learningbirdie

[learningbirdie]

i dont understand this at all and america scares the fuck out of me

[learningbirdie]

Office Supplies Vocabulary

Balpen (de) = ballpoint pen

Beeldscherm (het) = computer screen

Beeldschermbril (de) = computer glasses

Bureau (het) = desk

Bureaustoel (de) = office chair

Computer (de) = computer

Gum (de) = eraser

Marker/markeerstift (de) = highlighter

Nietje (het) = staple

Nietmachine (de) = stapler

Laptop (de) = laptop

Lijm (de) = glue

Map (de) = folder/binder

Muis (de) = mouse

Pen (de) = pen

Plakband (het) = tape

Potlood (het) = pencil

Punaise (de) = push pin

Rekenmachine (de) = calculator

Schaar (de) = scissors

Schrift (het) = notebook

Stift (de) = marker

Toetsenbord (het) = keyboard

Vulpen (de) = fountain pen

[learningbirdie]

WHOA

[learningbirdie]

Hi everyone!

I wanna recommend two YouTube channels that I discovered that might be fun for you learners.

The first channel is: joseffatrip

It's a Dutch girl living in America with her American husband. A lot of their videos are in English, but they have series like "speaking Dutch to my American husband" and often put aspects of Dutch language and culture into their videos.

And the second channel: learn Dutch with Kim

She is a Dutch as second language teacher and explains many aspects of Dutch grammar and word use. The most interesting thing is that she explains everything in Dutch, but unlike many other channels she really mastered the skill of talking Dutch in a clear and slow way to make it easier to understand. On top of that her videos have subtitles in both Dutch and English.

[learningbirdie]

GERMAN DIALECTS MASTERPOST (pt. 1)

Grias enk!

Soooo ages ago I promised to create a masterpost of resources for those interested in dialects. Finally did it! I’m sorry about the wait.. life, y’know.

I’m splitting this into two posts because I wanted to share something at least, but I’ve not had time to cover everything. So, pt. 2 will come later. Sorry!

Anyway.. enjoy what I have so far!

a:     General dialect info/resources

Wikipedia article on dialects

Pretty damn good rundown of dialects

Links for dialect learners

Memrise courses for various dialects

Book of maps showing word differences and origins

Another book generally on dialects

b:     Austro-Bavarian German

Bavarian guide, including grammar

Vocab and basic grammar of different Bavarian dialects

Hochdeutsch-Bavarian dictionary

Bavarian Wikipedia

Viennese dictionary

Viennese vocab list

Da Fraunz - memes in Viennese dialect

Austrian dialect subreddit

Hochdeutsch-Austrian dictionary

Small Austrian course

Info and links about Salzburg dialects

Basic guide to Tirolerisch

Südtirolerisch dictionary

c:     Alemannic German

Alemannic Wikipedia

Swabian dictionary/guide

Another Swabian guide

Swabian word list

Swiss German guide

Swiss German courses on Memrise

Swiss German dictionary

Swiss German beginner’s phrase book

Vorarlbergerisch guide, vocab and grammar

Vorarlbergerisch dictionary

[learningbirdie]

Hi everyone,

learning a language should be fun, so I’ve compiled a list of German comedy things - movies, scenes, poems, everything! I haven’t seen all of these (mostly just the old ones haha) because I don’t watch a lot of movies but the ones on here are quite popular. Of course humour is subjective, so I can’t guarantee you’ll like everything on here. 

I’ll put the level of German you’ll need for these in brackets, because especially comedy which relies on word plays etc can be very hard to understand, and I don’t want this to be frustrating for anyone :)

Older Things/Classics 

Heinz Erhardt, Rudi Carell, and Loriot were the masters of Comedy in Germany. You can search them on Youtube and you’ll find millions of videos, probably. 

Sketches/Poems based on word plays (level C1):

1. Loriot:

Weihnachten bei Hoppenstedts (B2): Scenes from Christmas at a family’s home. It’s so ridiculous that it became a classic.

Skat (B2, it helps if you know the game Skat): A man is asked to play a round of Skat by two strangers, but he has no clue how to play. Instead of saying so, he tries to play it, but Skat isn’t really to be learnt on the go.

2. Heinz Erhardt:

Die Schachpartie

alles mit G

Wie die Zitronen sauer wurden 

3. Peter Frankenfeld: 

Die Wetterkarte

der Portier (both C1/2, a LOT of dialects that even I have a hard time understanding)

Movies:

Die Lümmel von der ersten Bank (7 movies in total, B1-B2): I love these movies! They’re about teenagers in a school who cause all kinds of havoc. The leader of that group is played by Hansi Kraus, and the headmaster Oberstudiendirektor Dr. Gottlieb Taft is played by Theo Lingen, who is a legend, basically. His acting is A+. Many other famous actors are in those movies, for example Uschi Glas, Hannelore Elsner, Gustav Knuth, and Peter Alexander. Here’s an example scene. (the students prank their teacher, pretending to destroy his violin and making him think he hallucinates). 

Die Feuerzangenbowle (B2-C1): A man (played by Heinz Rühmann) imagines what it would be like if he disguised himself as a student and went to school again. It’s a classic and really great, though a little harder to understand due to the dialects. Here’s an example scene (the students play a prank on their teacher pretending to be drunk).

Papa Ante Portas (B2 - C1): A man quits his job in his fifties and is now annoying his wife at home because he wants to “help” in the household. Everything kind of spirals into chaos the more he tries. 

Newer things

If you want movies, look for pretty much anything Matthias Schweighöfer is in (What a Man, der Nanny, Vier gegen die Bank, der Schlussmacher). Til Schweiger directs and stars in a lot of movies (some would argue, too many) which also have some dramatic aspects (Honig im Kopf, Keinohrhasen)

Some other movies that were somewhat successful:

Wir sind die Neuen

Groupies bleiben nicht zum Frühstück

Fack Ju Göthe (Fuck you Goethe, phonetically)

Maria, ihm schmeckt’s nicht

Willkommen bei den Hartmanns

Sieben Zwerge - Männer allein im Wald

If you have anything to add, let me know! :) 

[learningbirdie]

books i used to learn german

☆ = fav

grammar german verb drills collins easy learning german grammar langenscheidt german grammar in a nutshell teach yourself german grammar you really need to know ☆ textbooks feuerwerk 1 / 2 / 3 ☆ genau / ganz genau ☆ katzensprung 1 / 2 dictionaries langenscheidt großes schulwörterbuch en-de / de-en schülerduden rechtschreibung und wortkunde ☆ viamundo taschenwörterbuch englisch ☆ misc lonely planet german phrasebook ☆ teach yourself essential german vocabulary

[learningbirdie]

Accents 101

So if you’re a dm like me, you probably want to be relatively skilled in some typical fantasy accents for your game to make things feel that much more real. So i’ve decided to throw together a little master post of “how to” videos on some various accents. This is mostly for my own reference, but if you’d like to save this for yourself too, go right ahead. Feel free to add on to this, as well!

General Accent Tips

How To Learn Any Accent (1)

How To Learn Any Accent (2)

How To Do 12 Different Accents

US/UK/Aussie English Vocabulary Differences

One Woman, 17 British Accents

How To Lose Your Native Accent

How To Learn A Different Accent

Fun Tour of American Accents

Scottish

Scottish In Under 2 Minutes

How to Speak With A Scottish Accent

HOW TO DO A SCOTTISH ACCENT

Speaking Scottish 101

Scottish Slang

Gerard Butler Teaches You Scottish Slang

Scottish Insults

English or “British”

How To Do A British Accent

3 Ways to Sound More British

HOW TO DO A BRITISH ACCENT CONVINCINGLY (1)

HOW TO DO A BRITISH ACCENT CONVINCINGLY (2)

HOW TO DO A BRITISH ACCENT CONVINCINGLY (3)

Henry Cavill and Simon Pegg Teach You English Slang 

French

How To Speak With A French Accent 

How To Do A French Accent In UNDER TWO MINUTES

Tips on how to do a French Accent

French Accent Tip

Irish

How to do an Irish Accent

How To Do An Irish Accent

How To Do An Irish Accent

Guide to Irish Accents

How To Do An Irish Accent In UNDER TWO MINUTES

Russian

How To Speak With A Russian Accent 

How to Do a Russian Accent | Accent Training

How to speak with a Russian Accent

How Russians Speak English

How To Do A Russian Accent 

German

How To Have A German Accent 

How to do a GERMAN ACCENT?

Get the Perfect German ACCENT

Me speaking in 12 GERMAN DIALECTS!

How To Do A German Accent

5 Steps to a perfect German Accent

Canadian

How To Do A Canadian Accent

All aboot Canadian accents

How To Speak Canadian, Without Knowing How!!

Is There A Canadian Accent?

The Canadian English Accent

[learningbirdie]

A bit of an update, since I just recently logged in again and want to continue with this blog.

I’m no longer in college! After my first year of enjoying courses I decided that it wasn’t for me! Or at least, not for my career plan. As much as I love the experience of a college class I think I’d rather make it for fun. I’m now looking into starting a trade program so I can start a career sooner and be able to financially support myself and my pets!

I’ve only just recently decided to keep trying to learn German, and I’ve taken interest in Dutch and Finnish too. For now I think I’ll focus on rebuilding my German vocabulary and see how I feel about learning the others later!

I’m going to reblog more than just languages and feel-good stuff! I’ll put any new and prominent subjects in the tag post in my navigation bar.

For now I don’t have the most ambitious goals as I try and figure my life out, but I hope you all don’t mind! I have a very small following but I still care about what I put in front of your lovely faces.

Thanks for listening!

[learningbirdie]

Coronavirus vocabulary in Finnish [UPDATED]

Previous version of the vocabulary list here.  Koronavirus - coronavirus Virus - virus Sairaus - disease, illness Kansainvälinen terveysuhka - global health emergency Epidemia - epidemic Pandemia - pandemic Poikkeustila - state of emergency Sairaalahoito -  hospitalization, hospital care Tehohoito - intensive care Tartunnan saanut - infected (person) Potilas - patient Kuollut - dead Tarttuva - contagious Tartunta - contagion, infection Pisaratartunta - droplet transmission, aerosol transmission Kosketustartunta - direct contact (transmission through touching an ill person or a surface touched by an ill person) Itämisaika - incubation period Oire - symptom Oireeton - symptomless  Kuume - fever Yskä - cough Aivastus - sneeze Hengenahdistus - shortness of breath Lihassärky - muscle pain Väsymys - fatigue Ripuli - diarrhea Oksentaminen - vomiting Äkillinen hengitysvaikeusoireyhtymä - acute respiratory distress syndrome Keuhkokuume - pneumonia Riskiryhmä - risk group  Iäkäs - aged, elderly  Vanhus - old person Perussairaus - underlying health condition, chronic health condition, pre-existing condition, underlying disease Ehkäiseminen - prevention Hygienia - hygiene Saippua - soap Käsihuuhde - hand disinfectant, hand antiseptic, hand sanitiser Hengityssuojain - mask Nenäliina - tissue Rajoitus - limit, restriction Ulkonaliikkumiskielto - curfew Matkustuskielto - travel ban  Karanteeni - quarantine Etätyö - remote work Etäopiskelu - remote study Pysyä kotona - to stay at home Pestä kädet - to wash one’s hands Peittää suu - to cover one’s mouth Yskiä hihaan - to cough to one’s sleeve Käyttää hengityssuojainta - to use a mask  Välttää sosiaalisia kontakteja - to avoid social contacts  Levitä - to spread Tarttua - to be transmitted Sairastua - to get sick, to come down with, to catch Parantua - to recover Kuolla - to die Sulkea - to close Perua - to cancel Kieltää - to forbid, to ban, to prohibit, to disallow Rajoittaa - to limit, to restrict  Hamstrata - to hoard Pelko - fear Ahdistus - anxiety Paniikki - panic Paniikkiostaminen - panic buying Vessapaperi - toilet paper Säilyke - canned food  Pullotettu vesi - bottled water Wuhan, Kiina - Wuhan, China Huananin ruokatori - Huanan Seafood Market Kiinalainen - Chinese Aasialainen - Asian  Ksenofobia - xenophobia Rasismi - racism

[learningbirdie]

Temporal postpositions in Finnish

siitä lähtien: since then

tästä lähtien: from now on 

siihen aikaan: at that time

siihen asti: until then 

sen jälkeen: after that 

sitä ennen: before that

viimeisellä kerralla: last time 

seuraavalla kerralla: next time 

tähän mennessä: so far 

toukokuuhun saakka: until May

[learningbirdie]

These could take some time to master….

puutua - to go numb  puuttua - to lack, to be missing pyytää - to request, to ask, to demand päättää - to decide päästä - to get, to reach, to arrive päästää - to release  päättyä - to come to an end, to finish päätyä - to end up (somewhere)

[learningbirdie]

Bugs in Finnish

Hyönteinen — Insect

Kovakuoriainen — Beetle

Muurahainen — Ant

Leppäkerttu  — Ladybug

Perhonen — Butterfly

Juoksujalkainen — Centipede

Hämähäkki — Spider

Sudenkorento — Dragonfly

Hyttynen — Mosquito

Tulikärpänen — Firefly

Mato — Worm

Mehiläinen — Bee

Perhostoukka — Caterpillar

Kriketti — Cricket

Heinäsirkka — Grasshopper

Torakka — Cockroach

Punkki — Mite

Kärpänen — Fly

Kimalainen — Bumblebee

Laulukaskas — Cicada

[learningbirdie]

Common Finnish Words & Conjunctions

🇫🇮 🌟

Aikana - During

Aina - Always

Asia(t) - Thing(s)

Asti - Until

Ehkä - Maybe

Ei koskaan, Ei ikinä - Never

Ei mitään - Nothing

Että - That (conj.)

Ja - And

Jo - Already

Jos - If

Joskus - Sometimes

Koska - Because

Liian - Too (overly)

Mutta, Mut (colloq.) - But

Myös - Also, Too

Niin - So

Nyt - Now

Paljon - Much

Pian - Soon

Siis - So, Therefore

Tämä | Tuo - This | That

Tässä, Täällä | Tuossa, Tuolla - Here | There

Tai, Vai - Or

Taas - Again

Usein - Often

Vain - Only, Just

[learningbirdie]

Possessive Suffixes

in Finnish there are not only possessive pronouns (which are in genetiivi), but also possessive suffixes, which are added to the declinated word. these are

Singular:

-ni

-si

-nsa/-nsä

Plural:

-mme

-nne

-nsa/-nsä

an example would be: 

koulu - kouluni - koulussani (school - my school - in my school), so the possessive suffix is added after the declination’s ending

NOTE: Due to the 3rd person being identical in singular and plural, there it is (in most cases) necessary to add the possessive pronoun hänen or heidän

[learningbirdie]

I have always loved the month names in Finnish

January = tammikuu = the oak moon

February = helmikuu = the pearl moon

March = maaliskuu = the ground moon (“maalis” doesn’t mean anything but it comes from the word “maa”, meaning “ground” because you can usually see ground beneath the snow in March)

April = huhtikuu = the burn-beaten moon

May = toukokuu = the field moon

June = kesäkuu = the summer moon

July = heinäkuu = the hay moon

August = elokuu = the harvest moon

September = syyskuu = the fall moon

October = lokakuu = the slush moon (the kind of half-melted snow that no one likes)

November = marraskuu = the death moon (altough “marras” is a really old word that no one uses anymore, I had to actually google it because I didn’t know what it means)

December = joulukuu = the Christmas moon

It’s really cool that we have original names for months while most languages use the Latin words. And I think our words for months sound really beautiful, too.

[learningbirdie]

“cute” in German

The basic translations for “cute” are either: niedlich or süß (the second one also meaning sweet like in taste) and here are some phrases and other words you might encounter or want to know! :) Some synonyms: drollig - cute and funny, derpy (like when a cat does weird but cute stuff) flauschig - soft and fluffy (in a cozy way like for a blanket or any animal you wanna touch) fluffig - fluffy (like an angora rabbit or a cake) klitzeklein - really small, very tiny knuddelig - cuddly knuffig - small and cute, cute so you want to hug it because it’s helpless and harmless lieb - lovely, kind, well behaved herzallerliebst - really very lovely and kind and cute (lit. heart-all-lovely) putzig - cute (can include animals wearing cute things), “not pretty but still or therefor cute”-cute, smol and cute weich - soft winzig - tiny zum Knutschen - cute so you wanna kiss it (knutschen=küssen - to kiss) Wie niedlich!/Wie süß! - How cute! Wie niiiieeedlich!/Wie süüüß!etc. - How cuuute! (you know, more vowels = more cuteness) (niedlich) aussehen (sieht aus, hat ausgesehen) - to look (cute) der Piepmatz - small and cute (song-)bird die Schnute - (belittlement of die Schnauze - snout) small and cute mouth (like of a cat) Diminutive (belittlement): Add -chen (sometimes -lein) to almost any noun. All nouns ending in -chen are neuter. Pay attention to vowel changes that usually occurs: a -> ä die Katze -> das Kätzchen (cat -> kitty or kitten) a final -e often disappears o -> ö der Vogel -> das Vögelchen (bird -> birdy) u -> ü der Hund -> das Hündchen (dog -> puppy-dog) u -> ü das Buch -> das Büchlein (book -> small book) au -> äu die Maus -> das Mäuschen (mouse -> cute tiny mouse) e, i, ei and eu don’t change. For example: e -> e die Ente -> das Entchen (duck -> duckling) e -> e das Ferkel -> das Ferkelchen (piglet -> smaller piglet) i -> i der Fisch -> das Fischchen (fish -> small fish) ei -> ei das Schwein -> das Schweinchen (pig -> small pig or piglet) There are also rather childish suffixes like: -leinchen, -i, -ilein, -ileini, -ileinchen, which are almost only used in speech. And regional suffixes like: -le. For example: Hundi (my aunt had a dog named like that… :D ) Hundileini (this is what a 5yo might refer to when they talk about their really cute and lovely dog) unser Katerle (our dear and lovely male cat) I probably forgot some stuff (like always) but those are some basics. And of course it’s not very easy to describe the exact difference between all those “cute"s. I’ll make a list of belittled/cute verbs later.