Language lessons
By Porcospino
@Porcospino (31366)
Denmark
June 11, 2019 11:45am CST
Ten months ago I started learning Chinese on Duolingo. When I started I didn't think that I would get very far, I just wanted to try it out of curiosity. Now I have finished the first 31 lessons, and I am enjoying it a lot.
I feel like I am in the first grade again 
Sometimes it takes me a couple of minutes to read one sentence. I have to put the characters together and look up the ones I don't remember, but it feels great when I am able to read a sentence. My vocabulary is still extremely limited, and I tend to forget some of the words I don't use very often.
I also finished a few Korean lessons, but I find that much harder. I struggle with the written sentences, and I still can't remember the alphabet 
I am not sure if I am going to try again.
Which foreign languages did you learn? Which one was easiest to learn? And the hardest?
Sometimes it takes me a couple of minutes to read one sentence. I have to put the characters together and look up the ones I don't remember, but it feels great when I am able to read a sentence. My vocabulary is still extremely limited, and I tend to forget some of the words I don't use very often.
I also finished a few Korean lessons, but I find that much harder. I struggle with the written sentences, and I still can't remember the alphabet I am not sure if I am going to try again.
Which foreign languages did you learn? Which one was easiest to learn? And the hardest?15 people like this
18 responses
@Hannihar (129430)
• Israel
12 Jun 19
@Porcospino
So what are you going to do with the Chinese you learned or am learning? Learning a new language is hard and takes a lot of patience. I live in Israel so when I came to live here the little Hebrew I knew was not how they speak here so had to learn practically from the start. It is hard and still is hard. \When i opened my mouth I have not stopped and when people talk to me in English that want to practice their English I if have energy continue in Hebrew and eventually they turn back to Hebrew. I tell them you tell us we have to learn Hebrew but you are talking to me in English so how can I learn Hebrew if you do not talk to me in it. They may or may not understand. I am not good with languages but try the best I can in Hebrew. I am not good at reading or writing but try.
2 people like this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
12 Jun 19
I don't need Chinese for work or things like that, but I always wanted to visit China as a tourist. I think that it will be useful to learn some Chinese before the trip. I am still a beginner, but I have learnt the names of some types of food, drinks and things like that. In Thailand and Vietnam we often visited places that didn't have a menu in English, and many things are easier if we understand a bit of the language.
Did you take classes in Hebrew or did you study on your own or both? I have a Danish friend who moved to France, and she experienced the same thing as you. People always spoke to her in English because they wanted to practice their English. She wanted to practice her French, but it was hard because everyone spoke English to her.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
13 Jun 19
@Hannihar I understand what you mean. When we learn a new language we need to practice in order to get better, and when people want to speak English to you, you don't get the chance to practice and use the language.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (129430)
• Israel
13 Jun 19
@Porcospino
That is a good idea what you are doing to learn the language before you go visit there. I know they will appreciate that that you can speak to them in their language.
How it goes here is that we are told and they are right that we need Hebrew to deal with things here and we learn it in places that teach us it. One I had to take a test to see what class I would be in. The reason I do not like Israelis trying to practice their English on me is because I need to speak Hebrew and they do not help me by try to speak to me in English. Israel is the only Jewish Country in the world and it belongs to the Jews so it is very important to know the language and I try and use it whenever I can whether I make sense or not.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Jun 19
I have been slacking when it comes to languages. I was doing very good with trying to learn Welsh again but then stopped. I still get notifications about it from time to time. I do not think I could learn Chinese.
If you are interested, there are two youtubers that talk about China a lot, they have several channels between them and use Chinese in some of their videos. They speak more English than anything, but will translate when talking to others in Chinese.
The channels are ADVChina (their collab channel), ADVPodcasts (A new collab channel), SerpentZA (Winston Sterzel's Channel) and Laowhy86 (Matthew Tye's channel).
They talk a lot about their experiences with China and what they like and dislike about it. Laowhy made a video about how hard / easy it was to learn the language.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
11 Jun 19
That sounds interesting. I will check those names next time I visit YouTube. Some time ago I found some Chinese cover songs. The lyrics were written in Chinese with an English translation. One of the songs was was "Creep" by Radiohead, and it was a bit strange to listen to the Chinese version, but it is a good way to learn new words.
I have never tried to learn Welsh, but I have seen that it is available on Duolingo. I visit Duolingo almost every day, but sometimes I only spend 15 minutes on the site. Sometimes I spend more time there and switch between different languages.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Jun 19
@Porcospino I am sure that "creep" by Radiohead would sound really weird in Chinese. Was the tempo the same or did they speed it up?
Welsh is phonetic for the most part. The hardest part to learn is the mutations.
1 person likes this
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
13 Jun 19
I tried to refresh my French with duolingo, but the sentences are just too weird. I might try again this summer, but I'd rather read something I think.
I've staid in Europe languagewise, English, German, French and Icelandic. Danish and Swedish don't count, as I've never learned them, I just understand them :-) I find French harder to pronounce and the Icelandic grammar is just crazy. I've planned I should try some Finnish, I'm there at least once a year and a non-Indo-European language would probably be a good brain challenge.
Chinese and Korean must be a good brain-challenge too!
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
13 Jun 19
It is true that some of the setences on Duolingo are strange, some of them make me smile a little. I learned French in high school, but I haven't used it much since that time. I had Finnish coworkers in Scotland. I was able to understand some of the words because I recognize them from Estonian.
Yes, both Chinese are Korean are challenging. I like that 
My progress is slow compared to the other languages I have learned, but I am enjoying the lessons. I want to return to Asia in the future, and it nice to learn some of the languages.
My progress is slow compared to the other languages I have learned, but I am enjoying the lessons. I want to return to Asia in the future, and it nice to learn some of the languages.@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
15 Jun 19
@Torunn It is great to travel with someone knows the local language. It makes many things easier. We spent some time in a small town in Vietnam and it was very hard to order food. First we tried English, then German and French, but they didn't understand us. We ended up using sign language and that helped and they gave us the menu...but we couldn't read it
Which part of Finland are you going to visit? I haven't been there much, but I would like to see more than Helsinki next time.
Which part of Finland are you going to visit? I haven't been there much, but I would like to see more than Helsinki next time.1 person likes this
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
14 Jun 19
@Porcospino I've been in Asia twice, the first time I was in Japan and I was quite happy to be travelling with someone who knew Japanese. My coworker back then had studied there for 6 months, so we could go to local dining places and know what we were eating and pay normal prices. I know some in the conference found it really expensieve, but they didn't go were we went.
I'm starting to recognize some words in Finnish. Took me 20 years! Going back in July, so maybe I should check some words first at least. More than the numbers and hamburger would be helpful
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
12 Jun 19
Yes, Chinese is a challening language. My progress is slow, but I am enjoying the lessons. I hope to visit China one day. I also tried to learn Korean, but I found that more difficult than Chinese.
I started learning German in 7th grade. I am able to read German books and watch German movies, but I haven't written letters in German or had a conversation in German for a long time. I also find Spanish quite easy to learn, but I didn't finish all of the lessons yet.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
13 Jun 19
@LadyDuck German has 3 genders like Polish, and I often find it hard to remember the right genders. I often have to check the genders if I write sentences in German. French was the third foreign language I learned, and my first French teacher wasn't very good, but in high school I had a better French teacher.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (458006)
• Switzerland
13 Jun 19
@Porcospino French was not easy, but it's more a matter of grammar than conversation, English is an easy language to learn, German for me is hard.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
16 Jun 19
@nela13 I found French more difficult than English and German, and sometimes I am not sure how to pronounce and spell the words.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
11 Jun 19
I also think that English was easier to learn than the others. I learned English first, then German, then French and then Italian. I found German easier than French. Danish and German have some words in common. They are not completely the same, but some of them are easy to guess. I found it hard to remember the genders in German.
1 person likes this
@nela13 (55698)
• Portugal
12 Jun 19
@Porcospino French is very difficult for me due to the accent.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
11 Jun 19
@raveeen I started learning Spanish last year, and I am still a beginner, but I would like to continue the lessons and learn more words. I studied Japanese at beginner level, but I am taking a break from that at the moment. I would also like to learn Greek one day.
@raveeen (3457)
•
11 Jun 19
@Porcospino Nihongo, spanish, chinese. How about you or is there any?
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
11 Jun 19
Me too. They updated the Spanish lessons a while ago. I think that they added new content. I still didn't finish all of them.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
11 Jun 19
I tried to learn the alphabet, but it was a big challenge. I keep forgetting which one is which and that makes reading very difficult. Maybe there is an easier way to learn it, I just haven't found it yet
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
13 Jun 19
@rakski Me too. I am not that good at Japanese yet, but I it easier than Korean.
1 person likes this
@rakski (112925)
• Philippines
11 Jun 19
@Porcospino True. It is hard to learn Korean. I find Japanese easier
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (18923)
• United States
18 Jun 19
I have tried to learn French. It's hard. I haven't learn it in a long time.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
18 Jun 19
I learned French at school, but I haven't used it much since that time, and I have forgotten many of the words. Today I would find it hard to have a conversation in French.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
23 Jun 19
I started learning Spanish about 9 months ago, so I am still a beginner, but I don't find it very difficult so far. I studied German from the 7th grade. It is a compulsary language is my country.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
11 Jun 19
It is nice to hear that you are interested in the Chinese language as well I once thought about talking a Chinese language class offline, but today many sites give us the chance to study on our own. We can study when we have time, and I think that is a good thing.
I once thought about talking a Chinese language class offline, but today many sites give us the chance to study on our own. We can study when we have time, and I think that is a good thing.1 person likes this
@Aansh13 (11251)
• New Delhi, India
12 Jun 19
@Porcospino
Well... Is it actually possible to learn it on our own... I mean I was thinking it's difficult and self study won't help
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
16 Jun 19
@Aansh13 Some online lessons are good, and others are not so good. I like the Chinese lessons on Duolingo. They start from the beginning and slowly move forward, and that makes it easier to use them. Some of the other online language courses are too difficult for beginners I think. They don't start from the beginning, and that is a problem if you don't know the language at all.
1 person likes this
I heard that Chinese was the toughest.@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
11 Jun 19
When do the students in Serbia start to learn English? I mean, which grade? When I was a student we started in the 5th grade, but now they start in the first grade. When I started learning Chinese I didn't think that I would get very far. I thought it would too difficult, but the language course on Duolingo went better than I expected. It is exhausting though. I only do a few lessons at a time.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
15 Jun 19
@Nevena83 Here most people speak English, but there are some people from the older generation who haven't learned English. When they went to school English wasn't a compulsary subject like it is today.
1 person likes this
@Nevena83 (65282)
• Serbia
13 Jun 19
@Porcospino When I went to school, we started in the 5th grade, but now children start in the 1st, but almost no one knows English, which is devastating.
1 person likes this
@didinedhia (8475)
• Algeria
11 Jun 19
That is really good.!!! English!!and still dont speak it very well
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
11 Jun 19
My English is not perfect either. I am not a native speaker, but this site is a good way to practice.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
11 Jun 19
@didinedhia Yes, we even get paid for practicing
1 person likes this
@didinedhia (8475)
• Algeria
11 Jun 19
@Porcospino yeees it is a good place to practice
1 person likes this
@LowRiderX (22907)
• Serbia
13 Jun 19
Yes, I remember that you mentioned the language learning, I'm glad you enjoy ...
I like English most, I learn it every day, even this site helps me a lot
I like English most, I learn it every day, even this site helps me a lot1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
13 Jun 19
Yes, I am enjoying it. I am trying to do a bit every day Yes, this site is a great way to learn English. I have learned many new words and improved my grammar since I started.
Yes, this site is a great way to learn English. I have learned many new words and improved my grammar since I started.1 person likes this
@LowRiderX (22907)
• Serbia
14 Jun 19
@Porcospino Me too. And most of them are very kind, they want to help
@Scrapper88 (5957)
• United States
11 Jun 19
I haven't learned any new languages yet, but I would like to learn Greek and Spanish.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
11 Jun 19
I started learning Spanish, but I am still a beginner. My vocabulary is very limited. I think that Greek could be an interesting language to learn. When I visited Greece I couldn't read the street signs. I would like to learn a bit of the language if I visit Greece again.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
12 Jun 19
I am still a beginner, but I am able to recognize some of the most common words in Chinese. My vocabulary is very limited, but I learn a few new words in every new lesson. It is challenging, but I enjoy it. I studied German at school. Most of the Danish students learn German.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
12 Jun 19
I understand. I studied French at school, but I have never really used it afterwards (except when I travelled in France as a tourist) I still remember some of it, but I think that I would find it to have a conversation in French today.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
16 Jun 19
What is your language? My language is Danish, but I have learned English and other languages at school.
