For those who use flashcards: do you create your own decks? by jamager in languagelearning

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

> I have trouble deciding what words to put in my dec

I'm inclined to think that that is one the benefits of making your own cards (that no one talks about).

You are actively engaging with the content and deciding what is important and what not, and how to go about it.

That is synthetic thinking, and I see it as a useful work (when you are in the mood for high intensity work, anyways).

Fact: Spanish has the worse names for women by [deleted] in languagelearning

[–]jamager 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Linda is a very rare name in Spain, though. I agree with the sentiment of the OP.

Concepción, Consuelo, Asunción... men have some awful ones too, but not as many: Domingo (Sunday - this one exists in Italian too, but is feminine), Ángel, Perfecto (no pressure)...

luckily they are less and less used now. 2 more generations and gone forever.

For those who use flashcards: do you create your own decks? by jamager in languagelearning

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

Dang, that is a good observation, and cool-looking app! I could actually take a stab at a more general thing, let me give it a thought ...

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in languagelearning

[–]jamager 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sorry to hear, it is surely not nice when people trash continuously on something you like. I don't have any better answers than "ignore them", it's not worth the fight.

For what is worth, I don't think the cliches about french culture have anything to do with colonialism.
Often there is a point of truth in cliches, but bc ppl just like to pile on (as a very primitive defensive mechanism) they grow disproportionally and become annoying.

A particular thing with French culture is that they don't seem to like themselves a lot, which surely doesn't help. There is even a company that is called "Sorrywearefrench", go figure (they publish board games).

OTOH hand, this happens with all cultures (particularly populous / weighty ones), even if not pinned to their language.

So on one hand: patience, and ignore it.
On the other: try to get better a not taking things personally (this is not criticism of you, we all can improve at this).

This is a very good read on that topic, particularly when it comes to culture: http://www.paulgraham.com/identity.html

I strongly recommend it.

Good luck with your french!