I am Kenneth, Taiwanese by birth and earthling by growth. I speak Taiwanese, Mandarin, English and Japanese at native / near native fluency, French C1, German A1/A2, Spanish A1, and I still have some passive knowledge on Korean from a three month intensive course I took years ago.
I am here because I wanna make some language nerd friends who are just like myself. In my most immediate friend group, there people who speak 2~3 languages fluently, but that’s about it. They are no where as passionate about languages as me, and I often feel a bit lonely.
My imminent goal is to reach conversational level in German by the end of the year and Spanish by spring/summer 2021. My learning strategy is mostly heavy focus on listening and speaking. When I start on a new language, I use Duolingo and YouTube to get the basics. Once I have enough vocab and basic understanding, I start watching Netflix with duo subtitles, as well as looking for people to practice with either through Tandem, Conversation Exchange or meeting in person.
Aside from languages, I love doing exercises, snowboarding, eating, making up reasons to drink wine, karaoke, couch surfing, practicing mindfulness, taking cold showers/baths… Oh and I am a programmer, and most recently ran a dating app startup with my friend, which we shut down after 2 years of many up-and-downs.
Hallo und danke. Ich lerne jetzt Deutsch mit Lingoda, aber es ist nicht einfach. Die Grammatik besonders ist wirklich viel schwieriger als Französisch oder Spanisch. Aber ich gebe immer mein bestes! Freut mich, dich kennenzulernen.
Hi Kenneth! It’s hard to find language nerds in the wild, isn’t it? I also don’t have any friends with whom I can share my passion for languages. Sometimes it does get a bit lonely, but I’m also very glad that I was born in the era of the internet, otherwise I really would’ve been on my own and I’m not sure I would even have had enough motivation (let alone resources!) without the internet people inspiring me to keep going.
Anyway I have gotten into Mandarin somewhere at the beginning of the year and I am trying very hard not to start with Vietnamese, but I already did a few lessons on Duolingo so maybe I am doomed. Since I am Dutch, I can read and understand German; these two languages are quite similar (once had a German tell me Dutch sounds like a drunk German trying to speak English ). But I don’t actually speak it, despite having had German classes for 4 years at high school. What can I say, a language is about so much more than just grammar and vocabulary… I know the grammar is hard but I’m sure if you’re motivated enough you’ll get there! Judging from your previous comments your German is already pretty good so keep it up!
Yeah I had a fair bit of exposure to Dutch too. It’s like an easier version of German. Less gender cases and grammar structure than German but more than English. Even the English word “Dutch” sounds like the German word Deutsch.
I love the Netherlands and the whole biking culture. Maybe I’ll get to live there one day. Oh, and the cheese too is maaaad! Love it. Tourists go to Amsterdam for the drugs, but I like going for how chill the city is haha.
I don’t have any exposure to Vietnamese, but I think it is a mix of Mandarin and Cantonese.
Je vois que ton français n’est pas mal aussi. Est-ce que c’est commun que les néerlandais apprennent le français à l’école? Ou est-il plus common el allemand?
I agree, German gender cases are insane but we were supposed to have more as well. Glad we got rid of it Cheese is what I miss the most when I’m abroad, no joke! Gotta live up to some stereotypes. How’s German food for you? Personally I’m not the biggest fan but at least they have good beer (Heineken is disgusting).
Funny you say that, I consider Cantonese a mix of Mandarin and Vietnamese.
Oui! On apprend le français à l’école avant qu’on apprend l’allemand l’année prochaine. Mais franchement, je pense que j’ai appris la plupart grâce à regarder de la télé, écouter de la musique, YouTube etc.
I lived in France before, so there was a huge selection of cheese too, but I think I prefer Gouda from the Netherlands. I love them all in general though hahaha! I actually went to the Heineken museum. I personally think their beers are ok. I am actually more of a wine person, so I am not the right person to consult here haha. My favorite though is plum wine from Japan. If you haven’t tried you should.
As for German food, I actually haven’t had too much exposure yet aside from the typical currywursts… I generally find European food to be a bit heavy . It is good if you have it once in a while, but definitely not for everyday.
Yeah it’s fascinating how all the languages are connected one way or another. You can always find traces of history and culture in them. Which is why we should all love one another because we are definitely much more similar to each other than we believe
Ah I see! France seems super nice to live in even though I wouldn’t be too sure about Paris, everyone looks so angry there haha. I prefer the south of France. The French definitely have a lot more variety when it comes to cheese, I like most of them too. The smellier the better!
I used to like wine more too until I just stopped drinking it altogether when I went to Asia, now it doesn’t taste as great to me anymore… But I’m still trying to get back to it. I don’t think I’ve ever had plum wine, I should definitely try that someday!
Curry wurst is amazing!! I agree some European food can be quite heavy haha. But it’s so goood especially Italian and Romanian food, I will never be able to live in these countries because I have no self control there
Exactly, that’s why I love languages. If only everyone had this mindset… It would make the world a much more beautiful place!
by birth and earthling 
by growth. I speak Taiwanese, Mandarin, English and Japanese at native / near native fluency, French C1, German A1/A2, Spanish A1, and I still have some passive knowledge on Korean from a three month intensive course I took years ago.
In my most immediate friend group, there people who speak 2~3 languages fluently, but that’s about it. They are no where as passionate about languages as me, and I often feel a bit lonely.
My learning strategy is mostly heavy focus on listening and speaking. When I start on a new language, I use Duolingo and YouTube to get the basics. Once I have enough vocab and basic understanding, I start watching Netflix with duo subtitles, as well as looking for people to practice with either through Tandem, Conversation Exchange or meeting in person.
. It is good if you have it once in a while, but definitely not for everyday.
