Help your fluency in a nifty way

[hwhatting]

Wo bist du, HaWe? Wir brauchen Deine Hilfe!
Cá bhfuil tu, Héis Wae? Tá do chuidiú de dhíth orainn!
Where are you, H-W? We need your help!

Oh, widzę że mamy trochę zaległości...
Oh, je vois qu'il ya un petit arriéré de travail...
Oh, ik zie dat wij een kleen achterstand hebben ...
Oh, I see there is a bit of a backlog...
(After I started, I noted that Imralu corrected a lot of the German already; I didn't go through all his corrections in Detail, but they seem to be mostly, well, correct.)

Im letzten Sommer habe ich ein paar Mangos mit einer Freundin gekauft. Es war ein sehr heißer Tag, und so haben wir beschlossen, aus ihnen Smoothies zu machen.
Last summer I bought a couple mangoes with my friend. It was a very hot day, so we decided to make smoothies with them.

More idiomatic word order: Smoothies aus ihnen zu machen.

Habt ihr gesehen, dass manche Tabellen des Wikiwörterbuchs sich nicht öffnen lassen?
EDIT: Did you see some Wiktionary tables don't open?

Ich brauche neue Schuhe. Diejenigen, die ich vor ungefähr einem Monat gekauft hab, reißen Löcher in alle meine Socken.
I need new shoes. The ones I bought about a month ago are tearing holes in all of my socks.

Es gibt keine orange Gegenden?
There are no orange neighbourhoods?

Wass würde es dann bedeuten? Ich denke, dass dieses System soll sein binär sein sollte.
What would it mean then? I think this system should be binary.

Es gibt gute Gegenden, wo man unbedingt wohnen will, und schlechte Gegenden, wo man sich wirklich nicht aufhalten will. Aber es kann doch auch Gegenden geben, die nicht die erste Wahl sind, aber wo es auch nicht so schlimm ist, dass man da gar nicht wohnen will?
There are good neighbourhouds, in which one want to live without question, and bad neighbourhoods, in which one really don't want to be found. But it's possible there are neighhbourhoods that aren't first choice, but which aren't so bad one doesn't want to live there at all?

Ehrlich gesagt empfinde ich es als störend, wenn von "schlechten Gegenden" die Rede ist. Unter Weißen in den USA ist das öfters eine Umschreibung für "zu viele Dunkelhäutigen".
Truth be told, I feel uncomfortable when people talk about "bad neighbourhoods". Among white people in the USA that's often code for "too many dark people".

Hm, Mangel der binären Systeme. Ich werde zurückkommen zu meiner Mathe.
Hm, no binary systems. I'll come back to my maths.

Honestly, I don't even know what you want to say here, so I only corrected the grammatical and orthographic errors. The German doesn't really make sense and the English is too terse.

Was war deine Meinung über den Eurovision Song Contest dieses Jahr?
What's your opinion about the ESC this year?

Not very idiomatic - I'd say "Was hast du vom Eurovision Song Contest dieses Jahr gehalten?"

Meiner Meinung nach, war Portugals Lied war unbedingt anders als die anderen Lieder, und ich kann verstehen, warum so viele Menschen es nicht mochten, aber ich habe es doch ganz schön gefunden. Mein Lieblingslied war trotzdem das italienische Lied.
I think Portugal's song was definitely different to the other songs, and I get why so many people didn't like it, but I still found it beautiful. My favourite was still Italy.

Ich weiss nicht, ob ich das Lied Portugals am Besten fand*1), aber ich kann sehr gut verstehen das es gewonnen hat. Es ist trotzdem ein sehr schönes Lied. Kroatien und Ungarn hatten auch schöne Lieder, und Rumänien, Italien und Moldawien waren lustig. Nach meinen Meinung gab es dieses Jahr nicht viele sehr schlechte Lieder (besonders wenn mann es vergleicht mit letztem Jahr), obwohl es sehr viel langweilige oder einfallslose Lieder gab. Ich denke, dass das auch eine Rolle dabei gespielt hat, dass Portugal gewonnen hat - es war etwas ganz anderes. Ich hoffe nur, dass wir nächstes Jahr nicht 26 Klonen bekommen...
I don't know whether I find the Portuguese song the best, but I can understand very well why it has won. It's a very beautiful song regardless. Croatia and Hungary had also beautiful songs, and Romania, Italy and Moldova were fun. Imho, there weren't that many really bad songs this year (especially when compared to last year), even though there were many boring or unimaginative songs. I think that's an important factor that Portugal has won - it was something completely different. I just hope that we don't get 26 clones next year...

*1) That solution requires the least reconstruction, but is a bit colloquial. Other Options: ob ich fand, dass das portugiesiche Lied das beste war or ob ich das portugiesische Lied für das beste hielt.

Weil du davon etwas lernen kannst? Dein Niederländisch ist wirklich nicht so schlecht, aber du musst versuchen, etwas weniger Französich darunter zu mischen .
Because you can learn something from it? Your Dutch is really not that bad, but you must try to mix less French into it .

Entschuldigung, ich hätte etwas in einer Fremdsprache schreiben sollen.
Apologies, I should've written something in a foreign language.

Na, du hast halt meine Ansicht bestätigt.
Well, you just proved my point.

Hm, in Łódź es nur regnet, regnet und regnet es nur. Alle sind traurig und wir haben jetzt keine Mittagessen nicht jetzt in unserer Schule.
Hmph, in Łódź it only rains, rains and rains. Everybody is sad and we don't have lunches in our school now.

I don't understand that thing about the lunches, or how it's linked to the rain.

Und, lustigerweise, auf Deutsch ist das "t" ist aspiriert, aber nicht auf Niederländisch.
And, funny enough, in German the "t" is aspirated, but not in Dutch.
Wieder mal schönen Dank Imralu! Es hat brachte mich auf einen Gedanken gebracht, wie man es sich ins Niederländisch übersetzt.
Again thanks very much Imralu! It made me think how this is translated in Dutch. That being out of the way, let me think how Dutch handles this:
Ich weiß nicht, was ich sagen soll. Wärst du heterosexuell gewesen, denn hätte ich dich für einen schreklichen Sexisten gehalten. Es würde unter keinen Bedingung ok sein, eine wildfremde Frau zu fotografieren, nur weil sie hübsch aussieht.
I'm not sure what to say. If you'd been straight I'd think you're an terrible sexist. It would be under no circumstances ok to take a picture of a woman who's a complete stranger to you, just because she looks cute.

Es sagt niemand, dass du nicht das Recht darauf besitzst, Menschen im öffentlichen Bereich zu fotografieren. Aber nicht alles, worauf man ein Recht hat, ist richtig.
No one's saying you don't have the right to photograph people in the public sphere. But not everything you have the right to do is righteous.

“photographieren” is old orthography.

Kann man das mit 'so-so' in französischem Englisch vergleichen?
Can we compare this to 'so-so' in French English?

Ich weiße nicht, warum dieser Diskussionsfaden ist gestorben ist, aber wir müssen ihn retten!
EDIT (I forgot about the translation, again): I don't know why this thread died but we have to save it!

Außer Englisch, hab ich niemals*1) die Gelegenheit, eine Fremdsprache zu üben. Abgesehen davon, kenne ich auch zu wenig Fremdsprachen - nur Englisch und Deutsch, und ein bisschen*2) Französisch.
Except for English, I don't have the opportunity to practice a foreign language. And besides, I know too few foreign languages - just English and German, and a bit of French.

*1) niemals is a bit literary / dramatic, I'd simply say nie hier.
*2) bischen is old orthography.

[linguoboy]

Hurrah! Er ist zurück und hat seinen Rotstift dabei!
Hurray! He's back and he brought his red pen along!

Die Zeit zum Faulenzen ist endlich vorbei! Haltet ihr die Ohren steif!
The time for slacking is over! Straighten up and fly right, y'all!

[Qwynegold]

他の「まあまあ」という意味がある言葉がある？あるいは英語話者はこんな概念があまりいらない？外国人はもっと灰色の色合いが見えるんだか。
Hokano "maa-maa" to iu imi ga aru kotoba ga aru? Arui wa Eigo-washa wa konna gainen ga amari iranai? Gaikokujin wa motto haiiro no iroai ga mierun da ka.
Are there other words with the meaning of "so-so"? Or do English speakers not have much use for this concept? I.e. foreigners see more shades of gray?

[linguoboy]

Meinem Vater geht's immer "gut bis mäßig".
My father is always doing "fair to middlin'".

[Ziz]

他の「まあまあ」という意味がある言葉がある？あるいは英語話者はこんな概念があまりいらない？外国人はもっと灰色の色合いが見えるんだか。
Hokano "maa-maa" to iu imi ga aru kotoba ga aru? Arui wa Eigo-washa wa konna gainen ga amari iranai? Gaikokujin wa motto haiiro no iroai ga mierun da ka.
Are there other words with the meaning of "so-so"? Or do English speakers not have much use for this concept? I.e. foreigners see more shades of gray?

@Jal, hwhatting: Dank[e/ je]!

Als het tussen alledaags goed en alledaags slecht is, ik zou fine of okay of alright zeggen. In feite, al deze woorden impliceren nu middelmatigheid. Als ik wil zeggen dat iets echt goed is, ik moet minstens great zeggen. Heden zullen ze zelfs vragen, "Just okay?"
If it's between unremarkably good and unremarkably bad, I would say 'fine,' 'okay', or 'alright.' In fact, all of these words now suggest mediocrity. If I want to say that something is truly good, I have to say at least 'great.' Nowadays, people will even ask, "Just okay?"

In my millennial American English, I have at least seven degrees of goodness. All of these words can go in the space "I had a _____ day."
horrible, shitty, bad/sucky, fine/okay/alright (neutral), good (tepid approval), great, awesome/amazing/incredible

Interestingly, 'fine' is more positive when used attributively than predicatively ("I had a fine day" suggests a better day than "My day was fine.").

[Travis B.]

If you ask someone how they are doing, and they say fine or okay, that typically means these days that they are not doing all that great.

[ˈd̪ʲɛ.gɔ kɾuˑl̪]

Hm, in Łódź es nur regnet, regnet und regnet es nur. Alle sind traurig und wir haben jetzt keine Mittagessen nicht jetzt in unserer Schule.
Hmph, in Łódź it only rains, rains and rains. Everybody is sad and we don't have lunches in our school now.

I don't understand that thing about the lunches, or how it's linked to the rain.

This day began so sad that l wanted to tell youse about one sad thing more. I just liked these lunches. I also thought that if I have something to write about in order to practice German I should write it - as I can see there's a very long way to master it.

[jal]

Als het* tussen alledaags goed en alledaags slecht is*, zou ik fine of okay of alright zeggen. In feite,** impliceren al deze woorden nu middelmatigheid. Als ik wil zeggen dat iets echt goed is, moet ik minstens great zeggen***. Tegenwoordig zullen ze^ je^^ zelfs vragen, "Just okay?"

*Either "Als het tussen X en Y gaat" or "Als de keuze tussen X en Y is".
**Not just ortographical, there's no pause between "feite" and the next word. Also, I'd say "Al deze woorden impliceren nu in feite middelmatigheid", but you can front it.
***I'd say "gebruiken". Dutch really doesn't like repetition.
^Colloquial. More formal "zal men"

Dein Niederländisch ist ganz gut. Vergess nur nicht, das Subjekt und Verb um zu drehen in einen Nebensatz.
Your Dutch is quite good. Just don't forget to swap subject and verb in a subclause.

Oh, ik zie dat wij* een kleine achterstand hebben...

*Better: "we".

Wilkommen zurück! Ich habe mich gefürchtet, dass du einfach verschwunden war, und es freut mich sehr, dass du wieder hier bist!
Welcome back! I feared you had simply disappeared, and I'm very glad you're here again!

in order to practice German I should write it - as I can see there's a very long way to master it.

Das haben wir schon alle! Deutsch lasst sich nicht einfach zähmen.
That goes for all of us! German isn't easily tamed.


JAL

[hwhatting]

Dein Niederländisch ist ganz gut. Vergiss nur nicht, das Subjekt und Verb um zu drehen in einen Nebensatz umzudrehen.
Your Dutch is quite good. Just don't forget to swap subject and verb in a subclause.

Wilkommen zurück! Ich hatte schon befürchtet, dass du einfach verschwunden warst, und es freut mich sehr, dass du wieder hier bist!
Welcome back! I feared you had simply disappeared, and I'm very glad you're here again!

Dank je wel! Ik was gewoon te bezig in de laatste weken om mijn achterstand met deze thread in te halen.
Thanks! I just was too busy during the last weeks to catch up with the thread.

[jal]

Dank je wel! Ik was gewoon te druk* in** de laatste weken om mijn achterstand met*** deze thread in te halen.

*or "te druk bezig". "Bezig" on it's own can't take "te".
**or "in de afgelopende weken" or "gedurende de afgelopen weken". "de laatste weken" on its own can be used to refer to an unspecified number of weeks before current, but combined with "in", it triggers a semantic change (at least for me), with a meaning of "there are no further weeks", e.g. "in de laatste weken van zijn leven was hij nog erg actief".
***"achterstand met" needs something that is delayed, typically a verbal noun, e.g. "achterstand met schrijven". Though it's clear what you mean here, I don't think "met" + noun can work. "in" could work.

Pour prévenir que tu dois corriger moi encore une fois, j'écrirai en (mauvais) français.
To prevent you have to correct me again, I'll write in (bad) french.


JAL

[Imralu]

Sijamsikia mtu ambaye Kiingereza ni lugha ya kwanza akisema so-so ila katika shoo za televisheni zilizoandikwa vibaya.
I've never heard anyone who's first language is English say "so-so" except in badly written TV shows.

Australia ni kawaida kusema si mbaya au siwezi kulalamika ikiwa mambo ni sawa tu. Ikiwa mambo ni mabaya, watu wanasema sawa ninafikiri. Ni kama katika Kiswahili — maswali haya si maswali ya kweli bali ni maamkio tu. Mwaustralia akitaka kujua habari yako, atakuuliza tena baada ya kusikia.
In Australia it's usual to say not bad or can't complain if things are just OK. If things are bad, people say OK I guess. It's like in Swahili — these questions are not actual questions but just greetings. If an Australian wants to know how you're going, they'll ask you again after the greetings.

[finlay]

If you ask someone how they are doing, and they say fine or okay, that typically means these days that they are not doing all that great.

でもさ、トーンが大切、そんな言葉だったら。嬉しい感じでfineと言えるよ
yeah but, tone is important with those words - ie. you can say "fine" with a 'happy' tone

いつも生徒さんのso-soを調整してる（？）。正しくなくはないけど、初心者の英語の感じがあるので
I'm always correcting my students' so-so's. It's not that it's not correct, it just makes them sound like beginners...

[Imralu]

If you ask someone how they are doing, and they say fine or okay, that typically means these days that they are not doing all that great.

でもさ、トーンが大切、そんな言葉だったら。嬉しい感じでfineと言えるよ
yeah but, tone is important with those words - ie. you can say "fine" with a 'happy' tone

いつも生徒さんのso-soを調整してる（？）。正しくなくはないけど、初心者の英語の感じがあるので
I'm always correcting my students' so-so's. It's not that it's not correct, it just makes them sound like beginners...

Hii.
This.

[Vijay]

If you ask someone how they are doing, and they say fine or okay, that typically means these days that they are not doing all that great.

ഞാൻ "okay" എന്ന് പറയുന്നത് Travis പറയുന്നതുപോലാണ്. എനിക്ക് സന്തോഷമൊക്കെയാണെങ്കിൽ "fine" എന്ന് പറയും.
[ɲaːn oːˈkeː jɛn̪ˈn̪ɯ pəˈrejʊn̪n̪əd̪ɯ ˈʈræːʋɪsɯ pərejʊn̪n̪əd̪ɯˈboːlejaːɳɯ]. [jɛˈnikʲɯ sən̪ˈd̪oːʃəmɔkejaːɳɛŋgi fʌjn ɛn̪ˈn̪ɯ pəˈrejʊm].
I say "okay" the way you mentioned. I say "fine" when I'm happy and such.

[Travis B.]

If you ask someone how they are doing, and they say fine or okay, that typically means these days that they are not doing all that great.

ഞാൻ "okay" എന്ന് പറയുന്നത് Travis പറയുന്നതുപോലാണ്. എനിക്ക് സന്തോഷമൊക്കെയാണെങ്കിൽ "fine" എന്ന് പറയും.
[ɲaːn oːˈkeː jɛn̪ˈn̪ɯ pəˈrejʊn̪n̪əd̪ɯ ˈʈræːʋɪsɯ pərejʊn̪n̪əd̪ɯˈboːlejaːɳɯ]. [jɛˈnikʲɯ sən̪ˈd̪oːʃəmɔkejaːɳɛŋgi fʌjn ɛn̪ˈn̪ɯ pəˈrejʊm].
I say "okay" the way you mentioned. I say "fine" when I'm happy and such.

I am the opposite way around - for me, okay is better than fine, but of course good is better than okay. When I say I'm fine I'm basically saying that, no, things could be better, and no, I don't want to talk about it. When I say I'm okay I'm saying that things are not great, but still good enough.

[Ryusenshi]

Moi aussi, je voudrais que j'aie avoir plus de cours des langues étrangères - je pense que je suis doué de l'habileté linguistique et je me gaspille en apprenant les vies des musiciens classiques.

Your French is good, but I wanted to point a frequent mistake. In French, after vouloir, we don't use a subordinate clause if the verb would have the same subject as vouloir. We use an infinitive.

Also, habileté linguistique isn't very idiomatic. I'd say don pour les langues (very common), or maybe talent linguistique (not particularly common, but less weird).

[Vijay]

If you ask someone how they are doing, and they say fine or okay, that typically means these days that they are not doing all that great.

ഞാൻ "okay" എന്ന് പറയുന്നത് Travis പറയുന്നതുപോലാണ്. എനിക്ക് സന്തോഷമൊക്കെയാണെങ്കിൽ "fine" എന്ന് പറയും.
[ɲaːn oːˈkeː jɛn̪ˈn̪ɯ pəˈrejʊn̪n̪əd̪ɯ ˈʈræːʋɪsɯ pərejʊn̪n̪əd̪ɯˈboːlejaːɳɯ]. [jɛˈnikʲɯ sən̪ˈd̪oːʃəmɔkejaːɳɛŋgi fʌjn ɛn̪ˈn̪ɯ pəˈrejʊm].
I say "okay" the way you mentioned. I say "fine" when I'm happy and such.

I am the opposite way around - for me, okay is better than fine, but of course good is better than okay. When I say I'm fine I'm basically saying that, no, things could be better, and no, I don't want to talk about it. When I say I'm okay I'm saying that things are not great, but still good enough.

"Good" എന്ന് ഞാൻ ഒരിക്കലും പറയത്തില്ല.
[gʊɖ ɛn̪ˈn̪ɯ ɲaːn oˈɾikʲɛlʊm pəˈrejət̪ɪlla].
I never say "good."

[GamerGeek]

If you ask someone how they are doing, and they say fine or okay, that typically means these days that they are not doing all that great.

ഞാൻ "okay" എന്ന് പറയുന്നത് Travis പറയുന്നതുപോലാണ്. എനിക്ക് സന്തോഷമൊക്കെയാണെങ്കിൽ "fine" എന്ന് പറയും.
[ɲaːn oːˈkeː jɛn̪ˈn̪ɯ pəˈrejʊn̪n̪əd̪ɯ ˈʈræːʋɪsɯ pərejʊn̪n̪əd̪ɯˈboːlejaːɳɯ]. [jɛˈnikʲɯ sən̪ˈd̪oːʃəmɔkejaːɳɛŋgi fʌjn ɛn̪ˈn̪ɯ pəˈrejʊm].
I say "okay" the way you mentioned. I say "fine" when I'm happy and such.

I am the opposite way around - for me, okay is better than fine, but of course good is better than okay. When I say I'm fine I'm basically saying that, no, things could be better, and no, I don't want to talk about it. When I say I'm okay I'm saying that things are not great, but still good enough.

"Good" എന്ന് ഞാൻ ഒരിക്കലും പറയത്തില്ല.
[gʊɖ ɛn̪ˈn̪ɯ ɲaːn oˈɾikʲɛlʊm pəˈrejət̪ɪlla].
I never say "good."

ese es bien
that is good

[Imralu]

Mbona huyo ni nzuri?
Why is that good?

[linguoboy]

eseo es bienbueno
that is good

Ironischerweise vielleicht heisst bien "well" und nicht "good".
Perhaps ironically, bien means not "good" but "well".

[Imralu]

Machoni mwangu ikiwa nikikuuliza How are you? na ukaniambia I am well, umeniambia kuhusu afya yako tu.
As far as I'm concerned, if I ask you "How are you?" and you reply "I am well", you have only told me about your health.

[GamerGeek]

eseo es bienbueno
that is good

Ironischerweise vielleicht heisst bien "well" und nicht "good".
Perhaps ironically, bien means not "good" but "well".

lol

[Vijay]

Mbona huyo ni nzuri?
Why is that good?

അതായത് എല്ലവരും വേറെവേറെ രീതിയിൽ ഓരോന്നും പറയുന്നതൊരു നല്ല കാര്യമല്ലേ?
[əˈd̪aːjəd̪ ɛlˈlaːɾʊm ʋeːreˈʋeːre ˈɾiːd̪ijɪl oːˈɾoːn̪n̪um pəˈrejʊn̪n̪əd̪oɾu n̪əlˈla kaːɾjəməlˈleː]?
Because, like, isn't it a good thing for everyone to say the same thing in many different ways?

[Imralu]

Hapana. Ninapenda urahisi.
No. I like simplicity.

[Travis B.]

Here at least, people normally say "I am good" rather than "I am well" in response to being asked how they are doing when they actually are doing well.