Learning Languages for Leisure Travel

[Sojourner]

I haven't tried Duolingo. But when you said just 5 minutes a day, I figured I'd give the Duolingo German a try. We'll be in Germany-Austria for 15 days this summer coming from the Netherlands.

I could be wrong, but I suspect that spending only 5 minutes per day with Duolingo for a couple months is not going to be all that beneficial. I remember reading somewhere years ago that roughly 30 minutes per day, every day, of listening, speaking, and reading is the minimum needed to effectively learn the basics of a new language in a reasonably short time (say, 6 months).

But, having said that, I started using Duolingo today for the first time to see what it's all about. I'm planning to do at least 10-15 minutes per day. Will be interesting to see how soon I get back to the (low) level of fluency that I achieved using Pimsleur all those years ago.

 

[Fedup]

When we visited Ottawa last year I was impressed with the majority of folks who speak both languages fluently. I speak fluent French myself and usually have some difficulty with the Quebec and Montreal people accents but not in Ottawa where I was able to communicate in French effectively.

I never could understand the Quebec accent. A little bit of the Montreal accent. But Parisienne accent is beautiful, I love to listen to the French politicians on TV. Who cares what they say. It's just beautiful.

 

[Nemo2]

I never could understand the Quebec accent. .

Especially if they're speaking Joual.

 

[Lsbcal]

I could be wrong, but I suspect that spending only 5 minutes per day with Duolingo for a couple months is not going to be all that beneficial. I remember reading somewhere years ago that roughly 30 minutes per day, every day, of listening, speaking, and reading is the minimum needed to effectively learn the basics of a new language in a reasonably short time (say, 6 months).

But, having said that, I started using Duolingo today for the first time to see what it's all about. I'm planning to do at least 10-15 minutes per day. Will be interesting to see how soon I get back to the (low) level of fluency that I achieved using Pimsleur all those years ago.

I kind of agree with you. Today I did the 10 minute version and it seemed very short. But I'm only aiming for modest traveler's survival skills. After my stab at French, I figure I'm a language dummy.

 

[Meadbh]

Experienced that when we lived in Ottawa....young people primarily, perhaps because they were calling back and forth to each other and we could hear them, would switch from English to French and back midsentence without missing a beat. Pretty neat, we thought.

It was the same in Winnipeg, but with older people.

 

[Meadbh]

I went into a French wine store and asked for a bottle of English wine.

Living dangerously! Like the time I asked for decaf in Brazil. If looks could kill......

 

[Meadbh]

When we visited Ottawa last year I was impressed with the majority of folks who speak both languages fluently. I speak fluent French myself and usually have some difficulty with the Quebec and Montreal people accents but not in Ottawa where I was able to communicate in French effectively.

Being bilingual is required for many government jobs and a huge advantage in policy, and NGO positions.

 

[Nemo2]

It was the same in Winnipeg, but with older people.

The older people in Ottawa were likely equally ambi-communicat-trous, (I made that up), but we were more aware of younger people, since they seemed more inclined to call back and forth to each other.

 

[kcowan]

One thing I discovered with DuoLingo is that the web page contains tips and notes for each section of lessons, but the Android app does not. And the app doesn't give a link to see the tips and notes. I was missing out on some understanding using the app.

Thanks for the tip. I only have the app.

 

[Which Roger]

I could be wrong, but I suspect that spending only 5 minutes per day with Duolingo for a couple months is not going to be all that beneficial.

Each lesson takes about 5 minutes, so that's just the minimum to keep one's streak intact. I agree that more is better, and supplementing with some other ways of learning is essential to become really fluent.

 

[kcowan]

DH is good at picking up languages but me not so much.

I used to scor perfect scores on surprise French and German dictation tests. Now I struggle to remember English!

 

[2017ish]

I used to score perfect scores on surprise French and German dictation tests. Now I struggle to remember English!

This is even more of a concern for those of us who passed HS French only because of the handful of french/canadian history quizzes that were in english! IF not for the 100% on each of those, I'd have Flagged rather than "achieving" a D-.

Notwithstanding DW's laughing at my efforts, I'll continue soldiering on with Duolingo.... Once work stops, that'll be easier to do.

 

[FIYes]

I am trying to learn a little Spanish. I am using Duolingo and taking an Ollie class. Per Duolingo I am 31 percent proficient in Spanish. That is a wildly optimistic estimate on their part. LOL.

 

[Fedup]

I used to scor perfect scores on surprise French and German dictation tests. Now I struggle to remember English!

It's not just language. I have problem with math now. I have to ask somebody to check that I add my tips correctly. I used to be a math whiz.

 

[audreyh1]

I could be wrong, but I suspect that spending only 5 minutes per day with Duolingo for a couple months is not going to be all that beneficial.

You'd be surprised then. Five minutes a day has you speaking simple sentences right away and gradually building from there. I'm not aiming for fluency, or even a conversational level, I'm just aiming for some basic stuff, and I'm impressed with Duolingo.

But it is also not the only tool I'm using, I've also found a complementary beginner's program and switching between has been very good.

 

[braumeister]

I speak passable "restaurant German" and I don't have any trouble with trains and normal activities in Germany, but I've always wanted to be able to speak "real" German.

So I signed up for German classes at a local college (it's free in my state if you're over 65) and I'm really looking forward to starting in August.

I also use Duolingo and think it's good, but sort of basic. Basic is good enough for most people.

It seems as if I should have an advantage in my genes, since my GGGrandparents came from Germany in the 1840s. On the other side, my GGGrandparents came from Ireland in the 1860s, but Gaelic is a seriously hard language to learn.

 

[imoldernu]

At one time, English, French, German and Esperanto.

No one to speak languages with anymore, so the skill has gone downhill. Learning a bit of Polish, to talk with a new resident to our CCRC. Slow, but fun to try.

Anyone here for Esperanto?

Ĉu iu ĉi tie parolas esperanton?

 

[audreyh1]

I speak passable "restaurant German" and I don't have any trouble with trains and normal activities in Germany, but I've always wanted to be able to speak "real" German.

So I signed up for German classes at a local college (it's free in my state if you're over 65) and I'm really looking forward to starting in August.

I also use Duolingo and think it's good, but sort of basic. Basic is good enough for most people.

It seems as if I should have an advantage in my genes, since my GGGrandparents came from Germany in the 1840s. On the other side, my GGGrandparents came from Ireland in the 1860s, but Gaelic is a seriously hard language to learn.

We lived in Germany when I was very young and I even went to a German-speaking kindergarten. But, I never kept my German, so my vocab is super limited. But I didn't lose my ability to correctly pronounce German - so I have the odd ability to read it out loud correctly, but have no idea of what it means!!

So - did that help with Dutch? Nooooooo!!!!! It's so odd - the spelling in Dutch is so different from both German and English, that you really have to study to figure out how to pronounce Dutch words. And it has the very prominent Dutch g - back of the throat rasp like the German ch. This g makes many words difficult to pronounce - probably because they love to put other consonants next to it - like "gr"! And for the ch sound (same is in German - "nacht") - well, they love to put s's in front of that. The "sch" sound is also difficult, yet very, very common.

So - I have to keep practicing:
Schiermonnikoog - a wonderful north sea barrier island we visited last years.
gracht - canal.

Not easy for me. Of course my 3-year-old nephew can just rattle this stuff off!!!

And Van Gogh is not pronounced like everyone thinks either!!! At least I can pronounce that one just fine as the g's don't have r's next to them.

Fan Choch - but the ch is like the sound in loch - and Gogh rhymes with loch.

The F for V sound is apparently an Amsterdam accent.

 

[braumeister]

the spelling in Dutch is so different from both German and English, that you really have to study to figure out how to pronounce Dutch words.

And even then, Dutch has a number of dialects.
The Friesland region (northeast of Amsterdam) has a dialect that is considered the closest thing to English, and there is a well known sentence to illustrate that:
"Good butter and good cheese is good English and good Fries."

 

[audreyh1]

And even then, Dutch has a number of dialects.
The Friesland region (northeast of Amsterdam) has a dialect that is considered the closest thing to English, and there is a well known sentence to illustrate that:
"Good butter and good cheese is good English and good Fries."

From what I have read, Frisian is actually a separate nordic language, not a dialect of Dutch. It has only 500,000 speakers - with what some consider to be 3 different dialects of its own. And, yes, it is the closest living language to English even though Frisian and English are not mutually intelligible.

Schiermonnikoog is in Friesland, BTW, so I got to visit it last year.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I really like to learn languages, so every time we go to a foreign country I learn at least a little. I'm using duolingo right now for Spanish, but when I'm really serious about picking up some of the local language for a trip I use a course called "behind the wheel ____" Its designed for you to use in the car- it was especially effective when I was spending my 30 minute to and fro commute listening to it. Its not expensive and you can get them in lots of languages on amazon or ebay.

I speak French pretty well because my mom is Cajun and it drove me nuts to hear she and my grandmother gossiping about us. Sadly, my high school French didn't help all that much, but my 2 months as an exchange student in France did. I speak some Spanish, and only a little Italian. I found that one very hard to learn. I remember nothing of German which I learned in college... But I did get an A in it- much to my teacher's annoyance!

 

[Fedup]

I did take German in my single years, but I only vaguely remember a few words. Maybe I need to refresh my memory.

 

[Peter]

And even then, Dutch has a number of dialects.
The Friesland region (northeast of Amsterdam) has a dialect that is considered the closest thing to English, and there is a well known sentence to illustrate that:
"Good butter and good cheese is good English and good Fries."

Fascinating. I had to ask Mr.Google:

https://linguistics.knoji.com/frisian-the-language-thats-like-english/

The "good butter ..." phrase is given as an example, along with several others.

 

[GoodWishes]

DH took French in college and I took Spanish in college. We are both learning them again. DH mainly on Duolingo. I use Duolingo and take a class at the community center.

Also you can download a language file to Google translate so you can translate even without any network connection. It works pretty well and can be very useful.

 

[audreyh1]

Making big progress with my Dutch. Much more than expected. Getting a lot out of the Bart de Pau site, learndutch.org. I signed up for the basic Dutch grammar course (50 lessons) to supplement DuoLingo. My plan was to complete it by next April in preparation for another Amsterdam trip after this coming one in July, but I am already half way through!

It's like once you get to some critical threshold, language absorption happens fast!

I still don't expect to be beyond basic phrases and limited conversation, and probably won't understand most of what is said to me in Dutch as listening comprehension happens much more slowly, but still it's been fun!