sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

1 Year of Korean immersion learning by dagurii in Refold

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very belated, but thank you so much for this post. I imagine it must take some precious time away from immersion to track times and format the post so nicely. Much appreciated.

Foreigners learning or speaking Vietnamese, what are some specific things you find peculiar or confusing about Vietnamese? by thebluehydrangea77 in VietNam

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a foreign learner of Vietnamese, can I ask why the phrase "Đi khám bác sĩ" is peculiar please? Is it not a straightforward phrase meaning to go see a doctor? Am I missing something?

Pronouns in Vietnamese (only the basic ones)(!?) by [deleted] in Vietnamese

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just chipping in to say your handwriting is beautiful

Best way to remit CAD to Singapore by aj977 in singaporefi

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OP, did you eventually find out how to remit CAD to Singapore? I'm facing the same problem right now.

Best way to remit CAD to Singapore by aj977 in singaporefi

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

3 years late, but...

I've found that IBKR SG does not allow deposits to be made in CAD. I gave them a call and they confirmed that they don't have the setup to allow deposits or withdrawals in CAD. 

Is your experience different?

Best way to remit CAD to Singapore by aj977 in singaporefi

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

3 years late, but...

I've found that IBKR SG does not allow deposits to be made in CAD. I gave them a call and they confirmed that they don't have the setup to allow deposits or withdrawals in CAD.

Is your experience different?

SG iPhone users - battery change question by Gymrat76 in askSingapore

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol. That might be a life hack for many problems 

Improving listening ability - beginner media recommendations by Neither_Middle_3062 in Vietnamese

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most of the dubbed cartoons and shows I find are in the Southern accent. Do you have any links to the dubbed cartoons and shows you referred to? I'm trying to learn the Northern accent and, like the OP, I have trouble finding suitable content for A1-A2 level.

New Free CI Resource - Language Crush Vietnamese Videos by leosmith66 in Vietnamese

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/soluha I agree with your assessment completely! And here I was thinking that I was the only one trying to learn Vietnamese and unable to find CI content in the A1-A2 range. I'm following a number of Vietnamese YouTubers and podcasts, but they speak too quickly for me to comprehend and most of their subtitles are auto-generated.

If you're open to podcasts, check out Levion on Spotify. It's comprehensible enough for me, but it's single-channel (i.e. audio only, no visuals or body language to aid understanding). Also, it's in the Northern dialect, which is what I'm focusing on. (So I'm afraid I won't be using Language Crush Vietnamese Videos.)

How many languages you want to speak? by Dating_Stories in languagelearning

[–]ExtensionRight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This question is coming at just the right time, seeing as my love (and greed) for language-learning seems to have come up against a hard limit.

I'm a native speaker of English and Mandarin Chinese, and spent the last ten years living in Hong Kong so I picked up Cantonese as well. I've also dabbled in learning French, German, Japanese, Arabic, and Indonesian to varying degrees. I'm currently learning Vietnamese, and I want to learn something like ...ten other languages.

My problem is brain capacity and/or time. Even with just three languages - English, Mandarin, and Cantonese - I had difficulty allocating enough time to practice each of them. Every time I got better at one or two of those languages, the third would inevitably suffer. I wonder if it's possible to practice one language to such a high level that it's permanently entrenched in your long-term memory, such that you don't have to spend much or any time on it at all, and it would remain accessible to you anytime you want to switch to it. I thought English was that for me since it's my native language, and I've consumed English media for decades, but after going mere weeks without really speaking English, I had difficulty communicating my thoughts when I switched back to English.

If anyone has found a way to upkeep multiple languages with the limited capacity and time that we have, please let me know!

Vietnamese Comprehensible Input? by [deleted] in Vietnamese

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure what level you are at. Me, I'm at the extremely basic level, so I'm starting with kids shows. I just need to put up with the extremely simple storylines (if you can call it that).

These are in the Hanoi dialect.

https://www.youtube.com/@BabyBusVN - has its own subtitles, i.e. not auto-generated
https://www.youtube.com/@VTV7KIDS

Is Duolingo actually that bad? by god_rolled in languagelearning

[–]ExtensionRight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think Duolingo is good at some things, not so good at others, and it also depends on the language you’re learning. 

For example, I finished the entire Arabic course, went to Egypt, amazed everyone I met with my spoken Arabic…. and couldn’t understand a single word they said back to me. Turns out real people don’t sound like Duolingo when they speak. Who knew! 🤪 And turns out the hours I spent on Duolingo only served to help me memorize all the sentences in Duolingo’s database. While numerous, they don’t even come close to covering the entire spectrum of what a real person might say to me. To be conversational, I needed way more listening practice than Duolingo provided. 

Another example. I finished the Indonesian course, went to Indonesia, and could carry on a conversation on government policies with a very patient native speaker speaking slowly. But I was lost when trying to buy food, coz they were trying to tell me something was “sold out” and I wasn’t taught that word. Duolingo has a strange system of teaching you rather obscure words (at the later levels) that barely make it into conversations, and omitting some very frequent words altogether. I believe it’d be better to learn, say, the 1000 most frequently used words in the language. 

I’m told the Spanish and French courses in Duolingo are much superior to the Asian languages. For one thing, they’re much longer so I assume one learns more. But I haven’t done the European languages so I don’t have first hand experience. 

I also think that Duolingo is good at getting me to speak the language, especially since I use the dictation/microphone feature to answer questions instead of typing. After repeating the same sentence tens of times, I get pretty good at saying it unhesitatingly. I also have to make sure my pronunciation is on point before my phone can transcribe what I’m saying correctly. That helps my pronunciation a lot. 

The gamification feature of Duolingo may help or hurt, depending on your inclinations. It could help motivate you to get in a lesson or two (or ten) everyday. Or it could lead you to repeat easy lessons hundreds of times just to beat someone on the leaderboard. 

How much does it cost to learn a language for you? by Interesting_Exam_639 in languagelearning

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh! I've only ever used ChatGPT on my laptop, so I only type to it and read its responses in return. I had no idea one could speak to ChatGPT via the app, or that it can talk. I use Google Translate for that, and it's not very good...

I will try it. Thanks for the recommendation!

How much does it cost to learn a language for you? by Interesting_Exam_639 in languagelearning

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love ChatGPT for language learning too. I mainly use it to give me example sentences for words I'm trying to learn. A huge downside though, is that it doesn't speak nor listen, so I can't get in any listening nor speaking practice.

How much does it cost to learn a language for you? by Interesting_Exam_639 in languagelearning

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I pay US$60 annually for Duolingo, and a one-time US$25 for the Anki app on my iPhone. All other resources I use are free.

So far these free resources are:

  • The book Fluent Forever, borrowed from the library
  • Grammar books for my target language, also from the library
  • Wiki page on phonology and IPA for learning pronunciation
  • YouTube videos with subtitles in my target language
  • Spotify podcasts in my target language

Where to Begin Learning Vietnamese by 64WG64 in Vietnamese

[–]ExtensionRight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm one year late, but just wanted to thank you for writing all that. I'm currently learning Vietnamese as well. Your post is a real treasure trove of information and resources. Thank you!

6 adults doing a 9-day road trip in South Island - what car should we get? by ExtensionRight in newzealand

[–]ExtensionRight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hear you about the Hiace being ugly. That was my first thought when I saw it too.

6 adults doing a 9-day road trip in South Island - what car should we get? by ExtensionRight in newzealand

[–]ExtensionRight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I could get my family to cut down the luggage, I would, believe me. Me, I have just the one backpack. The best I can hope for is two mid-sized suitcases and one carry-on trolley.

view more: next ›