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Post by criswell on Mar 17, 2021 19:13:41 GMT
I've been busily learning Welsh this year and I'm enjoying it even though it is quite frustrating at times. I'm enjoying the challenge and it is starting to make more sense. It's still too hard to understand anyone speaking at a normal speed though as there are so many words I don't know yet.
Is anyone else learning a language at the moment?
Or does anyone else speak more than one language?
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Post by mona on Mar 17, 2021 19:32:11 GMT
I'm learning to speak one of the local languages spoken in my country (the ones my in-laws use). I face the same issue with words per minute though. I know 3 local languages (Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi) apart from English.. We did learn Sanskrit too in school, but honestly forgot it due to lack of usage in day to day life.
I had started learning German (just coz my mom has a diploma in german language 🙈 and I saw her books all the time), but never got the time to finish it.
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Post by criswell on Mar 17, 2021 21:14:41 GMT
One of the things I'm finding hardest with Welsh is remembering to pronounce letters differently. So many letters sound very different in Welsh than in English. Another thing that is difficult is mutations - some letters get changed into other letters depending on what words they come after. It's a really crazy language.
I learnt German, French and Latin in school but don't remember very much of any of them. I have started relearning French too and that's a fair bit easier than Welsh.
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Post by Shirls on Mar 18, 2021 9:24:53 GMT
I'm learning french, through my mobile phone. Doing quite well really, I have got someone else to learn with too, so we can test each other, and discuss different ways of remembering. Didn't have languages as a subject when I went to school. It's amazing what lockdown has brought us all to!!
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Mar 29, 2024 10:46:03 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2021 10:27:00 GMT
I'm not at the moment, and have never gotten very far with any. I had a year of German in high school and remember maybe one or two phrases and a collection of words. My French is probably even worse, despite me studying it up until GCSE.
Welsh was compulsory until GCSE for us so I know some very basic stuff. I can often understand basic conversations when I hear them but can't formulate a response very quickly.
I know a handful of Japanese bits and bobs, but nothing especially useful.
And I have a level 1 certificate in British Sign Language, but with no one to converse with I have that same issue of understanding and of knowing Signs but of not being able to sort out how to reply smoothly. One of my housemates also knows some Sign, though, so occasionally we will Sign little bits to each other when we need to be quiet, even if we end up just finger-spelling out words.
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Post by jellybean on Mar 18, 2021 13:54:07 GMT
When I was at secondary school taking a language was compulsory, choices were, French/German, I chose French, and hated it, I would have preferred to learn Spanish.
As for my Native language, Gaelic 😱🤔🤐
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Post by ariella on Mar 18, 2021 21:24:25 GMT
I was lucky to have missed the age when it became compulsory to take a language to GCSE level. I found learning French really easy but disliked it so much I didn’t choose to carry on with it. However, I self-taught myself Italian in my teens and had two Italian penpals. I’d sit there with my Italian dictionary and phrase book and had some teaching books and cassettes (pre Internet days) and we would write one side of the letter in English and the other side translate it to Italian and vice versa. It’s one of those ‘use it or lose it’ things though and although I can pick out the odd word and get the gist if I hear Italian, I’d never feel confident enough to speak it. I think being bi-lingual or multi-lingual is amazing.
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Post by skysmum on Mar 18, 2021 22:41:44 GMT
I am learning a new language, its a new English language, my teenage grandchidren are teaching me Squad - a group of friends that hang out. Tight - a close friendship Emo - someone is being a bit emotional Salty - angry Tea - gossip I could go on, hopefully they will grow out of it
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Post by criswell on Mar 18, 2021 23:00:36 GMT
It's great that your learning French Shirls and that you have someone to practice with. David knows a fair bit of Welsh. Despite not speaking Welsh he did a term and a half teaching Welsh as a supply teacher so he learnt some along with the kids. He did A level French and his French is much better than mine so he can help me with that too.
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Post by criswell on Mar 18, 2021 23:04:21 GMT
@sillycat84 I never got very confident with any languages at school but a lot of that was because I didn't like saying anything in lessons even in English. I did German for 2 years and French and Latin for 5 years and did GCSE in both. I was pretty good at reading and writing French but did not like speaking it at all. Knowing sign language is excellent. My mum learnt some Makaton sign language when she was working with people with learning difficulties and even though she taught me a few signs I can't remember any of them now.
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Post by criswell on Mar 18, 2021 23:07:01 GMT
jellybean When I was at school we had to do French or German and I took French because I'd done 3 years of that before GCSE but only 2 years of German. I think it's nice that lots of school teach Spanish now. Most of my maths and science students who are doing are language have picked Spanish. Apart from Welsh, it's the only language offered at a lot of schools in Cardiff now. I'm feeling a bit different about learning languages now I'm older and no one is making me do it.
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Post by criswell on Mar 18, 2021 23:12:37 GMT
ariella It's great that you taught yourself Italian and had pen pals to practice with. I absolutely agree about lose it or use it. French is coming back to me but there is so much that I have forgotten. I have a friend in the UK who is Swedish and her English is so perfect. She hardly even has an accent at all. I don't even expect to be bilingual but I'm giving it a go. As well as enjoying learning, there are studies that have shown that bilingual and multilingual people develop dementia at a later age, and stroke recovery is better for bi or multilingual people. None of my maths and science student are keen on learning Welsh, and it's the lowest grade that most of them get a GCSE. I think it is good that they teach Welsh in schools but I don't think that they should have to take a GCSE in it. It could be much more fun if they were teaching it in a no pressure way.
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Post by criswell on Mar 18, 2021 23:15:09 GMT
skysmum That's a very interesting language. Salty and tea are new ones for me. Apart form my students, I don't talk to many young people so I'm sure there are many of their words that I don't know.
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Post by willowsmum on Mar 19, 2021 1:32:31 GMT
No real aptitude for languages here but I did teach some basic sign language to my son when he was very young. I think it was based on American/Canadian sign language if I remember correctly and it was intended to help him communicate before he was old enough to talk. It worked surprisingly well to be honest. I remember there being a while when I kept saying the word along with the signs and getting no response and then it just suddenly seemed to click. I was reading him a story book and when we got to the picture of the children going to bed he signed 'sleep' to me They were very basic, but useful signs such as 'food', 'drink', 'more', 'all gone', 'please', 'dog', 'book' etc and the beauty was that if I didn't like the sign or needed something more appropriate I could just invent one as it was just between us Must ask him if he can actually remember any of it
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Post by criswell on Mar 19, 2021 1:34:56 GMT
That's really brilliant willowsmum I'm sure your son found that a really nice way to learn
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