ls99
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- May 2, 2008
- Messages
- 6,513
After over 50 years in US am still working on American English.
Oh that’s unfortunate! You still have a video chat option.
After over 50 years in US am still working on American English.
Once you learn one Romance language, half the work is done with learning the next one.
I'm proud. 835 days with Duolingo, some Spanish, but mostly French to recover my high school and living -in-Ottawa, Canada French.
Today it crossed over to my volunteer work doing tax returns for low-income people over the phone. I completed three returns for two clients complètement en français. 2.5 hours speaking French and dealing with tax terminology that is unfamiliar. It helped using the French version of the software, but here I am explaining how the Canadian tax system works to African immigrants. I don't usually brag, but I'm bragging about this.
After over 50 years in US am still working on American English.
Now that I've mastered Texas English, I'm going to start working on the American English dialect. But some of them non native Texan English speakers sure do talk funny sometimes.After over 50 years in US am still working on American English.
I'm proud. 835 days with Duolingo, some Spanish, but mostly French to recover my high school and living -in-Ottawa, Canada French.
Today it crossed over to my volunteer work doing tax returns for low-income people over the phone. I completed three returns for two clients complètement en français. 2.5 hours speaking French and dealing with tax terminology that is unfamiliar. It helped using the French version of the software, but here I am explaining how the Canadian tax system works to African immigrants. I don't usually brag, but I'm bragging about this.
So is Arnold and Sylvester.
I’m hammering away at my German every day. Don’t know if it will help my trip much but it has been fun!
People immediately spoke German to us in restaurants etc. when we visited Cologne last year. I had some basic stuff which was mainly politely asking them if they spoke English. This inspired me to at least get some more basic phrases down.The Germans will speak English to you, but secretly they will respect your efforts, and you will enjoy being able to read signs send plaques and museum descriptions.
Language is a great window into a culture.
After over 50 years in US am still working on American English.
There are numerous free websites for finding language exchange partners. I signed up on two of these sites and I've been doing a weekly 2-hour Spanish-English language exchange for 7 years with a man in Costa Rica. We generally use Zoom now and do the 1st hour in Spanish and the 2nd hour in English. He & I really hit if off and I hope we can soon meet in person. I was in CR a couple of times many years ago so I'm familiar with where he lives and places he talks about. I had also spoken with other Spanish-speakers from Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, & Bolivia. I traveled in Mexico and Colombia several times after I started my weekly chats with my CR partner, and I became much more at ease speaking Spanish as a result of our weekly chats.
When Covid hit, I started doing French-English language exchanges just to get some practice speaking my already fluent French. Since last summer, I've been Skyping weekly for an hour (half in English, half in French) with a very nice FIRE'd guy in Paris. Previously, I had spoken with several other French speakers in Europe and Quebec.
If you're a native speaker of English, you're in great demand on these sites. My Costa Rican partner told me that when he sent requests to native English speakers, fewer than 10% even replied to him.
Here are links to two of the better language exchange sites:
https://ww w.conversationexchange.com/
https://www.language-exchanges.org/