Learning Languages for Leisure Travel

[Nemo2]

In Veliko Tarnovo last Fall we got talking to a guy in a shawarma shop......his English, (learned from TV he claimed), was superb.........he also spoke about pronunciation subtleties in Korean, the knowledge of which he also attributed to watching (a lot of, we presumed), television.

 

[audreyh1]

Telenovelas (what I call soap operas) are great for language learning. I think they work so well because there is usually enough of a pause after each person speaks that your brain has time to catch up. Also the plot never moves very rapidly.

It's very day to day stuff.

But at the same time, it's very advanced grammatically. Heavy use of the subjunctive in telenovelas, for example (lots of verbal speculation). Lots of pronouns. You really get used to it. But also lots of interaction in regular daily stuff - visiting families and friends, meals, shopping, time in the kitchen, office situations, celebratory events, etc.

On some of the Latin American shows the plot can actually move pretty fast because they may only have 60 or 90 episodes. Certainly compared to the glacial pace of a US soap opera.

What was effective for me was having the captions on in Spanish. After my hearing comprehension improved I only had to glance at them occasionally to get the spelling of a word I didn't know.

 

[braumeister]

On some of the Latin American shows the plot can actually move pretty fast because they may only have 60 or 90 episodes. Certainly compared to the glacial pace of a US soap opera.

I liked that when I first moved to Brazil. The story arcs were short enough that I could watch nearly all of the episodes, and join in the banter around the water cooler.

 

[audreyh1]

I liked that when I first moved to Brazil. The story arcs were short enough that I could watch nearly all of the episodes, and join in the banter around the water cooler.

Yeah - what a concept, a soap opera that is time limited!

Some are terrible, but some are outstanding.

Funny thing - the first one we watched was a Columbian production that I quickly realized was a remake of Grey's Anatomy. And I thought it was even better than the original! It was a challenging one to get started with because I was not used to the Columbian accent. The producer was the original creator of what because Ugly Betty in the US after it had already been a huge hit and remade several times around the world.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I can tell you that Polish and Czech are both very difficult languages. If I were you I would just get a good phrase book rather than try to learn the language.

I'm sure. But difficult= challenging. I finished up my last goal and needed a new one. Behind the Wheel doesn't have a course in Polish but Pimsleur does. Will let you know how it goes!

 

[mrWinter]

We have so many loanwords from Latin and French in English - especially for the more complex words - that Spanish is easier for me and I quickly grasp the other romance languages. Verb order is the same too.

Dutch was more of a struggle. I have simply no reference for words like, for example, ingewikkeld (complicated) - while in Spanish it's complicado - way easier to remember for an English speaker LOL!

We just finished watching Tabula Rasa on Netflix (thought it was really good!) and enjoyed hearing Dutch. (Audry, maybe you can watch it without subtitles!) I thought it sounded like a mix of French and German, like German but not so harsh, much more pleasant to hear. While watching I kept thinking that Dutch had a lot of words in common with English. Googling now, wikipedia says they are both germanic languages so I guess that makes sense. (my do not disturb profile on my phone for the night time, which I set up while watching the show, is called 'slapen') Not the most useful language for a traveler but I'd love to spend some time in Amsterdam some day and have an excuse to learn some, though IMO Italian still takes the cake for most pleasant to hear spoken in a cafe somewhere.

 

[audreyh1]

We just finished watching Tabula Rasa on Netflix (thought it was really good!) and enjoyed hearing Dutch. (Audry, maybe you can watch it without subtitles!) I thought it sounded like a mix of French and German, like German but not so harsh, much more pleasant to hear. While watching I kept thinking that Dutch had a lot of words in common with English. Googling now, wikipedia says they are both germanic languages so I guess that makes sense. (my do not disturb profile on my phone for the night time, which I set up while watching the show, is called 'slapen') Not the most useful language for a traveler but I'd love to spend some time in Amsterdam some day and have an excuse to learn some, though IMO Italian still takes the cake for most pleasant to hear spoken in a cafe somewhere.

Linguists often put Dutch halfway between English and German. Seems about right. It's just that English has so many more Latin and French loanwords. Still, Dutch also has lots of Latin and French loanwords - maybe half as much?

I'll check out the series - thanks!

They are speaking Flemish - the Belgian version of Dutch which has a pretty strong French accent/influence. I saw the Netflix captions gave Flemish as an option, and not Dutch. I thought it sounded a little different.

 

[NoiseBoy]

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.

Hmm... I will have to try that. My own experience with DuoLingo is that it worked really well for me when I wanted to refresh my college level German. It worked okay for me as a companion learning tool for a community college adult learning Russian class. But as a way to learn a new language from scratch, it's been a total failure. I've tried Italian and Hungarian but the app jumps too quickly to asking me to use the new words in new phrases before I've really learned the new words so I get frustrated and give up.

What I'd like is a version of DuoLingo for travelers. Frankly, until you reach a certain level of fluency, you run the risk of greeting someone in their local language only to have them rattle off a response that you have no hope of understanding. Better to just know how to greet someone politely and to ask for help. If someone knows of a good app for learning traveler's phrases, I'd be interested in that.

 

[braumeister]

If someone knows of a good app for learning traveler's phrases, I'd be interested in that.

Haven't tried it, but there is an app called "Travel Phrasebook". I think it's available for both iPhone and Android.

Personally, I just want the most useful phrases, like "My hovercraft is full of eels."

 

[NoiseBoy]

Haven't tried it, but there is an app called "Travel Phrasebook". I think it's available for both iPhone and Android.

Looks interesting, but does not have Hungarian (next stop, Budapest!) so I will have to use Google to make sure that I can say "a beer please" before my trip.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I can tell you that Polish and Czech are both very difficult languages. If I were you I would just get a good phrase book rather than try to learn the language.

You are completely right about this- I cannot make heads or tails of Polish. It doesn't look anything like it sounds. Even if I can manage a few words, I am never going to be able to read a menu. Oh well. Its a good thing I am an adventurous eater!

 

[Nemo2]

I cannot make heads or tails of Polish.

Wait 'til you get to Bulgaria.

 

[braumeister]

or Wales.

 

[Nemo2]

or Wales.

C'mon, we're talking languages, not a seemingly never-ending bunch of disjointed letters.

 

[braumeister]

ymddeoliad cynnar yw hwn, felly mae unrhyw beth yn bosibl

 

[Nemo2]

ymddeoliad cynnar yw hwn, felly mae unrhyw beth yn bosibl

The impossible R Us.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I remember laughing with DH in Amsterdam- everyone was very friendly and were happy to give us directions- but we had the same problem there- we couldn't find street name signs that looked like where the people told us we needed to turn. We had a great time anyway-

 

[audreyh1]

I remember laughing with DH in Amsterdam- everyone was very friendly and were happy to give us directions- but we had the same problem there- we couldn't find street name signs that looked like where the people told us we needed to turn. We had a great time anyway-

Yes - my first Dutch hurdle was learning how to pronounce Dutch words and place names. Pronunciation is very different from English. It took a while.

huis is pronounced “house” - and that’s an easy one.

You would not believe how they pronounce “Van Gogh”