#German Language Classes for Adults

[germanschoolabc]

German Language Classes for Adults

ABC German School offers comprehensive German language classes for adults, designed to enhance language skills in a supportive environment. Our experienced instructors utilize effective teaching methods to ensure a thorough understanding of the language, catering to various proficiency levels. Join us to immerse yourself in the German language and culture, and take the first step towards fluency. For more information, please contact us at 425-753-6195 or visit : https://infogram.com/german-language-classes-for-adults-1h7v4pd91qkr84k

[what-even-is-thiss]

Hey I saw you talk about comprehensible input for Spanish, and you said it was easy and it seems effective. I'm learning German, and I wanna ask what comprehensible input is and how I could do some of that

Comprehensible input means watching or listening to stuff in the language where you understand 90% or more of what’s going on. If you’re reading it’s more like 98%. Early on this usually means either watching stuff for babies or watching stuff made for adult learners if that exists. Watching stuff for adult learners is generally better because it works better if you’re interested in what’s going on. Once easier stuff is too boring for you then you move on to slightly harder stuff etc etc. it’s supposed to take about a thousand hours of good quality input for you to be able to understand native speakers with no issues give or take depending on your native language and the language you’re studying. Right now I’m at like 50-ish hours in Spanish which means I’m watching slightly harder videos that still have a lot of visual cues but it’s not piss easy either. I can also understand most quick things I overhear people say on the street to each other but I don’t really know how to talk yet. My brain hasn’t pieced that part together.

For German specifically resources for this are YouTube channels like Comprehensible German and Natürlich German. And Deutsch Welle’s learn German section of their website has a couple series like Nico’s Weg that follow a similar idea.

The key is to not translate in your head or assign meaning to specific words or try to figure out the grammar when you watch videos or read but just try to understand what’s going on.

Some people supplement this with flash cards strictly doing vocabulary and no grammar. Especially if good comprehensible input resources aren’t available for the language you’re studying. Doing vocabulary drills and watching tv with subtitles in the language you’re learning can also be effective.

Another way to do this if you can’t afford a special class or there’s no good videos available but you do have native speakers on hand who are willing to be a “language parent” for you is for them to sit down with you and only teach you the words for yes and no and then they pick up something like a kids picture book and start pointing at things and slowly explaining it to you and asking you questions like you’re a baby for an hour or two every day. Most people do not have a native speaker on hand willing to do this though. But if you do then this video where a guy documents learning Arabic with this method should give both you and the native speaker an idea of how this works.

If you want resources googling “comprehensible input (language)” should get you started. There’s also a lot of different communities for language learners of different languages or language learning generally on Reddit like r/French, r/Portuguese, r/swahili or r/languagelearning for example. Most of those places have a dedicated page for compiling resources from the community and you can also ask questions to the community and in my experience they’re usually pretty helpful people.

Right now I’m mostly using Dreaming Spanish for Spanish but also other channels like Easy Spanish and Español con Juan. I’m also dabbling a bit in the channels Comprehendible Japanese and Nihongo-Learning for Japanese but Spanish is my main priority right now.

[bookshelfdreams]

So the German dub is out and I would like to offer up to all of you how it deals with the problem of formal/informal form of address because it's really interesting

(Preface: all of this applies how we as modern people use these forms of address. In the actual 18th century, addressing any adult informally was very uncommon, even between close friends. But we're doing a DJenkins approach here)

(@rocketrouquine wrote about how it is handled in the French dub here; also very interesting!)

The thing to understand about formal vs informal you is that it's about politeness, yes - but that's just a very basic understanding. Yes, you are supposed to be formal with people you don't know, but what they don't teach you in highschool foreign language class are all the things choice of address can communicate. Namely, what distance there is between people. About the closeness of a relationship, what level you're interacting on, about signaling how far you will let a person into your life.

The crew of the Revenge all call each other Du (informal) - except for Stede, who everyone calls Sie (formal). Du is for friends and Stede is not their friend, he is the boss. There is a camaraderie and solidarity among the crew that Stede can't partake in. Sie, in this case, is like a barrier that you put up to keep someone from becoming too friendly with you and reminding them what kind of relationship this is (namely, a purely professional one).

This is underlined by the crew obviously and openly thinking Stede is an idiot - and by Stede calling everyone Du. Is it because he sees himself as a social superior who can address people informally but insists on formal address for himself? That's one way to read it! But more interesting and more accurate, in my opinion, is to read this as an attempt by Stede to make himself part of their ingroup. It's especially obvious when Stede invites Olu and Jim to sit with him on the couch in ep1; he's using Du while Olu very poignantly keeps insisting on Sie. It underlines how visibly uncomfortable Olu is sitting there trying to explain to Stede that people choose a life of crime out of necessity, while making Stede seem even more oblivious and out of place.

Interestingly, Stede uses Sie himself to put some professional distance between himself and someone else. Namely, with the tribe elder from ep2, who he addresses formally. Is this a sign of respect? Sure, he has a tendency to go for Sie by default. But it reminds me more of how one would be per Sie with a doctor or therapist; as a reminder that this is a strictly professional relationship. It's easier to be open and vulnerable with someone who you know isn't emotionally invested in your wellbeing, isn't it?

Stede comes from a background where one is expected to address everyone with Sie unless granted permission otherwise. This is a sign of respect, the same way lower class people on this show tend to use Du as sign of solidarity; on Nigel's ship, all the officers call each other Sie. So when Nigel uses Du with Stede, it adds a layer of disrespect, despite it being perfectly acceptable, since they have known each other as children. This is even more evident with Chauncey, who we see interact more with other pirates; when he wants something from someone (Izzy, Spanish Jackie) he calls them Sie, no problem, while Nigel's crew doesn't even make an attempt at showing some respect at the ep1 tea party.

And then there's Izzy. Izzy and Stede call each other every insult under the sun and also address each other formally the whole time, which is the funniest possible choice. Like. I'm not sure why "Sie Arschloch!" is 1000x more bitchy than "Du Arschloch!" but it just is. It's taking this whole game of distance and closeness to a whole new level; I despise you so much I would never entertain the notion of being friendly enough with you to use your first name. Sie Wichser. It's made even funnier by the fact that for Stede, Sie is much more intuitive than for Izzy. It seems like Izzy has to make a lot more of an effort to keep the Sie up, but he's not gonna be the one to break this particular stalemate first, goddammit.

Finally (because that's the really interesting bit, isn't it) Ed. Initially, in ep3, Stede calls Ed Sie, which, of course he would think to do that while he's laying there half dead and bleeding, I love him. Ed echoes this back, because he's determined to "do this right", make a good first impression, and I thought this would be it, they'd be per Sie until the kiss, like it often goes in media translated from English. Fine, I guess.

But then.

When Ed wakes Stede up, he immediately goes for Du. No warm up, no getting to know each other first at all. And it's great! First of all, because Ed of course is the type of person to just call everyone Du, but also because of what happens next: Stede calls him Du back. This is the first time this particular hand has been extended to him, and oh, is he excited to take it.

(Other people call Stede Du first, Spanish Jackie, the chief, but it's not like this; not an invitation)

Stede isn't meeting Blackbeard, he's meeting some guy named Ed. Someone he instantly makes friends with; someone who has already seen him at his worst and so, who he can be himself with. Someone he doesn't need to put up pretenses or worry about proper behaviour with. This scene would have lost so much had they decided to keep up the Sie.

Remember that camaraderie I talked about earlier? Solidarity among the crew that Stede tries but can't manage to share in? Here it is! Here is the guy who will play dress up with him, who will delight in his interests, who will be his friend.

Yes, sometimes an unprompted Du can be disrespectful. But sometimes it is like this: Hey. I see you. Want to be friends?

[andwordsarefutiledevicess]

okay, one thing i haven’t been able to stop thinking about since seeing challengers is the question of art and patrick’s family situations/upbringings. so, here’s my fat ass analysis of the topic.

we know that patrick’s family is rich, and they’re likely wealthier than art’s family because art makes the comment about the size of patrick’s house when they leave the party.

this also means that art has visited patrick’s house outside of their time in boarding school.

as many other people have pointed out, art is the only character to pronounce zweig correctly, as is spoken to in german by his coach, implying he has at least some proficiency in the language.

while art could have learned it from someone else or for other reasons, it does seem most likely that he learned it because of patrick or from patrick’s family, as that is the only established connection to germany he has in the film.

if this is true, and art understands german because patrick’s family speaks german, this means that patrick’s parents most likely emigrated from germany to the u.s., since it’s less common for native languages to be spoken after the second generation. at the very least his grandparents are likely from germany.

i did find it odd that we’re not given much of an idea as to why patrick’s family isn’t helping him financially when he struggles in the 2010s. if he’s this rich kid sent to boarding school, why isn’t he just living off some trust fund? he was clearly cut off, but the question is why.

i think the most likely reason is that they got sick of his immaturity — he wasn’t winning challenges, and was living this party boy lifestyle, and they stopped funding it. another possibility is that they became aware that he was dating men, which we know from seeing his tinder. or the combo of these factors led to him because estranged, or simply not willing to tell them about his situation.

so — patrick’s family = rich, large house, parents from germany, potentially estranged, financially cut off

now for the question of art’s family. i’ve seen plenty of people headcanon that art was raised by his grandma, but i don’t entirely buy into this.

i think if art was exclusively raised by his grandma (and his parents were unable to/not alive) this would have been too significant of a bit of character info to omit.

so, i think it’s more likely that his grandma is a recurring topic in the movie because she’s the only family member who cares truly deeply for art. while no parents or siblings are mentioned (to my memory), she is.

as said before, it’s heavily implied that patrick’s family is more wealthy than art’s. at the same time, art’s family was still able to afford to send their kid to boarding school, and there’s no reason to believe he was on scholarship. so art’s family was likely solidly upper middle class, but not rich like patrick’s.

so — art’s family = upper middle class, closest with grandma, minimal support as adult

ANYWAYS that was my massive ramble. can yall tell im procrastinating actual work?

[octuscle]

Hey Support!

I'm a Highschool teacher. Many of my adult students are speaking Arabic while I'm teaching them. It annoys me that I didn't understand them talking and laughing. So I downloaded the chronivac app and wanted to change that I also speak and understand arabic. Something gone wong because I fill my English and German are getting more bed. And I feel the urge to pray 5 on a day... And ma skin colour change

Whats go on?

You have made a number of less than optimal settings. Let me stop the process and restart it.

Thursday evening 8:00 p.m.: As usual, you sit in front of the TV after dinner. First the news. Then a crime thriller. Okay, you could use the evening differently. But at the latest when you turned 40 two years ago, you became more domestic. You like to cook. You like crime thrillers. What's the problem? Interesting question… Somehow the thriller doesn't really grab you today. After an hour, you turn off the TV, pick up your cell phone, and study a lesson or two of Arabic before you go to bed.

Friday morning, 6:00 a.m.: It sucks that the gym your students recommended is so far from your townhouse. And it's not exactly on the way to school, either. But for almost a year now, you've been making your way there in the morning. Your discipline and the success of your training have definitely earned you the respect of your students. Only they still make fun of your broken Arabic. At least they are more careful to speak Arabic in your presence. They know that you already understand a lot.

Because most of your students are Muslims, you finish class early today. Not without giving homework for Sunday. Carrot and stick. You have a reputation as a strict and fair teacher. And you take advantage of Friday afternoon to go for a long bike ride.

Saturday morning, 8:00 a.m.: For three years now, it has been a tradition that you are the first customer of your Turkish barber on Saturday. The full program for beard, hair and face. The conversation turns once again to your Turkish great-grandmother. Wouldn't she turn over in her grave, that you speak quite good Arabic. But not a word of Turkish. Laughing, you ask to change the subject. You can vaguely remember Turkish lullabies. But you can't learn another foreign language.

With your beard freshly trimmed and your undercut in shape, you head to the studio. On Saturday, most of your students are also here early to pump themselves into shape for Saturday night. Sure, you could easily be the father of even your oldest students. But you are definitely the coolest teacher at the school. That's why you're allowed to go smoke a shisha with your students after the workout. And as usual, you stay in the café after your students have moved on. You enjoy your tea and chat with the host.

Sunday morning, 06:00: You don't go to the gym on Sundays. But you start the day with a long run through the city park. It's a matter of honor that you run bare-chested. Yes, you are 37 years old, but the hard training of the last years has given you a really crisp body. And you love to do some pull-ups with it in the open-air gym in the park. And you love it even more when you hear some appreciative remarks from the mostly Arab brothers here. A few know you, of course, but most wouldn't guess that you speak fluent Arabic. After the shower, you prepare the next week's lessons and correct exams. In the afternoon, two of your students come for math tutoring. You have adopted a bit of the weekly rhythm of your predominantly Muslim students, and Sunday is becoming more and more like a workday for you.

Monday morning, 5:00 a.m.: If you want to go to the barber before school, you have to get up earlier - especially when it's raining cats and dogs like today. You can forget about cycling. And with bus and subway the way takes even longer. But to skip the training? Or to go to school with your neck not freshly shaved? Unthinkable! And like every day, a few of your students are in the studio with you. You are a role model for most of them. Also because you respect their religion even as an infidel. This has also earned you a lot of respect among your colleagues. With no other teacher do the otherwise testosterone-driven young men cooperate as well as with you!

Tuesday evening, 8:00 p.m.: You love to let your tuned Audi roar in front of the shisha bar in the evening. Sure, you had to go into debt for the car. But when you see the guests craning their necks at you, it's worth it. Just like it was worth every minute at the gym when the waiter raises his eyebrows respectfully at the sight of your biceps. It's your 32nd birthday. For ten years you've been working hard for your body and your career. You're celebrating today in your favorite bar. With friends, family, your students and a few colleagues. They are rather skeptical about you. But those who are there get along with your German as well as your Turkish and Turkmen cousins. Although five of your eight great-grandparents have a Muslim background, you are still socialized as a Christian. But you are cultural tolerance in action. And people who have no understanding for this have no place in your environment.

Wednesday, 7:30 a.m.: Your car rolls into the teachers' parking lot, freshly polished. Your muscles are freshly pumped up. The day can come. Your colleagues complain that you live in a small two-room apartment in one of the worst neighborhoods in the city, but drive a sports car for EUR 150,000. All envious. Have no style. And besides, the apartment is perfect for you. Gym, Shisha, Barber… Everything directly in front of the door. And why do you need a big apartment? You can meet friends at the gym or over a shisha. And you prefer to correct your exams directly at school. Your colleagues are all weaklings anyway…

In the evening you smoke a shisha with some lads from the gym. It's almost 8:00 pm. The transformation has been going on for six days. Five of your great-grandparents are already from the Arab environment. And as you take a deep drag from the shisha, the sixth of your ancestors also becomes Arab. Your mother has a Turkish mother and a Turkmen father. Your father has a Moroccan father and a German mother. Three quarters of your roots are Muslim. And you are becoming, as you exhale, a good Muslim. And the improvement of your genetics makes your eyebrows bushier, your beard thicker and your hair darker. Yes, you still carry genes of the infidel in you. But you are an Arabian stallion.

Thursday, 04:30: You like the summer. Sunrise prayer is lovely early, so you can perfectly combine sports, barbering and an early start to work afterwards. Before work you have to go to the principal's office. Parents of non-Muslims have complained again. That too much Arabic is spoken in class. And that the break times are based on prayer times. Once again you pull the tolerance and diversity joker. And you point to your successes in integrating difficult cases into the classroom. And at the same time you knead the bulge in your pants. You know that the principal can't refuse you any wish. Not even the wish that you can't start the day without having cum. The conversation ends with the principal blowing you on all fours while you sit wide-legged in his chair.

Friday, 14:00: Your transformation is actually finished. In a few hours, your last German genes will be replaced by Moroccan ones. You are 26 years old. You have lived in Berlin since you were ten years old. You have had to make your way as an immigrant child. But just because you speak fluent German, Arabic, Turkish, Turkmen and French, you left the infidels behind early on. At school, in sports and also at university. Actually, you always thought that teachers were complete losers. Nevertheless, you let yourself be persuaded to study math and sports to become a teacher. You are now 26 years old and have completed your teacher training. You are the secret weapon for classes with young men from immigrant backgrounds. They accept a fellow believer with big upper arms. And even the other lads in your class emulate your example.

Tank tops in your classes are standard. Arabic is obligatory as the language of instruction in physical education. Attendance at noon prayer is mandatory for Muslims, morning and afternoon prayer is optional. And Muslims don't blow, Muslims get blown. At least once a day. But don't worry… Whether it's in the principal's office, the teachers' lounge, or the locker room in the gym, you can always find an infidel to do it!

Hot pic found @tufas 

[winnix85]

Lewis Nixon's German teacher in high school and his summer in Germany 1934

Previously, I was digging in historic travel records and found that 15 yr old Lewis Nixon went to Germany in the summer of 1934 with several teenager friends. They were among 3rd class passengers. I searched through the passenger list but found no adult chaperone with this group of boys.

Assumption 1: Their chaperone was in 1st class (seems unwise to stay up in 1st class cabin while left a group of teenager boys running wild in 3rd class cabin?)

Assumption 2: There was no adult. Lew and his friends ran away with pocket money.

So I adopted the second assumption.

I was WRONG

It turns out that, there was a chaperone. Lew and his friends were led by their high school German teacher Dr Werner Mueller. Dr Mueller was on SS Europa Passenger List Line 360 "Tourist Third Cabin Passengers". The reason his name was not listed with his students was because Dr Mueller was not US citizen. In US custom records, US citizens and foreigners were listed separately. That's why I can't find him.

Their travel to Germany was reported in local news. Dr Werner Mueller led 4 boys (William Roth, Walter Collins, Robert Day, and Lewis Nixon) to sail from New York for Germany on 25 June 1934, and they returned New York on 02 Sep 1934:

15 yr old Lew was the youngest in the group.

It seems that Dr Werner Mueller visited Germany every summer because his family was still living in Berlin:

Dr Werner Mueller might be relatively young, because he was engaged in 1940. He taught in Santa Barbara boys school for 8 years. He studied at the University of Berlin, Munich Freiburg and Koenigsberg. He worked in the foreign language department, so I assumed that he was a German teacher. However, he was also the head of the art department of Santa Barbara boys school and he was a pianist.

After his marriage in 1940, he moved to Pottstown Pensylvania to teach in Hill school.

In summary, 15 yr old Lew spent two months of summer holiday in Germany, probably with his teacher's family in Berlin. In 1934 the street view pretty much looks like this:

[bisexualcartman]

My SP hyperfix is back so here's a masterpost for my general headcanons!

I'm sure you can guess which characters are my fav based on how some of them are very detailed. Sorry about any typos or unclear sentences LMAO

Kenny

Has a 5+ year old phone with a cracked screen which barely works. He only uses it to call or text people. At times playing games on it too

He loves chicken nuggets and fries but most of the time can't afford it

He never shows his face and hates it when people tell him to take off his hood

Butters, Stan, Kyle and Cartman are the only people who has seen him without the hood on. Idc about canon, let me have this

He drinks alcohol and smokes cigarettes from but hides it from other people

He loves hugs and cuddles, maybe because he never gets that affection very often from his family

He has a bad immune system

His favorite sodas are Pepsi and Sprite because I say so

He often skips classes or sleeps through them

Fingerless gloves.

He's actually a VERY good drummer and is self taught. He also lowkey enjoys sketching

He hates talking about personal things and will often brush them off as nothing

Stan

Biromantic and on the asexual spectrum

Plays the electric guitar and likes to doodle in his notebook more than doing actual school/home work

He likes ramen noodles

He dislikes weed because of Randy's farm, but he does smoke normal cigarettes and uses other drugs sometimes (as a teen)

Big soccer and baseball enjoyer

Listens to music too much and too often. He likes MCR because I do too

Loves holding hands, hugging, etc (any kind of physical affection) unless he's in a bad mood

He's very messy and rarely cleans his room. He is in no way organized about anything.

Hoodies. He wears many hoodies and sweaters. He loves comfy clothing and has come to dislike wearing suits and fancy clothes

Cartman

Very very very closeted bisexual. No, I won't elaborate.

Owns and knows how to play the electric guitar and is actually kind of good at it

Everyone knows he loves food, but less people know he actually really likes cooking. (He has a secret Pinterest account with only recipes)

He has heterochromia; one blue eye and one brown

He speaks a lot of different languages besides from English. Like German, Vietnamese and some Spanish

Loves Lady Gaga and Britney Spears

Cartman has been arrested a lot of times, and does have quite the collection of mugshots

Even when being a teenager, he has a love for his stuffed animals and always enjoys looking at toys while at the store

Secretly a history/war nerd

He's the type of guy to send random and unrelated memes in groupchats and text conversations

Anger issues about most stuff. Especially when losing in any kind of video game

Likes photography a lot

Ike

Autistic because I am autistic and I say so

Tells people he loves Minecraft and Roblox but actually enjoys violent games the most

Comfort food is pizza and his favorite drink is chocolate milk or coca cola. He also loves any type of cookies/chocolate

Loves his weighted blanket and one of comfort items is a stuffed dinosaur

Stuffed animals, drawing and music helps him calm down after nightmares/memories of Miss Stevenson

Only accepts physical affection from Kyle and their parents. His experience with Miss Stevenson changed his reaction to touch

Plays ice hockey and baseball

Hates being kicked/teased. But loves teasing Kyle back and wearing his hat

Big Pewdiepie, Jacksepticeye and DanTDM enjoyer

Loves cartoons, especially Scooby Doo and Chinpokomon (Pokémon)

Swears a lot despite certain adults not liking that he does it

Very protective and caring for Kyle and even if he's younger, he tries to show it the way he can

He hates being sick and despises taking any kind of medicine. He can be very stubborn about this sometimes

[helenstudies]

As much as I love talking about languages I've learned successfully, I've realized it is important for other people to hear how many languages I've given up on to actually retain the five I speak. Long post ahead.

French: I learned it formally for a month but I hated the professors (extremely unprofessional, points out people's clothing even though we're all adults) so I bailed. I've tried to pick it up like three, four times but it never pans out.

Spanish: I learned it through duolingo because it sounds interesting. I gave up after three months and then I retained nothing afterwards.

Russian: I finished an A1 course and also learned it from duolingo and it doesn't work. Idk what to do. It just doesn't stick.

Latin: I know it's very important to learn if you wanna get into western academia (since I'm a literature student) so I learned about a hundred words but they're like. isolated memories. I can't connect them in my head at all.

ASL: Yeah, specifically American Sign Language even though I'll probably never use it. I know about 100 words in ASL but I keep forgetting.

MSL: I tried to learn Myanmar Sign Language since I thought "well, I better learn MSL since it's going to be more common in my life" but it turns out one dialect of MSL is based on ASL but one other dialect is based on BSL (British Sign Language) and no actual resources of either dialect can really be found. So I gave up.

Thai: A lot of my peers learn Thai as a third language so I tried to see if I could get it but I never make it past the consonants.

Sanskrit: Believe it or not, I've tried Sanskrit because it's so beautiful and it's very close to Hindi and stuff. But I also never get past three consonants.

German: Some of my friends are fluent in German. I keep putting off actually signing up for classes but I like to go to Goethe institut library and look at german books.

So there you have it. Tried and failed many many times. I actually think I'll be able to learn at least some of them later. I attended Japanese basic classes for three whole time before I actually passed N4 so I guess it'll be the same.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/730567395513679872/httpswwwtumblrcomolderthannetfic730187969463

I’m the anon here. I’ve heard the stuff ceerosa mentions before about “learning rules is not helpful” but I’m sorry, I think this is a “not all brains work the same” thing, because while I’ve seen that be true for others it’s never been the case for me in language learning. And I’ve done immersion programs. Learning what the patterns are, like how articles change based on case in German or based on several different things including end of the word in Haitian Creole (seriously it’s so unintuitive) is how it stuck. Just having stuff thrown at me doesn’t help. I’m autistic, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s a factor; the other people I know who’ve told me they’re similar are autistic. Autistic brains process enough stuff differently I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s a factor.

But yeah, just to be clear: I’ve seen and read that research. It doesn’t change that it’s not actually true for me.

And the particular way Duolingo throws stuff at you doesn’t seem to work well for anyone, in my anecdotal experience

--

Well... I think we were talking about slightly different things.

Some students have a desire for there to be reasons for language to work how it does, and they mean reasons that make logical sense today, not just "It evolved from this other historical thing". If there's a word that's an exception, they want there to be a reason for that too that isn't "Sometimes there are exceptions, particularly among very common words. Here's a list."

And from that perspective, yeah, we need to curb that impulse because it's not helpful for how languages actually work.

But yes, the pure immersion, no explanation stuff you get with some programs is not that useful, and the research supports this. It's an idea based on a shallow understanding of how small children learn their first language rather than studying how adults acquire foreign ones.

I did a couple of famous summer language intensives, and the way they typically worked was that there was a bunch of memorization homework for the kinds of things that native speakers just say without thinking about it (e.g. "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Christmas" for Americans—there is no why, and there is no innovation, just this set phrase). We then did conversation drills, some free practice coming up with novel sentences, and listened to natural examples in most of the day's classes...

But we had one class that was in English where they laid out the grammar patterns and such very clearly. If we'd been higher level, maybe they would have explained in the target language, but we weren't, so to get us ahead faster, this part was all in English.

Brains do vary, but I'm not sure they vary that much when it comes to these parts of language learning. Some people despise practicing speaking, for example, but they'll still improve more if they're forced to do these tasks they hate than if they do ~for text study~. Another learner who hates the task less might progress faster, but they're not a categorically different type of learner.

A bigger factor is that the really hard part with language study is staying excited about it and sticking with it, so if you enjoy one style of explanation or practice more, having more of it will make you actually stick around, and I'm sure that does vary a lot by learner.

[in-pleasant-company]

Kirsten's Swedish dirndl

Livkjol ("waist skirt"), circa 1700-1799, Nordiska museet

Livstycke (bodice), circa 1825-1850, Nordiska museet

Småland (Värend) from Svenska folkets seder, bruk och klädedrägter by Carl Anders Dahlström, 1863 via Wikimedia Commons

Folkdräkt (Värend), Nordisk familjebok vol.8 Folkdräkt, 1908, via Wikimedia Commons

Folkdräkt (Sunnerbo härad) and Folkdräkt, (Södra Unnaryds härad), Nordisk familjebok vol.8 Folkdräkt, 1908, via Wikimedia Commons

Klänning (dress), circa 1850-1860, Nordiska museet

The Mysteries of Kirsten’s Swedish Clothing - The Limits of Historical Research

This skirt with an attached bodice might be what Kirsten’s outfit was based on. You might think that since it dates to the 18th century, it is not accurate to what Kirsten would have worn in Sweden. The recorded examples of folkdräkt (“folk costume”) from the province of Småland are very similar, although it seems it was more common for bodices and skirts to be separate pieces. They appear to have similar construction and layering as working class clothing from 18th century England. There is an example of a bodice with rattan cane "boning" which would likely have taken the place of a corset for adult women but other examples from the same time period do not have this.

In the 1850s, even farmers like the Larsons were moving out of the folkdräkt and into more modern clothing. Folkdräkt is documented as being worn for special occasions like weddings and church holidays but made in finer fabrics like silk. The couple on horseback is a bride and groom. The modern clothing is simple, like the plaid dress shown here.

To add to the confusion, the designs of regional folkdräkt became more standardized to make them easier to replicate in the 20th century. For modern examples of folkdräkt from Småland, check out http://www.folkdrakt.se/bild/varend/varend.html. (The website owner has asked that pictures not be reposted).

Unfortunately, two books that would greatly increase my understanding of what Kirsten and her family would have worn in Sweden are both impossible to find in the United States, and only available in the Swedish language, although one of the books apparently has an English language index. (The books are Kvinnligt mode under två sekel by Britta Hammar and Pernilla Rasmussen, and Underkläder en Kulturhistoria by the same authors.)

And finally, dirndl is a German word!

[marrowhyena]

Anonymous Coward asked: Do you speak any other languages than english, and if not, considered learning any

I took three years of German in high school, then had a scheduling conflict with the only German IV class, so I became his teaching assistant in a lower German class instead because I liked my teacher a lot. I think my dumb logic as a 13 year old entering high school was that I had to choose a language and I couldn't roll my R's, or whatever. 

 It was a reoccurring novelty on my channel that I would randomly speak or understand some German. Some claimed that it was accent-less, sometimes, or whatever. A bit of a gimmick was that we all chose a German name from a list on day one and would address each other as those names throughout all four years of the class. Twitter, Youtube, and the Xbox 360 all came into existence around 2006, when I was 16 and in the middle of these classes, so a lot of my usernames became Sebastian because that was my not-my-name moniker that I already had ready. 

Yes, I was already basically a furry, but I didn't have a named fursona until 2022 and doubt I would have openly embraced it as my name all the way back then. 

 [As an aside, folks fixate on me mentioning that I was a furry when I was a minor, and then juxtapose that with me making the point that minors probably shouldn't be online. This isn't really a contradiction. First, yeah, I was an unsupervised minor online and that probably wasn't great. But second, I grew up on a very, very different internet than the one that exists today. It's not just about how Twitter makes no effort to separate minors from adult content etc, but also the upsetting way that the internet forms this secondary layer over middle and high school that further enables bullying and paranoia. We know the internet is fucking kids up nowadays. When I talk about having "usernames" in 2006, we're talking about Halo 2 and cat videos. Even when I mention websites that still exist today, they were purely chronological feeds with manually-curated front pages. There was no algorithm as we understand it today. FurAffinity is like the only website that still functions like things did in 2006, and people hate using it for that exact reason lmao]

Anyway that was a surprising amount of my identity in the early years of doing let's plays [2011-2015], insofar as having any distinguishable features whatsoever was your "identity" among a sea of nearly identical gaming channels. I was the guy who played puzzle games, took his time, rambled a lot, spoke some German, and would randomly spout off rock facts because I was also freshly graduating college with a bachelor of science degree in geology. I was surprised by how excited people would get about rock rants. I got excited when I saw basalt columns in Dragon Age Inquisition, but quickly started to notice that they were absolutely everywhere in games, so I started maintaining a gallery that listed them all: https://imgur.com/gallery/columnar-jointing-watch-Alpmz 

I didn't have a particular attraction to German or geology, though. I took German because I was asked to pick a mandatory language class as a young teen, and I took geology because I dropped out of computer science and needed to still get a degree because I was raise to go to college. So in the years since my memory of both has faded significantly. My last German class was in 2007, and my last bit of geology in 2013.

Realistically, the most useful language to learn would probably be Japanese. That might seem unintuitive since everyone in California says Spanish for obvious reasons, but understanding Japanese would actually come in handy for my job pretty regularly. It sure would have helped when I was litigating specific elements of Beastars, that's for sure. Lately I just send screenshots of stuff to Toaster with the caption "heeeeeeelllp" 

 [Smile or comment on the answer here](https://retrospring.net/@Boring_Keith/a/112854073679531772)

[germanschoolabc]

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[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

TFG :: Sign of the Day... this billboard on a highway in Michigan... the swingiest of swing states...

Mary Elaine LeBey

* * * *

What’s at stake in 2024

At least once a week, I receive a note from a parent telling me that their son or daughter will not vote for Biden because he supports Israel. Many (but not all) of those letters ask me to articulate reasons why their son or daughter should vote for Biden, notwithstanding his ongoing support for Israel.

I wrote the following note today in response to a reader who sent a email about his son. I thought it might be helpful to other readers having conversations with adult children who are considering not voting for Biden.

I do not recommend forwarding this list to a son or daughter with a note saying, “Read this.” Conversations about the war in Gaza and support for Biden are difficult and should be approached with caution, respect, deference, and due regard for timing. Consider this list as a resource when the opportunity presents itself for such a discussion.

Here it is:

Trump has threatened to cancel the visas of students protesting in support of Palestinians and “send them home” immediately.

Trump is a much stronger supporter of Netanyahu than Biden and will not put any pressure on Netanyahu to end civilian casualties, while Biden has been putting significant pressure on Netanyahu to avoid civilian casualties.

Trump has promised to round up, imprison, and deport ten million immigrants using the US military, which will cause a humanitarian and civil rights disaster in the US, including the deportation of US citizens based on their surnames, language preference, and ethnicity.

Moreover, supporting Trump increases the likelihood that

Your son’s sisters, girlfriend, and female friends will be demoted to second-class citizens by being denied access to abortions, contraception, and IVF; they and their doctors will face ruinous criminal and civil penalties, even for miscarriages that seem “suspicious” to the fundamentalist police.

Your son’s LGBTQ friends will lose their right to marry and can be legally discriminated against by anyone who claims a religious basis for doing so.

Your son’s Black and Hispanic friends will see their right to vote diluted or denied entirely.

Trump will pull out of the Paris Climate Accords, threatening your son’s health, safety, and economic security and that of his children.

Trump will weaken NATO, increasing the likelihood that your son and his friends will be sent to fight in conflicts in Europe to stop Russia’s advances against former USSR republics.

Your son’s friends will continue to be saddled with crushing student debt.

Your son and his friends will lose guaranteed access to healthcare through the Affordable Care Act.

Your son’s parents’ economic security will be threatened by cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

Rights to free speech on social media will be suppressed when they do not comport with MAGA ideology.

The DOJ and FBI will turn into the equivalent of the German Stasi—the personal guard of a despotic ruler.

The Supreme Court will be further stacked with reactionary justices who will reign during most of your son’s lifetime, implementing white Christian nationalism in place of an open, tolerant, pluralistic democracy that maintains the separation between church and state.

If your son is still pursuing an education, his academic curriculum will be determined by the likes of Moms for Liberty, the Federalist Society, Steven Miller, Ron DeSantis, and Marjorie Taylor Green

The Civil Service will be replaced with MAGA loyalists who will ignore the Constitution and laws of the US to implement Trump's policies of revenge and hate

Your son should lobby Joe Biden to change policy, protest the administration’s policy, and organize resistance to that policy all he wants. But threatening to withhold his vote is wrong and self-destructive. It will encourage others to abandon Biden by giving legitimacy to the idea that there is an equivalency between Biden’s support for Israel and the multitude of deprivations and injuries Trump will inflict on hundreds of millions of Americans during a second Trump term.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[therentyoupay]

How many languages do you know?

💕 english is my first language but i speak both spanish and english at home! i've been studying spanish for 20+ years, i speak spanish exclusively with my husbands' family (they only speak spanish!), and am comfortable getting my point across on most everyday-life things. i read in spanish for fun/to study (i forced my husband to read la sociedad de la nieve with me when we both got obsessed with the movie on netflix, even though he's not a reader at all haha), and we have a house rule about always watching movies in the language in which they were created EXCEPT FOR SHREK, which we both agree is extremely well done and just as funny (if not even funnier) in spanish. we do a lot of code-switching for the most part, and whenever we have kids, we'll follow the One Parent One Language plan, except for when we're out at restaurants, because we always ONLY speak spanish while going out to eat, it's just habit at this point. 😂 i once tried to write fic in spanish back in the early 2010s while living in spain but i felt that i didn't have all the vocab that i needed to give my writing the same vibe as in my first language, so i haven't tried writing fic in spanish since... (maybe i should??) for now i content myself with reading larivera's (@laurakrivera) spanish fic!! however, my academic!professional!spanish is much more developed than my fic!spanish writing style, lol, so when i publish my non-fiction book in english, i will work on writing the spanish translations myself (and force my husband to help me lmao)

i learned japanese fundamentals (e.g., basic vocab/phrases, word order, hiragana, katakana, some core kanji) when i was 12 (like most inuyasha-obsessed kids, maybe?? 🤣) and i learned a LOT when i lived there for a year and a half as an adult! but i never took any formal classes, it was all self-taught and in the streets (LITERALLY lmao, shoutout to the people of tokyo). i wasn't allowed to speak japanese at all in my job, so i turned to apps like hellotalk to practice and make friends who really wanted to engage in language exchange. (duolingo didn't add japanese as a language option until after i came back! 🤣😭) so i was just out there in the wild, picking it all up as i went along. i understand a lot more than i can speak, but i could probably hold a pretty convincing conversation with someone for 2 minutes before it became clear that i'd exhausted my limited repertoire. 🤣 i'd get by with a lot of discourse markers and reaction expressions and いいね! and 本当に!? and そうですね 😊 before i fell off the track completely lol.

i did 3 months of german on duolingo to prepare for a conference i presented at in austria a few years ago! helped with everyday basics, but i'm not currently investing in this language right now since i don't have many opportunities to use it in daily life like i do my other languages.

also just started learning korean literally five days ago. still working on the vowels. 🤣 i'm learning for friends, for potential work opportunities, for K-POP joking joking or am i, and also i'm a big believer in the philosophy of keeping the mind fresh and getting excited about Being "Bad" at Something every once in a while, as i purposefully Try New Things to ward off complacency, keep my brain happy and sharp, and remind myself that i can Do Hard Things. (of course, once you start to learn so many languages, your metalinguistic and metacognitive pattern-seeking skills really kick in, so approaching korean is a lot different than how it was in my other language learning experiences, so far 🤣) stay tuned, i guess haha!!

i guess you can see why i'm so obsessed with the idea of elsa being a serial polyglot/multilingual queen in basically every universe i write her in, not only because it fits with her upbringing/education/oryal duties but also i feel like elsa would appreciate all instances in life in which she could exert control over her surroundings by finding patterns and "rules" in languages and finding beauty in expressing so many meanings through so many different avenues when she herself had so much trouble expressing herself at all for so long should i write a one-shot about elsa's multilingualism as it pertains to NO KRIS NO STOP YOU HAVE WORK NOW KRIS NO

[ursaius]

Arlie/Iluvcapys (on here and Instagram) are sending information over to Claudia. Their posts claiming to having a friendship of over three years is interesting considering Claudia is 21, a full grown ADULT and this friend is what 18? I checked Claudias following and they follow a lot of minors. This is a little odd. As per your previous asks this ‘friend’ worded their question to sound like they were on the fence about their friendship with Claudia but now Claudia is posting about how their “friend is trying to clear their name and speak for them” so this friend had no intentions of cutting off a “friendship” where they aren’t even aware of who they are talking to speaks volumes! Mutuals have also let me know this friend is in their DMS sending screenshots acting like Claudia has no idea about them messaging your mutuals but Claudia is well aware. Sure Arlie “apologized” for their involvement in the lies but they had no intentions of doing the right thing if they continue to snake around on your asks and sending it to Claudia acting like they aren’t speaking. They are most definitely race faking as Mexican. As when they made their apology video to toothfairyfemme, they mispronounced “elle” as “L”. Clocked that immediately any person that speaks Spanish knows how this is pronounced as “eh-yeh” well, Claudia then decided to make a post BULLYING their followers about how “elle” is pronounced as “eh-yeh” and how “aLL NoN sPAnISh SpEAkErS nEeD tO gEt iT rIgHt.” This is extremely humiliating and hopefully humbling for them. Them claiming in a now deleted Tumblr post that “if they didn’t love you they wouldn’t have told you the truth” but let’s be real. If they ACTUALLY loved you, there wouldn’t have been a truth to reveal from your lies.

Yeah I figured that was the case with the arlie stuff but If he had somestuff he was gonna share with the class I wasn't gonna stop him. If he wants to send the shit I'm saying over to Claudia be my fucking guest I'd say it to their face if I gave half a shit about them but I don't, so I don't. And yeah I did find the whole pronoun thing weird as hell but I don't speak Spanish or French I only know English and I'm trying to learn German, may god rest my soul. So any other language stuff 🤷 I kinda gloss over cause I don't know anything about it. Anyway if they actually love me they wouldn't have done it in the first place. Love comes from a place of honesty and vulnerability and they gave neither. I was the only one being honest I was the only one being vulnerable. Like be so fucking real. They're not the one this will be attached to. They can delete all their accounts and start a new with no consequences no one knows what they look like. I plaster my face everywhere this is attached to me whether I like it or not y'all know what I look like. I will forever be know as that pathetic little butch that got catfished by some wacko.

[tearsinthemist]

Want to learn something new

Want to learn something new in 2022??

Absolute beginner adult ballet series (fabulous beginning teacher)

40 piano lessons for beginners (some of the best explanations for piano I’ve ever seen)

Excellent basic crochet video series

Basic knitting (probably the best how to knit video out there)

Pre-Free Figure Skate Levels A-D guides and practice activities (each video builds up with exercises to the actual moves!)

How to draw character faces video (very funny, surprisingly instructive?)

Another drawing character faces video

Literally my favorite art pose hack

Tutorial of how to make a whole ass Stardew Valley esque farming game in Gamemaker Studios 2??

Introduction to flying small aircrafts

French/Dutch/Fishtail braiding

Playing the guitar for beginners (well paced and excellent instructor)

Playing the violin for beginners (really good practical tips mixed in)

Color theory in digital art (not of the children’s hospital variety)

Retake classes you hated but now there’s zero stakes:

Calculus 1 (full semester class)

Learn basic statistics (free textbook)

Introduction to college physics (free textbook)

Introduction to accounting (free textbook)

Learn a language:

Ancient Greek

Latin

Spanish

German

Japanese (grammar guide) (for dummies)

French

Russian (pretty good cyrillic guide!)

Jan 2, 2023

Want to learn something new in 2023??

Cooking with flavor bootcamp (used what I learned in this a LOT this year)

Beekeeping 101

Learn Interior Design from the British Academy of Interior Design (free to audit course - just choose the free option when you register)

Video on learning to read music that actually helped me??

How to use and sew with a sewing machine

How to ride a bike (listen. some of us never learned, and that's okay.)

How to cornrow-braid hair (I have it on good authority that this video is a godsend for doing your baby niece's black hair)

Making mead at home (I actually did this last summer and it was SO good)

How to garden

Basics of snowboarding (proceed with caution)

How to draw for people who (think they) suck at art (I know this website looks like a 2003 monstrosity, but the tutorials are excellent)

Pixel art for beginners so you can make the next great indie game

Go (back) to school

Introduction to Astronomy (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)

Principals of Economics (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)

Introduction to philosophy (free college course)

Computer science basics (full-semester Harvard course free online)

Learn a language

Japanese for Dummies (link fix from 2022)

Ukrainian

Portuguese (Brazil)

American Sign Language (as somebody who works with Deaf people professionally, I also strongly advise you to read up on Deaf/HoH culture and history!)

Chinese (Mandarin, Simplified)

Quenya (LOTR fantasy elf language)

Dec 26, 2023

Want to learn something new in 2024??

Beginner-oriented video on how to sail

This guy has so many videos on baking different types of bread. SO very many.

Coding in Python - one of the most flexible and adaptable high-level programming languages out there - explained through projects making video games

Learn to swim! (for adult learners. I don’t care if you live in Kansas or Mali or wherever. LEARN TO SWIM.)

Learn how quantum mechanics works. Then read some more about it

[Learn about quantum mechanics again, but in a more advanced engineering/mathematics class. Then read more about the math and physics of it]

Poetry Handbook, by Mary Oliver

Something I learned this year: how to sew a quilt (Here’s a very easy beginning pattern that looks amazing and can be done with pre-cut fabric!)

How to hit the ball in softball

Tutorial video on what is under the hood of most (gas) cars + weird engine sounds and what they mean

Full beginner mechanics technical training, if you want to go more in depth

Playlist on how car engine physics work if you want to go ultra in depth

Lecture series on architecture design through study of buildings

How (American income) taxes & tax law work (choose “audit course” at checkout for free class)

Pickleball for beginners (so you can finally join your neighbor/friend/distant cousin who is always insisting you join their team)

+ Para-Pickleball for beginners (for mobility aid users!)

School is so much more fun when there’s no tests:

American Law - Contracts

Shakespeare’s Life and Plays

Fairy Tales: Meanings, Messages, and Morals

Modern Poetry

World History [Part 1, Part 2]

Learn a language:

Arabic + Resource Guide compiled from Reddit (includes info on different dialects)

Chinese (Cantonese) (audio)

Urdu (frequently recommended course on Reddit) + Resource Guide

Yucatec Maya