Help your fluency in a nifty way

[linguoboy]

Sollten wir einen Thread zu diesem Thema in Ephemera eröffnen, damit Du mitmachen kannst, Travis, ohne den Zweck von diesem Thread hier zu verfehlen?
Should we start a thread in Ephemera to discuss this topic, Travis, so you can participate without violating the purpose of this thread?

[Travis B.]

Entschuldigt mich; mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut, deshalb ich nicht so zuversichtlich bezüglich Sprechen auf Deutsch hier fühle.
Sorry; my German is not great, so I do not feel confident speaking in German here.

[linguoboy]

Der ganze Zweck vom Thread ist, dass wir durch Üben unsere nichtenglischen Sprachen verbessern. Diskussionen über kleinen Besonderheiten im englischen Sprachgebrauch sind ein Nebenzweck.
The whole point of the thread is to improve our non-English languages by practicing them. Discussions of minor peculiarities of English usage are a secondary concern.

Wir brauchen halt irgendein Thema, sodass wir den Leute einen Grund geben, dem Thread zu folgen.
We just need some sort of topic to give people a reason to keep following the thread.

Nur zu! Wir versprechen Dir, dass wir Deine Versuche mit einem Geist der Großzügigkeit entgegnen.
Give it a try! We promise to respond to your attempts with a spirit of generosity.

(Na gut, HaWe, nun reiss mein Kauderwelsch in Stücke!
Okay, H-W, now rip my half-chewed German to shreds!)

[Viktor77]

Merci, LB.

Wat denken jullie van Azië? Wie hier is naar Azië geweest? Ik ben nooit ernaar geweest maar ik wil graag, omdat deze continent voor mij heel vreemd is. Ik heb geen geld om Azië nu te bezoeken maar misschien een dag, zal ik genoeg geld. Ik wil graag China, Zuid-Korea, Japan, en Mongolië bezoeken. Oh en ik kan niet Taiwan vergeten!

What about Asia? Who's been to Asia here? I've never been there but I would like to because this continent is very foreign to me. I don't have the money to visit now but perhaps one day I will have enough money. I would like to visit China, South Korea, Japan, and Mongolia. Oh and I can't forget Taiwan!

[Vijay]

What about Asia? Who's been to Asia here?

ഞാനും linguoboy-ഉം തത്കാലം Japan-ഇൽ താമസിക്കുന്നവരെല്ലവരും!
[ˈɲaːnʊm liŋgʋoˈboːjʊm d͡ʒəˈpæːnɪl ˈt̪aːməsikʲʊn̪n̪əʋəɾɛllaːɾʊm]!
Me, linguoboy, and everybody who's living in Japan!

[Imralu]

What about Asia? Who's been to Asia here?

Mara moja nilikuwa katika kiwanja cha ndege nchini Sing'apoo kwa saa tatu. Niulize chochote!
I was once in an airport in Singapore for three hours. Ask me anything!

[Astraios]

Я живу в (западной) Азии, но на Африканской литосферной плите, так что я живу одновременно в Азии и в Африке. А на Востоке бывала я два раза в Пекине, но каждый раз не было достаточно времени, чтобы больше «понимала» там, чем турист.
I live in (western) Asia, but on the African tectonic plate, so I live in Asia and Africa simultaneously. As for the East, I’ve been to Beijing twice, but not for long enough to really get the place as more than a tourist.

[Ziz]

Pasé seis semanas en Taiwán. La mayor parte del tiempo estaba en una aldea indígena en las montañas del centro, pero los aldeanos ya no podían hablar bunun así que lingüísticamente no era muy interesante. Pero te recomiendo que vayas a Taipei, que es supermoderno, y Jiufen, que no está muy lejos. Las montañas son preciosas también.
I spent six weeks in Taiwan. Most of the time I was in an indigenous village in the mountains in the center bit, but the villagers could no longer speak Bunun so it wasn't very linguistically interesting. But I recommend that you go to Taipei, which is supermodern, and Jiufen, which isn't very far away. The mountains are pretty too.

Vivo a quince minutos de Astraios en el mismo trozo de Asia, pero los que viven aquí no se consideran asiáticos, sino de Oriente Medio, como si fueran mutuamente excluyentes.
I live fifteen minutes away from Astraios in the same slice of Asia, but the people who live here don't consider themselves Asians, but rather Middle Easterners, as if they were mutually exclusive.

[Pole, the]

Я живу в (западной) Азии, но на Африканской литосферной плите, так что я живу одновременно в Азии и в Африке. А на Востоке бывала я два раза в Пекине, но каждый раз не было достаточно времени, чтобы больше «понимала» там, чем турист.
I live in (western) Asia, but on the African tectonic plate, so I live in Asia and Africa simultaneously. As for the East, I’ve been to Beijing twice, but not for long enough to really get the place as more than a tourist.

Teknisesti ottaen asun myös Länsi-Aasiassa.
Technically speaking, I also live in western Asia.

Tarkoitan, Euroopassa.
I mean, in Europe.

[jal]

Wat vinden¹ jullie van Azië? Wie hier² is naar³ Azië geweest? Ik ben er nog nooit ernaar⁴ geweest maar ik wil er wel graag heen⁵, omdat dit continent voor mij heel vreemd is. Ik heb momenteel geen geld om Azië nu te bezoeken maar misschien zal ik op een dag, genoeg geld hebben⁶. Ik wil graag China, Zuid-Korea, Japan, en Mongolië bezoeken⁷. Oh en ik moet⁸ Taiwan niet vergeten!

¹"Wat denken jullie van ..." is used in case there's already a question, and pose an option. E.g. "A: 'Wat zullen we doen?' B: 'Geen idee.' C: 'Wat denken jullie van een potje tafelvoetbal?'.
²I find "Wie is hier naar ..." far more idiomatic. Or "Wie van jullie is ..."
³I would say "in Azië" (with a locative, see also ⁴).
⁴If you want it directional, say "ik ben er nog nooit naartoe geweest", but it's more idiomatic to use a locative.
⁵Or "naartoe".
⁶Or just "heb ik op een dag genoeg geld".
⁷Imho slightly more idiomatic "Ik wil graag naar C, Z-K, J en M."
⁸"niet kunnen vergeten" is "not being able to get something/someone out of one's mind", as opposed to "niet moeten vergeten", "to ensure something stays in one's mind".

Ich war in Thailand, aber das gefällte mir nicht.
I've been to Thailand, but I didn't like it.


JAL

[finlay]

Merci, LB.

Wat denken jullie van Azië? Wie hier is naar Azië geweest? Ik ben nooit ernaar geweest maar ik wil graag, omdat deze continent voor mij heel vreemd is. Ik heb geen geld om Azië nu te bezoeken maar misschien een dag, zal ik genoeg geld. Ik wil graag China, Zuid-Korea, Japan, en Mongolië bezoeken. Oh en ik kan niet Taiwan vergeten!

What about Asia? Who's been to Asia here? I've never been there but I would like to because this continent is very foreign to me. I don't have the money to visit now but perhaps one day I will have enough money. I would like to visit China, South Korea, Japan, and Mongolia. Oh and I can't forget Taiwan!

俺よ！でも日本と韓国だけに行ったことある。なんかお金がそんなにないので…ヨーロッパへのフライトとかに使うし。もしあったら、台湾やタイやフィリピンや香港にも行きたいなぁ。なんだけど、最初はアメリカに行くつもり。
Meee~ But I've only been to Japan and Korea. I don't have that much money..... I spend it on things like flights to europe. if i did, I wanna go to like taiwan, thailand, philippines, hong kong ..... but actually, I'm planning to go to america first.

（8月の日食を見たいし。ちなみにテネシー州に行きたい。ビクターさんはどこに引っ越すんだっけ？）
(i want to see the eclipse in august and stuff. i'll probably go to tennessee, btw - and where was it you were going to live vik?)

[Imralu]

Nilitenda msituni kutembea usiku huu. Ninapenda msitu kunapokuwa usiku. Hakuna mtu ila mimi. Hakuna watu waliokuwa kichaa kama mimi. Kukiwa mvua na upepo sana. Bila shaka niliwavyoga mamia ya konokono. Pole, Buddha. Mbweha alinifuata kwa muda. Nilimwona akijaribu kumkamata panya au kinyama mwengine aliyenikimbia. Aliniangalia-angalia. Mbweha wanapendeza. Nilisikia bundi.
I went for a walk in the forest tonight. I love the forest at night. There's no one but me. There's no one as crazy as me. Then it rained and got really windy. I must have stepped on hundreds of snails and slugs. Sorry, Buddha. A fox followed me for a while. I saw it try to catch a rat or other small creature that I disturbed. It watched me and watched me. Foxes are interesting. I heard an owl.

gefällte gefiel

[Imralu]

Niko kazini. Sasa hivi kulikuwa dhoruba fupi ya mvua ya mawe. Dakika moja tu! Kulikuwa mngurumo wa radi mmoja.
I'm at work. We just had a short hailstorm. Only one minute. There was one rumble of thunder.

[Viktor77]

(8月の日食を見たいし。ちなみにテネシー州に行きたい。ビクターさんはどこに引っ越すんだっけ？）
(i want to see the eclipse in august and stuff. i'll probably go to tennessee, btw - and where was it you were going to live vik?)

Tu serais le bienvenu chez nous. On sera à Memphis qui n'est pas loin de la ligne de l'éclipse. Dis-moi quoi.

You would be welcome at our place. We'll be in Memphis which isn't far from the line of the eclipse. Let me know.

[finlay]

Bedankt~ Maar ik zal met een andere vriendje blijven. Als dat niet kan gebeuren, zal ik je nogmaals vragen.
ありがとう！でも、他の友達と泊まるつもりだから、それはプランBになるそう。起これないとまた聞くね。
Thanks! But i will stay with another friend, so i guess that's plan B. If it can't happen, i'll ask you again.

(I need to check, but I think my friend lives in johnson city, so the opposite end of the state)

[linguoboy]

Ich bin in China und Korea gewesen, wenn man den Flughafen Incheon einrechnet.
I've been to China and Korea, if you count Incheon International.

Für mich war das alles nicht total fremd, da in Chicago man ein Chinatown und ein Koreatown hat.
That wasn't all that foreign to me since here in Chicago we have a Chinatown and a Koreatown.

Der Typ, mit dem ich heute zu Abend esse, hat die asiatische Küche nicht so gern, so werden wir höchstwahrscheinlich Burgers essen. Aber ich mach doch den Versuch, in einer koreanischen Chicken-Wings-Bude hinzubringen.
The guy I'm having dinner with this evening isn't big on Asian food so we'll most likely go for burgers. But I'll still try to drag him to my favourite Korean chicken wing place.

[Imralu]

Ninapenda sana chakula cha Kiasia, lakini kwa kawaida kile cha Kikorea hanipendeza.
I love Asian food but usually Korean food doesn't appeal to me.

[jal]

Bedankt! Maar ik zal* bij een andere vriendje verblijven**. Als dat niet kan gebeuren***,^ zal ik je nogmaals vragen^^.

Mostly semantic/idiomatic errors.
*Dutch doesn't use "zullen" often to form a future tense. In this case, I'd use the present tense ("Ik logeer/verblijf al bij een andere vriend").
**"blijven" means "stay" as in "not leaving the location I'm currently at" ("Ik ga weg, blijf jij hier?") as opposed to "verblijven", "to reside". It's pretty formal though, I'd use "logeren" or "overnachten" (in case of a single day) or the like.
***"kunnen gebeuren" means "to be able/possible to happen". In this case, I'd say "Als dat niet doorgaat/niet door kan gaan", though I think you'd need a "toch" ("Als dat toch niet door kan gaan") to contrast it with the declaritive "Ik logeer al bij een andere vriend". Or use "mocht": "Mocht dat toch niet door kunnen gaan".
^Though English style "then" avoidence is possible, it sounds a bit formal, so I'd add "dan".
^^"iemand vragen" (with "iemand" as object) means "to ask someone to go along" or "to invite". You need to name the thing to ask to get the intended meaning here: "dan vraag ik (je) het nog een keer" or "dan zal ik het (je) nog eens vragen" or the like (using "zal" hier is ok, as it's a bit irrealis). Note the order of optional "je" (indirect object) and "het" (direct object) can be changed.

I love Asian food but usually Korean food doesn't appeal to me.

Ich weiss nicht, wie Koreanisches essen schmeckt. Ich denke nicht, dass ich es jemals gegessen hab. Ich habe doch einige Koreanische Kuchbücher irgendwo, gekriegen von einer Koreanischer Brieffreundin, ungefähr 25 Jahre zurück. Vielleicht sollte ich ihnen suchen und mich etwas kochen.
I don't know how Korean food tastes. I don't think I've ever eaten it. I have however some Korean cookbooks somewhere, gifted to me by a Korean pen-pal, 25 odd years ago. Perhaps I should try to find them and cook me some.


JAL

[Imralu]

Ich weiß nicht, wie koreanisches Essen schmeckt. Ich denke nicht, dass ich es jemals gegessen hab. Ich habe doch einige koreanische Kochbücher irgendwo, gekriegen von einer koreanischen Brieffreundin, vor ungefähr 25 Jahren zurück gekriegt*. Vielleicht sollte ich sie suchen und mir etwas kochen.
I don't know how Korean food tastes. I don't think I've ever eaten it. I have however some Korean cookbooks somewhere, gifted to me by a Korean pen-pal, 25 odd years ago. Perhaps I should try to find them and cook me some.

* I'm not entirely sure you can use a participle clause like this. I'd use a relative clause: die ich vor ungefähr 25 Jahren von einer koreanischen Brieffreundin gekriegt habe

Mara moja niliwaambia wanafunzi wangu wa Kikorea wa zamani kwamba sikupenda Kimchi. Waliniuliza "Ina pilipili mno?" Niliwajaribu "Hapana. Inachukiza mno."
One time, my Korean students that I didn't like Kimchi. They asked me "Too spicy?" and I said "No. Too disgusting.

[Viktor77]

Bedankt~ Maar ik zal met een andere vriendje blijven. Als dat niet kan gebeuren, zal ik je nogmaals vragen.
ありがとう！でも、他の友達と泊まるつもりだから、それはプランBになるそう。起これないとまた聞くね。
Thanks! But i will stay with another friend, so i guess that's plan B. If it can't happen, i'll ask you again.

(I need to check, but I think my friend lives in johnson city, so the opposite end of the state)

Tiens-moi au courant.
Keep me apprised.

Ninapenda sana chakula cha Kiasia, lakini kwa kawaida kile cha Kikorea hanipendeza.
I love Asian food but usually Korean food doesn't appeal to me.

Yo tampoco. Me gusta comida china (pero solamente lo falso como la comida americana-china). Ya estoy escuchando la música KPop porque al parecer, me convertí en niña adolescente

Me neither. I like Chinese food (but only the fake stuff like American-Chinese food). Right now I'm listening to KPop music because apparently I've become a teenage girl.

[Imralu]

Jana rafiki yangu mmoja aliniandikia akitumia simu na tulipanga kukutana saa moja jioni. Alikuwa amefika tena hapa kutoka Florida ambapo alikuwa likizoni na sisi hatukuwa tumeonana kwa wakati nyingi.

Nilitaka kutembea pale, lakini nilikuwa nimechelewa. Kwa hivyo nilingojea basi, lakini halikuja. Hivyo nilitembea kwenye kituo cha ubani. Ubani ilikuja, lakini kisha haikwenda. Kulikuwa na tangazo la kwamba kulikuwa na tatizo la ishara.

Nilimwangalia mwanaume aliyekaa karibu nami na tulianza kuzungumza pamoja. Tuliamua kutembea kwenye kituo kinachofuata. Pale yeye anakaa na mimi nilihitaji kuingia ubani nyingine.

Tulitembea tukizungumza. Ana tabia nzuri. Vilevile ana sura nzuri, uso mzuri, matako mazuri, na yeye ni mrefu zaidi ya mita mbili. *atanafusi* Nilimwuliza ikiwa ana Facebook na aliniongeza. Aliniambia kwamba twende kunywa kitu pamoja pengine. Nilipokubali ombi lake la urafiki, aliniandikia ujumbe wa kwamba alikuwa amefurahi kukutana nami. Inaelekea anawavutiwa na wanawake na yeye ni jamili sana tu, lakini ninatumaini kwamba yeye ni shoga na anavutiwa nami.

Nilichelewa kwa dakika moja tu nilipofika kwa rafiki yangu.

Yesterday, a friend of mine wrote me a message and we arranged to meet up at 7pm. He had come back from his holiday in Florida and we hadn't seen each other for a long time.

I wanted to walk there, but I was running late. So I waited for the bus, but it didn't come. So I went to the U-Bahn station. The U-Bahn came but then didn't go. There was an announcement that there was a problem with the signals.

I looked at a man who was sitting near me and we started talking with each other. We decided to walk to the next station. That's where he lives and I had to change to another U-Bahn.

We walked and talked. He's a nice guy. And he's good looking too, nice face, nice butt and he's taller than two metres. *sigh* I asked him if he had Facebook and he added me. He said we should go out for a drink sometime. When I accepted his friend request, he wrote me a message saying it was nice to meet me. He's most probably straight and just very friendly, but I hope that he's gay and he likes me.

I was late by only one minute in getting to my friend.

[Imralu]

Tiens-moi au courant.
Keep me apprised.

Nilihitaji kuangalia Kifaransa ili kuwa na hakika kwamba nilielewa Kiingereza.
I had to look at the French to make sure I had understood the English.

[jal]

I had to look at the French to make sure I had understood the English.

Ich bin froh, dass ich nicht die einzige bin, die "apprised" aufsuchen musste.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who had to look up "apprised".


JAL

[Imralu]

I had to look at the French to make sure I had understood the English.

Ich bin froh, dass ich nicht der Einzige bin, der "apprised" nachschlagen musste.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who had to look up "apprised".

Die Einzige would be feminine... and substantivised adjectives are capitalised too.

Aufsuchen is more for a person. If you're looking up a word, it's nachschlagen.

Kwa kawaida watu husema Keep me up to date/Keep me posted/Let me know.
Usually people say "Keep me up to date/Keep me posted/Let me know."

Viktor ni Viktor.
Victor is Victor.

[Viktor77]

Kwa kawaida watu husema Keep me up to date/Keep me posted/Let me know.
Usually people say "Keep me up to date/Keep me posted/Let me know."

'Keep me apprised' est une phrase commune en anglais, bien qu'elle soit un peu formelle. Mais je l'ai employée afin d'être créatif. J'aime bien ces types de tournures qui rendent une langue un peu plus intéressante.

'Keep me apprised' is a common phrase in English, even if it's a bit formal. But I used it to be creative. I like these sorts of expressions that make a language a bit more interesting.

I had to look at the French to make sure I had understood the English.

Ich bin froh, dass ich nicht die einzige bin, die "apprised" aufsuchen musste.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who had to look up "apprised".

Dit woord kwam tamelijk gewoon tot mij in het Engels over. Als ik gezegd heb, het zeldzamer dan andere worden is, maar het bestaat toch.

This word seemed common enough to me in English. As I said, it's rarer than other words, but it exists nontheless.

Viktor ni Viktor.
Victor is Victor.

Waarom heb je de k's in c's verandeert? Mijn naam in het Engels is 'Viktor' en dezelfde in het Swahili. In het Engels, hebben we mensen die Viktor en Victor heten, als Erik/Eric.

Why did you change the k's to c's? My name is 'Viktor' in English and the same in Swahili. In English we have people whose names are Viktor and Victor, like Erik/Eric.