Page 1 of 2 [ 23 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

gemstone123
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Aug 2008
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,196
Location: UK

23 Nov 2009, 9:08 am

I'm self-studying a French GCSE and I've recently started learning a little Italian. Is anyone learning languages on their own? :D



kc8ufv
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Jul 2008
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Posts: 762
Location: Toledo, OH

23 Nov 2009, 9:42 am

I've been a bit busy in the past month or so, so my studying is a little behind, but I am studying Japanese on my own. Podcasts really help.



bonuspoints
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Aug 2009
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Posts: 598
Location: Washington state - *Do I get bonus points if I act like I care?*

23 Nov 2009, 10:42 am

I love languages! I have many language books and even some ds games to learn French and Spanish. I took Spanish in high school, but the classes progressed too slowly for me. I tried taking classes in college but they were always full (spoken languages were full, I did take ASL classes). Unfortunately I never get a chance to use the languages so I get a bit rusty.


_________________
Those who cannot tell what they desire or expect, still sigh and struggle with indefinite thoughts and vast wishes. - Emerson

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. - Oscar Wilde


gina-ghettoprincess
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Nov 2008
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,669
Location: The Town That Time Forgot (UK)

24 Nov 2009, 12:21 pm

I have been learning Spanish, Italian, and Russian for a while, and I have also recently started learning Swedish, Finnish, Romanian, and German. I think I'm addicted to languages :lol:


_________________
'El reloj, no avanza
y yo quiero ir a verte,
La clase, no acaba
y es como un semestre"


Daniella
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 9 Jun 2009
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 317
Location: Netherlands

24 Nov 2009, 2:05 pm

I've learnt English on my own but that wasn't much effort... there are quite some American TV-programmes, and loads movies, and loads of songs, games, so...

But my motherlanguage is Dutch, and my English is okay but not anywhere near as good as my Dutch. I can do a bit of German, and a tiny bit of French, both because of school, but that's about it, really.



DianaMarie
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

User avatar

Joined: 11 Nov 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 8

01 Dec 2009, 12:34 pm

My 17 year old daughter is studying Japanese - she has many books and is learning to write it as well as speak it. It is quite impressive - her passion for the Japanese culture is also very cool - I tease her tho because she is a finicky eater and could never stomach their cuisine. I am trying to get her to sign up to Wrong Planet. Peace Out!



OuterBoroughGirl
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 2 Oct 2009
Age: 45
Gender: Female
Posts: 356

01 Dec 2009, 8:11 pm

I'm studying Spanish with Rosetta Stone. I also work in a school located in a very Spanish dominant neighborhood, where many of the staff and students speak Spanish as a primary language.
In spite of the fact that I also studied Spanish in school, I'm not learning the language as quickly as I'd like, bu I have made some decent headway.


_________________
"And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad./ The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had."


sefer
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 12 Aug 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 127

02 Dec 2009, 7:52 pm

I am doing some Hebrew. There's not as many resources out there as there are for the more popular languages, but I am getting by.



kc8ufv
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Jul 2008
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Posts: 762
Location: Toledo, OH

03 Dec 2009, 12:34 pm

sefer wrote:
I am doing some Hebrew. There's not as many resources out there as there are for the more popular languages, but I am getting by.

One idea that may help find more resources, if you haven't already thought of it, if you have a Jewish community in your area, ask the people at the synagogue (sp?). They may be able to point you in a useful direction.



Jaejoongfangirl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 557

03 Dec 2009, 12:59 pm

I loved learning Spanish in school - I speak it around the house a bit now and I can still get the gist of what fluent speakers are saying when they speak to each other around me. It's pretty cool. But I can't roll my r's so I sound silly speaking it myself. ): But I can understand others rather well. (:

Then I taught myself hiragana and katakana a couple years ago. It took maybe two weeks to get them down.
Since then I've used flashcards to learn maybe 100 simple kanji and their general meanings. I can identify alot of individual kanji, but I can't translate them into something meaningful very well.

I'm thinking of possibly minoring in japanese since I know I enjoy it and I already know all my kana. Plus I'd love to visit there someday. Plus it would be a shame to let the time I've spent learning it so far go to waste. (:

Also, I love the Korean writing system. I've thought about teaching myself that, but I haven't had time recently.
Arabic looks awesome too.



beingme
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

User avatar

Joined: 1 Dec 2009
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 26
Location: Melbourne, Australia

06 Dec 2009, 8:07 pm

i did introductory greek as an elective last semester, and now i'm planning on continuing with it on my own :)

in classes i was more comfortable with writing and oral exercises. listening/aural exercises made me anxious. even listening to a simple dialogue made me so nervous i can't understand a single word when it's played. i'm hoping it'll go away with more exposure to the language.



jesuisledoughboy
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

User avatar

Joined: 11 Dec 2009
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 4
Location: Switzerland

12 Dec 2009, 10:23 pm

I tried teaching myself Dutch a few years ago; I even got the books and CD's for it, but my attention span is too short. I can say basic sentences, and read street signs, and navigate webpages in Dutch, but that's not very impressive, since I'm a german Major. I did the same thing with italian a few years before. (I'm Puerto rican, so understanding italian isn't a big accomplishment)

Right now I'm in Switzerland, trying to learn Swiss german. It's a lot easier to keep focused when everything is in the target language.



OddDuckNash99
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Nov 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,562

15 Dec 2009, 3:45 pm

I self-taught myself Spanish when I was a junior in high school. My school's language program was dreadfully slow, so I taught myself advanced grammar by going ahead in the Spanish book. I also increased my vocabulary to a level of fluency in only six months' time. I accomplished this by watching DVDs with the Spanish subtitles on and translating the sentences/words that way. I filled countless notebooks with the subtitles from my favorite movies and TV shows.
-OddDuckNash99-


_________________
Helinger: Now, what do you see, John?
Nash: Recognition...
Helinger: Well, try seeing accomplishment!
Nash: Is there a difference?


Iuri
Hummingbird
Hummingbird

User avatar

Joined: 5 Jul 2008
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Posts: 24

24 Dec 2009, 7:40 am

I started to learn French on my own two years ago and I can undestand many of written texts since it's not very different from my mother language, Portuguese. But I haven't been studying enough.



Nika
Butterfly
Butterfly

Joined: 28 Dec 2009
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 14

29 Dec 2009, 12:03 pm

gemstone123 wrote:
I'm self-studying a French GCSE and I've recently started learning a little Italian. Is anyone learning languages on their own? :D


Very cool. I speak both if you want to practice together.

I'm sort of teaching myself Polish and Polish Sign Language at the moment. I taught myself Portuguese, Farsi, American Sign Language, and bits and pieces of other languages. As you can see I really enjoy languages. :)



Aspie1
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Mar 2005
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,749
Location: United States

29 Dec 2009, 12:26 pm

I've been self-studying Russian for a year by now, plus my friend from Belarus is helping me. I already know the alphabet, spelling, and pronunciation, but grammar is really hard. You conjugate the verbs like in Spanish, but you also decline the nouns and adjectives (I think Latin and maybe German has it too). This wasn't too difficult. It's the vast number of idiomatic expressions that gets me; you probably have to speak Russian from birth to understand them.