Cookies and Languages

I found some places where you can find content in the language you're learning. Most of these places have multiple languages, I'll note if some are better for certain ones.

Youtube: obviously. Look up "comprehensible input" plus the language you're learning, or "podcast" or "learner podcast" plus the language you're learning, or look up shows like "Chinese Drama" or simply the name of the show in the language such as if you want to watch cdrama Ultimate Note type in "终极笔记" or if you want to watch Goodbye My Princess then search by the Chinese title which is "Dong Gong" (and yes you can search by pinyin sometimes with English Keyboard, if you don't have a Chinese Keyboard and can't type hanzi). You can find Japanese let's plays by simply searching the title of the game in Japanese plus "実況" or "実況プレイ" or in all kana "じっきょうプレイ," so for example for a Kingdom Hearts Japanese Lets Play you'd type or paste into Youtube's search bar "キングダムハーツ実況." You can find target-language/language-you-know translations with audio in 100-1000-5000 sentence clusters, you just look up language plus "1000 common words in sentences" (type in the language you want the translations so type that in Spanish if you want Spanish translations) along with the language you're learning in the language you just type'd translation (so type "Korean" if you searched in English words, type "coreano" if you searched in Spanish words). Those videos are basically free Glossika equivalents. You can find so much on Youtube, you could probably learn a language just from Youtube stuff if you had to. I recommend the app NewPipe as it's easy to install on your phone, has no ads, and you can turn off Youtube's new AI dub feature. Or use Youtube ReVanced app, where ads are also blocked, and you can turn off the AI dub feature if you follow a fix-ai-dub tutorial like I did. Or on Regular Youtube app, you should be able to click Settings on a video you're watching, then click 'audio track' and change to 'original audio' to get the AI dub turned off. But I'll be honest I haven't used regular Youtube app in years.

Tubi: FREE app, website, on TVs and phones and game consoles so you can watch on your TV if you want. Has ads, but I find their timing and duration less annoying than actual cable now or regular youtube ads. Has some foreign language stuff! I found cdramas like Oh My General, Story of Yanxi Palace, My Heroic Husband, Under The Skin, Three Body, some jdrama BLs like Candy Color Paradox, Mr Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss, My Personal Weatherman, and some kdramas I know I loved like The Guest, Psychopath Diary, The Crowned Clown. There's also some Spanish, French, German, and Russian shows and movies I found. As I live in the US, a LOT of Spanish stuff is on there (and is true for Netflix as well - Spanish dubs of English language shows are probably the easiest to find on streaming platforms in the US). Tubi in particular had a sizeable amount of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese shows, along with very large amounts of Spanish shows/movies, and at least some stuff in other languages. I have been using Tubi for it's live TV feature, where it has several Spanish language channels so I can just turn on Spanish TV channels without having to think about what to watch.

Pluto: another FREE app, website, on TVs and phones and game consoles so you can watch on anything you want! Has ads, but I find their timing and duration less annoying than actual cable now or regular youtube ads. Less international offerings than Tubi, but it has some. As I'm in the US, same sizeable amount of Spanish content, especially TV channels on it's live TV feature (they have Comedy Central Espanol so all those shows in Spanish, Naruto and The Walking Dead en Espanol, UK MISFITS EN ESPANOL which I just found today I LOVE that show, and several reality/documentary TV channels which I find are good practice as usually what's being talked about also has visuals directly related - like the survive in Alaska shows, the romance shows, the true crime shows). I think Pluto has Slightly Better Spanish live TV channel variety. As for other language stuff though... if you search in Pluto, search by language like "espanol" "francais" "zhongwen" and "spanish" "french" "mandarin" "cantonese" to find shows/movies. The search seems to show varying results depending on which term you use, but I am finding some media for all of those languages... and also English content involving those countries. So searching is a challenge at times.

AntennaPod: an app on Androids (I am not sure if it's on ios) for saving Podcasts in one place (if you don't have Spotify or Apple Podcast, and I don't have those). Benefits - it's free, you can stream or download episodes, you can search online for ALL the podcasts you listen to on various platforms and save them all in THIS app. I think you can fast forward past ads too, but I haven't tried. The app doesn't inherently seem to have ads, just plays whatever ads the podcast had put in themselves. I did have my English, Spanish, French, and Mandarin podcasts all open in a ton of tabs on my phone web browser and bookmarked in youtube. Now I have them ALL saved in AntennaPod in one place, and can close some tabs! I still save stuff in youtube though, when I want the podcast videos to help visually understand stuff (like for some Spanish and Mandarin podcasts). I think AntennaPod is free open source software. It's been great since I found it.

Hoopla: if you belong to a library, check if your library has Hoopla app membership included. Mine does. Hoopla has SO MANY books, audiobooks, shows, movies, music, in tons of languages. A LOT of the first Mandarin audiobooks I listened to, I found in Hoopla and just checked out for free. Also good for COMICS, in any language, and I read a lot of English comics and English translated manga in Hoopla. All free to check out, as it's an extension of your library membership basically.

Libby: same deal as Hoopla above - some libraries have a membership, you can check out free stuff in multiple languages if your particular library paid for access to that media in Libby. All free.

Bilibili.com: you should be able to search the site on a computer with Chinese Keyboard (type hanzi) logged out, and watch or listen to things. If you can figure it out, you can make an app account on your cell phone, I figured it out years ago but don't know how to log back in so I've been coasting on 'permanently logged in' for a while so I can bookmark stuff and so Bilibili app saves where I'm at in a given video so I can continue where I left off. But if you can't get the app to work, searching in Chinese ON your computer logged out WILL get you access to all the same videos I can access. A TON of free audiobooks, audio dramas, Mandarin dubbed cartoons and anime, Mandarin dubbed shows from all over the world, you search for it and you'll probably find it. Also lets plays, reaction channels, vloggers, fanvideos and fanedits of books and shows, you can find japanese shows IN japanese and Indian shows in their original language, you can find English and Korean shows in their original language free, you can find English audiobooks free. You basically just NEED to know how to search in Mandarin. If you can search using Mandarin search terms (here's my post on Basic Chinese Search Terms), you can find almost anything on Bilibili. Lately I've been enjoying the Mandarin dub old niche anime on there, and some japanese musicals. If you do make an account, Bilibili is great at recommending stuff like you've been watching, so my account is nearly ALL BL jdramas and cdramas, danmei audio dramas based on novels by authors I have been listening to, Mandarin dubbed anime, danmei audiobooks, and Mandarin dubbed jdramas and English mystery/crime solving/supernatural shows. It used to be all Disney cartoons and movies Mandarin dubbed a few hundred hours ago, when I was mostly relying on cartoons to learn more basic words.

Search in Mandarin (if you know it): Oh also? If you have never searched Google, Microsoft Edge, DuckDuckGo etc. in Mandarin, try if you know the words in Mandarin. So many FREE books, audiobooks, audio dramas, shows, movies, not just in Mandarin but in many languages, if you search with Mandarin search terms! 免费 mianfei is the word for "free" so you can search in all Mandarin translation "Skins BBC episode 1 English online free" and you'll find it! That's how I found the show to stream online free recently. Or search "daomubiji nanpaisanshu xiaoshuo zaixian mianfei" (in English it is: The Lost Tomb/DMBJ NPSS novel online free) and you'll FIND the novels for DMBJ. You want fanfiction instead? Search for that! The Mandarin internet still has a ton of free stuff that is now quite hard to find if you search in English. For finding any language content, if you know Mandarin try searching using Mandarin words. If you can search using Mandarin search terms (here's my post on Basic Chinese Search Terms), you can find nearly anything online free.

Khan Academy: free lessons in multiple languages, if you want to learn something while listening to your target language. I recommend searching in a search site like Google.com "khan academy espanol" or whatever language you're learning, in the word for the language that language uses, so you can find THAT language's version of the Khan Academy site.

Project Gutenberg: has a lot of free books online. I have not found much use for this site except finding old English books, but I know it has books in other languages.

Polyglots will do anything to sell you something, so here’s the fastest and most basic technique based on my research.

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Step 1 – Getting the Absolute Basics In

This is where most people already get lost. If you search social media for how to start, the advice isn’t necessarily bad, but it often makes you dependent on a single resource, usually an app that will eventually try to charge you. Duolingo, for example, has turned into a mega-corporation that perfected gamification to keep you on the app.

Remember: free apps make money by keeping you on their platform, not by helping you become fluent.

At this stage, the goal is not to gain conversational skills but to avoid overwhelming yourself and get a feel for what you’re actually getting into. All my recommended resources are free because I believe learning a language should be a basic right. I wouldn’t advise spending any money until you’re sure you’ll stick with it. Otherwise, it can turn into a toxic “but I paid for this, so I have to keep going” mindset that drains all the fun out of learning.

• Language Transfer – Highly recommended for Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, German, Greek, Italian, Swahili, and French.

• Textbooks – Simply search for [language] textbook PDF, or check LibGen and the Internet Archive. Don’t overthink which book to choose—it doesn’t matter much.

• Podcasts – Coffee Break is a solid choice for many languages.

• YouTube Channels – Join r/Learn[language] on Reddit and find recommendations.

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Step 2 – The 20/80 Principle

The idea is that 20% of words make up 80% of everyday speech.

What you’re going to do:

Search “Most common words [language] PDF”.

This list is now your best friend

For flashcards, I highly recommend AnkiPro. It lets you import pre-made lists for Anki/Quizlet and has an archive where you’ll definitely find the most common words. But it lacks audio. The real Anki program has it, but only on PC (unless you’re willing to pay $30 for the mobile app). Use AnkiPro for now—we’ll come back to repeating phrases later. In the meantime, find a YouTube video with the most common words pronounced, or use Google Translate for audio.

(Knowt is a free alternative for Quizlet if you prefer that)

These lists will spare you from learning unnecessary vocabulary at this stage. Spaced repetition (which Anki uses) can take longer, but it’s worth it because you want these words to stick. Anki will only introduce a small number of new words per day. Once you start new words, write phrases using them. Doesn’t matter if they’re random just try to use them.

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Step 3 – The First Breakup With the Language

This isn’t really a step, but I have to mention it. For me (and for other language learners I’ve talked to) this is where motivation crashes.

The dopamine rush is over. Your ego boost is gone. You’re stuck understanding just enough to notice how much you don’t understand, and topics are getting more complex. Everything feels overwhelming, and motivation drops.

This is normal. You have to push through it.

I’ll write a separate post on how I manage this phase, but for now:

• Take a step back and make sure you understand the basics.

• Find something that keeps you motivated.

• Consistency is key. Even if it’s just five minutes a day, do it. (Edit: You can search online for inspiration on scheduled plans. I found one that organizes language exercises into different categories based on how much time you have each day, which seems helpful. https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/s/sSGUtORurM

Personally, I used AI to create a weekly plan kind of as a last resort before giving up on the language, but try looking for pre-made ones first.)

I personally enjoyed story learning during this phase. And don’t forget the frequency lists are still your best friend. For story learning check out Olly Richards books!

—

Step 4 – Immersion

Your brain needs active and passive immersion. The earlier steps were mostly active, and now you’ll start the fun part.

How to Immerse Yourself:

1. Join some kind of community.

• I enjoy Reddit/ r/lean[Language]. Do this in your target language, but also in the language you already speak. Post that you’re looking for a chat partner in your target language. The most people are nice, and the mean ones will just ghost you anyway.

2. Watch shows.

• Subtitles only in your target language or drop English subtitles ASAP.

3. Listen to podcasts.

4. Read

I personally dislike media made for kids (except on low-energy days). For real immersion, pick something for adults.

5. Translate, write, and speak.

Before this, you wrote simple sentences using vocabulary. Now, put them to work:

• Translate texts.

• Keep a diary.

• Write short stories.

• Complain about the language in the language.

It doesn’t matter, just use it.

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Step 5 – Speaking

Start speaking earlier than you think you’re ready. Trust me. This is probably where most people disagree with me. I do think you should start by focusing on input, but the importance of output isn’t talked about enough.

Now, the real Anki (or any program with phrases + audio) comes into play. At lower levels, it doesn’t make sense to just start talking, since you wouldn’t even be able to recognize your mistakes. Here’s what you’ll do:

1. Repeat phrases out loud.

2. Record yourself speaking.

3. Compare your recording to the original audio and adjust your pronunciation.

If it’s a tonal language (or if you struggle with accents), start this even earlier.

Other Speaking Strategies:

• Shadowing – Repeat after native speakers.

• Reading aloud – Your own texts, books, anything.

• Talking to yourself.

• Talking to natives (if you’re brave).

I’m not here to fix social anxiety, but I am here to help with language learning, so just speak.

—

Final Thoughts

• These steps overlap, and that’s fine.

• This is supposed to be fun. Learning just because you’re “too deep in” or because of school won’t cut it.

• If you’re lost, take a step back.

• I’m not a professional. I just think a straight answer is way too hard to find.

—

if you're in the US or Canada and interested in learning a language using a free app please get a library card and download MANGO. it's very good and extremely free with a library card (there are many public libraries and universities using the service, so make an account and use the search feature here to find out if there's one near you).

mango currently has 72 available languages and dialects (that's right! different courses for french or canadian french! spanish or latam spanish!). it's set up basically like an audiobook with text. the idea is that the narrator explains the words while you read, and you repeat after them or say the translation out loud when prompted. there's a daily review where you go through flashcards. you can also use the flashcards at your leisure and create your own. at the end of each chapter there's a listening comprehension quiz and a reading comprehension quiz. i cannot emphasize how effective this all is. and it's free with a card.

if you're not in the US or Canada and/or looking for something more like duolingo (don't use duolingo btw tldr they fired translators and replaced them with "ai"), then try BUSUU! it only has 14 languages atm but the lessons are really descriptive and effective. it also has a feature where you can correct other people's open-ended speaking/typing exercises. you set your fluent languages, and exercises by people learning those languages will appear in your feed for you to correct. you can even add others as friends! and, much like duolingo, it has a streak and leaderboard system for you to strive for, minus the guilt-tripping owl.

busuu is free (you watch ads to unlock lessons and they're all skippable after like five seconds), although it also has paid premium/plus versions (i don't use the paid version—the language courses are available for free, and the ad system is Really unobtrusive).

Why the fuck is it so hard to make a realistic fictional language?!

I have literally scoured the deepest, darkest places of the internet to try and understand how to make my own fictional language that is important to story but I just don’t get it.

I have watched behind the scenes Star Trek, Game of Thrones, and Avatar to try and understand how they came up with such beautiful and articulate languages but once again, came up empty, it’s like trying to explain physics to a donkey AKA me.

Can you help me? And if you can, please explain it to me like I am a dumb toddler trying to learn how to write my name for the first time?

Oof. Now, there's many conlang guides out there, but they're all for people who actually like conlanging and I, dear reader, do not. I hate conlanging, I suck at it, and analytic grammar is a consistent foe of mine that I cannot beat. But, conlanging is one of the best ways to introduce a whole heaping helping of realism to your setting as well as getting you to really think about how said setting works as you need to figure out what would have an individual word and why. Now that'll make sense in a moment, I promise.

But first...

Jack's Quick 'n Dirty Guide To Conlangs For If You Hate Conlanging

Step One: sounds.

Sounds (ha!) easy right? Weeeeeell... yes and no. Now, the easy part is making the sounds, really. Just start babbling in a way that you want your conlang to sound like and get going! Sing a bit, put on whatever accent you want, really have some fun with it until it sounds right. You got that? Good, now note that down in plain text as best as you can. Do whatever makes sense to you, but make sure you know exactly how to pronounce the sound once you've annotated it so you can reproduce it later, trust me on this one. But now comes the hard part.

Step Two: IPA

If you don't know what IPA is, bless your heart you innocent soul, you're about to learn something that will make you lose a bit of innocence today. IPA stands for the International Phonetic Alphabet and it can annotate the exact pronunciation of any words in any language in the world. If you've ever had a dictionary in front of you and you see that little section underneath the word where it's written again but like, with upside down Es and symbols that look like æ and đ and even ɮ? Congrats, you know what IPA looks like. Now, this thing was designed by some very clever people with an eye for thoroughness but not for practicality. See, it can notate every pronunciation there is, but boy oh boy, will it not make that easy for you. Read up on it anyway, learn how to use it, pull out an afternoon for it, you're gonna need it. IPA Chart is a good website that will help you out here, it's an interactive version of the IPA alphabet with short pronunciation sound clips attached to each symbol. Done all that? Good. Now we get to the really bitchy part.

Step Three: notate every funny sound you made down in IPA

Yes, every single one. Pull up an excel spreadsheet, notate the plain text in one column, a pronunciation in the second, and leave a third open for later. Notate every single word as best as you can, and make sure to save your work. This is gonna be long work, this is gonna be tedious work, and it's gonna be necessary work. You won't like it, you won't have fun, but future you will thank you and you would do anything for that bitch so get notating until you get to

Step Four: What does anything even mean????

Finally, some fun again. Now we get to the part where you get to assign meaning to each sound you've produced. Remember how I advised you to sing a little song? Yeah? Excellent. A quick and easy way to get a bunch of words sorted is to write a roughly similar song in a language that does exist and one you preferably understand already, and use that as a "guide" of what each word is "supposed" to mean. Make your own rosetta stone! Give yourself a break, trust me, it's much easier this way. And don't be afraid to get creative. See one sound or syllable you used a lot? Great, that can be a pronoun or an article or something else that's often used in a language.

Example: I liked the word "ra" a lot, so that's the word for "I" in Karilaa. From there I picked a few other words I liked and roughly hashed out the following

Ra = I

Ta = You

Su = We

Vu = They

Easy, good, simple. I don't bother with gender because fuck gender, but if you want it, go for it champ, now's the time. And you know what else I noticed while doing this? I was using "ra" and "ta" a lot in the last syllables of words, so I figured out how tenses work in my language as well in one fell swoop and made them affixes to verbs.

Really, there are no rules, so make them up to suit whatever aesthetic you want your language to have, but make sure to write everything down. No exceptions. Everything has to be written down.

Step Five: Rinse and repeat

Congrats, you now have some basics of a language! You can basically use and reuse this recipe to get More Language of the language you already have and guess what! Now you already have some language so you won't have to start from scratch! It's like a sourdough starter! Now ain't that neat. Now, if you do this and keep meticulous notes like I told you to you'll essentially be building up your own dictionary as you go, ready to consult for all your future conlanging needs.

Now, is this how good conlangers do it? No! Hell no! Absolutely not! But I'm not a good conlanger, and if you want this guide, neither are you. I'm sorry, but I'd rather you hear it from me than them when they invoke J.R.R. Tolkien's ghost to roast you. This is a guide for people who want a conlang but suck at conlanging. This is a guide for people who can't do it all neat and according to the rules but need to brute force a bitch in order to get some practical results for immediate use.

From your Amazon homepage, click "Account & Lists" then click "Content Library"

Click "Books"

Find the book you want to download and click "More actions"

Click "Download & transfer via USB"

Click the button next to your device, then click "Download"

That's it! Your book file is now downloaded to your device. To my knowledge there isn't a way to bulk download everything, which means that your have to download books individually. (If anyone knows how to download multiple books at a time, please let me know!)

I use the free software Calibre to organize my ebook files. This video gives a good basic overview of how to download your ebooks from Amazon to Calibre, and also goes over how to use Calibre to transfer your ebooks to Kobo. I recently got a Kobo and have slowly been transferring my ebooks to it, and it is actually pretty easy!

If you're looking for ways to get ebooks without supporting Amazon, check out Smashwords, Bookshop.org, or see if your favorite author/publisher sells ebooks directly from their website.

you want to watch tv shows but don’t really care for speaking with others? yay!! no speaking practice needed.

you want to learn quickly for an upcoming trip? yay! text book phrases and simple grammar.

you’re a beginner and it’s been 10 years? 2 weeks? 6 months? it doesn’t matter. as long as you are working towards bringing YOURSELF closer to what YOU want to achieve, you have succeeded: you are succeeding; you are doing great.

i find that so much demotivation comes from comparison and/or trying to follow other's advice too closely. if anki decks don't work for you, that's fine! if duolingo works well for you, then use it!

this language learning thing, it should be enjoyed. in the sea full of deceptive polyglot stories and videos on top of videos attempting to understand how to learn languages in "the fastest way possible" sometimes we should sit back and ask ourselves, "when is just learning things, enough"?

Idea and list from @funwithlanguages (list: 300 words)

Low Saxon (Platt, Plattdüütsch, Nedderdüütsch, Neddersass’sch) is a language spoken in Northern Germany, the Netherlands and Southern Denmark. It is officially protected by the European Charta of Regional and Minority Language in Germany and the Netherlands. It has 2.5 to 5 million speakers. The Russian Mennonites speak the Low Saxon dialect Plautdietsch, whose 500,000 speakers live all around the globe, especially North and South America. In the Brazilian municipal Santa Maria de Jetibá it also an official language. This guide covers the Northern Low Saxon varieties on German soil.

You can already express a lot with only the 300 most basic words. In everyday situations, these 300 words make up 65% of the vocabulary you would use. For starting a language, these words are crucial and can boost your learning experience. So, if you chose to learn Low Saxon, this’ll give you a big head start.

Du kannst al teemlich veel uutdrücken mit bloots 300 vun de eenfachsten Wöör. In Alldagssituatschonen maakt düsse 300 Wöör 65% vun’n Woordschatt uut, den du bruken wörrst. Üm een Spraak antofangen sünd düsse Wöör vun grote Bedüden un köönt dien Leerbeleevnis in Swung bringen. Wenn du also Plattdüütsch leren wullt, warrt di dit hier to een groten Vöörsprung verhölpen.

First Verbs 

(all plural persons conjugate the same; pp. means ‘past participle’) (Regular endings on given orthographic stem: ik -/, du -st, s/he -t, wi/ji/se -t)

be - ween (ik bün, du büst, se/he is, wi/ji/se sünd, pp. ween)

there is - dat gifft …

have - hebben (ik heff, du hest, s/he hett, wi/ji/se hebbt, pp. hatt)

do - doon (ik do, du deist, s/he deit, wi/ji/se doot, pp. daan)

go - gaan (ik ga, du geist, s/he geit, wi/ji/se gaat, pp. gaan)

want - wüllen (ik will, du wullt, s/he will, wi/ji/se wüllt, pp. wullt)

can - könen (ik kann, du kannst, s/he kann, wi/ji/se köönt, pp. kunnt)

need - bruken (regular, orthographic conjugation stem: bruuk-)

think - dinken (regular stem: dink-, pp. dacht)

know - weten (regular stem: weet-, pp. weten)

say - seggen (regular stem: segg-, pp. seggt)

like - mögen (ik mag, du magst, s/he mag, wi/ji/se möögt, pp. mücht)

speak - snacken (regular stem: snack-, pp. snackt)

learn - leren (regular stem: leer-, pp. leert)

understand - verstaan (ik versta, du versteist, s/he versteit, wi/ji/se verstaat, pp. verstaan)

Conjunctions

that (as in “I think that…”) - , dat …

and - un

or - or (oder)

but - avers, man

because - wieldat

though - liekers

so (meaning “therefore”; e.g. “I wanted it, so I bought it”) - daarso, vundaar

if - wenn, of

Prepositions

of - vun

to - to, na

from - vun

in - in

at (a place) - bi

at (a time) - üm

with - mit

about - över

like (meaning “similar to”) - as

for - för

before (also as a conjunction) - vöör, vöördat (conj.)

after (also as a conjunction) - na, daarna, nadat (conj.)

during - wiel, wielst, wieldes, bides

Question Words

(Many question forms have synonymous short, half-long and long forms.)

who - wokeen, ‘keen

what - wat

where - woneem, ‘neem, wo

when - wanneer, wann

why - woso, worüm

how - woans, wo, wodennig, wosück

how much - wo veel (depending on noun also wo vele, wo velen)

which - welk (depending on noun also welke, welken)

Adverbs

a lot - veel

a little - een beten

well - good

badly - slecht, leeg

only - bloots

also - ook

very - bannig

too (as in “too tall”) - to

too much - to veel

so (as in “so tall”) - so

so much - so veel

more - meer (more than - meer as)

less - weniger (less than - weniger as)

as … as … - so … as …

most - meerst (depending on noun also meerste, meersten)

least - wenigst (depending on noun also wenigste, wenigsten)

better - beter (depending on noun also betere, beteren)

best - best (depending on noun also beste, besten)

worse - leger (depending on noun also legere, legeren)

worst - leegst (depending on noun also leegste, leegsten)

now - nu

then - denn

here - hier

there - daar

maybe - villicht

always - jümmers, altieds

usually - normalerwies

often - faken

sometimes - männichmaal

never - nie, nienich

today - vundaag

yesterday - güstern

tomorrow - morrn

soon - draad (boold)

almost - meist

already - al

still - noch

even - sogaars

enough - noog

Adjectives

(Adjectives are declined according to the gender and case of the noun. In case of doubt, leave it undeclined, some dialects have invariant adjectives.)

the; a - dat (neuter), de (male/female/plural), den (male, object case); een (same for all)

this - dit (neuter), düsse (male/female), düssen (male, object case)

that - dat (neuter), de (male/female/plural, with long vowel), den (male, object case)

good - good, gode, goden

bad - slecht, slechte, slechten

all - all (normally undeclined)

some - welk, welke, welken (mank, manke, manken)

no - keen (normally undeclined)

any - jichtenseen

many - veel, vele, velen

few - wenig, wenige, wenigen

most - meerst, meerste, meersten

other - anner (normally undeclined)

same - datsülvige (neuter), desülvige (male/female/plural), densülvigen (male, object case)

different - ünnerscheedlich, ~liche, ~lichen; verschillen, ~e, ~en

enough - noog

one - een (undeclined)

two - twee

a few - een beten, een paar

first - eerst, eerste, eersten

next - neegst, neegste, neegsten

last (meaning “past”, e.g. “last Friday”) - verleden …

last (meaning “final”) - lesd, lesde, lesden

easy - eenfach, eenfache, eenfachen

hard - hard, harde, harden

early - frö, frö’e, frö’en

late - laat, late, laten

important - wichtig, wichtige, wichtigen

interesting - intressant, intressante, intressanten

fun - famoos, famose, famosen

boring - langwielig, ~lige, ~ligen

beautiful - smuck, smucke, smucken; schöön, schöne, schönen

big - groot, grote, groten

small - lütt, lütte, lütten

happy - frölich, ~liche, ~lichen

sad - trurig, trurige, trurigen

busy - drock, drocke, drocken

excited - hibbelig, hibbelige, hibbeligen

tired - mööd, möde, möden

ready - fardig, fardige, fardigen; klaar, klare, klaren; redig, redige, redigen

favorite - Leevsten- (forms a composite noun)

new - nee, ne’e, ne’en

right (meaning “correct”) - richtig, richtige, richtigen

wrong - verkeert, verkeerte, verkeerten

true - waar, ware, waren

Pronouns

(Low Saxon has two cases: 1. the subject case (nominative) & 2. object case; 3. possessives don’t decline.)

I - ik, mi, mien

you - du, di, dien

she - se, eer, eer

he - he, em, sien

it - dat, em, sien

we - wi, us, us

you (plural) - ji, jo, joon

they - se, jem, eer (jemeer)

Nouns

Low Saxon has three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. The indefinite article is always the same for all: een. The definite article for neuter nouns is dat and is invariable, the article for female, masculine and all plural nouns is de and there is only one instance where masculine and female articles differ, which is when a singular masculine noun with a definite article stands in the object case, only then the article changes to den, female de never changes. Noun declension only comprises the plural, which is added when it exists.

everything - allens

something - jichtenswat / wat

nothing - nix

everyone - jeedeen / elkeen

someone - jichtenseen / een

no one - keeneen / nüms

Low Saxon - Platt, Plattdüütsch; formal Nedderdüütsch, Neddersass’sch; in NL Nedersaksies, by the Russian Mennonites Plautdietsch

English - Engelsch; engelsch, ~e, ~en

thing - dat Ding, ~en

person - de Persoon (f), Personen

place - de Plats (m), Pläts

time (as in “a long time”) - de Tied (f), ~en

time (as in “I did it 3 times”) - dat Maal, Malen

friend - de Fründ (m), de Frünnin (f); de Frünn (m.pl.), de Frünninnen (f.pl.)

woman - de Fro, Froon / Froonslüüd

man - de Mann, Männer / Mannslüüd

money - dat Geld, Geller

country - dat Land, Länner

Germany - dat Düütschland 

‘Low Germany’ - dat Plattdüütschland (the area where Low Saxon is spoken)

city - de Stad, Städer

language - de Spraak, Spraken

word - dat Woord, Wöör

food - dat Eten, -

house - dat Huus, Hüüs

store - de Laden, Ladens

office - dat Kuntoor, Kuntoren

company - de Bedriev, ~en; dat Ünnernemen, ~s

manager - de Bedrievsleider (m), ~sche (f); ~s (m.pl.), ~n (f.pl.); de Baas (m), ~sche (f); ~s (m.pl.), ~n (f.pl.)

coworker - de Mitarbeider (m), ~sche (f); ~s (m.pl.), ~n (f.pl.)

job - de Beroop (m), Berööp

work (as in “I have a lot of work to do”) - de Arbeid (f), ~en

problem - dat Probleem, Problemen

question - de Fraag (f), Fragen

idea - de Idee (f), Ideen

life - dat Leven, Leven

world - de Welt, ~en

day - de Dag (m), Daag

year - dat Jaar, Jaren / Jarenden

week - de Week (f), Weken

month - de Maand (m), ~en

hour - de Stünn (f), ~en

mother, father, parent - de Moder (f), de Vader (m), de Öllern (pl.)

daughter, son, child - de Dochter (f), de Söön (m), dat Kind

wife, husband - de Fro (f), de Mann (m) (used with possessives)

girlfriend, boyfriend - de Frünnin (f), de Fründ (m) (used with possessives)

More Verbs

Verbs can change according to person, number and tense in Low Saxon. The endings for the simple present are: ik -/, du -st, se/he/dat -t, wi/ji/se -t. The endings for the simple past are: ik -/, du -st, se/he/dat -/, wi/ji/se -en.  Four verb forms are important to build all other forms: 1. the infinitive  2. third person singular simple present 3. third person singular simple past 4. past participle  Many verbs have a different vowel (and/or consonant) in the simple present for the second and third person singular, thus the second verb form that indicates this change; irregular verbs change their vowel (and/or consonant) in the past tense, hence the third verb form; and many of these irregular verbs have a different vowel for the past participle, which is used for the perfect tense with either ween (to be) or hebben (to have) as auxiliary verbs (see conj. above)

work (as in a person working) - arbeiden, s/he arbeidt, s/he arbeid, arbeidt (hebben)

work (meaning “to function”) - funkschoneren, s/he ~neert, s/he ~neer, ~neert (hebben)

see - seen, s/he süüt, s/he seeg, seen (hebben)

use - bruken, s/he bruukt, s/he bruuk, bruukt (hebben)

should - schölen, s/he schall, s/he schull, schullt (hebben)

believe - glöven, s/he glöövt, s/he glööv, glöövt (hebben)

practice - öven, s/he öövt, s/he ööv, öövt (hebben)

seem - schienen, s/he schient, s/he scheen, schenen (hebben); impersonal it seems - dat lett (present), dat leet (past)

come - kamen, s/he kümmt, s/he keem, kamen (ween)

leave - verlaten, s/he verlett, s/he verleet, verlaten (hebben)

return - wedderkamen, s/he kümmt wedder, s/he keem wedder, wedderkamen (ween)

give - geven, s/he gifft, s/he geev, geven (hebben)

take - nemen, s/he nimmt, s/he neem, namen (hebben)

bring - bringen, s/he bringt, s/he bröch, bröcht (hebben)

look for - söken, s/he söcht, s/he söch, söcht (hebben)

find - finnen, s/he finnt, s/he funn, funnen (hebben)

get (meaning “obtain”) - kriegen, s/he kriggt, s/he kreeg, kregen (hebben)

receive - kriegen, s/he kriggt, s/he kreeg, kregen (hebben)

buy - kopen/köpen, s/he köfft, s/he köff, köfft (hebben)

try - versöken, s/he versöcht, s/he versöch, versöcht (hebben)

start - anfangen, s/he fangt an, s/he füng an, anfungen (hebben)

stop (doing something) - ophören, s/he höört op, s/he höör op, ophöört (hebben)

finish - fardigmaken, s/he maakt fardig, s/he maak/möök fardig, fardigmaakt (hebben); also beennen (regular) /be’ennen/

continue - wiedermaken, s/he maakt wieder, s/he maak/möök wieder, wiedermaakt (hebben)

wake up - opwaken, s/he waakt op, s/he waak op, opwaakt (ween)

get up - opstaan, s/he steit op, s/he stünn op, opstaan (ween)

eat - eten, s/he itt, s/he eet, eten (hebben)

eat breakfast - fröstücken, s/he fröstückt, s/he fröstück, fröstückt (hebben)

eat lunch - Middag eten (see eten)

eat dinner - Avendbrood eten (see eten)

happen - passeren, dat passeert, dat passeer, passeert (ween)

feel - fölen, s/he föölt, s/he fööl, föölt (hebben)

create (aka “make”) - schapen, s/he schaapt, s/he schaap, schapen (hebben)

cause (aka “make”) - uutlösen, s/he lööst uut, s/he löös uut, uutlööst (hebben); bewarken, s/he bewarkt, s/he bewark, bewarkt (hebben); veroorsaken, s/he veroorsaakt, s/he veroorsaak, veroorsaakt (hebben)

meet (meeting someone for the first time) - drapen, s/he dröppt, s/he dreep, drapen (hebben)

meet (meaning “to bump into”) - sik bemöten, s/he bemött sik, s/he bemött sik, sik bemött (hebben)

meet (an arranged meeting) - in de Mööt kamen (see kamen)

ask (a question) - fragen, s/he fraagt, s/he fraag/fröög, fraagt (hebben)

ask for (aka “request”) - beden, s/he büddt, s/he beed, beden (hebben)

wonder - sik wunnern, s/he wunnert sik, s/he wunner sik, sik wunnert (hebben)

reply - antern, s/he antert, s/he anter, antert (hebben)

mean (having a meaning) - bedüden, dat bedüüdt, dat bedüüd, bedüüdt (hebben)

mean (having an opinion) - menen, s/he meent, s/he meen, meent (hebben)

read - lesen, s/he leest, s/he lees, leest (hebben)

write - schrieven, s/he schrifft, s/he schreev, schreven (hebben)

listen - (to)lüüstern, s/he lüüstert (to), s/he lüüster (to), (to)lüüstert (hebben)

hear - hören, s/he höört, s/he höör, höört (hebben)

remember - sik besinnen, s/he besinnt sik, s/he besunn sik, sik besunnen (hebben)

forget - vergeten, s/he vergitt, s/he vergeet, vergeten (hebben)

choose - (uut)wälen, s/he wäält (uut), s/he wääl (uut), (uut)wäält (hebben); (uut)kesen, s/he küsst (uut), s/he koos (uut), (uut)kasen (hebben)

decide - besluten/beslüten, s/he beslutt/beslütt, s/he besloot/beslööt, beslaten (hebben)

be born - boren ween (see ween)

die - doodblieven, s/he blifft dood, s/he bleev dood, doodbleven (ween); starven, s/he starvt, s/he storv/störv, starven (ween)

kill - doodmaken (see maken)

live - leven, s/he leevt, s/he leev, leevt (hebben)

stay - blieven, s/he blifft, s/he bleev, bleven (ween)

change - ännern, s/he ännert, s/he änner, ännert (hebben)

help - hülpen, s/he hülpt, s/he holp/hölp, holpen (hebben)

send - (to)stüren, s/he stüürt to, s/he stüür (to), tosüürt (hebben)

study (to learn) - leren, s/he leert, s/he leer, leert (hebben)

study (at a university) - studeren, s/he studeert, s/he studeer, studeert (hebben)

improve - verbetern, s/he verbetert, s/he verbeter, verbetert (hebben)

hope - hapen, s/he haapt, s/he haap/hööp, haapt (hebben)

care - sik plegen, s/he pleegt sik, s/he pleeg sik, sik pleegt (hebben)

Phrases

hello - Moin, Moin Moin

goodbye - Adjüüs

thank you - Velen Dank, Dank di, Dank ook, Bedankt

you’re welcome - Daar nich för

excuse me (to get someone’s attention) - Deit mi leed, …

sorry - Deit mi leed.

it’s fine (response to an apology) - (Dat) maakt nix.

please - Ik beed di, (Büdde)

yes - Jo

no - Nee

okay - Okay, Allens klaar

My name is - Mien Naam is …, Ik heet …

What’s your name? - Wat is dien Naam? Wat heetst du?

Nice to meet you. - Schöön, di kennen to leren.

How are you? - Wo geit di dat?

I’m doing well, how about you? - Mi geit dat good, un di?

Sorry? / What? (if you didn’t hear something) - Hä? Wat? Deit mi leed, wat?

How do you say ______? - Wo(ans) seggst du _______?

What does ______ mean? - Wat heet/bedüüdt _________ ?

I don’t understand. - Ik versta dat nich.

Could you repeat that? - Kannst du dat nochmaal seggen?

Could you speak more slowly, please? - Kannst du büdde langsamer snacken?

Well (as in “well, I think…”) - Na, also, nau, naja, nu, tja

Really? - Echt?

I guess that - Ik dink, dat …

It’s hot. (talking about the weather) - Dat is hitt.

안녕! Hi! In this vocab list, We’re going to learn how to say different types of foods and drinks in Korean! This is just a short list, but hopefully you can learn some new vocab! Let’s begin!

Fruit (과일)

Apple = 사과 🍎

Banana = 바나나 🍌

Blackberry = 블랙베리

Blueberry = 블루베리

Cherry = 체리 🍒

Grape = 포도 🍇

Kiwi = 키위 🥝

Lemon = 레몬 🍋

Lime = 라임

Mango = 망고 🥭

Orange = 오렌지 

Peach =  복숭아 🍑

Pear = 배 🍐

Pineapple =  파인애플 🍍

Raspberry =  산딸기

Strawberry = 딸기 🍓

Tangerine = 탄제린 / 귤 🍊

Tomato = 토마토 🍅

Watermelon = 수박 🍉

Vegetables (채소)

Asparagus = 아스파라거스

Avocado = 아보카도 🥑

Broccoli = 브로콜리 🥦

Cabbage = 양배추

Carrot =  당근 🥕

Celery =  셀러리  

Corn =  곡식 🌽

Cucumber = 오이 🥒

Eggplant = 가지 🍆

Garlic = 마늘

Kale =  케일

Lettuce = 상추

Onion = 양파

Peas =  완두콩

Pickle = 피클

Potato = 감자 🥔    

Sweet potato = 고구마 🍠

Pumpkin = 호박

Spinach = 시금치

Grains (곡물)

Bread = 빵 🍞

Rice = 쌀 🍚

Protein (단백질)

Beef = 소고기

Chicken = 닭고기

Egg = 계란 🥚

Fish = 생선

Pork =  돼지고기

Steak = 스테이크

Tofu = 두부

Turkey = 칠면조

Dairy (유제품)

Butter = 버터

Cheese = 치즈 🧀

Milk = 우유 🥛

Sweets (사탕)

Cake = 케이크

Cupcake = 컵케이크 🧁

Frosting =  프로스팅

Candy = 사탕 🍬

Chocolate = 초콜릿

Cookie = 쿠키 🍪

Ice cream = 아이스크림 🍦

Pastry = 페이스트리

Drinks (음료)

Coffee = 커피 ☕️

Juice = 주스

Tea = 차 🍵

Black tea = 홍차

Green tea = 녹차

Soda = 소다

Water = 물

It’s easy to find words that distinguish between other voiced/voiceless pairs in English - bus and buzz, fine and vine - but the two sounds represented by the “th” sequence in English are rarer and harder to learn, especially since English uses the same spelling for both of them.  

A lot of people give up and just use near-minimal pairs like “think” and “this”, or “theta” and “they”, but there are actually a few true minimal pairs that you can use: 

thigh  -  thy ether  -  either  thistle  - this’ll 

It’s worth noting that function words in English, like pronouns, prepositions, and determiners, tend to have ð, while content words, especially nouns, tend to have θ.

Theta θ and eth ð are also found in the following noun/verb minimal pairs, at least for many dialects:   

wreath  -  wreathe 

(I put a wreath on the door / I wreathe the door)

teeth  - teethe

(my teeth / the baby is teething) 

loath  -  loathe 

(I’m loath to do it / I loathe doing it) 

sheath  -  sheathe

(in a sheath / to sheathe one’s sword)

sooth  -  soothe 

(for sooth! / to soothe someone) 

Here the vowels differ, but the theta θ to eth ð, noun to verb relationship is preserved: 

cloth  -  clothe

(wear cloth / clothe oneself)

bath  -  bathe

(take a bath / bathe the baby)  

breath  -  breathe 

(take a breath / breathe deeply)

Make sure to try them at full volume, not whispering, because whispering involves turning off your vocal cords (which is why you can whisper when they’re inflamed with laryngitis). 

These sounds are called dental fricatives or interdental fricatives, because the sound is produced by a thin stream of air friction where the tongue is at (dental) or between (interdental) the teeth. In the International Phonetic Alphabet, the voiceless interdental fricative, theta, is written θ, and the voiced interdental fricative, eth, is written ð. 

@czechnotebook asked me to do this list of 625 words. The list is not complete, I took some out (all the "directions" section, I didn't know how to translate them). It's not perfect, while making it I realised how some words are not that easily translatable and need more explanation then a simple word list. I tried to do the "easiest" or "simplest" translation. Sometimes I included some explanations, other times I just didn't have the energy. So the list isn't perfect, it may contain some mistakes or some Czechs could argue they'd translate it differently. Apologies for any mistakes, I just wanted to do something for a friend but thought maybe somebody else might find it useful. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me.

The list:

Polygloss has you describe an image in your target language so another player can guess it. It encourages creative answers. The game works for people of all levels — you can describe simple pictures or try your hand at wordplay.

Thus, a baby not only has to learn words and their meanings but also learn to segment lots of sounds INTO words. Doyouwantalittlemoresoupyesyoudoyoucutie. Damn.

When she talked about HOW babies learn to segment words our professor said, and I love it, "babies are little statisticians" because when listening to all the sounds, they start understanding what sound is likely to come after another vs which is not.

After discussing lots of experiments done with babies, our professor added something that I already knew somewhere in my brain but didn't know I know: All this knowledge is helpful when learning an L2 as well:

Listen to natives speaking their language. Original speed. Whatever speaker. Whatever topic.

It is NOT about understanding meaning. It is about learning the rhythm of the language, getting a feeling for its sound, the combination of sounds, the melody and the pronunciation.

Just how babies have to learn to identify single words within waves of sounds, so do adults learning a language. It will help immensely with later (more intentional) listening because you're already used to the sound, can already get into the groove of the languge.

Be as brave as a baby.