Lately, I've been trying to get back into German - while I have studied it for a long time, I never managed to get it to the same level as my English. Currently reading my first ever actual German book (not comics, not a graded reader), and - to my surprise - it's nowhere near as difficult as I thought it would be. It seems the real challenge will indeed be the active usage of the language - speaking, writing. Anyone has tips for that? #german #languages #foreignlanguage #languagelearning #CEFR

Japanese word of the week!
店 みせ (mise) - shop
その店はいもだけがうっている。= That shop only sells potatoes.
#japanese #foreignlanguage #languagelearning

Japanese word of the week!
お茶 おちゃ (ocha) - tea
お茶はあついけどときどきあつくない。= Tea is hot, but sometimes it's not.
#japanese #foreignlanguage #languagelearning

Japanese word of the week!
俳句 はいく (haiku) - haiku
みじかすぎるのでこれは俳句じゃない。= This isn't a haiku, because it's too short.
#japanese #foreignlanguage #languagelearning

Japanese word of the week!
見る みる (miru) - to see/to look
私はいぬが見た。ちゃいろでした。= I saw a dog. It was brown.
#japanese #foreignlanguage #languagelearning

Japanese word of the week!
卵 たまご (tamago) - egg
なんだ！この卵はチョコじゃない！ = What the heck!? This egg isn't chocolate!
#japanese #foreignlanguage #languagelearning

I have studied four different (non-English) languages at various points but I never got proficient at any. Some are more fun and some are more useful. I’d really like to lean into one. Should I favor the fun or the useful? #LanguageStudy #ForeignLanguage #Language

A quotation from Shakespeare

CASSIUS: Did Cicero say anything?
CASCA: Ay, he spoke Greek.
CASSIUS: To what effect?
CASCA Nay, an I tell you that, I’ll ne’er look you i’ th’ face again. But those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads. But for mine own part, it was Greek to me.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 289ff (1.2.289-295) (1599)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/shakespeare-william/…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #foreignlanguage #ignorance #incomprehensibility #obscurity #other #uncertainty

https://www.alojapan.com/1234734/survey-japanese-people-have-no-confidence-in-their-english-but-tourists-say-its-great/ Survey: Japanese People Have No Confidence In Their English – But Tourists Say It’s Great #English #ForeignLanguage #Japan #JapanNews #Japanese #JapaneseNews #Languages #news Japan has more tourists pouring in than ever. It also has more foreigners taking up residence. Like it or not, English tends to be the lingua franca that bridges cultures. However, a recent survey by a language education company reveals that some Japanese peo…

Japanese word of the week!
魚 さかな (sakana) - fish
あなたのとうさんは魚に食べられた = Your father was eaten by a fish.
#japanese #foreignlanguage #languagelearning

🗣️ Skip expensive classes! Learn any language with these 5 proven tricks from a world traveler! ✈️🌍

Read more: https://flip.it/lDwLOT

#languagelearning #foreignlanguage #polyglot

Japanese word of the week!
食べる たべる (taberu) - to eat
私はすべてのケーキが食べた = I ate all the cake.
#japanese #foreignlanguage #languagelearning

Japanese word of the week!
私 わたし (watashi) - I/me
私は私です = I am me.
#japanese #foreignlanguage #languagelearning

Only 2 #Oscar nominated movies in this year's list of nominees for #BestPicture remaining to be seen.

#ImStillHere (2025) and #EmiliaPerez (2024). Both #ForeignLanguage films that will require my attention in order to read the #subtitles.

Tried finding a #streaming source for them but couldn't find any. So, I'm going to have to watch them #OnScreen.

"I'm still here" will be playing at my local #AMC on 2/7 & I already bought a ticket to see it.

"Emilia Perez" is playing at what seems to be random locations for just a few days at a time all over the #SFBA. The best time/location for me to see it is in #WalnutCreek on Feb 25th which will still be before Oscar show this year on March 2nd.

So, I should be able to see all 10 films nominated for Best Picture by then.🙂

"I'm Still Here" has gotten wide praise from the critics but "Emilia Perez" has been almost universally panned & I hope it's not as "bad" as they say it is.

A quotation from Jerome, Jerome K.:

«
It is at school […] that he learns of the importance attached by the French nation to pens, ink, and paper. “Have you pens, ink, and paper?” is the first question asked by one Frenchman of another on their meeting. The other fellow has not any of them, as a rule, but says that the uncle of his brother has got them …
»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/jerome-jermome-k/71640/

#quote #quotes #quotation #education #language #school #foreignlanguage #French

The department’s National Security Education Program defunded Chinese flagship programs at Brigham Young University, San Francisco State University, and the Universities of Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. That leaves Arizona State University as the only government-funded intensive Chinese program in the west US.

In the past year, West Virginia University eliminated almost three-quarters of its faculty positions and got rid of all #foreignlanguage majors.

- From Chronicle of Higher Education

As an international student, you will get an IELTS scholarship to study in the USA, the UK, Australia, etc. But what are the eligibility criteria, benefits, and important documents for the scholarship?

Want to know more Click on: https://bit.ly/ielts-scholarship-for-2024

#ieltscoaching #ieltsmocktest #ieltspreparation #ieltsscholarship #scholarships #ieltsexam #ieltstest #ieltsscholarship2024 #englishlanguagetest #englishlanguage #foreignlanguage #mystudia

Have you ever successfully used your limited foreign language vocabulary in a totally unknown situation?

Just had a win using my extra basic #Spanish to inquire about singing lessons — no tech help, just me and the language. Totally nailed it!

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#Valencia #Spain #LanguageLearning #Polyglot #SpeakingSuccess #CommunicationWins #LanguageBarrier #ForeignLanguage #LanguageSkills #Linguistics #Multilingual #CulturalExchange #LearningSpanish #SpeakingSpanish #LanguageVictory #NoTechChallenge

Navigating the difficult task of teaching oneself Italian through the marvels of AI voice dubbing is a 21st-century twist on the ancient wisdom of “Physician, heal thyself.” That age-old saying, ripped from the heart of biblical narratives, pushes us towards self-reflection and repair before we set out to fix or guide others. When we apply this idea to the adventure of self-learning Italian — or any foreign language! — by using our own voices echoed back to us in Italian through AI wizardry, welp, it’s like we’re living in a high-tech remix of that proverb.

Hey, this whole DIY Italian-learning gig, powered by AI, is a masterclass in “Student, Teach Thyself.” You start out wanting to bridge the gap between your native English and Italian, relying on smart tech to mirror your words back in a language that’s foreign to your ears. It’s a fascinating process, really. You’re both teacher and student, the healer and the healed, using your own spoken words as the building blocks for a new linguistic edifice.

Think of it as tackling your own linguistic shortcomings head-on. You’re in the driver’s seat, steering through the intricacies of Italian grammar and pronunciation with nothing but your determination and a bit of AI magic. It’s a testament to human resilience and adaptability, sure, but it’s also a bit of a solitary quest — a story that requires you to face your own “linguistic ailments” without a traditional guide or classroom setting.

Drawing a parallel between “Physician, heal thyself” and “Student, Teach Thyself” opens up a whole new perspective on self-improvement and education. The original saying throws a spotlight on the irony of healing, or teaching, others without first addressing our own flaws or gaps in knowledge. Similarly, jumping into learning Italian with AI as your only companion requires a leap of faith — a belief in your own ability to overcome language barriers through self-directed study.

While the biblical proverb might have hinted at the skepticism Jesus faced from his hometown crowd, our modern-day language-learning scenario celebrates the individual’s initiative to tackle personal challenges head-on. There’s a bit of skepticism here too, though. It’s about trusting not just in yourself but in the power of technology to faithfully translate your intentions and nuances into another language.

This blend of self-teaching Italian mirrors the broader, more universal pathway of self-improvement. It’s not just about acquiring a new language; it’s about embracing the challenge of learning in an unorthodox way, pushing the boundaries of traditional education, and discovering the joys and frustrations of relying on oneself (and one’s chosen tech tools) for growth.

Here’s how I discovered to use my own content, in my own voice, to spin myself around and become my own Italian tutor!

We start with the basics. A podcast file recorded by me in English:

Human-AI Intersection: Creativity, Education, and the Future of Learning

ORIGINAL ENGLISH:
The original Human Meme podcast file in English.

And, here’s the PR blurp for that episode: “Let’s start with history. Art, in all its forms, has been a cornerstone of human civilization. From the cave paintings of Lascaux to the masterpieces of the Renaissance, from the haunting melodies of ancient folk songs to the boundary-pushing soundscapes of modern music, art has been our companion through every stage of human development. It’s how we’ve expressed our deepest emotions, our greatest aspirations, and our most profound questions.”

So, now, with the finished podcast episode in hand, I upload the file to my dubbing site, and I  choose Italian as the language to “dub” (or translate) my English podcast into — and the rest becomes AI magic, as MY OWN DUBBED VOICE now translates into one of 29 languages I can choose from, and yes, that includes video dubbing as well! Amazingly, all these dubbed translations use my own AI voice. Wild!

ITALIAN:
Here is the Italian voice dub of the podcast.

GERMAN:
Why stop at just Italian! Here is the German voice dub of the podcast!

RUSSIAN:
Russian voice dub of the podcast!

SPANISH:

CHINESE:

Now let’s kick the process up a note with a video dub example, using the same AI language tech.

ORIGINAL ENGLISH:
My infamous video of me cutting my finger on my own knife.

ITALIAN:
This is the Italian video voice dub.

GERMAN:
German video voice dub.

RUSSIAN:

TEACHING THYSELF ITALIAN:
Now we get into the mirror within a mirror within a mirror, an endless reflection of one echoing voice in the wilderness. This is where the river meets the sea, and the gravel bends the road in self-learning AI learning magic. I use LingQ as one of my Italian learning sites. Using my dubbed from English into an Italian podcast audio file — WITH MY OWN DUBBED VOICE! I was able to upload the Italian translation of my Human Meme podcast as an “imported tutorial” — thus creating my own tutorial on the LingQ website to teach myself with my own content!

Here’s how my imported podcast tutorial looks on Ling! — of, to, and for myself! — teaching thyself:

Teaching yourself Italian with the help of AI isn’t just an exercise in language acquisition; it’s a modern-day enactment of healing and improving oneself, wrapped in the bizarro world of an inverted digital cloak of voice dubbing technology. It’s really just all about being bold enough to say to your own self, “Student, teach thyself,” with the same conviction that once inspired, “Physician, heal thyself.” And in this conundrum, every mispronounced word, every successfully translated sentence, becomes a step towards not just learning a new language, but also discovering more about oneself and the endless possibilities of self-directed learning in the echo of your own voice!

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https://bolesblogs.com/2024/02/05/student-teach-thyself-my-dubbed-podcast-in-italian/

#11Labs #ai #aiVoice #chinese #communication #dubbing #foreignLanguage #german #humanMeme #italian #learning #lingq #performance #Podcast #russian #soundcloud #spanish #translation #youtube

Does anyone know a good place to consistently buy foreign language books in the US? I’m willing to pay up to double sticker price.

Specifically looking for children’s books in German and literature/contemporary novels and books in German, Russian, and French.

Please don’t suggest Amazon, as it’s hardly a reliable source.

@bookstodon #books #bookstodon #foreignlanguage