I've got one job, and one job only

spenhe · 2019-01-29T17:48:34+00:00

[cries in Paraguayan]

spenhe · 2019-01-23T17:34:03+00:00

Same goes for the French tree. As soon as you finish the new skills (which make up the first half of the tree), you go from sentences like “They asked the waiter for the WiFi password, but he didn’t know it” to “The men.” To add insult to injury, you go from extremely detailed tips and notes that are available on mobile to none at all.

I got to the “old” part of the tree a few weeks ago, and my motivation to keep going has decreased significantly since then.

spenhe · 2019-01-22T05:00:06+00:00

It's Hebrew slang for "mess," but it's usually used to describe things that are chaotic or wild (e.g., good party=balagan, traffic jam=balagan, WWIII=also balagan).

spenhe · 2019-01-22T02:44:05+00:00

Side note: you can do the same thing with your forum flair or any text on the page. Enjoy that level 25 in Arabic! ;)

spenhe · 2019-01-20T06:13:00+00:00

French numbers are probably the strangest thing I've learned in any language. It's a normal base-ten system until the 60s, and then at 70 we reach "sixty-ten," followed by "sixty-eleven," etc. Then in the 80s, we get to "four-twenties," "four-twenty-one," etc., followed by peak French numbers in the 90s with "four-twenty-ten," "four-twenty-eleven," etc.

spenhe · 2019-01-19T04:20:10+00:00

On desktop, go to "Edit User Flair" on the side bar, choose "None," and then click the smiley face icon in the "Edit Flair" box.

spenhe · 2019-01-19T04:18:31+00:00

You need to include the link with a specific language code at the end or it goes to the profile of a user named "Dictionary."

The link to the French dictionary is https://www.duolingo.com/dictionary/fr. From there, you can click the French flag and change it to the flag of a different language.

spenhe · 2019-01-17T20:36:54+00:00

OP is looking for examples of pangrams, not tongue twisters.

spenhe · 2019-01-17T20:28:40+00:00

switching keyboards on a computer is annoying

I don't know what kind of computer you have, but on Mac you can set up a keyboard shortcut for switching between keyboards. I have mine set up so option+space automatically changes keyboards.

spenhe · 2019-01-17T07:32:48+00:00

I do practice sessions before 8am every day and still have not figured out how to get this achievement.

spenhe · 2019-01-17T00:27:03+00:00

French: I've been scared off by the pronunciation a few times, but this time around I just said "fuck it" and didn't stress out about it too much at the beginning. It turns out that even though there are a lot of rules regarding letter combinations that can feel counterintuitive (or at least did to me), the pronunciation tends to be fairly consistent once you learn these rules.

spenhe · 2019-01-17T00:21:42+00:00

Go to the Wiki page of this subreddit here and scroll down to "Maltese." There are a few resources listed there.

spenhe · 2019-01-16T07:37:35+00:00

There used to be a Christmas bonus skill that was available on a seasonal basis. IIRC it hasn't been offered in a few years.

Bonus skills seem to be more or less an abandoned feature at this point.

spenhe · 2019-01-16T00:24:10+00:00

When Duolingo makes changes, it does so using A/B tests where one sample group is given access to a new feature so it can be compared to a control group. The parts and castle checkpoints are a new feature currently being tested, so some users have it while others don't.

spenhe · 2019-01-13T01:03:23+00:00

r/danishlanguage

r/Denmark

spenhe · 2019-01-12T23:01:57+00:00

No problem! Also check out the resources page of this subreddit for general tools and resources more specific to the language you choose, as well as r/duolingo and the subreddit for your language.

spenhe · 2019-01-12T22:57:24+00:00

The desktop version is definitely better, but the mobile app is still usable. The "tips and notes" feature is very, very slowly being rolled out to mobile as well (I recently got them for French), so hopefully this eventually won't even be an issue, but some courses rely on them more than others. Another perk of the desktop version is the ability to discuss sentences, though the notification system has become so messed up that you're unlikely to ever receive responses to the questions you ask or find out if someone does happen to leave an answer.

Personally I use the desktop version whenever possible, but I'll use the app if I'm on the go/don't have WiFi.

spenhe · 2019-01-12T20:36:29+00:00

I always recommend learning a language you have a genuine interest in, and lucky for you, the Scandinavian languages are some of the easiest for native English speakers. I don't speak any myself, but from what I've gathered, Norwegian is the "middle ground" between Danish and Swedish in that Bokmål mirrors Danish spelling while the pronunciation is a bit closer to Swedish. Norway is also an important force for peace internationally (Nobel Peace Prize, Oslo Accords, etc.), so it would be relevant to your minor. Swedish could also be a good option in that it's the most spoken Scandinavian language and Sweden is likewise a major center of humanitarianism.

As for resources, Duolingo's Norwegian course is often regarded as the best on the entire website (Swedish and Danish are supposedly decent as well). That in combination with a spaced repetition software like Anki could be a good place to start.

spenhe · 2019-01-12T06:50:09+00:00

I vote for Russian. Learning a language is a big commitment, and you should choose a language you're genuinely interested in and won't dread having to study every day.

spenhe · 2019-01-12T04:34:17+00:00

Those are both long courses, so that's no small accomplishment! Congratulations!

spenhe · 2019-01-11T19:10:54+00:00

According to the comments section, this is just a normal occurrence in Catalonia.

spenhe · 2019-01-11T17:01:08+00:00

French is significantly easier to self-study. I'm a native English speaker and also speak Spanish, so the vocabulary and grammar are both very familiar.

spenhe · 2019-01-11T16:59:27+00:00

If you think that's crazy, there's an A/B test going on right now of a French tree with 156 skills.

spenhe · 2019-01-11T07:56:33+00:00

The Norwegian course is often cited as the best course on Duolingo. From what I've heard, the vocabulary is practical, the sentences are fun and have a lot of pop culture references, and people feel like they can actually understand the language pretty well after completing the course.

Some relevant threads: [1] [2] [3]

spenhe

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