Help your fluency in a nifty way

[hwhatting]

Das mag sein, aber es ist mir unangenehm, hier jeden zu duzen. So gut kenne ich euch nicht!
That may be, but I feel uncomfortable to say "you" to everyone here. I don't know you that well!

So wie ich es verstehe, ist das es richtig ist, sich zu duzen mit Familie und Freunden zu duzen, aber sonst nicht. Aber das habe ich gelernt, als ich in Schule war, und das ist über 25 Jahren her.*1)
As I understand it, it's correct to "you" with family and friends, but not otherwise. But I've learnt that in school, which is over 25 years ago.

Or: das war vor über 20 Jahren.

Obecnie zaimek formalny używa się głównie z obcymi osobami lub z osóbami, z którymi sppotykasz się jedynie w sytuacjach formalnych (tacy, jak sprzedawcy i pracownicy serwisu, klienci, urzędnicy państwowi, itp) i osóbami starszymi, którzy są nadal używani do tych zasad, których nauczyłeś się. Z kolegami, to jest głównie pytanie wieku i tego, czy pracujecie razem częściej, a czasem pytanie stanowiska (użycie zaimków jest zawsze w obie strony, ale człowiek wyższego stanowiska musi zrobić krok w kierunek używania zaimka nieformalnego).
Nowadays, you use the formal pronoun mostly with total strangers or people you only meet in formal situations (like sales & service personnel, clients, government officials, etc.) and with older people who are still used to the rules you learnt. With colleagues, it's mostly a question of age and whether you work together frequently, and sometimes a question of rank (pronoun use is always both ways, but the higher ranking person needs to make the move towards informal).

[Pressed Bunson]

Definitivamente no soy experta, pero solo he visto "usted" en instrucciones para productos. Y cuando traduje una canción Vocaloid para un grupo de fansub, el editor me dejó usar "La numero que usted ha llamado ya no está usado" (o una frasa similar, pero usé usted) en el contexto de un noticia del teléfono. Pero es todo.
I'm definately not an expert, but I've only seen "usted" [formal form of "you" in Spanish] in product instructions. And when I translated a Vocaloid song for a fansub group, the editor let me use "La numero que usted ha llamado ya no está usado" for "The number you have dialed is no longer in use" (or a similar sentence, but I used usted) in the context of a telephone notice. But that's it.

No dudo que "usted" es usado en situaciónes cuando personas tienen que llevan trajes de chaqueta y corbatas, sin embargo.
I don't doubt that "usted" is used in situations when people have to wear a suit and a tie, though.

[Viktor77]

Mon ex croyait que vouvoyer était poli, et se refusait de me tutoyer. Gênant.
My ex used to think vousing was polite, and refused to tu me. Awkward.

(In any case continuing to V-form even after you've been invited to T-form would probably be a bit uppity (or even insulting maybe) in real life, besides the fact that we've been informal in this thread since forever...)

Mes étudiants (je suis TA de français 101) me tutoient et je déteste ça! A mon avis, il vaut mieux utiliser le système français où je tutoie mes étudiants, et en échange ils me vouvoient. Mais pour des raisons que moi je comprends pas, ils tentent toujours à me tutoyer. C'est mon statut ça? Je sais pas. Il faut toujours leur rappeler qu'ici on utilise le système français. Les pluparts de mes étudiants viennent de Chine. Je pensais que là-bas, il faut toujours respecter le prof? En plus, ils m’appellent Éric dans les emails. Je préfère bien sûre M. Nom de famille, mais voilà, il se passe évidement quelque chose de bizarre que je comprends pas.

My students (I am a TA of French 101) use T-form with me, and I hate it! In my opinions, it's best to use the French system where I use T-form with my students and in return they use V-form with me. But for some reason I don't understand, they keep on using T-form with me. Is it my status? I don't know. I'm always having to remind them that here we use the French system. The majority of my students come from China. I thought that over there they have to respect the professor? Even more they call me Éric in emails. I prefer of course Mr. Last name, but that's that, obviously something weird is going on here that I don't understand.

[finlay]

日本と中国を問違ってるんじゃない？
Aren't you mixing up China and Japan?

そしてね、僕の大学に勉強した時、いつも先生の下の名前を使っていたんだ。日本人の先生も同じだった。
Anyway, when I was at university, we always used the teachers' first names, even the Japanese teacher. (he was a linguistics teacher, to be fair... But no actually when I took Japanese evening classes we called them Megumi and Yumi.)

多分そんなことで、ヨーロッパとアメリカが違うかも知れない。
I reckon America and Europe are different in this regard.

[Taskuhecate]

Eeh, jag är inte så säker - när jag var i Finland, vi kallade lärarna på deras efternamnen. Det har var dock vid universitetet, förstås.
I'm not so sure - when I was in Finland, we called the teachers by there last names. This was in the university though, y'know.


Üsch - jag vill lära mig för många språk! Jag har just köpt en bok av klassiska aztekiska grammatik och jag pluggar också på en conlang. Och högalviska. Och finska, esperanto, japanska, spanska, tyska, iriska, franska, isländska... ALLA SPRÅKEN! MWAHAHAHA!
Ack - I want to learn too many languages! I just bought a book of classical nahuatl grammar and I'm working on a conlang also. And Quenya. And Finnish, Esperanto, Japanese, Spanish, German, Gaeilge, French, Icelandic... ALL THE LANGUAGES!

...Hjälp mig...
...Help me...

[Nannalu]

Ek wens dat ek kon slaap-in. Ek is baie moeg Dit is 'n lekker dag vandag al.
I wish that I could sleep-in. I am so tired. It is a nice day today though.

[finlay]

Eeh, jag är inte så säker - när jag var i Finland, vi kallade lärarna på deras efternamnen. Det har var dock vid universitetet, förstås.
I'm not so sure - when I was in Finland, we called the teachers by there last names. This was in the university though, y'know.


Üsch - jag vill lära mig för många språk! Jag har just köpt en bok av klassiska aztekiska grammatik och jag pluggar också på en conlang. Och högalviska. Och finska, esperanto, japanska, spanska, tyska, iriska, franska, isländska... ALLA SPRÅKEN! MWAHAHAHA!
Ack - I want to learn too many languages! I just bought a book of classical nahuatl grammar and I'm working on a conlang also. And Quenya. And Finnish, Esperanto, Japanese, Spanish, German, Gaeilge, French, Icelandic... ALL THE LANGUAGES!

...Hjälp mig...
...Help me...

僕もそんなことをやってると思う。最近duolingoを使ってるから、ポルトガル語とオランダ語を勉強になった。でも、その2つの言語はちょっと無用だ。そして、先週、日本語能力試験に申し込めたので、12月にテストをするでしょう。しかし、レベルはちょっと高いかもしれない。だからも、これはもっと大切なことなんだから、たぶん勉強しなくてはならないけど、duolingoはやっぱり使いやすいし、アプリだからいつでも遊べるし、duolingo風な日本語能力試験の復習とか勉強とかのためのアプリを望んでいるかもね。
I think I've been doing the same thing. Recently I've been using duolingo, and started learning portuguese and dutch. But those two languages are not very useful. And also last week I put in an application to the JLPT (Japanese language proficiency test), so I will most likely take the test in December. However, the level may be a bit hard. So that's a more important thing, and I should probably study for it, but duolingo is easier to use, and as it's an app I can play with it anywhere, etc, so I guess I wish there was a duolingo-style app to revise or review the JLPT content.

[jal]

Recently I've been using duolingo, and started learning portuguese and dutch. But those two languages are not very useful.

Wie kannst du das sagen?! Ich benütze Niederländisch täglich, und finde das ganz nützlich!
How can you say that?! I use Dutch on a daily basis, and find it quite useful!


JAL

[finlay]

読んでいないね。
Je hebt het niet gelezen, of?
You didn't read it, did you..?

[hwhatting]

Wie kannst du das sagen?! Ich verwende Niederländisch täglich, und finde das ganz nützlich!
How can you say that?! I use Dutch on a daily basis, and find it quite useful!

verwenden and benutzen are often used interchangeably, but in this case benutzen is not idiomatic.
And the standard form is ich benutze. You'll find ich benütze frequently in colloquial speech, though.

Na podstawie tego kryterium, niderlandzki pożyteczniej, niż portugalski, ponieważ czasami mówię na pierwszym, ale wcale nie mówię na drugim.
Based on that criterium, Dutch is more useful than Portuguese; I sometimes speak the former, but don't speak the latter at all.

[KathTheDragon]

criterium -on

[hwhatting]

criterium -on

You know, I take my loanwords from the Romans, not from those decadent Greeks.

[Ziz]

ס׳איז מיר שווער צו בלײַבן האָפֿענונגספֿול מכּוח דעם עתיד. איכל זײַן מקבל אַ פּי־אייטש־די אין דער קאָמפּיוטיישאָנאַל לינגוויסטיק, אָבער דערנאָך וויל איך אָנצווייפֿלדיק זײַן אַרבעטסלאָז, און ס׳איז אויך שווער צו זיך מתקבל זײַן צו אַ פּראָגראַם.

S'iz mir shver tsu blaybn hofenungsful mikoyekh dem osed. Ikhl zayn mekabl a pi eytsh di in der kompyuteyshonal lingvistik, ober dernokh vil ikh ontsveyfldik zayn arbetsloz, un s'iz shver tsu zikh miskabl zayn tsu a program.

It's hard for me to stay hopeful about the future. I want to get a PhD in computational linguistics, but afterwards I'll doubtlessly be unemployed, and it's hard to get accepted to a program.

[Astraios]

.טאָ זאָלסטו טאָן דאָס, וואָס ווילסט, אָן דאגהן, וואָס וועט זײַן ווען
To zolstə ton dos, vos vilst, on dajgən, vos vət zajn ven.
Just do what you want without worrying what if.

[jal]

Je hebt het niet gelezen, of wel?

Was soll ich denn gelesen haben? Es war sowieso nur ein dummer witz, entschuldigung...
What should I have read? It was just a dumb joke anyway, apologies...


JAL

[finlay]

Ik woon in Japan (en in december zal ik een test nemen) en zo moet ik het japanisch studeren. Als ik het nederlands of het portuguees(?) studeer, studeer ik geen japanisch.
日本に住んでいて、12月に試験を受けるから、日本語を勉強しなきゃ。もし、オランダ語とか、ポルトガル語とか勉強したら、日本語をやっぱり勉強しないね。
Ich wohne in Japan, und in Dezember werde ich einen Test zu machen, und so muss ich Japanisch studieren. Wenn ich Niederlanisch oder Portugalisch(?) studiere, studiere ich kein Japanisch.
J'habite au Japon, et en décembre je vais passer un examen, donc il faut que j'étudie le japonais. Si j'étudie le néerlandais ou le portuguais(?), je n'étudie pas le japonais.
I live in Japan, and will take a test in December, so I must study Japanese. But if I study Dutch or Portuguese, I don't study Japanese.

[din]

Ik woon in Japan (en in december zal ik een test nemen) en zo dus moet ik het japanischs studeren. Als ik het nederlands of het portuguees(?) studeer, studeer ik geen japanischs.
I live in Japan, and will take a test in December, so I must study Japanese. But if I study Dutch or Portuguese, I don't study Japanese.

Dan is de keuze snel gemaakt, toch?
Then it should be easy to decide, right?

[hwhatting]

@jal: Witz

Ich wohne in Japan, und im Dezember habe ich einen Test zu machen, deswegen muss ich Japanisch lernen. Wenn ich Niederländisch oder Portugiesisch lerne, lerne ich kein Japanisch.
I live in Japan, and will take a test in December, so I must study Japanese. But if I study Dutch or Portuguese, I don't study Japanese.

Powodzenia!
Viel Glück!
Bonne chance!
Good luck!

[finlay]

Ik woon in Japan (en in december zal ik een test nemen) en zo dus moet ik het japanischs studeren. Als ik het nederlands of het portuguees(?) studeer, studeer ik geen japanischs.
I live in Japan, and will take a test in December, so I must study Japanese. But if I study Dutch or Portuguese, I don't study Japanese.

Dan is de keuze snel gemaakt, toch?
Then it should be easy to decide, right?

でもその前に言ったduolingoは便利過ぎるし中毒性だし〜
But like i mentioned duolingo is too convenient, and addictive....

[jal]

Ik woon in Japan (en in december zal ik een test nemen heb ik een proefwerk) en zo dus moet ik het Japanischs studeren. Als ik het Nederlands of het Portuguees(?) studeer, studeer ik geen Japanischs.

Aber du könnst doch drei Sprachen geleichzeitig lehrnen? Sicher wenn es sich um drei so verschiedene Sprachen handelt.
But you can learn three languages at the same time, right? Especially when it's three such different languages.


JAL

[finlay]

まあね
I guess

[----]

Aprender idiomas que son muy diferente a uno a otro es más fácil, porque no puedes confundirlos.
Learning languages that are very different from each other is easier, because you can't get them confused.

[finlay]

明日は、休みなんだけど、雨が降るらしい。どこに行こうかな。
Morgen is het mijn vakantie. Maar het lijkt erop dat het regent. Ik weet niet waar ik gaan wil.
Crastinus dies cessatio mea est, sed videtor ut pluet. Pluente, ubi ibone?
Demain c'est mon jour de congé, mais je crois qu'il pleuvra. Je ne sais pas où j'irai.
Morgen ist es mein Ruhetag, aber es scheint, dass es regnen werdet. Ich weiss nicht, was ich tun will.
Tomorrow is my day off, but it looks like it'll rain. I'm not sure where to go.

で、全く違うよ！いつも、フランス語とかの話して見るとき、日本語の言葉がやっぱり最初に思い出すよ。いつも！書くのは、そんなことに話すより簡単だけど、もしも１つの言葉を使ったら、大体違う言葉に変わったら何分間思い出しにくくなっちゃうわ。
Also, you're so wrong! I always start remembering Japanese words whenever I try to speak any of those other languages like French. Every time! Writing is a bit easier not to confuse them, but if I've been using one language and switch to another, I usually find it difficult to remember anything for a few minutes.

[linguoboy]

Leicher als was? Weil, wenn sie wirklich sehr verschieden sind, dann überschneiden sich die Wortschätze kaum, und das vermehrt die Erinnerungsbelastung.
Easier than what? Because, if they're really very different, then there's less of an overlap in vocabulary and that increases the burden of memorisation.

[finlay]

それもそうだよね。日本語のいちばん学びにくいことは単語だと思う。その僕の書ける上のヨーロッパの言語（オランダ語とか）では単語は大体学びやすい。
And that. The hardest thing to learn in Japanese is vocabulary, I think. In those European languages above that I can write (like Dutch), vocabulary is usually easy to learn.