Help your fluency in a nifty way

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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

Post by ˈd̪ʲɛ.gɔ kɾuˑl̪ »

Я думаю, что самоуверенность важнее всех. Когда ты не заикаешься, никто не будет размышлять о том, откуда ты. (На конкурсах это работает :-D.)
I think the most important of all is self-confidence. When you don't stutter, no one ponders where you are from. (It works on competitions :-D.)
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

Post by Imralu »

Ich habe gestern einem Freund beim Streichen geholfen und war in einem Zimmer mit zwei fremden Mädchen. Wir haben nur auf Deutsch gesprochen. Nach ein paar Stunden hat sich eine beschwert, dass ihr Englisch nicht sehr gut ist, obwohl sie Englischlehrerin ist. Ich habe dann erwähnt, dass das meine Muttersprache ist. Bis dahin hatten sie keine Ahnung, dass ich kein Deutscher bin.

Sie dachten vielleicht, dass ich leicht schwerhörig bin, weil ich mit all dem Nachhall in einem komplett leeren Raum vieles nicht gehört habe und musste ständig um Wiederholung bitten. Unser Freund, dem wir geholfen haben, ist ja auch taub und wir können auch alle gebärden - das würde also Sinn machen.


I helped a friend paint walls yesterday and I was in a room with two girls who I didn't know. We spoke only in German. After a couple of hours, one of them complained that her English isn't very good even though she's an English teacher. I mentioned, then, that that's my native language. Until then, they had no idea that I'm not German.

They might have thought I was a little bit hard of hearing because there was a lot that I didn't hear with all the reverberation in the empty room and I constantly had to ask them to repeat things. The friend who we were helping is Deaf after all and we can all sign, so that would make sense.
Glossing Abbreviations: COMP = comparative, C = complementiser, ACS / ICS = accessible / inaccessible, GDV = gerundive, SPEC / NSPC = specific / non-specific
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

Post by Imralu »

Ninajifundisha kiswahili.
I'm learning Swahili.
Glossing Abbreviations: COMP = comparative, C = complementiser, ACS / ICS = accessible / inaccessible, GDV = gerundive, SPEC / NSPC = specific / non-specific
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

Post by jal »

Viktor77 wrote:Travis, je moet [hier] een vreemde taal hierop spreken [hier].
Either location of "hier" is ok, but not where you put it :). Also, "hierop" is locative, meaning "on top of this".
hwhatting wrote:Vandaag heb ik kabeljauw gekookt* en een frittata als bijgerecht** gemaakt.
*"koken" means both "boiling" and "preparing food", but in this case it sounds to me as "boiling". So to me it reads "I boiled codfish". I'd use "klaargemaakt" or (more formal) "bereid" to indicate the "prepare" sense.
**"bei" doesn't exist in Dutch, except in aardbei :).


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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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Imralu wrote:I helped a friend paint walls yesterday and I was in a room with two girls who I didn't know. We spoke only in German. After a couple of hours, one of them complained that her English isn't very good even though she's an English teacher. I mentioned, then, that that's my native language. Until then, they had no idea that I'm not German.

They might have thought I was a little bit hard of hearing because there was a lot that I didn't hear with all the reverberation in the empty room and I constantly had to ask them to repeat things. The friend who we were helping is Deaf after all and we can all sign, so that would make sense.
Attends, juste une de tes amies était sourde pas les deux? Donc tu as réussi à passer pour un allemand avec les deux? Bravo! C'est quelque chose que nous tous espérons atteindre un jour. Je ne suis jamais passé pour un francophone (pour autant que je me souvienne) mais je suis passé pour un germanophone belge, quelqu'un qui parle allemand mais a également un très haut niveau de français.

À bien y réfléchir, c'est probable que je suis passé pour un francophone avec des étrangers avec qui je n'ai eu que de courtes conversations. C'est toujours quelque chose qui nous rend heureux en tant qu'apprenants des langues étrangères.


Hold on, just one of your friends was deaf and not both? So you successfully passed for a German with both? Nice! That's something that we all hope to attain one day. I've never passed for a francophone (as far as I remember) but I have passed for a Belgian germanophone, someone who speaks German but also has a very high level of French.

On second thought, it's likely that I have passed for a francophone with strangers I only had short conversations with. It's always something that makes us happy as second language leaners.
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

Post by hwhatting »

ˈd̪ʲɛ.gɔ kɾuˑl̪ wrote:Я думаю, что самоуверенность важнее всего. Когда ты не заикаешься, никто не будет размышлять о том, откуда ты. (На конкурсах это работает :-D.)
I think the most important of all is self-confidence. When you don't stutter, no one ponders where you are from. (It works on competitions :-D.)
Imralu wrote:Sie dachten vielleicht, dass ich leicht schwerhörig bin, weil ich mit all dem Widerhall in einem komplett leeren Raum vieles nicht gehört habe und musste ständig um Wiederholung bitten musste. Unser Freund, dem wir geholfen haben, ist ja auch taub und wir können auch alle gebärden - das würde also Sinn machen.

They might have thought I was a little bit hard of hearing because there was a lot that I didn't hear with all the reverberation in the empty room and I constantly had to ask them to repeat things. The friend who we were helping is Deaf after all and we can all sign, so that would make sense.
jal wrote:
hwhatting wrote:Vandaag heb ik kabeljauw gekookt* en een frittata als bijgerecht** gemaakt.
*"koken" means both "boiling" and "preparing food", but in this case it sounds to me as "boiling". So to me it reads "I boiled codfish". I'd use "klaargemaakt" or (more formal) "bereid" to indicate the "prepare" sense.
Well, what I meant is that I cooked it in water, as opposed to frying or grilling it. I assume Dutch koken is like German kochen, having the same two meanings ("to prepare" in a general sense and "to prepare by boiling")?

Niets word zo heet gegeten, als het gekookt word.
Nothing is eaten as hot as it is cooked. (Translation of a German proverb.)

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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

Post by Pole, the »

Well, what I meant is that I cooked it in water, as opposed to frying or grilling it. I assume Dutch koken is like German kochen, having the same two meanings ("to prepare" in a general sense and "to prepare by boiling")?
I think it works in English as well, e.g. “boiled eggs” (= “eggs prepared by putting them in boiling water”).
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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hwhatting wrote:Well, what I meant is that I cooked it in water, as opposed to frying or grilling it. I assume Dutch koken is like German kochen, having the same two meanings ("to prepare" in a general sense and "to prepare by boiling")?
I'm not sure. For me at least, "koken" as "prepare by boiling" has limited semantics, and can only be used when describing preparing food ("eerst heb ik de kabeljauw gekookt, daarna de groenten gewassen en gesneden, ...") but not with the meaning "prepared as a meal" ("gisteren heb ik kabeljauw gekookt" can only mean "yesterday I boiled cod").
Niets wordt zo heet gegeten, als het gekookt wordt.
Auf Niederländisch sagen wir "de soep wordt niet [or "nooit"] zo heet gegeten als hij wordt opgediend" (die Suppe wird nicht so heiß gegessen wie sie serviert wird).
In Dutch we say "..." (the soup isn't eaten as hot as it's served)


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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

Post by Imralu »

Viktor77 wrote:Hold on, just one of your friends was deaf and not both?
Imralu wrote:I helped a friend paint walls yesterday and I was in a room with two girls who I didn't know.
Freunde sind ja immer Leute, die man kennt, oder? :wink:
Friends are always people who you know, aren't they? (Also, if you read the German, einem Freund is masculine, and girls are not. My friend was in another room. I was in a room with two hearing girls.)

An manchen Tagen habe ich einen guten Akzent. An anderen Tagen nicht. Ich mache auch ziemlich oft Fehler beim Sprechen, und auch mal beim schreiben, wie man hier sieht. Wenn ich als Ausländer erkannt werde, werde ich am häufigsten für einen Skandinavier gehalten, was wohl an meinem Aussehen liegt.

On some days, I have a good accent. On other days, I don't. I also make mistakes pretty often when I speak, and also sometimes when I write. When I'm recognised as a foreigner, I'm usually taken to be a Scandinavian, which is probably down to my appearance.

Hwhatting, ist Nachhall nur für Musik?
Hwhatting, is Nachhall only for music?
Glossing Abbreviations: COMP = comparative, C = complementiser, ACS / ICS = accessible / inaccessible, GDV = gerundive, SPEC / NSPC = specific / non-specific
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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Imralu wrote:Hwhatting, is Nachhall only for music?
Offenbar nicht.
Apparently not.


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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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Hmm, das ist ja ein technischer Begriff. Laut diesem Prinzip darf ich auch Bahnen Züge nennen.
Hmm, but that's a technical term. If I follow that principle, I can also call (suburban) trains trains.
Wikipedia wrote:Wegen der typischerweise kleinen Wohnungen der Rundfunkhörer könne da kein Hall erzeugt werden.
Häh? Es geht nicht um die Größe des Raums. Kleinere Räume haben auch Hall; er ist nur kurzer. Er kann da aber auch viel lauter sein, wenn im Raum nichts Weiches ist. Ein Freund von mir geht gerne aufs Klo, während wir telefonieren, und ich merke es sofort, wenn er ins Bad geht. Huh? It's not about the size of the room. Smaller rooms generate reverberation too; it's just shorter. It can even be louder there if there's nothing soft in the room. A friend of mine likes to go to the toilet while we're talking on the phone and I notice it as soon as he goes into the bathroom.
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

Post by hwhatting »

jal wrote:
hwhatting wrote:Well, what I meant is that I cooked it in water, as opposed to frying or grilling it. I assume Dutch koken is like German kochen, having the same two meanings ("to prepare" in a general sense and "to prepare by boiling")?
I'm not sure. For me at least, "koken" as "prepare by boiling" has limited semantics, and can only be used when describing preparing food ("eerst heb ik de kabeljauw gekookt, daarna de groenten gewassen en gesneden, ...") but not with the meaning "prepared as a meal" ("gisteren heb ik kabeljauw gekookt" can only mean "yesterday I boiled cod").
Well, as I said, I wanted to underline that I boiled it in water and not that just say that I pepared it, so koken would be the right choice?
Imralu wrote:Hwhatting, ist Nachhall nur für Musik?
Hwhatting, is Nachhall only for music?
See Jal's response for that question. I replaced it by Widerhall because at least IMD that's an everyday word that I would use in that context, while Nachhall to me is a technical term that I'd use when talking about acoustics (which I rarely do ;-) ).
(If I mark something blue, it means that it's not wrong, but that I think my replacement is more idiomatic or appropriate with regards to register. Other native speakers may have a different opinion.)
Imralu wrote:Häh? Es geht nicht um die Größe des Raums. Kleinere Räume haben auch Hall; er ist nur kürzer. Er kann da aber auch viel lauter sein, wenn im Raum nichts Weiches ist. Ein Freund von mir geht gerne aufs Klo, während wir telefonieren, und ich merke es sofort, wenn er ins Bad*1) geht. [/b]Huh? It's not about the size of the room. Smaller rooms generate reverberation too; it's just shorter. It can even be louder there if there's nothing soft in the room. A friend of mine likes to go to the toilet while we're talking on the phone and I notice it as soon as he goes into the bathroom.
*1) That's OK if he really goes to the room where the bath tub or the shower are. If there's just the toilet and maybe a basin, than it's a Toilette.

Czy w Australii nazywają ubikację łazienką, czy to jest coś co robią tylko Amerikanie?
Est-ce qu'on apelle les toilettes salle de bains en Australie ou c'est une chose que font seulement les Américains?
Noemt men een toilet een badkamer in Australië of is dat iets dat alleen de Amerikanen doen?

Do they call a toilet a bathroom in Australia, or is that something only Americans do?

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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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hwhatting wrote: *1) That's OK if he really goes to the room where the bath tub or the shower are. If there's just the toilet and maybe a basin, then it's a Toilette.

Czy w Australii nazywają ubikację łazienką, czy to jest coś co robią tylko Amerikanie?
Est-ce qu'on apelle les toilettes salle de bains en Australie ou c'est une chose que font seulement les Américains?
Noemt men een toilet een badkamer in Australië of is dat iets dat alleen de Amerikanen doen?

Do they call a toilet a bathroom in Australia, or is that something only Americans do?
Wamarekani tu. Waustralia pia husema toilet kwa choo na bathroom kwa bafu. Na hakuna restrooms... Vyumba vya kutua??
Only Americans. Australians say toilet for Toilette and bathroom for Bad(ezimmer). And there is no such thing as restrooms... rooms for resting?
Glossing Abbreviations: COMP = comparative, C = complementiser, ACS / ICS = accessible / inaccessible, GDV = gerundive, SPEC / NSPC = specific / non-specific
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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hwhatting wrote:Czy w Australii nazywają ubikację łazienką, czy to jest coś, co robią tylko Amerykanie?
Do they call a toilet a bathroom in Australia, or is that something only Americans do?
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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hwhatting wrote:Est-ce qu'on appelle les toilettes la salle de bains en Australie ou c'est une chose que font seulement les Américains?
Ich hatte gerade ein ganztägiges Bewerbungsgespräch in einer Privatschule in Memphis, Tennessee. Die Schule war sehr schön, sehr angeberisch, mit sehr motivierte Studenten. Wir werden siehen, was sie sagen. Ich weiß nicht, was über vielleicht zu umziehen in Memphis zu denken.

I just had a all-day job interview with a private school in Memphis, Tennessee. The school was very nice, very ritzy, with very motivated students. We shall see what they say. I don't know what to think about possibly moving to Memphis.
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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hwhatting wrote:Czy w Australii nazywają ubikację łazienką, czy to jest coś co robią tylko Amerikanie?
Est-ce qu'on apelle les toilettes salle de bains en Australie ou c'est une chose que font seulement les Américains?
Noemt men een toilet een badkamer in Australië of is dat iets dat alleen de Amerikanen doen?

Do they call a toilet a bathroom in Australia, or is that something only Americans do?
Felly medrwn ni ddweud bod ni'n mynd i'r "bathroom", "toilet", "loo", "dunny", ac yn cyfeirio at yr un peth: mynd i'r lle chwech a cachu a pisio. :P
Well we can say we're going to the "bathroom", "toilet", "loo", "dunny", and be referring to the same thing: going to the WC and doing your business.

Ond dan nhw'n dal yn galw y stafell mochi "the bathroom", neu "the loo" hyd yn oed. Yr Americanwyr sy'n galw hi "the restroom".
But we still call the bathroom "the bathroom", or even "the loo". It's the Americans who call it "the restroom".
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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Lakini upomo dukani, utasema "Bafu iko wapi?"?
But when you're in a shop, would you say "where is the bathroom?"?
Glossing Abbreviations: COMP = comparative, C = complementiser, ACS / ICS = accessible / inaccessible, GDV = gerundive, SPEC / NSPC = specific / non-specific
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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Imralu wrote:Lakini upomo dukani, utasema "Bafu iko wapi?"?
But when you're in a shop, would you say "where is the bathroom?"?
Oh yeah, that's true. Nah, I'd say "toilet" or "loo"; although maybe it depends on the size of the actual room?

If I'm at a mall/supermarket, I'd call the facilities a bathroom, even though there's no bath or even though I wouldn't necessarily say "I'm going to the bathroom" more than I'd say "I'm going to the loo".

Like I'll call the second toilet in our house a toilet or loo regardless, because it has no sink or much else, but I'd call this one mate's bathroom a bathroom collectively, even though technically it's compartmentalised into a bunch of small rooms, of which there's a sink room, a toilet room, and a literal bath room.

Not to mention there's a formality aspect to this. I'd just say "loo" or "toilet" casually, but if someone asks what the place is called or I'm with people who wouldn't necessarily appreciate my "vulgar" speech, for whatever reason, I'll say "bathroom", except where it doesn't make sense to, like for smaller rooms.
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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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Znex wrote:Felly medrwn ni ddweud bod ni'n mynd i'r "bathroom", "toilet", "loo", "dunny", ac yn cyfeirio at yr un peth: mynd i'r lle chwech a cachu a pisio. :P
Well we can say we're going to the "bathroom", "toilet", "loo", "dunny", and be referring to the same thing: going to the WC and doing your business.
Warum so euphemistisch auf Englisch?
Why so euphemistic in English?
Znex wrote:Yr Americanwyr sy'n galw hi'n "the restroom".

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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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Znex wrote:Wel, medrwn ni ddweud bod ni'n mynd i'r "bathroom", "toilet", "loo", "dunny", ac yn cyfeirio at yr un peth: mynd i'r lle chwech a cachu a pisio. :P
Well we can say we're going to the "bathroom", "toilet", "loo", "dunny", and be referring to the same thing: going to the WC and doing your business.
Felly means 'so' or 'then, not 'well'. I've never heard lle chwech, though we have tŷ bach and more literally man pisio alongside toiled.
Ond er hynny dan ni'n galw'r stafell molchi'n "bathroom", neu "loo" hyd yn oed. Yr Americanwyr sy'n galw hi'n "restroom".
But we still call the bathroom "the bathroom", or even "the loo". It's the Americans who call it "the restroom".
You need predicative yn after galw, or else you could maybe say galw... wrth 'call... by'. yn does not feel right followed by definites. You also got nhw and ni confused. If you want to use a verb with dal it has to be dal i, but this means still as in 'keep on', not as in 'nonetheless, anyway'.
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tà yi póbo tsùtsùr ciivà dè!

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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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Viktor77 wrote:Ich hatte gerade ein ganztägiges Bewerbungsgespräch bei einer Privatschule in Memphis, Tennessee. Die Schule war sehr schön, sehr angeberisch*1), mit sehr motivierten Studenten. Wir werden siehen, was sie sagen. Ich weiß nicht, was ich von einen möglichen Umzug nach Memphis halte*2).

I just had a all-day job interview with a private school in Memphis, Tennessee. The school was very nice, very ritzy, with very motivated students. We shall see what they say. I don't know what to think about possibly moving to Memphis.
*1) angeberisch is negative ("showy, braggy"). If you want an equivalent with less overt negative connotations,.use nobel or vornehm.
*2) a) The infinitive construction you tried doesn't work in German. b) you can also say wie ich über einen möglichen Umzug nach Memphis denke.

You could be puttin' on the Ritz while walking in Memphis... ;-)

Nie, nie będę próbować tłumaczyć tego...
Non, je ne vais pas tenter de traduire ça...
Nee, ik zal niet proberen dat te vertalen...

No, I'm not going to translate that...

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Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

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Znex wrote:
hwhatting wrote:Czy w Australii nazywają ubikację łazienką, czy to jest coś co robią tylko Amerikanie?
Est-ce qu'on apelle les toilettes salle de bains en Australie ou c'est une chose que font seulement les Américains?
Noemt men een toilet een badkamer in Australië of is dat iets dat alleen de Amerikanen doen?

Do they call a toilet a bathroom in Australia, or is that something only Americans do?
Felly medrwn ni ddweud bod ni'n mynd i'r "bathroom", "toilet", "loo", "dunny", ac yn cyfeirio at yr un peth: mynd i'r lle chwech a cachu a pisio. :P
Well we can say we're going to the "bathroom", "toilet", "loo", "dunny", and be referring to the same thing: going to the WC and doing your business.

Ond dan nhw'n dal yn galw y stafell mochi "the bathroom", neu "the loo" hyd yn oed. Yr Americanwyr sy'n galw hi "the restroom".
But we still call the bathroom "the bathroom", or even "the loo". It's the Americans who call it "the restroom".
やでも、お店なら、お風呂がないので、bathroomって適当じゃないっしょ、イギリス英語だと
ya demo, omise nara, ofuro ga nai no de, bathroomtte tekitou ja nai ssho, igirisu eigo da to
But in a shop, there's no bath, so we wouldn't say bathroom right? ... in uk english anyway.

bathroomと言ったら、イギリス人はよく笑っちゃうよ。「なんでいきなりアメリカっぽく言ったの?アメリカ人じゃねえ」とよく言われることがある、そこで
bathroom to yuttara, igirisu jin wa yoku waratchau yo. 'nande ikinari amerika ppoku yutta no? amerika jin ja nee' to yoku yuwareru koto ga aru, soko de
if you say bathroom in the uk people laugh at you, like "you're not an american, why are you speaking like one?"

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Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:14 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany

Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

Post by Imralu »

Finlay, kiingereza changu ni sawa kama chako.
Finlay, my English is the same as yours.
Znex wrote:a sink room
Nini?
What?

"Chumba changu cha bakuli kiko wapi?"
"Where is your sink room?" :mrgreen:
Glossing Abbreviations: COMP = comparative, C = complementiser, ACS / ICS = accessible / inaccessible, GDV = gerundive, SPEC / NSPC = specific / non-specific
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MY MUSIC

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finlay
Sumerul
Sumerul
Posts: 3600
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2003 12:35 pm
Location: Tokyo

Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

Post by finlay »

日本語で化粧室
In Japanese it's "make up room" (formally)

Ziz
Avisaru
Avisaru
Posts: 274
Joined: Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:05 pm
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel

Re: Help your fluency in a nifty way

Post by Ziz »

לדעתי, נשמע קצת איכ להגיד שהולכים ל-"טוילט". בניב שלי, טוילט זה אך ורק הדבר עצמו, כלומר האסלה. להגיד שאתה הולך לאסלה מדגיש את מה שאתה מתכוון לעשות שם, שזה רק טיפה פחות גס מלהגיד שאתה הולך לחרבן. אגב במקרה הזה, עברית היא עדינה ויופמיסטית במידה לא אופיינית—אומרים שהולכים ל-"שרותים".
Lede‘ati, nishma‘ ḳtsat ikh lehagid sheholkhim la-"ṭoyleṭ". Baniv sheli, ṭoyleṭ ze akh ṿeraḳ hadavar ‘atsmo, klomar ha’asla. Lehagid she’ata holekh la’asla madgish et ma she’ata mitkaṿen la‘aśot sham, sheze raḳ ṭipa paḥot gas milehagid she’ata holekh leḥarben. Agav bamiḳre haze, ‘ivrit hi ‘adina ṿe-yufemisṭit bemida lo ofyanit—omrim sheholkhim la-"sherutim."

To my mind, it sounds a little yucky to say that you’re going to the “toilet.” In my dialect, ‘toilet’ refers only to the device itself, so saying that you’re going to the toilet sort of underscores what you intend to do there. Which is only a little less blunt than saying that you’re going to shit.

Actually in this case, Hebrew is uncharacteristically euphemistic—you say that you are going to the “services,” which I guess is like saying “facilities” in English.

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