tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7752676.post4546131290447858540..comments2024-01-12T01:35:38.315+01:00Comments on Andy in Amsterdam: On Vocabulary ExpansionAndy Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07942346666051236584noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7752676.post-34400995228974701502009-03-04T13:29:00.000+01:002009-03-04T13:29:00.000+01:00You've described trying to learn a language in iso...You've described trying to learn a language in isolation so perfectly - nothing to hang the words on. I know exactly what you mean. Actually, after living in Switzerland and struggling with French for 10 years I STILL felt I had nothing to hang the words on. I think it had to do what the other thing you mentioned - that French just FLOWS. It's too hard to break the words apart and hang them on anything. Learning Dutch I find much easier than learning French because those clunky sounds can be bashed apart and hung in places in your mind where they stick.<BR/><BR/>When I first heard Danish I thought it sounded like a made up language that just couldn't be "real". When I first moved to NL I thought that a lot of the language sounded "silly" or too goofy to be real. Ha! Now I do my best to imitate that goofy sound and hide my American accent!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7752676.post-63784909903538288442009-03-04T09:44:00.000+01:002009-03-04T09:44:00.000+01:00Thanks for the Dutch word of the day link. What a ...Thanks for the Dutch word of the day link. What a find! I'll use it to improve my daily Dutch usage. Hoera!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7752676.post-52419647248107665642009-03-03T20:47:00.000+01:002009-03-03T20:47:00.000+01:00Andy, thanks for this link! I like listening to on...Andy, thanks for this link! I like listening to online Dutch radio(wat leuk!) and sometimes I have to smile at the intonation. My passive knowledge of Dutch is, being a German native speaker, of course good, but I never managed to speak well and use all these filling words like "hoor" or "echt" correctly. Does it ever happen to you that you know a word in the second language but not in your own? Do you speak Dutch in your dreams? <BR/><BR/> Concerning your question yesterday: I spent a really long time trying to remember the German expression for it. My suggestion for the Dutch word: pluisje? Or something else with a diminuitive suffix, I'm sure. <BR/><BR/>Danish really is an interesting language! Finnish and Hungarian also sound interesting. ;-) A few years ago I spent a week in Copenhagen visiting a friend. One day while she had to work I went to the city center by myself. In the bus, an old lady started talking to me. Later at McDon. a very cute little boy sitting on the same bench wanted to talk to me. It was so frustrating to be in a country and not speak a word of the language. <BR/>Oh by the way: is there an English word for "Fernweh" (opposite of being homesick)?? I've been thinking about this a lot. And feeling it...<BR/>Please say hello to the "lenteklokjes" in A'dam from me!dorishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15284304008701267708noreply@blogger.com