Duolingo

I’m really curious: anybody else here learning a new language via Duolingo?
https://www.duolingo.com/

It is fun, I’m doing 10 minutes of Danish everyday (but you can decide to do 5 or even 20 minutes a day). You get rewards that stimulate to do it every day. You can do it everywhere, on your phone or tablet.

It is possible to learn many many other languages (even Dutch), including Latin, Navajo, Welsh, Gaelic, Esperanto, Klingon, and High Valyrian.
I have tried Arabic and Russian, but I had difficulties with the letters. So I turned to a more familiar language - am doing this now for twee weeks (for free).

Yup, I’m enthusiastic!

I've heard about it but never tried.
But I'm interested in chinese as it's now the #1 steam language, the problem is I don't know what their writing means.

Thanks, will give it a shot. Tried french with assimil but stopped after a couple of months.

joxer said:

I've heard about it but never tried.
But I'm interested in chinese as it's now the #1 steam language, the problem is I don't know what their writing means.

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Yes, that is really a downside of Duolingo, there is no introduction of the writing.
I would have liked to learn Chinese too.

kazga said:

Thanks, will give it a shot. Tried french with assimil but stopped after a couple of months.

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Keep me updated, I’m interested in your opinion about it.

I'm not sure an idiot like me can actually learn anything these days....

Mental stimulation, like learning a second language or starting to learn how to play an instrument - anything new - keeps your brain young. See for studies or articles Google/Duckduckgo. It can delay the onset of dementia, because new connections between nerve cells are made and new brain cells may be generated thus building up a functional reserve that provides a hedge against future cell loss.

So if you are already an idiot now, start with Duolingo right this minute, @you;, before it is too late and you can not comprehend anything anymore! Not even how to feed your fish!

Edit

for a long time it was believed that the only time to learn a second language was as a child, when your brain is still nice and sponge-y. This research says even learning it later has positive effects on mental function.

But what is it about language that is so good for our brains? Bak says the act of switching between several languages may give the brain a workout, since you have many more words and meanings to choose from before speaking. He compares it to the physical workout of swimming. “You are using most of your muscles and breathing and so on,” he says. “In being bilingual you’re activating a whole range of different mental functions.”

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Source:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/57560/learning-second-language-adult-keeps-your-brain-young

I've been using Duolingo for 125 days now. The first 100+ days doing Spanish and recently adding Norwegian to it. Now I am alternating between them on a daily basis.
I've selected Spanish as I always felt it would be nice to understand Spanish. It is spoken in a lot of places
The selection of Norwegian just kind of happened. I was thinking of doing a Scandinavian language and was in the process of selecting either Danish, Swedish or Norwegian. I then went for Swedish, to find out after two days I accidentally selected Norwegian
At that point I figured it is just as good a Scandinavian language to learn than Swedish, so I am sticking with it.


The downside of Duolingo is that there is almost no theory. It is all about learning by doing. In the beginning that is fine. But after a while things get more complicated and for me it would be nice to have more background theory about the rules of the language.

@Myrthos;: lykke til!

Btw: IMO selecting Norwegian is a good choice, because we're sort of betwern Danish and Swedish. In general we understand (and are understood by) Danes and Swedes better (methinks) than they undestand each other.

A pibbur who currently is learning Python.

Ps. There is a book available on amazon, Norwegian Verbs And Essentials of Grammar, which has got good user reviews. Ds.

Ps2. And of course, just ask if there's anything I can help you with. I know the language fairly well. Ds.

Is there any logic in using ‘et’ and ‘en’? Et æg, en dreng.
And pluriel. Why ‘drengene’ but ‘pigerne’? Why the ‘r’ in some and no ‘r’ in others? Especially the pluriel I find difficult.

Well, I don't know the finer details of Danish grammar, but I know something (because of the similarity to Norwegian).

1. "et", "en".
This has to do with grammatical gender. Danish has 2 genders. "æg" is of neuter gender, and those words use the particle "et" in undetermined form. "Dreng" is of the common gender, and those use the particle "en". Determined form is given by suffixes, "-et" for neuter and "-en" for common. Thus we have "drengen" (the boy) and "ægget" (the egg). Observe the extra 'g'.

So, how do we know whether a noun has neuter or common gender? You might think that neuter form is used for things, and people, animals use the common form, but that's not very reliable. "bog" (book) is of common gender. "fruentimmer" (one probably not often used word for woman) is neuter. You have to really make an effort to learn the gender for each noun.

BTW: "æg" can also mean the edge of a knife, and that word is of common gender (en æg, æggen).

2. Pluriel. I don't know the rule for the "-rne" form. I've checked a few examples, and it seems like nouns ending with an "-e" use that form, but I really don't know that.

a pibbur who is common in Danish

PS. A comparison with Norwegian: Most of us have (!) three genders. Neuter is similar to Danish neuter. Masculinum is similar to danish common. And then we have femininum which is given by "ei" and "-a": "Ei kvinne", "kvinna". One exception to the 3 gender rule: the dialect we (I) use in my home town Bergen, we have only two genders. DS.

PS2. We do have the plural "-rne" form in Norwegian as well, but not like they use it in Danish. We say "pikene", not "pikerne". We use the "-rne" form for nouns ending with "-er", such as "løper" ("runner") - "løpere"/"løperne" (undetermined/determined form). DS.

Thanks, pibbur. Much appreciated.

As for 1. I feared I just had to learn the right gender by heart, and you confirmed it.
As for 2. Thanks! I’ll pay more attention to the -e to see if that is the case.

I don’t envy @Myrthos; having to learn 3 genders… I doubt duolingo offers the Bergen variant.

Anyway, so far Danish, to me, seems to be easier than Dutch, take the verb conjugations: jeg spiser, du spiser, han spiser, det spiser, vi spiser, i spiser, de spiser. I love it!
Often, when listening (not reading) Danish seems like a mixture of English, German and Dutch.

a pibbur said:

A pibbur who currently is learning Python.

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That language doesn't exist in Duolingo

a pibbur said:

Ps. There is a book available on amazon, Norwegian Verbs And Essentials of Grammar, which has got good user reviews. Ds.

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Thanks I look into that

a pibbur said:

Ps2. And of course, just ask if there's anything I can help you with. I know the language fairly well. Ds.

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Thanks for the offer!

Ewe guise are two smart four me. Aye bearly no American.

Eye said:

Thanks, pibbur. Much appreciated.

As for 1. I feared I just had to learn the right gender by heart, and you confirmed it.
As for 2. Thanks! IÂ’ll pay more attention to the -e to see if that is the case.

I donÂ’t envy @Myrthos; having to learn 3 gendersÂ… I doubt duolingo offers the Bergen variant.

Anyway, so far Danish, to me, seems to be easier than Dutch, take the verb conjugations: jeg spiser, du spiser, han spiser, det spiser, vi spiser, i spiser, de spiser. I love it!
Often, when listening (not reading) Danish seems like a mixture of English, German and Dutch.

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Again I respond from the perspective of a Norwegian (but I suspect Danish isn't that different). In some ways the scandinavian languages are easier when it comes to verbs, in the sense that we don't conjugaet them depending on gender or singular/plural. OTOH in Norwegian we have a lot of irregular verbs. Look at the folowing regarding tense (non-finite, present, past), For instance "hoppe" (jump) is a regular verb: "hoppe" (to jump), "hopper" (I jump), "hoppet" (jumped), "har hoppet" (I have jumped), But we also have:

"gå" (go, walk), "går", "gikk" "har gått". And
"få" (receive), "får", "fikk", "har fått".

But:
"slå" (strike), "slår", "slo", "har slått"
"flå" (to skin), "flår", "flådde", "har flådd".

AFAIK these verbs are perceived as difficult by foreigners. And yes, you have to memorize each of them.

Regarding gender: From wikipedia, I understand that dutch have two genders (common and neuter) as well. Perhaps you can infer something from that, but not always. In German (my Dutch skill leaves something to be desired), "book" (Buch) is neuter, but "bog" is common (or masculine ("bok") in Norwegian).

As I said, in Norwegian we have three genders. However, using the same articles for femininum and masculinum is allowed, although not encouraged. Thus we have "sol" (sun) which should be "ei sol" (a sun) and "sola" (the sun). However you are allowed to write it like a masculine noun: "en sol", "solen". Should make it more easier, and in Bergen, no one will blame you from doing that.

a pibbur who consider himself masculine ("en pibbur", "pibburen").

I'm late on this thread, but I recommend Duolinguo to some parents of my kids to give them extra practice learning English. I think its pretty good for beginners in a language.

a pibbur said:

@Myrthos;: lykke til!

Btw: IMO selecting Norwegian is a good choice, because we're sort of betwern Danish and Swedish. In general we understand (and are understood by) Danes and Swedes better (methinks) than they undestand each other.

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Do you seriously understand Danish? I've no problem reading it since the written language is very close to Swedish (or Norwegian for that matter), but listening to them speak…no. They mute the second half of the words…

Norwegian is a lot easier to understand, but I find it varies a lot between dialects. Oslo works just fine, Bergen…not so much. But still a lot easier than Danish to me.

TomRon said:

Do you seriously understand Danish? I've no problem reading it since the written language is very close to Swedish (or Norwegian for that matter), but listening to them speak…no. They mute the second half of the words…

Norwegian is a lot easier to understand, but I find it varies a lot between dialects. Oslo works just fine, Bergen…not so much. But still a lot easier than Danish to me.

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Understanding spoken Danish is a challenge. But yes, I do understand it (maybe because they modify/simplify their talking when they learn that I'm a foreigner).

And yes, Norwegian dialects may also be a challenge, and in Norway dialects have a high status - people are encouraged to use their dialect almost everywhere. BTW the Bergen dialect is far from the worst.

The Oslo dialect (standard east-Norwegian) is as close to official Norwegian (which doesn't exist) as it gets.

One more thing: We have three official Norwegian written languages: Sami, New Norwegian, and "book Norwegian". The latter is derived from Danish (due to our 400 year union with Denmark) and is the form used by most (90%) Norwegians. New Norwegian is mostly derived from western dialects in Norway. Both versions are mutually comprehensible. But since "book Norwegian" is the most common version, that is IMO the version of choice for foreigners learning the language.

a pibbur who in New Norwegian would be "ein pibbur".

PS. Some claim (Norwegian comedians) that spoken Danish is incomprehensible to everyone, including the Danes. DS.

Ehhh right. I THOUGHT Danish was easy, but after reading the comments of you two, @a pibbur; and @TomRon;…
Yes, I have noticed that there is hardly any difference when hearing ‘æble’ and ‘aeblet’, and ‘vand’. and ‘vandet’. They swallow the ‘t’.
Also, the ‘d’ sound like an ‘l’ but pronounced as if you’re drunk, right? I have learned ‘edderkop’, and ‘skildpadde’, which sound like ‘ellerkop’, and ‘’skildpalle’.

About the verbs… I am at the earliest beginners level. So the present only.
And ‘bog’ is neuter in Dutch, just like in German.
The indefinite article in Dutch though is always ‘een’, no matter whether the word is masculine/feminine or a neuter. Definite article is ‘de’ or ‘het’ (= neuter).
So: en bog = een boek. Bogen = het boek.
The latter, ‘bogen’, is a bit confusing, because ‘bogen’ looks like our plural ‘boeken’.
When reading a word like ‘kvinden’ I tend to think of ‘women’ (‘vrouwen’) and not ‘the woman’, ‘manden’ I think of ‘men’ (‘mannen’), not of ‘the man’. But I hope that is just a matter of practice, the more I’ll practise the easier it will become.

Eye said:

It is fun, I’m doing 10 minutes of Danish everyday

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Good luck with that! Everyone knows that not even the Danish understands each other in that absolutely horrible language