Linguetronix

This was really helpful. I didn't know the different types of shoes in English (loafers, etc.), so I got to learn the proper names for footwear in two languages!

One that I did know was the "chancla", apparently a method famously used by Mexican mothers to "treat" their kids

The best way would be to speak with a Spanish speaking person yes? What is the word for that - like Francophone for people who speak French?

If any of you are interested in skyping with me, do ping, and I shall respond.

Sonrisa

It means a smile, good enough to brighten anyone's day

People have been saying Chinese a lot in this thread, but I think what they really mean is Mandarin. And, I would agree. In another twenty years, that is where all the jobs and development will be. If only they could deal with the pollution...

You've asked for Indo-European links in your topic (although your post talks about Hindi), so I will take the liberty to choose from any Indian language. My mothertongue, Malayalam, shares quite a few words with Portuguese (I wonder why ) - jenala (window), mesa (table), kasera/cadeira (chair), etc. My hypothesis is that these words described objects new to India around the time the Portuguese "visited" and so, we borrowed their words. Some of these words, I believe, even made their way up the subcontinent:

'mesa' is table in Tamil as well, and a few other languages have similar words, for example, in Hindi, it is 'mez'.

'kasera' to 'kursi'? Plausible, I would say.

I'm sure others can fill in with the words for these objects in their native tongues. I bet a few will be similar!

I concur with Meera's statement. Hindi is much easier to learn, and a lot more practical than Sanskrit. Sanskrit is hardly spoken or understood anywhere in India, while if you know Hindi, you will be well understood almost throughout India (except for a few areas). By far the most well-known Indian language, even within the country.

Thank you for clarifying this Joo! So, why does Psy say Oppa Gangnam Style?  :grin: He means "to love someone like people do in the district of Gangnam maybe?  :grin:

The way she translated it, she wrote "Oppa is Gangnam style", so I think it means that the older man you like is "Gangnam style", meaning he dresses and behaves like people from Gangnam. Hopefully, Joo can clarify this.

but especially so if they belong to a different root language

I think he hit the nail on the head there. For the reasons stated, I find Japanese much tougher to learn than Spanish and French. Spanish, French and English also share a lot of words and roots, so that makes it easier.

Though, I must mention that, for some reason, I find Kannada very tough to learn, even though it shares similar roots as my mother-tongue, Malayalam.

I must say I really love this forum. I fear the exact same thing! This has actually happened to me, embarrassingly enough with my national language (Hindi). I could speak it very fluently when I was a child, but with age I have lost touch and now people laugh if I try to speak in Hindi. Any tips to "regain" skill would help as well, not just "avoid forgetting" the language.

For me, it is definitely speaking at a fast enough pace/listening to fast speech, followed by writing. Though, writing almost always seems tougher.

Umm... I'm from India, so I knew my regional language + my national language before the age of 4. I learned English sometime then too so that by the time I was 6 I was fluent in three languages. What I consider my first "second" language, would be French, which I started when I was around 11. I'm not very good at French though

Yes. A resounding yes. Embarrassingly so. I've even been questioned on it. A friend once asked me, "why does that sentence start an end with a lol?". It's honestly become like some sort of punctuation for me. It's crazy, I use 'lol' and emoticons a lot. I try hard to curb it though.

Linguaholic,

Etes-vous Francais?

[i meant to write:

Linguaholic,

Are you French?]

Kannada, simply because I'm in Karnataka. Or German, because I talk to a few German people. Or French, because I have learned it a little and would like to master it. It's so tough to choose!

I guess this is a problem English speakers in the West face. In the Indian subcontinent we roll our Rs anyway (not as much as the Spanish do though), so this seems like a trivial problem to us

I really like songs by the band "La Oreja de Van Gogh" What a great name, right? For those who don't know, van Gogh was a dutch painter who cut off his ear in the later years of his life.

Some of their songs are brilliant, like "La nina que llora en tus fiestas". I also like Julieta Venegas. One of her best songs lyrically is "Mirame bien". Here's a line I chose:

"Mirame bien, te necesito igual, en algo tan pequeno como ver el dia pasar"

I would love it if a native speaker could translate it. I think it means, "I need you as much as you need me, even for something as small as watching the day pass"

While the intention is nice, I'm not learning much. Can you please explain why it is para/por in each sentence and not the other? I always thought of it this way:

para = in order that

por = by

"However, if you, are supposed to, omit the "es" when saying "Mi nombre es Mike", I'd find that difficult to remember."

No, you aren't supposed to Spanish is quite logical I think (except when you get to the advanced stages, but I guess you win some, you lose some).

Try remembering it like this: "cerca de" means "around", rather than remembering that "de" means "of". That would be a better translation. So, then, it translates to "The monkey walks near the horse"

Interesting question! This is a case of the personal 'a'. How I understand it is this, if you use

a la tortuga

that implies that that turtle and you share a personal relationship. Maybe it's your pet, or your friend's pet or... you get the idea. If you don't, it means you are referring to a generic "turtle". Not one that you know 'personally'. I hope this helped!

I think duolingo is a great tool, helps me pick up new words and concepts fast. My only gripe with it, is that it is not really suited to learning verbs and verb usage, and one can argue that verbs are the crux of any language. Sure, you may know names for a thousand different objects, occupations and other nouns, but to express yourself in a language, you really need to master verbs in that language, and that is where Duolingo falls short.

For those looking for an effective way to learn verbs, I would suggest the Michel Thomas audiobooks.

The Pimsleur method I believe is primarily aimed at helping you "hear" the language better. Not really learn it, but having learned it, being able to understand native speakers. Considering most native speakers speak their language considerably faster than tutorials that go real slow, I have to say the Pimsleur method accomplishes what it aims at. Most people 'misunderstand' the aim - it won't teach you Spanish, but it will help you listen to it better!

As far as I understand it, adding an -ando or an -iendo ending means you are "In the process of doing that action right now". So, for instance if I saw some books on your shelf, that weren't there the last time I visited, I could say, "Veo que tu lees" and that would translate in English to, "I see that you are reading", but since you aren't "in the process of reading", I can't use the leyendo form. I will wait for someone who is bilingual to confirm.

It's a completely different language (that shares some words) that is the reason for an ongoing dispute and separatist claims in Spain. If you follow Spanish football, the rivalry between the teams Real Madrid and Barcelona are based on their differences in language - the region of Madrid is a Castilian stronghold while Barcelona is home to the Catalans. Castilian is what we mean when we say "Spanish".

In English,

Sheep bleat, lions roar, geese cackle, ducks quack and some animals growl. Crows, well, crows caw but roosters crow - of course!