Want to learn another language?

[rickolasnice]

AND help translate the internet?

https://www.duolingo.com/

Just watched a TED talk from the creators of the captcha thing (did you know you're actually helping digitize books by doing them?) and they've developed a site that will teach you another language for you to then apply your skills to translate the internet.. Apparently it's as affective as Rosetta Stone..

I've had a quick go on it and it's fun, addictive and you really do learn seriously quickly.

Here's the TED talk

https://www.ted.com/talks/luis_von_ahn_massive_scale_online_collaboration

 

[Shambles]

(did you know you're actually helping digitize books by doing them?)

Yup.

Apparently it's as affective as Rosetta Stone..

Does it teach correct spelling too?

I used to watch the OU Japanese language tutorial programmes and they seemed dead easy to me. I suspect it gets a mite harder as you go on, mind. Got a Chinese language tutorial set somewhere too I've never used. I find my English language skills are deteriorating quite noticeably the more time I spend online. Google means not having to remember spelling which means I don't remember spellings and can't spell words now that I could spell just dandy at age 5 - it's a documented phenomenon I do believe. Like the idea of learning other languages but unless you get the chance to use them regularly you lose them so quick you kinda need a reason to learn beyond basic curiosity I suspect.

Nice find all the same. I'm sure it will come in very handy for folk who have reason to learn another language. I once spoke three pretty decently, I only speak one in my actual life so the other two are but scant fragments a few years down the line

 

[StoneHappyMonday]

Welsh in three easy steps? Right on sister.

Fuck I'm only posting so Marmz sees I'm alive.

 

[alasdairm]

i went to argentina and chile last year and my gf and i used duolingo to learn some spanish so we were not completely hopeless when we got there. i liked how it worked and learned enough to fumble by from place to place...

alasdair

 

[StoneHappyMonday]

Chile speaks Spanish at 78rpm. Piece of piss.

 

[Mental Kenny]

I managed to learn a bit of Japanese just by watching anime with subtititles, I did one course like a decade ago, but still I was surprised the last time I met some Japanese people and could actually understand parts of their conversation.

 

[masaz]

Duolingo is pretty boss. Been using it to brush up on my French but didn't consider using it to learn other languages.

Might have a bash at Spanish. My Dad speaks it but when we had a place out there I was so young all I could say was the basics. Considering travelling after uni to do ESL so...

 

[kingme]

so which would be more worth it?
chinese / mandarin as they will take over eventually through sheer numbers?
russian because you never know when they might come liberate?
or german? so i can finally get all my usual porn plots. its hard getting subtitles for those

 

[alasdairm]

Duolingo is pretty boss. Been using it to brush up on my French but didn't consider using it to learn other languages.

Might have a bash at Spanish. My Dad speaks it but when we had a place out there I was so young all I could say was the basics. Considering travelling after uni to do ESL so...

french was my best subject at school. i used to be fluent but now just get by. i found learning spanish straightforward - my knowledge of french really helped.

duolingo really works because it teaches you to read, write, speak and listen to the language. you also translate from spanish to english and english to spanish.

alasdair

 

[koneko]

I managed to learn a bit of Japanese just by watching anime with subtititles, I did one course like a decade ago, but still I was surprised the last time I met some Japanese people and could actually understand parts of their conversation.

http://www.tofugu.com/

^
Those guys are shit hot at teaching Japanese. First discovered them via the youtube cat island films on mxe

I tried for a year to learn before I visited. Unfortunately there's something queer about my Scottish dialect and tongue that doesn't quite physically shape up for speaking Japanese...Man was it embarrassing no one could understand me. Many blunders happened.

Learning new languages is a particular weakness of mine