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… it’s inewgh!
In Danish, if you're acting improper or if you're being mean we say "hvordan kan du være det bekendt?" which LITERALLY means: how could you be familiar with that? like this isn’t your heart, who are you right now
There no shame in never becoming fluent in your target language(s). Learning a new language even a little bit is great. Having the ability to communicate even a little bit is great. Learning about the culture(s) is great. You're doing great. Enjoy the experience.
You know what I think is really cool about language (English in this case)? It’s the way you can express “I don’t know” without opening your mouth. All you have to do is hum a low note, a high note, then another lower note. The same goes for yes and no. Does anyone know what this is called?
Internet vernacular has completely altered what some words and expressions mean to me. Forevermore, I will hear the words "hear me out" will only and exclusively as "before you cast your judgements prematurely, please pause and allow me to explain how and why I should be allowed to fuck this thing".
Most of us who have learned another language end up with the attitude that it's best to read books in the original because some things just don't translate and in a real sense, you never really read a book if you read it in translation. While I generally agree with this attitude, at the same time I think it is unappreciative of the work that translators do.
Yes, there are a lot of bad translations out there, but there are also good translations. Good translation is a skill, and it's an incredible skill given what a good translator has to be able to do. They have to be fluent in not just two languages, but the nuances of two cultures. They have to be able to understand literature. They have to have writing skills on the level of the writer they are translating. If translating classical literature, they have to understand the historical context.
A good translator will include translator notes to try and explain the nuances that get lost in translation, cultural nuances, and historical context if it's classical literature. Yes, this means that they have to teach you a little bit of the language and culture of the original. Therefore, a good translator will give you an appreciation for a language that you hadn't had before.
How finns from around Finland say “I”. The formal form is “minä” and default informal form is “mä”
Resources for learning Czech
Textbook: Czech step by step
Duolingo vocab 🦉: Czech 🇨🇿 - Section 1: Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3, Unit 4, Unit 5, Unit 6, Unit 7, Unit 8
Alphabet & accents
How to pronounce Czech letters
Noun genders
Formal vs. informal speech
Accusative case (singular)
Pronouns in all grammatical cases
Czech prefixes
Grammar exercises:
Demonstrative pronouns - exercise sheet
Possessive pronouns - exercise sheets
Accusative case (demonstrative pronouns, adjectives & nouns) - exercise sheets
Possessive pronouns in the accusative case - exercise sheets
Reflexive possessive pronouns in the accusative case - exercise sheets
Iconic songs
Czech children's books
I saw that English has also an expression for that: "should be taken with a pinch of salt"
Also, even if some translators are good, keep in mind that sometimes they won't understand the most colourful expressions and they will lead you to a word-for-word translation
I'm pretty sure that's not it....why is this the first result...... -> prendre quelque chose avec des pincettes = to handle/treat something with caution This post is a friendly reminder to take the google translate/AI translations with tweezers.
That's so true! I'm learning Russian and even if I'm still a beginner, I can understand the common words of the other Slavic languages, that's so fun to see!
so a couple months ago i was looking through the channels and saw bbc alba and decided to watch it and something i found so cool was how similar gaidhlig is to gaeilge… i also know some french because i did it in secondary school and i have quite a few brazillian friends that i met online, and something i love is how whenever they speak in portuguese i can understand some words and the sentence structure because i know french, and they are both part of the romance language family. learning languages is sooooo cool and it is so interesting knowing about all the similarities and i feel like whenever you know one language it is really easy to learn the others which are in the same family. anyways ! i love learning languages, i find it all so interesting 🥹
in an age where machine translation is getting better and better I BEG you to keep learning languages and keep your brain sharp and keep an open mind. learning a language is so much more than memorizing a bunch of words, it opens up ways of seeing the world you hadn't considered before that are inherent to the way things are phrased in another language. it gives you a new lens through which you'll view life. it will make your life fuller, more well-rounded, more fulfilling. please learn languages other than your own.
A shy little ghost who has fallen in love with languages and wants to become a polyglot. A jumble of discovery and random information. Oh, and also a conlanger :)
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