Hedonologist

I voted Sanskrit (Devanagari) I think Arabic and Japanese are quite low on my list, with Chinese when written well also ranks quite highly. I think Latin too is quite pleasing to the eye, which is fortunatyely as it's something I see constantly

I got this for Hindi, and found the spacing of repetition to be ideal, I'm up to around 100 words currently and it has all stuck better than I was expecting, it's ideal just to do 5-15 mintues whenever you have some spare time. I'm planning to use it for HSK level 1 Chinese now.

Has anyone here taken any of the HSK exams?

I was considering taking both level 1 and level 2, as exams are run frequently at the SOAS and for a small fee of around £25 per exam. I was just curious as to other people's experiences, and if it was even worth taking level 1.

I've amassed quite a large vocabulary, but my grammar is very limited. Where should I go to learn the grammar already having a large vocabulary? I assume a standard grammar course would do, rather than need a mixed textbook.

I have just recently discovered memrise and found it to be a gem for learning characters. It's so easy just to do a quick 5, then another 5 if you're bored, review and move onto another 5. I'm learning so much here (although I'll have to be sure to regularly review).

Any other people primarily use memrise for learning characters?

Has anyone seen Arabic with Maha on Youtube? Got to be the best arabic course I've seen online, here is one of her videos

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKXenCuWkEs

She speaks with a Levant dialect, but teaches MSA, and some Palestinian slang too.

I had no trouble talking to a Flemish person once, although perhaps he simply realised I could only speak Netherlands Dutch and adjusted for my benefit. I've heard the difference is no more than American/British English.

How long did it take you as a fluent Dutch speaker to learn Afrikaans? I learned Dutch as a second language, but found that there are still quite a few differences in the languages. I can still read it very well, but writing it I find more difficult.

The second foreign language you should learn is entirely subjective. If you travel somewhere a lot, if you have friends from that country, or you have dealings with that country then go for that. English is unquestionably top for MOST of the world, although some places may require you to learn another second language other than English.

Yeah, this has usually been simply not understand a phrase despite being able to translate it fully. I'll then ask a native speak what on earth it means and they will explain the pun. Humour is generally quite universal especially in western Europe, although it might be harder for those learning Chinese/Hindi etc. You just pick it up over time.

I recently discovered cram.com It's probably the largest collection of flashcards online. I certainly recommend it. I believe it is the largest but I'd love to hear from anyone else who has an even better flashcard website for languages. Personally I find these flashcards extremely helpful for vocabulary.

No, and you would be surprised how many small countries have their own distinct sign languages, as one user said Switzerland has many. Even the Flemish community in Belgium have their own distinct sign language, but that still has 6,000 users.

Just being in France. I speak German reasonably well, and they never let me practise with them. I barely know any French yet so many refused to speak English.

Since Skype is not free at all, then for sure they will charge for that extra service. But that is a good and beneficial improvement for foreign language speakers, since the language will be automatically translated in audio and text form. I would prefer the text form though, because translated voice audio can have some inaudible parts.

That's a good point, I wonder how much they will charge. I assume there may be an initial free trial period. Hopefully it is not so ridiculously expensive as to price most out of the market. Especially as most Skype users are in poor countries.

I never heard it called cursive before I heard Americans talk about it. Even when older it was always just called "joined up". I can do it though, and read it pretty well. My handwriting isn't good though.

Thanks for the link, I eventually found a book in the end. Faroese is very similar to Iceland, although not fully intelligible. There are very few hard resources, but this may interest other Faroese learners, or just any language lovers in general.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMgp400cnpU

I go through a textbook, get a foundation in the grammar, learn about 1,000-2,000 words of vocab, mostly through flashcards and then I use a combination of newspapers and TV to immerse myself. I also then try to find native speakers to start practising with.

I'm not looking to be a guest for now, but I've subscribed and I look forward to your future videos

When are they expecting this to be available? I'm not very convinced at the moment, I think it will have years of teething troubles considering how bad voice recognition still is in 2014.

Anybody still learning Latin? (I know that on some studies it's necessary)

I can read it somewhat, although not without a dictionary. I wouldn't consider it a rare language though because so many study it at school, it's just all but impossible to find speakers though, as opposed to writers.

BYKI is probably the best on-line tool that works for a multitude of languages. There might be better tools available for individual languages but BYKI is brilliant for vocabulary and they have around 90 languages.

Seeing Chinese characters very I was very young. I learnt the zodiac ones and a few others. Curiosity to know what unknown words meant really.

I have a book on Faroese, which is a very rare language, although I have very little ability in the language itself.

Does anyone know of any good websites for learning Chinese vocabulary through flashcards?

That is actually a very good description. I had never heard of an extended metaphor before this thread, let alone know what one was. Which is strange as I am 22 and have had a keen interest in language for quite a while.