Learning A Language

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  1. CJG21's Avatar
    • Benevolent Member
    • Location: East Yorkshire
    • Posts: 781
    Learning A Language
    I didn't know where to put this, so here goes.

    I'm gonna have a lot of time off over the summer and I was wondering if anyone could advise me on a language to have a go at. I have studied french and it never really worked for me, so I was wondering if there were any other languages that were interesting that I could teach myself?

    Out of interest, how hard is it to learn braille?
  2. Gemzaar's Avatar
    • Respected Member
    • Location: Midlands
    • Posts: 163
    Re: Learning A Language
    Why not continue with French and improve on what you already know?
  3. constantmeowage's Avatar
    • Benevolent Member
    • Posts: 629
    Braille isn't a language - it's only an alphabet to aid the blind in reading.


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  4. Emrys141's Avatar
    • Respected Member
    • Posts: 208
    Re: Learning A Language
    (Original post by CJG21)
    I didn't know where to put this, so here goes.

    I'm gonna have a lot of time off over the summer and I was wondering if anyone could advise me on a language to have a go at. I have studied french and it never really worked for me, so I was wondering if there were any other languages that were interesting that I could teach myself?

    Out of interest, how hard is it to learn braille?
    I want to do the exact same thing! I was hoping to learn German, or start again on Spanish because I learnt that in year 7-8. I'm just not sure how to learn it. Hm.
  5. constantmeowage's Avatar
    • Benevolent Member
    • Posts: 629
    (Original post by Emrys141)
    I want to do the exact same thing! I was hoping to learn German, or start again on Spanish because I learnt that in year 7-8. I'm just not sure how to learn it. Hm.
    Join the TSR Learn a Language Over The Summer Soc! (Which just so happens to be doing German and Spanish)


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  6. Vijay2010's Avatar
    • Exalted Member
    • Posts: 361
    Re: Learning A Language
    (Original post by CJG21)
    I didn't know where to put this, so here goes.

    I'm gonna have a lot of time off over the summer and I was wondering if anyone could advise me on a language to have a go at. I have studied french and it never really worked for me, so I was wondering if there were any other languages that were interesting that I could teach myself?

    Out of interest, how hard is it to learn braille?
    I had the same idea. Go on http://livemocha.com/ - its a free language learning website I found and actually pretty good for a freebie
  7. Purple Giraffe's Avatar
    • Community Assistant
    • In my own little world
    Re: Learning A Language
    From my experience, it's fairly easy to begin with German, as a lot of words are similar to English and the spelling is pretty straight-forward. But as you get into more complicated grammar it can get pretty tough.

    Spanish can be difficult to get into, with the three different verb endings and all the irregular verbs. But once you get past that it gets easier, as the grammar is similar to English and for a surprising amount of vocab it's just a matter of switching a few letters around and saying it in a Spanish accent (but sadly not for the majority!)

    If you struggled with French maybe you'd be happier with German, as it's (obviously) a Germanic language as opposed to a romantic one. Spanish actually seems like a much simpler version of French (although I've never really studied French) so you might find it easier, but either way you should be able to learn a fair amount over the summer if you're dedicated enough
  8. littlemissmidget123's Avatar
    • Exalted and Worshipped Member
    • Location: London
    • Posts: 1,028
    Re: Learning A Language
    german is a good language to learn, and also very useful in the world of work.

    ive always wanted to learn sign language so i might try that one day

    dutch is also on my list of things to learn.. simply because my german is good (i lived in germany) and dutch us in between german and english!.. and my best friends are dutch!

    i never got on with french...

    perhaps do a lesson or 2 of various languages you are interested in on the internet and see which language you like more
  9. Emrys141's Avatar
    • Respected Member
    • Posts: 208
    Re: Learning A Language
    (Original post by constantmeowage)
    Join the TSR Learn a Language Over The Summer Soc! (Which just so happens to be doing German and Spanish)


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    That sounds good How would I go about joining that?
  10. constantmeowage's Avatar
    • Benevolent Member
    • Posts: 629
    (Original post by Emrys141)
    That sounds good How would I go about joining that?
    http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/show...php?p=37885297

    I think this is starting in July so as to avoid exams and stuffs. Viel Glück! ^.^


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  11. Emrys141's Avatar
    • Respected Member
    • Posts: 208
    Re: Learning A Language
    (Original post by constantmeowage)
    http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/show...php?p=37885297

    I think this is starting in July so as to avoid exams and stuffs. Viel Glück! ^.^


    This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
    That looks really good! It looks like German is the most popular I'm going to have to keep an eye on that thread, thanks for the luck (I had to use Google Translate for that one ) Thanks for the link Are you going to give it a go?
  12. r4ndom's Avatar
    • Respected Member
    • Posts: 203
    Re: Learning A Language
    (Original post by helzz94)
    From my experience, it's fairly easy to begin with German, as a lot of words are similar to English and the spelling is pretty straight-forward. But as you get into more complicated grammar it can get pretty tough.

    Spanish can be difficult to get into, with the three different verb endings and all the irregular verbs. But once you get past that it gets easier, as the grammar is similar to English and for a surprising amount of vocab it's just a matter of switching a few letters around and saying it in a Spanish accent (but sadly not for the majority!)

    If you struggled with French maybe you'd be happier with German, as it's (obviously) a Germanic language as opposed to a romantic one. Spanish actually seems like a much simpler version of French (although I've never really studied French) so you might find it easier, but either way you should be able to learn a fair amount over the summer if you're dedicated enough
    I basically agree with this.

    If you didn't like French it's most likely that you don't like Spanish either. They have some similarities as the verb endings, vocabulary and all that.

    On the other hand, German has this handicap of the declinations. I don't know if you would find easier to get used to those.
    Last edited by r4ndom; 16-06-2012 at 20:50.
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