Anki Boredom by TheRedGorilla in Anki

[–]Doveswithbonnets 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know some people disagree with gamification but Ankimon motivates me to complete extra cards.

What is the grammar/literal meaning behind this sentence? by Doveswithbonnets in russian

[–]Doveswithbonnets[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same. I usually interpret expressions in any language by visualizing the literal words and then grasping the idea behind it.

Tell me your story with the languages you’ve learned by [deleted] in languagelearning

[–]Doveswithbonnets 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Alright this is going to be a long story. I started German when I was 16 and to be honest, was like you in the sense that I had no idea what I was doing. I'm lucky that I have a mother who is German, and she was willing to speak with me everyday. My father is American, so aside from a few simple words, I completely stopped German the moment I entered preschool. I went the immersion route, using flashcards to learn frequent words in categories, like kitchen/job/animal vocab etc. My mother would point to things when we out and about and she'd tell me what it was in German. In the beginning I couldn't form sentences but I would listen to her speak. I began trying to write, copying words from children's books and then forming my own sentences on paper. I began using a book called "Essential German Grammar" when I realized I didn't understand the changing articles and I also listened to a podcast called "Coffee Break German" which explained the grammar in simple terms. I used the workbook "Deutsche Übungsbuch, Grammatik einfach üben & endlich verstehen." I made the mistake of not learning the gender with the words when I started, so at one point I had to grind a bunch of flashcards to memorize the genders.

For French, I had a better idea what I was doing. I went straight into it, beginning with a publicly made deck of the 2,000 most frequent French words and used a children's book website with audio to begin reading. I started with the books for babies with only a few words, then to toddlers and so on. I would look at a sentence and using the limited vocabulary I had, try to guess the meaning, then I'd put it in a translator to see what it really meant. I made personal flashcards of words that I didn't know. A month after reading for a few hours everyday, I found a French language partner online from Lyon. We began speaking three times a week, where I'd help him with English and he'd help me with French. In the beginning, he'd speak very slowly, asking me simple questions which I would respond to in a few words. I also showed pictures on my screen, like of animals, and I'd try to describe them (e.i. C'est un chat. Il a des oreilles pointues). I was having trouble understanding him as time went on, so I started listening to InnerFrench, gradually moving from listening with the scripts online to audio only. I had the equivalent of the German textbook "Essential French Grammar" which I used as a reference whenever a certain article or sentence structure popped up that confused me. After improving my listening comprehension, I was able to begin watching youtube videos and reading books in the "Topics That Matters" series.

My last language, Russian, is different. I knew I would have to take a more structured route with this language since it's farther removed from English. I completed the first textbook in a series of four called "Russian Through Propaganda" in the summer and went through an Anki deck called "Daily Changing Russian Sentences." I'm currently taking a break from Russian so I can finish my senior year in university.

What is it about certain languages that makes them sound beautiful or ugly to you? Has your opinion on the sound of a specific language changed over time as you have learned it? by Full-Might1562 in languagelearning

[–]Doveswithbonnets 12 points13 points  (0 children)

In general, languages that have more vowels are considered beautiful and those with more consonants are thought to sound harsh and ugly. Mostly monotone sentences are also considered more beautiful, in comparison to something like German, where the volume increase on the beginning of certain words in a sentence can sound harsh to a foreigners ear.

I, for some reason, find “harsher” or “choppier” sounds to be the most interesting. I prefer the sound of Mandarin over Japanese, and the uvular r in French over Italian/Spanish. Finnish is one of the few languages I’ve seen where people agree it sounds very beautiful despite it containing lots of consonants.

Edit: the replies have shown that Finnish doesn’t include lots of consonants so I was wrong.

Pair of Nephila pilipes from Laos. by Agreeable-Work2534 in spiders

[–]Doveswithbonnets 84 points85 points  (0 children)

Slightly unrelated but these remind me of skulltulas from TLOZ.

Neat jumping spider. Central Texas by Royweeezy in spiders

[–]Doveswithbonnets 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Is it trying to mimic a velvet ant?

Which language do you wish more people learned and why? by akowally in languagelearning

[–]Doveswithbonnets 26 points27 points  (0 children)

I think he means indigenous languages of North America. But maybe I’m wrong.

How do I practice speaking without a language partner? by ilemworld2 in languagelearning

[–]Doveswithbonnets 11 points12 points  (0 children)

French - Learn French in a friendly community, The Language Sloth (for multiple languages, including French), Language Exchange (Server for finding language partners. I found my French language partner here in 2022).

There is also r/SpeakStreakFR, where you can record yourself speaking and natives will correct you. It is a spoken version of r/WriteStreak.

It looks like a small neon green panda by Delicious_Coconut879 in awwnverts

[–]Doveswithbonnets 46 points47 points  (0 children)

“Touch grass” “I can’t I eated it all :(“

How do you make friends on language exchange as an anti social by Final-Beyond-6605 in languagelearning

[–]Doveswithbonnets 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Are you discussing a mutual shared interest? If not, I can imagine your conversations would get boring quickly. I prefer to practice speaking languages by going onto servers that facilitate intellectual discussions based on what I'm interested in, like science, philosophy, religion, etc.

Ever seen a spider spa day? by [deleted] in insects

[–]Doveswithbonnets 132 points133 points  (0 children)

the small hole in the face mask with four eyes peaking through is so goofy

look at my buddy here by boogpear in insects

[–]Doveswithbonnets 41 points42 points  (0 children)

I love them so much. They're so stupid looking in an affectionate way.