Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
In reality, how useful are German, French etc
Options
Comments
-
-
Fluorescence wrote: »Well you have really blown me away with your detailed, compelling argument. I shall now throw my hands up in the air, walk away from a career in computer science and thank my lucky stars that an extraordinarily intelligent boardsie has convinced me of the futility of technology before a life was wasted in the fastest growing industry on earth.
Sincerely, my deepest thanks to you.
You're welcome. Computers have nothing to do with Computer Science, and sarcasm doesn't particularly become you, by the way.
0 -
Semi fluent on 2 hours a week? Eh, no...
I've been doing german 3 hours a week for 2.5 years and I'm at the second half of B2 level, you'll be ok to get by after 1 year but not semi fluent... whatever that is
So... you couldn't attain fluency within the space of a year, therefore no-one can?
0 -
Moderators, Category Moderators, Politics Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 81,310 CMod ✭✭✭✭
Join Date:Posts: 79126
Colten Petite Sarsaparilla wrote: »So... you couldn't attain fluency within the space of a year, therefore no-one can?
Yeah that's definitely what I said
If you're doing 2 hours a week in a non-native country ... I'd be skeptical. And I gave my own experience of how long it takes to get anywhere.
Anyway you may have read on and seen that we all came to an agreement on it0 -
Yeah that's definitely what I said
If you're doing 2 hours a week in a non-native country ... I'd be skeptical. And I gave my own experience of how long it takes to get anywhere.
Anyway you may have read on and seen that we all came to an agreement on it
2 hours a week isn't very much though. If you were doing that per day then a B1-B2 level would be easily achievable in a year. If you were spending 6+ hours a day you could probably even get C2 in a year. It all depends on how much work you put in and making sure that you study in the most efficient way for you.
B1 in Italian in a year doesn't strike me as a particularly lofty goal.0 -
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
Legs.Eleven wrote: »Oh now I feel bad using the word atrocious
Too strong a word to describe her. I suppose it was the fact that she spoke exclusively in the present tense and I am 100% sure she knew her past tenses plus she was flustered and stressed, so I'm guessing in a different context, she'd be much better, I'm sure. Speaking only in the present tense sounds terrible in any language. This is a massive problem among Spaniards and it leaves me like this :eek: I have to tell them that they can't speak that way; that the conjugation of verbs in English is easy peasy and there's no excuse to speak that way.
Learning Spanish myself, I've had mixed feedback and I think in this country there's a great appreciation of colloquial Spanish and slang. It's only recently I'm using it as I tried to perfect "proper" Spanish first. When I drop in some slang, they're very impressed.
I think pronunciation (not accent) has a huge amount to do with it though. I have a friend here who's Greek-Canadian and has a A2/B1 level of Spanish (I'm B2 approaching C1) and she's often complimented on her Spanish because her pronunciation is spot on and she speaks very clearly, concisely and slowly...but she hasn't taken a class and speaks in the present tense and her vocab is very limited and would avoid reflexing (is that a word?) the verb and you can forget about the subjunctive. Drives me a little potty.
With my own students, I have to be careful not to be "tricked" by the same thing. I have to really listen to what they're saying to listen out for grammatical errors, their range of vocab etc. because you could easily believe they're better than they are when they speak with a neutral accent. Same goes for those who can't rid themselves of the very strong Spanish accent but have a great level. Tis a funny one.
Better be careful here because we're going slightly off on a tangent as regards what the OP originally asked, but I think you make some useful points.
Pronunciation is definitely important, as you mention, although contrary to yourself, I would also include accent. To give you a quick example: today I was listening to an Argentinian man speak English. When he first opened his mouth, both his accent and pronunciation seemed very foreign and I instinctively thought that he was going to have a poor level. Nevertheless, after a few minutes I realised that not only did he make very few grammar mistakes, but he also had a very wide vocabulary.
Our first impression is often hard to shake off and which can be both the making and downfall of us as human beings.
I also believe to a lesser degree the way we look also has an influence. In a similar way to when we listen to someone who looks Indian having a Scottish accent, which may initially shock or not seem right to many of us, something along the same lines can be seen with languages, although usually only for a short period of time.
Should a person have a very 'Western' look, say blond or red hair with freckles and pale skin, it can sometimes be difficult initially to convince people in some countries that you can actually speak their language. Even after you have come out with a few sentences which proves your capabilities.
In a similar vein, this is why I never mentioned anything about Ireland when travelling in South America, simply to prevent people from constantly speaking to me in English.
But yeah, to get back to the thread, even with these occasional handicaps, the study of languages can give you great confidence and enhance your self-esteem in many scenarios, if perhaps not being that useful in the job world.0 -
General General wrote: »Oh yeah, sarcasm's really difficult to master if you're a poster on AH...
In another language, you say? Sarcasm's the international language of.. of.. sarcasm.
That's what you think! Intonation of sarcasm can differ from language to language. I sarcastically "bit the head off" one of my students (Spanish) for coming into class late 2 weeks ago with, "OOooooh it's nice you FINALLY decided to come to class today!!" said with a smile. An Irish person would've known I was joking but it was lost on her. I genuinely thought it was so obvious she couldn't miss it. Queue her getting embarrassed and I haven't seen her since!
:cool: I know now to be absolutely literal and devoid of any kind of subtle humour 'til they reach a certain level in the lingo.
Or maybe she was just a big dry ****e.0 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
I was out with a French lad I had a date with 2 weeks ago. The night went on and we got drinking and conversation kind of stalled a bit at one point, so he started asking me how my French was. I said I get by fine and only focus on the practical side of the language. He asked what did I mean, and I don't know why it popped into my head, but first thing came to mind was; "s'asseoir sur ma bite"
...and whad'ya know, it happened later on as well
If that's not useful I don't want to know what is0 -
I was out with a French lad I had a date with 2 weeks ago. The night went on and we got drinking and conversation kind of stalled a bit at one point, so he started asking me how my French was. I said I get by fine and only focus on the practical side of the language. He asked what did I mean, and I don't know why it popped into my head, but first thing came to mind was; "s'asseoir sur ma bite"
...and whad'ya know, it happened later on as well
If that's not useful I don't want to know what is
D'accord... mais où est le metro Saint Michel?0 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
Advertisement