Trellum

As far as I know ''Tú'' is always used when next to a verb, but ''tu'' is used to refer to someone's belongings an such, like for example:  ''Ese es tu bolso'' or ''tu opinión''.  

Watch any kind of ''Telenovela'' you will get lots of laughs from that    Any Mexican will do (those are hilarious).   Plus I love the fact that out of all the Latin american countries... Mexican telenovelas and Mexican TV in general... flaunts and incredibly neutral accent. That is done on purpose.  You can't find that in any other Latin american country. Hence most of the dubbing for the rest of Latin america is done in Mexico.   If you want to listen to a very neutral ''Latin'' Spanish, then check Mexican TV.  I recommend you children TV shows and cartoons.   You can tune most Mexican TV  channels online. 

I think you should learn whatever you feel like learning   You could also learn both,  I know people who do that and it's totally doable.  Finding language exchange buddies to practice Catalan might be hard though,  but you could just watch TV shows and movies in Catalan, as well as reading as much as you can in  that language.   Spanish and Catalan are so much alike   I think it'd not be hard at all to get this done. 

On 4/19/2016 at 4:10 AM, marcchristensen said:

Trellum, you raise some really great points about the problems with current language exchange services. I agree that a huge problem with current services is that conversations lack direction, it's often hard to get past all the 'social' back and forth and onto useful conversations that develop your language skills. You're often left scrambling looking for things in common to talk about.

I really believe there is value in online language exchange, but I don't think the current services have cracked it.

So, I'm building my own! Check out http://www.languagepear.com, and let me know your thoughts!

Oh my God, you are!?  I am checking it right now and it looks great, but I remember seeing a site where you were given a topic to talk about with the other person (depending on the interests of both of you).  Is your site like that?   If it is... I'm so going to sign up right now! Waaaaaaay to go! Being paired with someone with similar interest and give us a topic to talk about sounds awesome...!!!  It's such an engaging way to learn, better than messaging strangers on one of those language exchange buddy sites... you rarely find someone serious enough, and if you do most of the time the exchange turns sour. Finding a decent language exchange buddy (in one of those sites) is  almost as hard as online dating, lol. 

On 3/30/2016 at 2:09 AM, Blaveloper said:

The best would be to get a level higher.
If you do courses in A1 all the time, then obviously you'll see the same words over and over again.

Here in the Netherlands you'll definitely find new words everywhere in the wild.
You could alternatively check out some news in Dutch and note all the words you don't know yet.
There are plenty of websites like that, a nice website to find these websites is Startpagina or Headliner.

Keep in mind that both websites list sites with lots of views only, so if you're looking for personal blogs, you're out of luck.

Thanks, I wasn't planing to use more A1 courses anymore, because I feel I am way past that   But I feel there are some basic words I haven't learnt yet.  Oh and by the way, those people who created the tests I took in Mexico, definitely went a bit higher than A1.  I plan to complain about that once I get my permanent residence permit.  They definitely used words  that were never in the course, which is funny, because they said that as long as you memorized everything in that book you'd pass. And I know I got less points because of that advanced vocabulary (advanced for someone who is at level A1).  I asked the person if they would use words that weren't in the course and he chose to ignore me (via e-mail), so basically his silence was the answer. Totally misleading!

On 3/30/2016 at 2:03 AM, Blaveloper said:

More Memrise courses perhaps?
And I fixed a little typo in one of your tags ("dutcdh" instead of "dutch") for you.

Thanks, typos keep happening   Ah, I guess I will just keep on working on my own Memrise course, how I wish I could have kept that motivation up...  I'll take a look at it later, I still needed to add a couple more words.  I might ask my fiance to help me with the audio later. 

I've tried that   But my Dutch is not that good, not yet at least   I can understand most of the  things being said on the TV,  or to me, but i can't keep a basic conversation just yet (lazy on my part - I know), that is why I want to learn more new dutch words.  I did that with English... the rest came naturally.   I just learnt to use a lot new words and somehow I figured the rest, I was so very young back then though... 

For me it would be ''Ranchu'' :3  It's a word used to describe a type of goldfish that originated in China, but was further developed to look like it looks today in Japan.  Needless to say  this has increased (and also the fact I've been watching a ot Vlogs about Mexican women living in Japan lately) my interest in Japanese   Just look at them:

My fascination with Asian cultures keeps growing and growing, who knows, I might feel like adding Chinese to my list in the future   Right after Japanese, of course   Another words I like are:

- Iris 

- Gezelig

- Farfalla 

- Skal

4 hours ago, lushlala said:

Don't beat yourself up too much, Trellum, we all say hurtful things in the heat of the moment from time to time! I know the sad thing's that you can't take it back, but if your fiancé has forgiven you, you need to try and move on from it too. I too have over the years learnt to breathe and keep a cool head before reacting, and this has really helped me stay calm. The bottomline is, we're all human and we will stumble and make mistakes from time to time. I hope that thing between you guys get better

Thanks   Lately things have been stressing mostly because the whole immigration thing, he made a huge mistake  when sending the papers I need (he used normal post instead of using DHL or FedEX - Like I did).   I'm proud of myself, because I was upset and really angry when I found out the papers are most likely lost  ( it was so hard to legalize my certificates), but I managed not to point fingers directly at them... I was more mad at the employees for being so inefficient and lying to us (they made us believe it was delayed, not lost, but it turns out they don't know where it is!).  It was such a stressing day yesterday, but I am glad I didn't point fingers at him, he acknowledged he made a mistake... so it was easier for me to be forgiving  

What about... ''bad apple''   We have a saying here that goes something like: ''A bad apple can spoil the rest''.   I use that one often, I guess it's one of my favorite fruit idioms.  I rarely use ''Go bananas'' and ''sour grapes''.  I also like the ''to go pear shaped'' idiom   And I have used the ''compare apples and oranges'' a couple times. 

I know some swear words in Dutch because my fiance use them very often   I also know a couple swear words in polish, but that's because they are very popular words.  I guess that is the reason most people learn bad words first.... they are used very often in the media, as well as among people when talking    So it's almost impossible not to learn those words, after all I think swear words are the group of words that are used most. 

On 3/30/2016 at 8:08 AM, Blaveloper said:

I'm afraid I'm not the right person to ask this question.
I always had friends, but only for as long as I physically saw them.
Once I don't see them any more (when switching jobs, when graduating or failing a course, etc.), they suddenly don't consider me a friend any more (no more invitations to anything, no more social stuff done together, etc.).

There are apparently people who stay friends forever, so I'm not trying to say it's impossible.
But remember how I said I have autism?
Could be one part of the problem, especially since this whole friend thing isn't exclusive to Dutch people, it applies to all nationalities.
However, befriending people online is a whole lot easier for me, I tend to stay friends with people online for some reason.

Hi there   My fiance is Dutch and has always had this problem.  I found it so odd that once people moved out or weren't physically close they stopped talking to each other, but it's seems it's a cultural thing. Honestly, for me this is very odd, because in my culture distance doesn't matter.  I know people who have been friends since childhood and still keeping in touch, visit each other, something as simple as calling, say: ''I will prepare x thing for dinner, wanna come?''.    

Apparently in the Netherlands is not the same, but thanks to your post I'm starting to get an idea of how things work there when it comes to friendships.    This explains a lot actually D:   A looooot.  I mean after a couple weeks in Norway I had a lot friends, some of them are still in my life. But I knew something was up when after being there much longer I had made no friends   No wonder a lot Dutch men marry foreigners... the dating scene can be easy either. 

On 4/16/2016 at 11:35 PM, Danili said:

Hey, Dutch is pretty high up their planned languages. They use donations to pay for it all, here's their indiegogo page with all the updates and the future languages list.

I personally love Babadum, I discovered it a few months ago and fell in love with the graphics. Even though I'm at a high stage of my Spanish learning, I still use it because there is some vocab I don't know, and I love that they have so many different languages I can delve into. 

That is odd  I mean, I'd think that adding Chinese would be more complex and time consuming, because well, dutch is nothing extraordinary.  But I feel much better knowing they do plan to add it   Thanks for letting me know, I will bookmark the site   Looking forward to it, I am moving to the Netherlands soon and very busy trying to learn as much Dutch as possible  This will be useful! 

11 hours ago, lushlala said:

Wow @Trellum, that's a curious situation, and one that's not very common i don't think. When i get emotional or angry, more often than not, my brain forgets to filter or censor my speech. I think that's very lucky for you, because it sounds to me that you're more calm and collected and aren't given to exploding. That's when horrible things can be uttered without the hope of ever reversing it. So good on you

I don't manage to censor myself completely most of the time   But lately I've been trying very hard to do that and do it better, mostly because I've had a lot issues with my fiance lately and I really want things to be better.  So I figured out that staying as cam as possible was the goal, because well... right after saying something regretful I felt awful the whole day. Like those words were resonating in my head and felt so guilty, even though they weren't that bad, but I knew I should have controlled myself better. 

On 8/9/2014 at 7:58 AM, Kektheman said:

I think Duolingo can be a good start, just to get the feel of the language. It would be of course better to speak with native speakers, but not everyone has that option. For the introverted llinguaphiles, having an app that teaches them without the need of unnecessary interactions might be a better choice.

Wish there was a better option for the shy or introvert language learners, but I haven't found that many.  I'm afraid those who really want to master a language will have to interact with a native or at least an advanced student at any point in the road.  With every language is different, I had the same with English, but will have to do the same with dutch, and it feels as scary and as new as it did with English, but I guess much less anxiety inducing. 

Back in the day I did,  the book was a really good aid and the whole lesson was planned based on it.    I didn't used it during the entire class though, because every activity was well planned beforehand.   Back in the day this way of teaching was so innovating, not anymore, I guess.  Very few people out there still focus solely on their textbooks to teach... now you have to actually engage students in active participation   That way lessons are more effective and fun.  Those who still focus almost entirely on the book are the kind of teacher you'd want to avoid...

I'm a gamer, @Blaveloper    Let us check your channel    I'm curious and would like to see what kind of videos you make.   Lately I spend a lot time on YouTube (free time, at least).  I love watching Vlogs, but also game walkthroughs.  What kind of games do you play?

Uhm, this explains a lot. I guess this thread answered the question I made not so long ago on the British accent turning to what it is now, at least in London (I love the way people from there speak). It's very interesting, and yes, I had read it was started by the upper class.  Amazing what a small group of people can do to  a language D:

Thanks, I'm still socked at this.  I thought the Brits had had that accent for very long,  not that it developed almost overnight o_O Because from the sound of it... it did D:  Ah well, I'm just glad it did, British accent is awesome   

It looks like a  great site, but sadly it seems they don't offer Dutch?  That is such a pity, when I thought I had been missing a great web site that could help me improve my Dutch vocabulary, I come across this    Thanks for sharing though, I don't see use for this site right now, but I honestly hope they add Dutch to their list soon. I'd love to test it out. 

This site has been around for a while   I'm sure most of the forum users are familiar with it   I tried it awhile ago, I took a short Dutch test, then they let me know what level they thought  had, but I never came back.  I might give it another chance, since well, it's supposed to be free   I'm checking it out again, it seems they have improved the UI and the interface looks way more clean and things seem to be in a better order.  

Who knows, if it's decent enough I might consider paying a sub later.  At least their prices seem to be more fair than any of the ''-----pod101.com'' sites.  The later have access to way more content though, so might offer better value for your money. That's something we always have to consider when we have to decide what site we want to give our money to.

I hate ''Speaky'',  but then again... everyone has different experiences.   My problem with that kind of sites or apps is that finding a suitable language exchange partner is hard.  Specially if you are trying to learn Dutch.  My experience with the dutch speaking members was bad, when they sent me a message and I replied that was it most of he time.  I guess they weren't serious at all.  I tried o find Spanish speakers trying to earn Dutch, so at leas we'd have more to talk about since we both would have more in common, but nope.  This is my problem with this kind of sites...  

As for the others... Well, Duolingo has a lot limitations, but it's great for those who are just starting out.  After a while being told to write things that make no sense and won't swerve you in a real world situation gets old. 

As for Memrise... It's very useful, I actually like it,  specially because you can create your own word lists, but it does require a lot work.   

All in all, I  think all those apps are useful for learning, but as with everything... they come with their own issues and disadvantages.  Using them as a side aid is a good idea, but depending totally on them might lead you to failure... 

This is the first time I hear about ''busuu''     I'm checking the main page right now, but it asks you to join.   Sadly it seems this one site doesn't offer Dutch   But it offers other languages I might want to learn later    I'm guessing it's one of those sites similar to the x-languagepod101.com, that they let you check the course for a couple days, then ask you to subscribe.   I'm just guessing though.  I might sign up later. 

On 4/6/2016 at 9:57 AM, lingualbabe said:

The same thing happens to me! Even though I'm good with speaking English, I find myself struggling with it in times of anger and frustration. For example, my husband and I had a fight last week and we were arguing in English. But I cannot seem to construct my sentences well and so I bursted out saying a bad word in my native tongue. We ended up laughing after that... Lol.

I think it's because although I'm good with speaking English, I still use my native language most of the time. Sometimes, I even find myself constructing sentences in English in my mind before saying them out loud. But with my native tongue, there's none of that. I can use it when I'm happy, angry or frustrated with no problems at all.

Plus, when we're angry, it's easier to express our emotions in the language that is natural to us. So whatever is your first language, that would be the one you're using in times of arguments or debates. 

Do you ever find yourself realizing a few hours after the fight (or less) that you could have worded things differently? Like in a better way?  or that you didn't mention some important things and such?  I didn't have that kind of issues before, but lately I do   I guess I am just exhausted.  Lately my emotions overwhelm me.

On 3/30/2016 at 4:57 AM, Teira Eri said:

Just like anything else, you won't find the time unless you make the time.  Time is a malleable thing.  Take advantage of your downtime to study.  Better yet, try to immerse yourself as much as you can into the language you are studying.  Leave post-its with vocabulary words on your refrigerator and read them in the morning, practice thinking in the language, write diary entries or letters to yourself in the language, watch movies, read books, get apps on your smart phone.  There's an endless amount of methods to squeeze practical application into your schedule.  

Great advice, and yes, is about making time. This actually reminded me of those people who keep saying that they can't find te time to exercise for 30 minutes a couple times a week.  You need to make the time, squeeze it in your schedule when you can and that's it   Nowadays there are so many options for those learning a language, the person who doesn't study or practice is because they don't want to.