Language Questions

[CS Username]

What's your favorite language(s) and why? Also, I'm trying to learn Spanish for my Spanish class, but I'm struggling because I have a mental/verbal disability (Asperger's syndrome) and English (my native language) is hard enough as it is so I'm wondering if there are any useful sites to help me learn Spanish? I only know a few words/sentences in Spanish and it's been a few months... I'm trying my best though! Lastly, I want to learn Russian. How hard is that language to learn and are there any useful sites to help me learn Russian?

[fjhhjjhgkkh]

Hi! I've been learning French for about five years, and I'm also quite interested in learning Russian too. (Unfortunately I haven't really got the time to be learning it on top of all my current commitments, and there wasn't a class for beginners at my college, but in the future I hope to start learning and maybe find some classes i can attend outside of school. I have done a little on online sites). With French, it was mandatory at secondary school, but i grew to really like the language and the way it sounds. With Russian, I became interested in Russian culture through history class, and I like the alphabet and the way it sounds.


One site I've found to be very useful for language learning is Duolingo. I think you'll find doing some vocab on it every day will really help. The way it works is you start with the basics and it only allows you to progress to or unlock new sections if you complete the previous section. It has notes at the bottom of each section on grammar. You can translate both ways, and practice speaking/writing. You can also translate articles from across the internet, and talk to other users in the language you're learning. There are many languages you can learn on the site, Spanish and Russian among them (both of which I've checked out), and it's free too. One other website I've found is Babbel, but you do have to pay for it.

I myself don't have Aspergers, but my brother does and is also learning French, so i could maybe ask him if he has any advice on language learning and what works for him?

Couple of tips from me;
- Sticky note things around the house in Spanish e.g 'espejo' on a mirror. Repetition is key.
- Try to translate English into Spanish more often than the other way around once you get a bit more advanced, it helps you to absorb the language a bit more.
- Could also help to change your phone's language to Spanish, my phone is currently in French.

Good luck in your language learning!

[gecco]

Hi! I'm fluent in Engish, but also Afrikaans - that's why I really like Norwegian and Swedish. They're like fancier, more graceful versions of Afrikaans :p

English is a difficult language (at least I've always seen it as one), but maybe a different language would be easier for you to pronounce? They require different muscles to formulate words, so that could work...? I don't know much about Aspergers, but it's worth giving a few languages a shot. I'm seconding Duolingo as a good option for this and learning a language in general. Highly reccomend.

It's good for Russian as well, but learn the alphabet first - it's good to get muscle memory of the sounds before hand, and the alphabet is different, of course. Russian is pretty difficult, but super cool once you have it down!