Littlelanguagefox - THE LITTLE LANGUAGE FOX

ah yes, my favourite foreign language feel, “I know what all of those words mean individually but not together like that”

181218 // thank you for your endless love and everlasting gift of music. let’s meet again soon.

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A common mistake English speakers make in learning a new language is translating every word in English literally. By extension, this also involves translating whole sentences word for word.

This is a wee (actually, not that wee) problem for a few reasons:

It means that you will be translating words that don’t have an equivalent in the target language.

It means that you’ll be losing the chance to use words in the target language that don’t have an English translation (advanced vocab).

You’ll be ignoring vital stylistic elements of speaking/writing in the target language. You’ll end up saying things that native speakers of the target language just don’t ever say, even if you use correct grammar and vocabulary.

Now, if you don’t get the hang of this in your target language, I repeat, do not panic. This process of getting the feel of your target language and familiarising yourself with advanced vocab words comes only with practice. It’s not possible to just learn off every rule/word/stylistic element in your target language.

Allow me to illustrate these issues using Spanish and French:

1. Translating words that don’t have an exact equivalent in the target language. Not every word in English has the exact translation in another language, thus a phrase or supplemental synonym is used to convey the meaning in context.

“I think I forgot to lock the door”. In Spanish, this is Pensé que olvidé cerrar la puerta con llave. Pay attention to the phrase for lock. There isn’t a single verb to convey the idea of locking a door. You just say that you close it with the key.

“I want to pass this test on the first try”. In French, this is Je voudrais réussir l'examen au premier essai. We use the word essai to indicate attempt or try, even though this word generally means essay in most other contexts.

2. Not using target language-specific words that don’t exist in English. Some words just don’t exist in English- don’t miss out the chance to use them in another language though! (this is basically the opposite of #1) It indicates a better grasp of the language, comparable to that of natives.

“Last night, I hardly got any sleep because I was anxious”. In Spanish, instead of directly translating the phrase “I hardly got any sleep”, you can use the word desvelado, which covers the entire concept of being unable to sleep. Anoche, estuve desvelado ya que estaba ansioso. In French, you’d say J’ai eu une nuit blanche hier car j’étais anxieux. 

“Although we are poor, we can manage with what we have”. In French, you’d never directly translate the word manage, but instead, you’d say Bien qu'on soit pauvre, on peut se débrouiller avec ce qu’on a. The verb se débrouiller expresses the entire concept of being able to get by and survive day by day with next to nothing.

3. The stylistic element. These are just manners of speaking that native speakers use, which includes sentences structures and word order, or even just expressions of choice that would be clunky in English.

In French, let’s say someone asks you, “Est-ce que tu ne voudrais pas une verre de l'eau avec ça?”. This means “Don’t you want a glass of water with that?”. The food is hot and spicy, so of course you’re thirsty. The first thing that comes to mind is to say, “Mais, oui!”. However, that’s not what is said. It’s not that the grammar or word choice is wrong, but generally, after agreeing with a negative sentence, si is used. You would respond, “Mais, si! J'ai soif!”.

In French, they throw in “ça” everywhere, just for emphasis. “Ça, c'est horrible!”, “Ce robe, ça, c'est très belle!”.

Word choice. Instead of saying “Going to this meeting is important”, one would say something akin to “The attendance of this meeting is vital”. “L'assiduité de la réunion, c'est d'une importance capital”. This is kinda why people like to say French is haughty and pretensive (je t'aime, ma petite langue). Nonetheless, this is more common in formal speech.

In Spanish, what comes to mind at first is the order of subjects and verbs. It’s rather common to hear the subject come after the verb(s), all the way at the end of the sentence. A mí madre matarón los narcotraficantes. El tango baila María todos los fines de la semana.

The word “lo” can precede an arbitrary noun. The normal thing to do is lo normal. The good thing is lo bueno. The physical thing is lo físico, and the sexy thing is lo sensual. You will rarely hear someone say “la buena cosa”.

So, how do you improve your grasp of a language? Well, listening to natives speak is definitely one way. You don’t need to visit the country or anything, but maybe get a pen pal, Tumblr friend and ofc, watch and read the news in your target language. Also, immerse yourself in books, movies, TV shows and music. Finally, practice writing and get a teacher or a native to check your work.

Korean interrogatives:

뭐- what

어디- where

누구- who

언제- when

왜- why

어떻게- how

몇- how many

얼마- how much

얼마나- how long

hey you!! stop for a second!!! think of all the things you have accomplished today!! you woke up?? fucking superb!! washed your face? i’m proud of you!!! what did you do this week??? walked your dog?? they are so lucky to have you!! made yourself a meal??? you are doing amazing!! remember that life mostly consists of small things, not big ones, and you need to learn to cherish them!! play your favorite song!! do your homework!!! water your plants!! throw away the trash!! put away the clothes you’ve been piling on that chair!!! drink some water!!! you can’t do the big things without doing the small ones as well!!!!

This is a post about masterposts about resources and books for studying many languages. I made this since many people do not know about all the resources that have been posted.

Resources for Many Languages: thelanguagecommunity

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**Last Updated: January 14, 2018**

Expressing your opinions (Spanish)

for: @91silk

Sentence starters: 

It seems to me that …-  A mí me parece que …

 In my opinion, …-  En mi opinión, …

I am of the opinion that …-  Soy de la opinión de que …

 I take the view that …-  Soy de la opinión de que …

My personal view is that …-  Mi opinión personal es que …

In my experience …-  En mi experiencia …

As far as I understand…-  Por lo que yo entiendo …

 As far as I can see…-  Por lo que yo puedo ver …

 As I see it, …-  Como yo lo veo, …

 From my point of view…-  Desde mi punto de vista …

 As far as I know…-  Por lo que yo sé …

 From what I know …-  Por lo que sé …

 I might be wrong but …-  Puedo estar equivocado, pero …

 If I am not mistaken …-  Si no me equivoco …

 I believe one can safely say …-  Creo que se puede decir con seguridad …

It is claimed that …-  Se dice que …

I must admit that …-  Tengo que admitir que …

 I cannot deny that …-  No puedo negar que …

 I can imagine that …-  Me imagino que …

 I think/believe/suppose …-  Creo / creo / supongo …

 Personally, I think …-  Personalmente, creo que …

That is why I think …-  Es por eso que creo que …

 I am sure/certain/convinced that …-  Estoy seguro / seguro / convencido de que …

 I am not sure/certain, but …-  No estoy seguro / seguro, pero …

 I am not sure, because I don’t know the situation exactly.-  No estoy seguro, porque no conozco la situación exacta.

I am not convinced that …-  No estoy convencido de que …

 I have read that …-  He leído que …

 I am of mixed opinions about …-  Tengo una opinión mixta sobre …

 I am of mixed opinions about on this.-  Tengo opiniones variadas sobre esto…

I have no opinion in this matter.-  No tengo ninguna opinión al respecto.   

I believe that…- creo que…

I think that…- pienso que…

I think that…- opino que…

I think that…- me parece que… 

Questions:

what do you think about…?/ what’s your opinion about…?-  ¿Qué opinas de…?

what do you believe about…?- ¿Qué crees de…?

what do you think about…?-  ¿Qué piensas de…?

what do you think about…?-  ¿Qué te parece…?

Useful Phrases:

I like- me gusta

I prefer- prefiero

I love- me encanta 

I don’t like- no me gusta

odio- I hate

detesto- I hate

de acuerdo- alright

vale- okay, fine

estoy de acuerdo- I agree

no estoy de acuerdo- I do not agree

de ninguna manera- no way 

Adjectives that can be useful when giving your opinion:

Aburrido/a-Boring

Afortunado/a-Lucky

Antiguo/a-Old

Barato/a-Cheap

Bueno/a-Good

Caro/a-Expensive

Decepcionante-Disappointing

Desagradable-Unpleasant

Difícil-Difficult

Distincto-Different/distinct

Duro/a-Hard/difficult

Emocionante-Exciting

Entretenido/a-Entertaining

Espléndido/a-Splendid

Estúpido/a-Stupid

Extraordinario/a-Extraordinary

Famoso/a-Famous

Fascinante-Fascinating

Favorable-Favourable

Fenomenal-Great

Genial-Brilliant/great

Horroroso/a-Terrible/awful

Importante-Important

Impresionante-Amazing/incredible

Inseguro/a-Insecure

Inútil-Useless

Malo/a-Bad

Moderno/a-Modern

Nuevo/a-New

Posible-Possible

Precioso/a-Lovely/beautiful

Profundo/a-Deep/profound

Regular-Regular/average

Seguro/a-Sure/secure

Sorprendido/a-Surprised

Tonto/a-Silly/stupid

Único/a-Unique/only

Aceptable-Acceptable

Agradable-Pleasant

Apropiado/a-Suitable

Bonito/a-Pretty

Decepcionado/a-Disappointed

Desafortunadamente-Unfortunately

Diferente-Different

Divertido/a-Fun/entertaining/funny

Económico/a-Economical

Encantador-Charming/delightful

Especial-Special

Estupendo/a-Great

Excelente-Excellent

Fácil-Easy

Fantástico/a-Fantastic

Fatal-Awful

Favorito/a-Favourite

Feo/a-Ugly

Hermoso/a-Beautiful/lovely

Ideal-Ideal

Imposible-Impossible

Increíble-Incredible

Interesante-Interesting

Malo/a-Bad

Maravilloso/a-Marvelous/wonderful

Negativo/a-Negative

Perfecto/a-Perfect

Positivo/a-Positive

Preferido/a-Preferred/favourite

Raro/a-Strange

Ridículo/a-Ridiculous

Sencillo/a-Simple/modest

Típico/a-Typical

Tranquilo/a-Quiet/calm

Útil-Useful

Viejo/a-Old

Agreeing politely

¡Totalmente! — Totally!

Estoy (completamente/totalmente) de acuerdo — I (completely/totally) agree

Estoy contigo — I’m with you on that

Por supuesto — Of course!

Tienes razón — You’re right

Disagreeing politely

No estamos de acuerdo — I don’t agree with you

No lo veo (tan) así — I don’t (really) see it like that

No creo — I don’t think so

Saying you’re unsure or showing partial agreement

Estoy de acuerdo hasta un cierto punto — I agree with you up to a point

Tal vez, pero… — Maybe, but…

No estoy muy segura/o — I’m not really sure

Nunca lo pensé — I’ve never thought about it

No tengo la menor idea — I have no idea

If there’s any questions about any of this, let me know!

the one problem i have with people my age and younger is that a lot of us do not have hands on hobbies. like i have spoken to so many people my age who go to work, go to school and then fuck around on their phone/computer for hours and then ???????? like no wonder ur depressed and have low confidence in urself. u need to get ur hands on something, feed those dopamine receptors! learn how to play guitar, garden, scrapbook, fucking make model trains. i don’t give a shit, MAKE SOMETHING!!

it feels better than drugs when i finish making a thing—and then show it off or gift it.

and then so people my age say to me ‘well—i can’t draw/paint/knit/etc. like you can. my stuff would be terrible.’ yeah, well duh—a part of developing skill is sucking at something and then practicing it over and over and over again until you suck less. u’ll have a hard time feeling lonely or bored when you can’t stop thinking abt a technique you want to try or something you want to make for someone else. making things has SAVED MY LIFE. it gave me a reason to keep living day after day when i wanted to die.

making things improved my generational relationships (when i worked for the newspaper i would talk to customers abt jamming recipes or cross-stitch, one of my grandmas always gives me pattern books and tell me abt when she knitted things for mom, my other grandma is giving me a wedding quilt that HER grandma gave her 50 years ago because she knows i will appreciate it). it also got me likeminded friends who also make things.

take a ceramics class! pick up water colors, bake cakes! learn to work on cars! make soap. DO SOMETHING THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE STARING AT A SCREEN.

reminder to self: stop waiting to feel ready. you’re not going to feel ready until you’re doing the thing you’re waiting to feel ready for. start doing it and the readiness will come