#language learning problems

死 - dead

小 - little

孩 - Kid

So, a few months ago I realized my skills in German actually suck because I'd been using A1 language most of the time (I teach beginners up to B1 level), and I had not been reading or listening to spoken German other than movies and series. As a result, imposter syndrome and terrible self-esteem hit me really hard, and I decided to take action. At the moment, I can't afford conversation classes or a German course to get my B2 certificate (and I clearly wouldn't pass a B2 test). I had been doing Duolingo for years and I managed to achieve a streak of 784 days, but the German lessons were too boring for me (I had finished the entire German course, but they added new content). I didn't want to lose my streak, so I decided to start another language there just for fun (I was tired of Spanish as well), then I chose Italian, and it's been amazing so far.

After searching for some materials online, I decided to download Busuu again. I took a placement test and they told me to do the B2 course. However, I felt like I needed a recap on some topics, so I started B1 course there (I'm finishing this week!) and it helped me a lot. Interacting with others while having your exercises corrected is actually great, so as correcting people's exercises. Besides, I started a list on Quizlet to help me memorize new words and expressions.

As for Babbel, I paid for one year of German because the price was really good, and they sent me to B2 as well. I finished all the B2 contents and did the B1 courses as well, and they gave me two live classes for free. I was terrified of participating in them because I wasn't very confident I could speak to foreigners, but I did it and it was really nice. The teacher and the other participants were amazing, and the cultural exchange was very beneficial.

I discovered Clozemaster after interacting with a polyglot girl I follow on Instagram. It may be simply "fill-in-the-blanks", but it really helped me memorize some structures and also review stuff I hadn't seen in a long time.

I was feeling so awful before that I considered quitting German and doing something else (new information: I monetized my hobby and now I hate my life lol), and of course the impossibility of moving to Germany made me feel even worse. I can't apply for DAAD scholarships because I am not interested in academic studies at the moment, PLUS, I'm not getting any younger... A friend and former student recommended the Bundesfreiwilligendienst, and I am doing lots of research on that.

attendre ≠ to attend

attendre actually means to wait. Try assister.

travailler ≠ to travel

travailler actually means to work. Try voyager.

obviousement ≠ obviously

obviousement is actually franglish. Use évidemment

actuellement ≠ actually

actuellement means right now. Use en fait or vraiment

rester ≠ to rest

this one’s a gray area because the meanings are a little similar, but its more accurate to say rester means to stay not to rest.

excité.e

If you’re excité.e, you’re horny. Use ravi de or enthousiaste instead.

sensible ≠ sensible

sensible translates to sensitive. Use raisonnable.

이제는 여동생 생일이었어요. 오늘은 매운 라면을 먹었어요. 정말 맛있어요. 그리고...내일은 저는 숙제를 해요. ㅠㅠ 음.. 그게 다예요.

( Yesterday was my [little] sister’s birthday. Today I ate spicy ramen. It was really delicious. And... Tomorrow I have to do homework. 😭😭 um... that’s all.)

❕If there are any errors please let me know❕

(Feel free to ignore the bottom of this post 😊 )

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(Sorry) I Just Need to Get Something Off My Chest..

Lately I’ve been feeling a bit unmotivated and I guess disappointed a bit about my language learning journey. I feel that in a way that I should be able to write way more in Korean than than I do.. I should know a lot more words now (and be able to express these words and write about them).

Unfortunately I guess sometimes my mind forgets material as time goes by. But I always make sure to review my notes because you can only remember what you see/use often right?

Well, today I did some exercises and I was proud to see that although I was a bit hazy in some areas.. I was still able to either read a sentence and understand it or listen and understand a few words in a conversation. Listening is my worst skill so far in my Korean journey.. I think writing might be second (only because I hardly ever push myself to write more). I try not to be too harsh on myself because I know I just recently started to get into Korean grammar.. but still I just feel like I should be more skillful 🥺

Starting this (upcoming) week, I want to push past my limits. I want to try to do more writing and more listening so that I can do better in these areas. I think I might even push more to try more speech as well because I want to make sure my accent for the language as well as tone is good for natives to understand me.

Gather round, friends, for an amusing story about my most embarrassing language fail yet!

So, for the past few weeks, my language exchange partner and I have been reading Aesop’s fables in Korean to help me with my studies. Usually this involves me dazzling my language exchange partner with a well paced and coherent opening sentence that quickly devolves as the story continues. For this particular day, we were reading Aesop’s fable about a very greedy dog who wanted a larger piece of meat to eat and ran across the following line:

“저 개의 고기가 내 고기보다 훨씬 크잖아.”

This line (loosely) translates to mean: “That dog’s meat is much larger than my meat.” (For context: the dog is looking at his reflection and thinks that his reflection is a real dog with a larger piece of meat in its mouth.)

However, when I got to this line and read it out loud, I said the following:

“저 게이의 고기가 내 고기보다 훨씬 크잖아.”

Which loosely means “That gay person’s meat is much larger than my meat.”

Needless to say, once my (infinitely patient) language exchange partner gently pointed out my mistake, I was super embarrassed and apologized profusely for creating a sentence that sounds a bit suggestive in English. That’s when my language exchange partner helpfully informed me that in fact, I was just half a mispronunciation away from saying the following:

“저 게이의 거기가 내 거기보다 훨씬 크잖아.” (where “거기” can be slang for a very particular part of the male anatomy, if you will.) 

So yes; I very nearly said “That gay person’s ~meat~ is much larger than my ~meat~.” (Cue me simultaneously wanting to melt into a puddle out of embarrassment but also finding this whole situation incredibly funny.)

So remember, friends: always check your pronunciation! It’s important!! But more importantly, remember that it’s okay to make mistakes!! If I can utter these words out loud to a native speaker and not get immediately banned from speaking the Korean language, then I promise, you can make mistakes, too! So in the words of Ms. Frizzle:

【Reference to Kuro 157 Summary and Thoughts】

Dear Anon,

Of course, it is my pleasure (⌒∇⌒)

So… this post will basically be ‘Lost in Translation III’, following Lost in Translation I and Lost in Translation II

Double Verbs

The most regular and iconic grammatical error of ‘clumsymaid!Meyrin’ is the double verb of ‘to be’ です (desu) with だ  (da).

TLN: ‘Desu’ is the polite form of the verb ‘to be’, whereas ‘da’ is the dictionary form.

Left ←

バルドッ　はしたないですだよ！

Barudo Hashitanai desu da yo!

Bard, [it] is are improper!

Here, the proper grammar should be: “Hashitanai desu yo!” Meyrin however, added an unnecessary ‘da’ to her sentence. As ‘desu/da’ is already the ‘to be’ verb, it is incredibly unnatural to use this verb twice.

Right →

ハイですだ

HAI desu da

[It] is are Yes

In this case Meyrin is simply replying to Sebastian who tells her to hand him the letter. While a simple ‘Hai’ (Yes) would have sufficed, Meyrin added not one but two unnecessary verbs. ‘Desu’ and ‘da’ never follow each other, except - just like in English - when a speaker is specifically referring to vocabulary/grammar. (e.g. “it is ‘are’.)

Unnecessary Verb

すごくよく見えますだ

Sugoku yoku miemasu da

I am can see very well

Here the ‘da’ is entirely redundant as well. By just removing the ‘da’, the sentence would have been perfectly grammatical.

Incorrect Conjugation

Another trait of her incorrect grammar quick is the reoccurring incorrect conjugation

All the sentences spoken by Meyrin in the panels below are grammatically incorrect, but for the sake of this post, I shall only discuss the circled two.

Left ←

バルド　イライラする良いないネ

Barudo, ira ira suru yoi nai ne

Bard, it goodn’t so grumpy

Here, Meyrin wrongly conjugates the adjective ‘yoi’ (良い・good). The correct negative conjugation of this verb should have been ‘yoku nai’, not ‘yoi nai’.

Even if this adjective were properly conjugated, it still reads rather unnatural. It would be best to add a nominaliser ‘no wa’ (のは・’the act of xxx-ing’) to equate the verb to a noun before the phrase can be considered natural.

Hence, the grammatically correct phrase should have been:

イライラするのは良くないネ

ira ira suru no wa yoku nai ne

The act of being grumpy is not good

Right →

牛乳馬鹿にするでないよ

Gyuunyuu baka ni suru de nai yo

It’s not do make fun milk

Here too Meyrin uses faulty negative conjugation. The correct negative conjugation of imperative verbs should be ‘suru na’. Furthermore, she is also missing a particle ‘wo’ (を) in order to indicate the object to which the verb applies. Therefore, the correct phrase should have been:

牛乳を馬鹿にするなよ

Gyuunyuu wo baka ni suru na yo

Don’t make fun of milk

間違いあるないネ

Machigai aru nai ne

[There] amn’t mistake, indeed

Here Meyrin uses the wrong negative conjugation for ‘aru’ (ある・to exist).

‘Aru’ is an irregular verb, and its negative form should be conjugated as simply ‘nai’. Therefore, the grammatically correct sentence should be:

間違いないね

Machigai nai ne

There’s no mistake, indeed

‘Aru nai’ is indeed a mistake that many new learners of Japanese make, though this level of mistake is incongruous with the relatively high-level vocabulary/grammar Meyrin sometimes uses WITHIN the same sentence.

But then again… as a student of languages myself…