by various means of exchanges, like people being quitters and abuse for partner search but they provide options to migitate these problems

Don't get discouraged if you send like 2 messages and receive no reply. Try to talk to several people. Find a few that are committed and click/stick with you.

It has a lot of options that have to be discovered on how you can interact and filter people. Be aware of time zones and don't be too shy to insist on practicing your language.

Though, if you can only provide some smaller obscure language for exchange then you might be out of luck and have to be very vigilant.

>>1235071
I try to get the basics, but obviously I don't try to learn everything. Like when I went to Asia I tried to learn some Mandarin, basic things like "where is ___?", "thank you", "sorry", and other stuff like that. I picked up a little more while there, but unless you're living somewhere for months or years then it's unlikely you'll progress more than stock phrases.

>>1235696
>unless you're living somewhere for months or years then it's unlikely you'll progress more than stock phrases.
That's not true at all.

It really depends where I'm traveling to.

If the country/area speaks reasonable amounts of English, I generally won't try. There are so many places that are English-friendly.

The only time I would try to learn a new language is if English (or any of my other spoken languages) are useless in a particular country. And as I said before, there are many places that are willing to speak English.

>>1235685
If you are native speaker of English then you already are the most desired speaker and depending on the obscurity of your target language and their population you even might be overwhelmed by requests. If you are not finding anyone due to your own obscure native language, then there is no other way then to pay up and use a service like Italki.

>>1235071
I try and learn a little bit. Exception is French, which I have spoken fluently for years as a result of learning it and having actual friends from France (have no trouble getting around any French speaking countries or speaking with the natives about a a variety of subjects).

Some countries have much more difficult languages which laughed at my attempts to speak them - German being one of them. Fortunately their English sufficed.

>>1235698
I mean it depends on the language and how similar it is, but for instance if you're living somewhere and the language is Mandarin it'll take you a couple of months to get somewhere even if you're trying pretty hard. I guess it is a different story if you are French and trying to learn something such as Spanish though.

Any more stories?

Sometimes it's just not worth it.
Bulgarian for example is shit and definitely not worthwhile, except for maybe learning the alphabet

I've just started using an app called Hellotalk. Trying to learn some basic survival mandarin.

Hell yes. I put effort into speaking korean before i came here. 99% of foreigners speak zero korean so when you speak just a little you stand out in a good way. Highly recommended for picking up qts barhopping, clubbing, meeff and tinder.

Just looked up vids on youtube and then have my korean friends teach me common phrases here and there, bonus points for Gyeongsangnamdo dialect if you're in that area.

I'm learning French but I'm at such a frustrating stage. I can understand so much when reading french, but I understand almost nothing when I hear it and when I have to form sentences myself I stumble like an idiot. But I can literally read the language. I don't fucking get it.

>>1236840
How it is "shit", my friend? It's not useful to you, it's difficult to you? Native speaker here and I can tell you that it has it's merits.

As you pointed out it's written in a different but very close to the Latin script, a Slavic language with strong Turkic roots is definitely interesting.

Honestly just learn Russian, it's more difficult for sure, it's cognate with Bulgarian and gives you a giant area where you will be able to get around.

That's what I look for in languages and English, French, Spanish are leading in terms of population size that speak it as a mother tongue.

I don't learn languages while abroad because it's going to take literal ages to have a servicable grasp. I learn expressions and whatever locals tell me to say.

I always set my phone to the language of where I'm going, and try any free apps. Right now I'm into Thai and Māori

>>1238663
Courage mec, tu vas y arriver !

>>1238663
As a French speaker myself, I think that's normal.

I am convinced that most French lessons are watered down to make it easier for novices. Of course when you hear the real thing from native speakers, it'll sound different.

As an example, I'm Canadian. I studied French for over a dozen years, and the courses I took were designed for western Canadians. The curriculum is bound to be different in eastern Canada (ie. Quebec).

I've also spoken with various different French speakers. I can just barely understand Quebec people. Trying to understand actual Parisians, Belgians, and Tahitians are a different story.

>>1238953
Is a different story, you mongrel.

>>1238663
Have you been doing most of your learning via written exercises?
Try splitting your time equally between reading/writing/listening/speaking to increase the weaker areas.

I always try and learn a little bit of the local language. Just the basics, enough to sound like you're making an effort - stuff like hello/goodbye, I would like..., where's the toilet, excuse me, please and thank you.

It always works very well. In Crete last year people in restaurants absolutely loved it, they kept giving me and my friends free desserts and free alcohol.

I usually get my words and phrases from Omniglot. They've got sound files so you can hear how the words are meant to be said. Then I write down about 15 key ones on a scrap of paper for a quick revision if necessary. Works a charm

>>1238663
I'm the same in Italian. I read the newspaper in Italian daily with no problem, but I struggle to speak and understand it. It's so frustrating because in Spanish speaking has always been my strongest skill.

I guess it's just practice. I don't know any Italians so my only contact with the language is written.

>>1239373
Yes, people will love you for taking the time to learn some stuff in their language. It changes everything.

I strongly encourage everyone of you to try the experience. It's like a social cheat, it will make you stand out.

>>1239455
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFrMFaz5h5U&t=15

>>1239373
>where's the toilet
You too, eh?

That's literally the first thing I try to learn in any language before I travel. My childhood trauma won't let me have it any other way.

Most places I feel like it's pretty optional to know the language or not. Asia especially - enough people know basic English words that you can get around without their language, which would be practically impossible to learn anyway.

The really big exception is Latin America. I started travel through Latin America in Colombia, which forced me to learn Spanish really quickly as I needed it to do anything at all. And that's made a massive difference in my enjoyment of the rest of my travels through the region. I can hold a conversation with random people, accomplish anything just as easy as locals, and most importantly, my penis has never been happier.

On the last point - there are LOTS of Latinas that are very interested in gringos but don't speak English well enough to hold a conversation. And there are very, very few gringos that know enough Spanish to hold a decent conversation, enough to carry a date along. So if you're one of those gringos, and you look obviously like a gringo (light features / light eyes), all of Latin America becomes easy as fuck to get laid in.

>>1239698
Why are any Asian languages "practically impossible"?

Spanish is literally the easiest language for an English speaker to learn but that doesn't make other languages impossible

>>1239748
They call it Cantonese because it's a language that you can't tone with ease.

>>1239748
>Why are any Asian languages "practically impossible"?

It's practically impossible to get to a conversational level in any of the Asian languages without real, dedicated effort over a longer period of time. Unless you're planning on living there for many months the effort just doesn't make any sense.

Spanish is something that's easy enough for an English speaker to pick up, so that it's possible to get to a conversational level in just a few weeks of intensive study. And it will help you travel and live in a very large swath of interesting countries. So spending 4 weeks in intensive courses in the beginning of traveling through a region is all that you need to have great conversations with people and do everything you need.

>>1239755
>Unless you're planning on living there for many months the effort just doesn't make any sense.
I have to disagree, unless you're doing something very productive instead.

Asian languages are very different but not necessary "hard" (it really depends though, there are plenty of languages in Asia). Some have very straightforward grammar for instance, which simplifies a lot of work. Spanish is a nightmare for that for instance.