Language practice thread

A forum dedicated to the studying of natural languages and for discussions in languages other than English.
User avatar
Dormouse559
moderator
moderator
Posts: 2945
Joined: 10 Nov 2012 20:52
Location: California

Re: Language practice thread

Post by Dormouse559 »

Visinoid wrote:"Connaissance" ez doa benetan hora.
Connaissance wasn't really fit there.
Est-ce que "croyance" est le meilleur mot ? Pour moi, ça implique que l'existence du finnois et de l'islandais n'est pas prouvée.
Is "croyance" the right word? To me it implies that Finnish and Icelandic haven't been proven to exist.
GrandPiano
mayan
mayan
Posts: 2080
Joined: 11 Jan 2015 23:22
Location: USA

Re: Language practice thread

Post by GrandPiano »

shimobaatar wrote:
GrandPiano wrote:
shimobaatar wrote:In meiner eigenen Erfahrung, viele Englischsprecher glauben, dass Englisch die schwerste Sprache für Ausländer zu lernen ist.
In my own experience, many English speakers think that English is the hardest language for foreigners to learn.

Pero ellos todavía quieren que todo el mundo hablarlo. [:'(]
But they still want everyone to speak it.

Estoy seguro que esas dos oraciones pasadas son totalmente incorrectas. Ésta también.
I'm sure those last two sentences are totally wrong. This one, too.
什么?!
What?!
Worüber hast du eine Frage?
What do you have a question about?
最后的句子很吊诡。
That last sentence is paradoxical.
shimobaatar
korean
korean
Posts: 10373
Joined: 12 Jul 2013 23:09
Location: UTC-04:00

Re: Language practice thread

Post by shimobaatar »

GrandPiano wrote:
shimobaatar wrote:
GrandPiano wrote:
shimobaatar wrote:In meiner eigenen Erfahrung, viele Englischsprecher glauben, dass Englisch die schwerste Sprache für Ausländer zu lernen ist.
In my own experience, many English speakers think that English is the hardest language for foreigners to learn.

Pero ellos todavía quieren que todo el mundo hablarlo. [:'(]
But they still want everyone to speak it.

Estoy seguro que esas dos oraciones pasadas son totalmente incorrectas. Ésta también.
I'm sure those last two sentences are totally wrong. This one, too.
什么?!
What?!
Worüber hast du eine Frage?
What do you have a question about?
最后的句子很吊诡。
That last sentence is paradoxical.
… Warum glaubst du das?
… Why do you think that?
GrandPiano
mayan
mayan
Posts: 2080
Joined: 11 Jan 2015 23:22
Location: USA

Re: Language practice thread

Post by GrandPiano »

嗯……我猜想不吊诡……仍然,很奇怪。
Well... I suppose it's not paradoxical... Still, it's very strange.
Spoiler:
I just feel like the "this one, too" part was a bit silly, that's all.
User avatar
Dormouse559
moderator
moderator
Posts: 2945
Joined: 10 Nov 2012 20:52
Location: California

Re: Language practice thread

Post by Dormouse559 »

C'est comme une phrase qui dit: Cette phrase est fausse.
It's like a sentence that says: This sentence is false.

Si la phrase est vraie, elle est fausse, mais si elle est fausse, elle est vraie, mais si …
If the sentence is true, it is false, but if it is false, it is true, but if …
User avatar
Thrice Xandvii
runic
runic
Posts: 2698
Joined: 25 Nov 2012 10:13
Location: Carnassus

Re: Language practice thread

Post by Thrice Xandvii »

(Demonstratives aren't accented, Shimo.)
Image
shimobaatar
korean
korean
Posts: 10373
Joined: 12 Jul 2013 23:09
Location: UTC-04:00

Re: Language practice thread

Post by shimobaatar »

Ahhh, OK. Ich soll erklären. Ich meinte grammatikalisch falsch, nicht sachlich falsch.
Ohhh, OK. I should explain. I meant grammatically wrong, not factually wrong.

(I wasn't confident in my word order and word choice for those three sentences, so I said I thought they were wrong. I didn't realize that could be interpreted in another way, let alone as a paradox.)
Thrice Xandvii wrote:(Demonstratives aren't accented, Shimo.)
Mis profesores y Wiktionary no están de acuerdo.
My teachers and Wiktionary disagree.

(I've always been taught accent = demonstrative pronoun and no accent = demonstrative adjective. Wiktionary says demonstrative pronouns don't have to be accented if there isn't any ambiguity, but not that they have to be unaccented. I hope I don't sound rude; I don't mean to.)
shimobaatar
korean
korean
Posts: 10373
Joined: 12 Jul 2013 23:09
Location: UTC-04:00

Re: Language practice thread

Post by shimobaatar »

今日、りんごを食べた。
Kyō, ringo o tabeta.
Today, I ate an apple.

Kann man 「今日」 als Adverb benutzen? Und ist die Wortstellung dieses japanischen Satzes richtig? Wo stellt man Adverbien?
Can you use 「今日」 as an adverb? And is the word order of this Japanese sentence correct? Where do you put adverbs?

Quiero enseñarme muchos idiomas. Por ejemplo:
I want to teach myself so many languages. For example:
Spoiler:
Ik wil Nederlands spreken, maar tegenwoordig kan ik alleen Duits "relexifien". [D:]
I want to speak Dutch, but currently I can only relexify German.

Analogamente, il mio italiano è sostanzialmente spagnolo… [:'(]
Similarly, my Italian is basically Spanish.
Pero no estoy seguro que sé realmente cómo… ¿Tengo incluso tiempo suficiente?
But I'm not sure I really know how… Do I even have enough time?
thetha
mayan
mayan
Posts: 1545
Joined: 29 Apr 2011 01:43

Re: Language practice thread

Post by thetha »

Hoy comes tú sólo una manzana? Debes de tener hambre!
You only ate an apple today? You must be hungry!
shimobaatar
korean
korean
Posts: 10373
Joined: 12 Jul 2013 23:09
Location: UTC-04:00

Re: Language practice thread

Post by shimobaatar »

Teddy wrote:Hoy comes tú sólo una manzana? Debes de tener hambre!
You only ate an apple today? You must be hungry!
Sí. Por favor, envía ayuda.
Yes. Please, send help.
User avatar
qwed117
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4094
Joined: 20 Nov 2014 02:27

Re: Language practice thread

Post by qwed117 »

shimobaatar wrote:
Teddy wrote:Hoy comes tú sólo una manzana? Debes de tener hambre!
You only ate an apple today? You must be hungry!
Sí. Por favor, envía ayuda.
Yes. Please, send help.
TENGO TACOS
I HAVE TACOS
Spoiler:
My minicity is [http://zyphrazia.myminicity.com/xml]Zyphrazia and [http://novland.myminicity.com/xml]Novland.

Minicity has fallen :(
The SqwedgePad
shimobaatar
korean
korean
Posts: 10373
Joined: 12 Jul 2013 23:09
Location: UTC-04:00

Re: Language practice thread

Post by shimobaatar »

qwed117 wrote:
shimobaatar wrote:
Teddy wrote:Hoy comes tú sólo una manzana? Debes de tener hambre!
You only ate an apple today? You must be hungry!
Sí. Por favor, envía ayuda.
Yes. Please, send help.
TENGO TACOS
I HAVE TACOS
¿Qué tipo de tacos?
What kind of tacos?

Quiero decir… ¡Gracias! ¡Voy a sobrevivir! ¡Me salvaste!
I mean… Thank you! I'm going to survive! You saved me!
User avatar
kilenc
cuneiform
cuneiform
Posts: 91
Joined: 27 Mar 2015 23:14
Location: louisville
Contact:

Re: Language practice thread

Post by kilenc »

shimobaatar wrote:Pero no estoy seguro que sé realmente cómo… ¿Tengo incluso tiempo suficiente?
But I'm not sure I really know how… Do I even have enough time?
creo que necesitas usar el subjuntivo en este caso, como: "no estoy seguro que sepa ..."
(i think that you need to use subjunctive in this case, like: "i'm not sure that i know...")

sobre tacos--actualmente, prefiero los burritos porque son más fáciles (siempre hay desastre cuando como los tacos).
(about tacos--actually, i prefer burritos because they're easier (there's always a destastre when i eat tacos))
eventually ill work out a good conlang :)
GrandPiano
mayan
mayan
Posts: 2080
Joined: 11 Jan 2015 23:22
Location: USA

Re: Language practice thread

Post by GrandPiano »

shimobaatar wrote:Pero no estoy seguro que sé realmente cómo… ¿Tengo incluso tiempo suficiente?
But I'm not sure I really know how… Do I even have enough time?
你有你给你自己的时间。
You have as much time as you give yourself.

(Can someone please tell me if that was grammatically correct?)
(Also, that statement is pretty meaningless; I just wanted to try to say that sort of sentence in Mandarin)
shimobaatar
korean
korean
Posts: 10373
Joined: 12 Jul 2013 23:09
Location: UTC-04:00

Re: Language practice thread

Post by shimobaatar »

kilenc wrote:creo que necesitas usar el subjuntivo en este caso, como: "no estoy seguro que sepa ..."
(i think that you need to use subjunctive in this case, like: "i'm not sure that i know...")
Ich habe den Konjunktiv noch nicht (auf Spanisch oder Deutsch) gelernt… aber danke.
I haven't learned the subjunctive yet (in Spanish or German)… but thanks.
kilenc wrote:sobre tacos--actualmente, prefiero los burritos porque son más fáciles (siempre hay desastre cuando como los tacos).
(about tacos--actually, i prefer burritos because they're easier (there's always a destastre when i eat tacos))
En general, prefiero burritos también.
In general, I prefer burritos too.
GrandPiano wrote:
shimobaatar wrote:Pero no estoy seguro que sé realmente cómo… ¿Tengo incluso tiempo suficiente?
But I'm not sure I really know how… Do I even have enough time?
你有你给你自己的时间。
You have as much time as you give yourself.
Ja, wer braucht Freunde, Familie, und andere solche Sachen? Ich soll aufhören, zur Schule zu gehen! [:P]
Yeah, who needs friends, family, and other such things? I should stop going to school!
GrandPiano wrote:(Also, that statement is pretty meaningless; I just wanted to try to say that sort of sentence in Mandarin)
Ich habe diesen Satz gesehen.
I saw this sentence.

Espero que no crees que estoy realmente irritado. [:)]
I hope you don't think I'm actually annoyed.
User avatar
Znex
roman
roman
Posts: 1036
Joined: 12 Aug 2013 14:05
Location: Australia

Re: Language practice thread

Post by Znex »

GrandPiano wrote:你有你给你自己的时间。
You have as much time as you give yourself.

(Can someone please tell me if that was grammatically correct?)
(Also, that statement is pretty meaningless; I just wanted to try to say that sort of sentence in Mandarin)
It looks like the Mandarin equivalent of "as much as" sentences has a sort of "PHRASE like PHRASE 一样多/is the same amount" structure.

So the sentence should actually be more like:
你有空儿就象你给自己空儿一样多。 (空(儿) indicates usable time as opposed to 时间 which is minutes, hours sort of time)
lit. You have time like you give yourself time is the same amount.
:eng: : [tick] | :grc: : [:|] | :chn: :isr: :wls: : [:S] | :deu: :ell: :rus: : [:x]
Conlangs: Hawntow, Yorkish, misc.
she/her
User avatar
DesEsseintes
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4331
Joined: 31 Mar 2013 13:16

Re: Language practice thread

Post by DesEsseintes »

@Znex and GrandPiano
I'm afraid those attempts sound somewhat unnatural and a bit confusing.

Let me try to convey the literal meaning:

能给自己空出多少时间,你就有多少时间。
néng gêi zìjî kōngchū duōshâo shíjiān, nî jiù yôu duōshâo shíjiān.

can give self empty_out how_much time you then have how_much time

This sentence is far from elegant, and Chinese people don't really express themselves in this fashion.

I would go for sth much simpler like:

如果你愿意,时间一定能挤出来。
rúguô nî yuànyì, shíjiān yídìng néng jî chūlai.

if you be_willing time definitely can squeeze come_out

This may seem extremely "unsatisfying" for an English speaker, but if you're going to study Chinese in depth, be ready for a lot of such disappointments.

For ease of typing, I've used circumflexes to mark 3rd tone throughout.
User avatar
Thrice Xandvii
runic
runic
Posts: 2698
Joined: 25 Nov 2012 10:13
Location: Carnassus

Re: Language practice thread

Post by Thrice Xandvii »

shimobaatar wrote:Mis profesores y Wiktionary no están de acuerdo.
My teachers and Wiktionary disagree.

(I've always been taught accent = demonstrative pronoun and no accent = demonstrative adjective. Wiktionary says demonstrative pronouns don't have to be accented if there isn't any ambiguity, but not that they have to be unaccented. I hope I don't sound rude; I don't mean to.)
¡Qué interesante! Pensaba que los demostrativos no necesitan accentos porque ellos sólos están usados para desambigüar con los conjugaciones del verbo "estar." Aparece que era incorrecto.
How interesting! I thought that demonstratives didn't need accents because they were only used to disambiguate with conjugations of the verb "estar." It seems that I was wrong.
Image
User avatar
Znex
roman
roman
Posts: 1036
Joined: 12 Aug 2013 14:05
Location: Australia

Re: Language practice thread

Post by Znex »

DesEsseintes wrote:@Znex and GrandPiano
I'm afraid those attempts sound somewhat unnatural and a bit confusing.

Let me try to convey the literal meaning:

能给自己空出多少时间,你就有多少时间。
néng gêi zìjî kōngchū duōshâo shíjiān, nî jiù yôu duōshâo shíjiān.

can give self empty_out how_much time you then have how_much time

This sentence is far from elegant, and Chinese people don't really express themselves in this fashion.

I would go for sth much simpler like:

如果你愿意,时间一定能挤出来。
rúguô nî yuànyì, shíjiān yídìng néng jî chūlai.

if you be_willing time definitely can squeeze come_out

This may seem extremely "unsatisfying" for an English speaker, but if you're going to study Chinese in depth, be ready for a lot of such disappointments.

For ease of typing, I've used circumflexes to mark 3rd tone throughout.
哎啊,我该记得习惯用语翻译不好!所以我一点儿难过。 [:S]
Argh, I should have remembered that idioms don't translate well! Now I feel a bit sad.
:eng: : [tick] | :grc: : [:|] | :chn: :isr: :wls: : [:S] | :deu: :ell: :rus: : [:x]
Conlangs: Hawntow, Yorkish, misc.
she/her
clawgrip
MVP
MVP
Posts: 2257
Joined: 24 Jun 2012 07:33
Location: Tokyo

Re: Language practice thread

Post by clawgrip »

This is a really tricky one to translate. I was going to try doing it myself, but while thinking up the beginning of it, I found the perfect ending already written by someone else.

時間の無さは予算があればどうにかなる。
Jikan no nasa wa yosan ga areba dō ni ka naru.
time GEN not.exist-N TOP budget NOM exist-COND how to Q.COMPL become
Super-awkward translation: "Even if you don't have enough time, things will work out if you budget it."
Locked