Jump to content
Linguaholic

Qamra

Members
  • Posts

    54
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

Everything posted by Qamra

  1. I had a Hungarian friend once in London. We had a lot in common and always found a way to communicate although she didn't speak English (she knew maybe 50 words). I used my phone to translate words and we taught each other some stuff (I taught her some Polish words, she taught me Hungarian). It was an interesting experience. Shame we are not keeping in touch anymore.
  2. The word "rural" kills me. Every time I hear it, it sounds like a word taken from caveman dictionary. It just sounds funny, like a communicative growl.
  3. The longest was a week. I had time off, just broke up with my boyfriend and had my fridge stocked up so I didn't have to go to shop. I spent whole weeks playing computer games and didn't even text anybody once. It was pretty sickening, not because of lack of talking but the way it happened.
  4. It takes a big deal of talent to translate comedy. My best example is Monty Python films, we had a great great guy in Poland called Tomasz Beksinski and he did a translation. He knew how to transfer all the absurd to our language and he did it wonderfully. Apart from that, I think translated films are not that good and I often wonder about what I'm missing while watching a translated comedy.
  5. I love and hate Google Translate. I only use it for single words, usually to check how they sound. Sometimes I put longer sentences just to amuse myself, they hardly ever are correct. Still I think it's one of the best translating engines ever made.
  6. I just bought myself few random books, so far my favourite is Russian for Dummies lol it's actually pretty funny and came with a CD. It quite frustrating because as a Polish speaker, I understand 40% of what is being said but can't make a proper sentence by myself! This book helped me sort out my grammar a bit. As to websites, I still need to do some research.
  7. I think it depends on what I read. Interesting book will be read by me in few hours, boring study materials will take me long hours just because I can't focus on them and I have to re-read. In general though, I'm a quite fast reader.
  8. Sometimes when I speak other languages so often and with little to no contact with my native people I tend to have problems with remembering certain words in my own language. It's not exactly that I forget them, they are just on the tip of my tongue but it's easier to find them in other language. Also, I know many words related to my job that I don't know how to translate to my own language, yet I understand them. Do you ever have situations like this?
  9. I gave up with Swedish because I didn't have time. And then, when I wanted to start learning again, I just wasn't into it anymore. I would like to learn some Northern language but I'm still not sure which one to pick.
  10. Would you ever move somewhere without being able to properly communicate with locals? Have you ever put yourself in such a situation? It sounds silly, but I know plenty of people who did it.
  11. Subtitles help you learn the language. You get to listen to origal voice and compare the writing with talk. Dubbing ruins pretty much everything... It usually sounds very fake and annoying. I never watch dubbed films.
  12. I'm usually very relaxed before exams. I know that I did my bet to learn it all and there should be nothing to surprise me. I never slack and always properly prepare myself so there are no reasons to be nervous.
  13. Unfortunately I do overuse it. Not so much my friends as my boyfriend. I tend to adjust my way of writing and speaking with each person and he's the one using words like "lol" and other internet slang. I don't use it anywhere else though so I think I'm not that bad.
  14. It has to be Cockney in my case. My boyfriend is a Cockney boy and I just find it really attractive. Northern accents, especially Scottish, sound interesting too. I used to spend a lot of time with my Scottish friend and I know her accent rubbed off on me! As a worker in transport, I hear a lot of different accents everyday and it's so satisfying to recognize where people come from. Oh I almost forgot about lovely accent from Sheffield! That's my new favourite, my new work colleague comes from there and I can't stop listening to her.
  15. I came across this site around 2 years ago http://www.arabicpod.net/ I listened to samples and I think the teachers are really funny and know how to keep it interesting and simple. I'm considering buying all lessons but I would love to hear some opinions from people who tried it out.
  16. Talking is the most difficult for me. When I started learning Arabic, I learnt the alphabet first! I could read words and write them too, I don't find Arabic letters complicated at all, but it's a nightmare when comes to talking. I'd rather just read and write :speechless:
  17. Polish people mispronounce Polish words. There are letters that get neglected when they're used at the end of the sentence and it makes the talk sound really scruffy but on the other hand, when you pronounce them too carefully, you sound funny! Seems like you can't win here.
  18. I must admit I love Arabic pop too! I spent some time translating Nancy Ajram's songs. I also love Samira Sayid but I prefer to stick to Middle Eastern music as this is dialect of my interest. I must check the rest of singers you mentioned.
  19. My inner voice has got Cockney accent :grin: and I NEVER mispronounce words in my head! I hope my mouth catches up with my brain quickly because I want to make progress faster.
  20. I'm learning Russian because they are Slavs, like me. Russian sounds much softer than my native Polish language. My mum speaks Russian and taught me alphabet but she doesn't like the language so she didn't teach me all. So I'm starting here
  21. I like the sound of word "cantankerous". It's both beautiful and melodic but at the same time it sounds like a name of some dinosaur! I never had a chance to use it in real life though, ha ha.
  22. Do you find music helpful when learning Arabic? If so, what type of music do you listen to while studying? I found myself listening to nasheeds because although they are often written in difficult language, they're grammatically correct and help me avoid jargon.
  23. Hi all, I live in London but I was born in Poland, I'm hoping to meet great people here and learn a bit of Arabic and Russian, I'm fluent only in Polish and English but I studied German as well - unfortunately I was never very good at the last one and I would like to change it! Have a nice day everybody x
×
×
  • Create New...