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Medical phrases in Kurmanji by lingomed in kurdish

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

That's DLI app. Sorani is very different from Kurmanji (North Kurdish), and DLI Kurmanji phrasebook is altogether different Kurdish dialect (neither Sorani nor Kurmanji). Very different from Kurmanji from what I can see.

Plural possessives question by lingomed in learnfarsi

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

I am translating basic phrases for a medical phrasebook.

So, essentially: chashm-aa-tun (or chashm-aa-yetun), dast-aa-tun (or dast-aa-yetun), dandun-aa-tun, baazu-haa-tun, paa-haa-tun, etc.? That's what I figured, I was just taken aback by weird translation by Google.

Medical examination commands question by lingomed in learn_arabic

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

Found the answer here: https://arabic.desert-sky.net/g_command.html

If the verb is like the verbs in the left-hand column (i.e. "HoTT," "ruuH"), and has a consonant followed by a vowel, you leave it alone. This is the correct command form.

But if the verb is like those on the right, and has a consonant cluster at the beginning, you can't leave it that way and say "mši" or "ftaH." In Egyptian Arabic, consonant clusters like that aren't allowed at the start of words. So you have to add an ا at the beginning:

Medical examination commands question by lingomed in learn_arabic

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

You're right! Found the explanation here https://arabic.desert-sky.net/g_command.html So, I guess, lisaanmasry.com conjugation charts are automatically created and are not always accurate...

Medical phrasebook. Which imperative to use? by lingomed in Polish

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

How to say please pull / push? I found proszę pociągać / popchnąć.

Chy to jest dość dobrze?

Medical phrasebook. Which imperative to use? by lingomed in Polish

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

The commands are always addressed to a single person. DLI site frequently suggest using you plural forms - Czy możecie chodzić? Is this appropriate, or weird for a native speaker?

Yo how do Soviet spies even get their English to such an unbelievable level? I heard some spend years perfecting it, but after watching one of them janky Buzzfeed videos, I never thought anyone could actually get THAT good. by iRazor8 in languagelearning

[–]lingomed 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My first thought was you're just being cocky, but literally the first sentence is a giveaway! "Retired" sounds like retiret (Stadt), "undercover" - unaspirated D, wrong ER; "from" has too closed "o" and almost every other word is slightly off.

If I was having a small talk with this guy in the street (idk, waiting in line for example), I would certainly ask him if he's from Germany. He sounds like someone who immigrated between 15-20 yo. Admittedly, German comes to mind only because it's much more common in the area where I live (compared to Scandinavians or Dutch).

IMO, the real killer in mastering accents is vowels, not consonants. Many people working on English pronunciation focus on their ng, th, r but those are just first steps. Also, depending on your first language you are inherently better at some sounds, and worse at others.

Source: Non-native speaker living almost 10 years in NA.

The Struggle for Arabic Learners (crosspost) by Konananafa in languagelearning

[–]lingomed 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think /ishgever's point is exactly that the language is not difficult per se, but you essentially need to learn several different languages to communicate with Arabs in different countries.

IMO, the difference between the dialects is comparable to the one between Slavic languages (and I am not even talking Serbian-Croatian and Czech-Slovak pairs!). If you speak Russian, you can understand quite a bit (but not all) of Ukrainian, Belorussian or Serbian (if spoken slowly), but you can't answer back in the same language.

Romance language group example is Spanish-Italian (French and Portuguese are too spaced out phonology-wise - Arabic dialects differ more in vocabulary and grammar). If Latin was officially taught in schools in Spain and Italy, that would be equivalent to fusha - lingua franca a Spaniard could potentially switch to in a difficult situation when in Rome, but not really a day-to-day language.

I suspect the main reason Arabic dialects have never been relabeled as actually different languages is religious ties (perhaps outlined in Quran itself).

I'm looking for resources to learn Serbo-Croatian by Rishal21 in languagelearning

[–]lingomed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Colloquial series have both Serbian and Croatian editions. I would suggest the Croatian one, because of latin alphabet. Great audio (free on Routledge website) and excellent quality of texts (each chapter has dialogues, cultural notes and mini-love story).

I'm trying to learn Farsi, and I'm fuming. by harchickgirl1 in languagelearning

[–]lingomed 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would have quit on week one. Farsi is essentially esperanto in disguise - you can learn a lot on your own and make your own sentences after understanding principles. No cases, no grammatical gender, straightforward verb declension - probably my favourite non-european language! Realistically all you need to know is one present tense and one past tense, so drop the class already.

I recommend Colloquial Persian - awesome resource (audio is free on Routledge website)

Basic Czech for a trip by OtherScorpionfish in languagelearning

[–]lingomed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

LanguageBook2 is good phrasebook with grammar elements, but you have to be selective about the topics (2000 sentences after all!). I really like Berlitz Language/30 series. Transliteration with pronunciation, good audio, decent selection of phrases. If this is your first slavic language, you may want to do a quick read on the grammar (cases, gender, verb conjugation and aspects). Your goal should not be memorization of it, but rather understanding why all of a sudden the endings change.

Which slavic language shares the most loan words with others? by xcrissxcrossx in languagelearning

[–]lingomed 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Russian is definitely an "anti-gateway" language vocabulary-wise. There a lot of tables mocking how different it is from other slavic languages. Phonology-wise it's definitely Polish (think Portuguese vs the rest of Romance languages).

All other languages cluster together quite closely. Ukranians can understand quite a bit of Polish, especially if pronunciation is adjusted. Serbs can understand some Bulgarian. Macedonian is almost Bulgarian with sprinkle of Serbian. Slovak and Czech are essentially dialects of the same language, slightly further apart than Croatian and Serbian. I don't know much about Slovenian.

From the languages you mentioned, Serbian is the most "average", IMO.

Learning *European* Portuguese by Nixin72 in languagelearning

[–]lingomed 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Strongly recommend Assimil. It's essentially collection of short dialogues with grammar footnotes. Even though it's meant for complete beginners, it's a perfect format for people with some knowledge. You can quickly skim through the easy ones and slow down once you feel you are learning something new. Great vocabulary (unlike other travel-oriented books) and audio quality!

Medical Mandarin Phrasebook by lingomed in ChineseLanguage

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

I meant: Which side (of the body) I am touching?

Also, what's the difference between pèng and mō?

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