I'm learning Deutsch

[Alpha77]

Noticed you need to register for Duolingo site, so I wanna ask is it worth it ? I am trying French. Ich versuche Französisch [:)]

[Neilster]

ORIGINAL: Alpha77

Noticed you need to register for Duolingo site, so I wanna ask is it worth it ? I am trying French. Ich versuche Französisch [:)]

Well, it's free and the site has been independently reviewed very favourably, so I'd say yes. They maintain themselves by using advanced students to translate documents.

Cheers, Neilster

[Alpha77]

Is their also Audio/Speech???

[Neilster]

ORIGINAL: Alpha77

Is their also Audio/Speech???

Yes. You hear the language spoken and you can speak too if you choose that option; otherwise you give written responses.

Cheers, Neilster

[E]

Why am I reminded of the comedian who included a bit about him planning to take a course in English as a second language, just so he could blow the teacher away?

Great stories RockKhan!

[Qwixt]

I spent two years in Germany while in the army. The only german you need to know is "Ein bier bitte".

[Neilster]

Right...well, each to their own.

Anyway, I just downloaded their mobile app because it now stores about an hour of lessons, enabling one to use it without needing constant mobile (cell) coverage.

Cheers, Neilster

[t001001001]

You sticking w/ this, neilster?

I never heard of duolingo til you posted it, I've been doing the spanish lessons ever since. It's slow going. The hardest part for me is memorizing the nouns. mujer = woman, so on.

Couple weekends ago I was at convenience store and the clerk was clearly spanish, speaking spanish to her friend. I set my beer on the counter and in my whiteboy accent said "yo bebo cerveza." They got a chuckle of it and corrected my pronunciation. Not a big deal but first time I conducted bidness in spanish, I'm pretty danged proud of myself [:D]

[Gilmer]

Ahhhh Englander! Vas is Schloss?

[Gilmer]

It always kills me in a movie when an American is butchering some language and the foreign guy he is talking to says in perfect English, "I can speak English."

[Gilmer]

I used to be fluent as a child in French. Then I "forgot" it, but picked it back up in high school then took two years in college. I picked it back up very fast and was able to read and write and speak it pretty well. I could probably pick it up fairly quickly again. The college classes, the exams were verbal. Pretty tough, but since it was the end of core curriculum, I never went further into it.

[t001001001]

I live in south Florida, United States, where a lot of immigrants speak only Spanish. I don't think they consider it 'slaughtering their language' when a gringo like me is trying to learn it. Most native US ppl will not learn espanol. It's sort of an insult to have to learn a new language to accomodate guests. Frankly, ppl who move here should learn English. Ppl who move to America and don't learn how to speak American are stupid imo. But I don't care and it's not my business.

I'm not learning spanish to accomodate immigrants (mostly whom are illegal), I'm doing it for selfish reasons. I see those guys work and they are hard workers. I predict they're going to 'make it' here in the land of opportunity. 10 yrs from now, maybe sooner, a US southern citizen who can't speak Spanish is going to be at a disadvantage.

The reason Europeans speak multiple languages is b/c they want to be able to conduct business with as many ppl as possible. Where I'm at, I think it's important to learn Spanish. I'll bury my USA pride, if someone w/ money only knows spanish, I'll speak to them in Spanish. I want their business.

[Neilster]

I'm in a bit of a hiatus at the moment because of the real world.

I'm reminded of a story about a European refugee who came to Australia post war. One day he was speaking to a friend in the street when an older woman said,

"I wish you people would speak the Queen's English!"

to which he replied,

"Madam, I speak four languages. If you could not speak English, you could only bark!"

Suitably chastened she slunk off.

Cheers, Neilster

[t001001001]

It always kills me in a movie when an American is butchering some language and the foreign guy he is talking to says in perfect English, "I can speak English."

There was a Chevy Chase movie where he runs up to a cabbie to ask im something, see's the guy's wearing islam headgear and runs off saying "BAH!" The cabbie says to himself in Her Majesty's perfect English: "I wonder what the devil he wanted" [:D]