Learn a language together!

[squeeker]

Simba means lion... or so I was told that at one point... People do like to tell me untrue things.

Anyway, back on topic, my SO and I both know a good deal of French, and he knows Welsh (I guess because he lives in Wales lol), which I want to learn.

My boyfriend knows Welsh too! He lived a good chunk of his childhood in Wales and just moved back there recently, so he's been teaching me Welsh a bit, well, trying to. It's such a complicated language! lol

We also try and learn languages together, usually through google translate and translating phrases and trying to say them. My boyfriend is really good at understanding languages and learning them. We both have German heritage so that's one we want to learn together, and have already tried learning it a bit..

[oukeying]

My SO speaks Portuguese, and he keeps trying to teach it to me but I'm so bad at learning European languages, lol.

My SO and I are both language majors; I'm studying Chinese language & literature and he's studying Japanese language & literature. I know some Japanese, and I would make my SO teach me more if I didn't think it was best to just focus on my own major.

[80anthea]

I was going to start a new thread but then found this one. We decided that we're going to learn Spanish together as it's something we can do together at a distance. He wants to learn it anyway as he's active in politics that involves a lot of South American countries and so speaking spanish would be very useful to him, I just want to do it for the fun of it and to help him. He has the advantage of having done some high school Spanish but I am starting from scratch (I was always fairly good at languages at school but we did French and German where I went).

So, are there any tips? So far we've got duolingo, found some online videos to work through and I've found some kids books written in Spanish too. Ideally, full immersion would be the best obviously but that's not going to happen!

[JaneEmily]

I was going to start a new thread but then found this one. We decided that we're going to learn Spanish together as it's something we can do together at a distance. He wants to learn it anyway as he's active in politics that involves a lot of South American countries and so speaking spanish would be very useful to him, I just want to do it for the fun of it and to help him. He has the advantage of having done some high school Spanish but I am starting from scratch (I was always fairly good at languages at school but we did French and German where I went).

So, are there any tips? So far we've got duolingo, found some online videos to work through and I've found some kids books written in Spanish too. Ideally, full immersion would be the best obviously but that's not going to happen!

You can try using https://webapp.lingua.ly/ as it finds words in Spanish and gives you articles to read and practise with vocab (there are also other websites like this). Also, if you're struggling with the language, I recommend making your own word-list or using Anki for flashcards online Memrise has a ton of free courses (it works like Duolingo) and is great for figuring out new vocabulary. Also if you have any post it notes, go around the house and stick post it notes on cupboards, items with the nouns corresponding to them (it helps put vocab into your long term memory)

Also the following websites have been recommended by people I follow on Duolingo for Spanish learners:

https://www.spanishdict.com/grammar

https://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm


And this is pretty decent for an online dictionary: https://en.bab.la/# (it's pretty accurate also)

I'm not learning Spanish but I have been learning Dutch for over a year (since April 2014) and by staying committed to it even during the tough moments and using numerous resources (I don't recommend using just one single resource to become proficient) , I've been able to write the following in Dutch.

Also don't forget to practise the language as much as you can whether it is speaking out loud, writing, listening etc. There's a website called lang-8 which allows you to write in your target language and then gets corrected by natives it's pretty handy if you've written something in Spanish and want to get it checked over especially if your SO needs it for politics

[differentcountries]

I am learning Turkish (started last year), I have used the Teach Yourself book series (sold on Amazon and in book stores), Babbel.com and attending language class with a teacher. I plan to teach him Norwegian the same way, Both Teach yourself series and Babbel have several languages, Spanish included.

If we were to learn a language together, perhaps Turkish/Syrian style Arabic including Arabic writing because I know very little Arabic and he can't actually write his 2nd mother tounge. He also says he wants to learn English better. That is something to consider in a few years

[80anthea]

You can try using https://webapp.lingua.ly/ as it finds words in Spanish and gives you articles to read and practise with vocab (there are also other websites like this). Also, if you're struggling with the language, I recommend making your own word-list or using Anki for flashcards online Memrise has a ton of free courses (it works like Duolingo) and is great for figuring out new vocabulary. Also if you have any post it notes, go around the house and stick post it notes on cupboards, items with the nouns corresponding to them (it helps put vocab into your long term memory)

Also the following websites have been recommended by people I follow on Duolingo for Spanish learners:

https://www.spanishdict.com/grammar

https://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm


And this is pretty decent for an online dictionary: https://en.bab.la/# (it's pretty accurate also)

I'm not learning Spanish but I have been learning Dutch for over a year (since April 2014) and by staying committed to it even during the tough moments and using numerous resources (I don't recommend using just one single resource to become proficient) , I've been able to write the following in Dutch.

Also don't forget to practise the language as much as you can whether it is speaking out loud, writing, listening etc. There's a website called lang-8 which allows you to write in your target language and then gets corrected by natives it's pretty handy if you've written something in Spanish and want to get it checked over especially if your SO needs it for politics

Thank you, there's some really useful things in here. I've had a quick play on lingua.ly and I really like the concept of it as it shows real usage of words rather than just learning set phrases like in school. The grammar ones look useful too.

[80anthea]

I am learning Turkish (started last year), I have used the Teach Yourself book series (sold on Amazon and in book stores), Babbel.com and attending language class with a teacher. I plan to teach him Norwegian the same way, Both Teach yourself series and Babbel have several languages, Spanish included.

If we were to learn a language together, perhaps Turkish/Syrian style Arabic including Arabic writing because I know very little Arabic and he can't actually write his 2nd mother tounge. He also says he wants to learn English better. That is something to consider in a few years

Which language do you speak to eachother in? It sounds like there isn't really a language in common which must make things difficult.

[differentcountries]

Which language do you speak to eachother in? It sounds like there isn't really a language in common which must make things difficult.

Sorry, i didn't make it that clear! His English is quite understandable, but he still said he wants to learn it better. We mostly speak English together, and sometimes Turkish, and a bit of German.

[Brat*I*am]

I love this idea

[absoulutelyanna]

So wonderful! Even if you both speak the same language learning a new language together is a great idea. I'm learning German for my boyfriend. I moved here to Germany for him actually. We mostly speak English together (the language we met speaking), but I'm really trying to make him speak to me in German more. It's so fun!!

[amiliemateo]

I just asked my bf to list activities for us to do. one of those he listed is studying a free course together. That is the one i picked too. My bf is a native american but I am a native Thai; however, I never expect him to speak my language(it's so difficult and can use only in Thailand), so i told him. let's study Chinese together. it wouldn't waste our time and plus it would be another skill we both needed when we are getting a job. we can speak English. if we can speak Chinese too. it would be great for our opportunities in the future

i think this idea is pretty great!!!

[xxcazaxx]

My OH's first language is bengali. His second language is english and hindi is his third. It would be so lovely to learn a language together. I do however have these fancy daydreams about surprising him with me being able to speak bengali/hindi. Hindi would be more useful, but then it would be nice to speak some bengali when I meet his parents so that he doesn't have to translate everything. Wish I had more of a head for languages