Seriousness cannot afford Rosetta Stone, what do you suggest for language learning ? - Page 3

Joebill · 07-09-2010, 06:05 PM

I have watched one of the GitS movies in Japanese with sub-titles.

I had a problem telling the male and female voices apart. I think it might be due to unfamiliarity of the voice patterns.

I grew up near Spanish speakers. I took Spanish in high school. I took some Italian at university, major change meant I left there. So I only got part of a semester.

Which brings me to this thought. I have noticed that non-romance languages are difficult for me. I have tried another non-romance language, same difficulties. And I do want to learn.

I don't know, but it could be, my brain doesn't handle seeing non-romance language words, syllabry, etc. and connecting them with the sounds.

I did talk to someone at work who spent his childhood living in Hong Kong and he told me that Japanese, unlike Spanish, uses both hemisphers of the brain. He felt that was my problem.

No idea myself.

Mr. Dalliard · 07-14-2010, 03:59 AM

Good point about non-romance languages. However, you should just look at the extra work involved as part of the fun.

That said, I am really enjoying studying French again, for the first time in two decades - the fact that around 60% of English words came from French really speeds things up vocabulary-memorization-wise. Conjugation and gender are another story though.

One more thing: do not shy away from Kanji, it is not as daunting as it looks. At the very least learn to read Hiragana & Katakana (tip: learn them simultaneously) as ro-maji is useless.

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07-09-2010, 06:05 PM	#31
Joebill Fanatic Posts: 517 Karma: 459442 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Alpha Centauri's Library of Alexandria Device: Pandigital Novel	I have watched one of the GitS movies in Japanese with sub-titles. I had a problem telling the male and female voices apart. I think it might be due to unfamiliarity of the voice patterns. I grew up near Spanish speakers. I took Spanish in high school. I took some Italian at university, major change meant I left there. So I only got part of a semester. Which brings me to this thought. I have noticed that non-romance languages are difficult for me. I have tried another non-romance language, same difficulties. And I do want to learn. I don't know, but it could be, my brain doesn't handle seeing non-romance language words, syllabry, etc. and connecting them with the sounds. I did talk to someone at work who spent his childhood living in Hong Kong and he told me that Japanese, unlike Spanish, uses both hemisphers of the brain. He felt that was my problem. No idea myself.

07-14-2010, 03:59 AM	#32
Mr. Dalliard Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 35 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Osaka, Japan Device: Kindle 3	Good point about non-romance languages. However, you should just look at the extra work involved as part of the fun. That said, I am really enjoying studying French again, for the first time in two decades - the fact that around 60% of English words came from French really speeds things up vocabulary-memorization-wise. Conjugation and gender are another story though. One more thing: do not shy away from Kanji, it is not as daunting as it looks. At the very least learn to read Hiragana & Katakana (tip: learn them simultaneously) as ro-maji is useless.

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