THIS is the thing that polyglots have come to terms with. They know they'll do it wrong at first and have no fear of it. They find native speakers are typically patient and helpful.

My girlfriend has been surprisingly unimpressed by my attempts to learn Vietnamese. Only now that I know some words (123 of them, per Duolingo) and phrases has she begun to take interest in my interest in her native language.

Funny story. For the Lunar New Year, Vietnamese like a rice cake called bánh chưng. Vietnamese is a tonal language. The marks dictate the tone. The tone dictates the meaning. The same few letters can have multiple meanings depending on whether the tone of your voice rises, falls, is level, etc.

"Tôi ăn me." means "I eat tamarind."
"Tôi ăn mẹ" means "I eat mother."
It all depends on how you pronounce it!

So, close to the Lunar New Year my gf asks me to pick up bánh chưng from a restaurant where I was having lunch with a friend. I was on the phone with her as I pulled into the parking lot. "What are you going to get for me?" she asked. "Bánh chưng!" I replied doing my best to mimic the tones as I remembered them. She burst out laughing and said she'd send me a text and that I should just point to the word instead of trying to say it to the restaurant staff. "Is it really that bad?" I asked.

Her reply... "Well, when you say it, it sounds like you're saying, "Spread your legs!" :eek::eek::eek:

OK. That‘s hilarious.

I‘m glad German isn‘t a tonal language like that. That has got to be difficult!

Dredging up an old thread. Now that I'm "Later in life" it's time to learn a new language.

Well, at least get better at a few. Start with Spanish (always handy in my neck of the woods, I already know all the bad words). Next move to German since I can sprechen nicht so schlecht and the Wife is German.

I spend a lot of time commuting and in traffic, has anyone tried the Babbel Lifetime Plan? I think it's $320 and includes all the languages. I know it's for one person but can 2 people access the subscription?

As always, muchas gracias in advancio.

I can also order a beer and get slapped in Tijuana ....

Spanish III was the only class in college that I could NOT make an "A" in .... skated through Spanish 4 ;). "She" was NOT cute and brutal .... LONG, intensive exams and she -.5 pointed everything .... EVERYTHING :(. I made a C (highest in class) and a friend from PR made a D- (mebbe because she was cute?) ....

La Diabla .... Si :)

this will help ein bisschen..
just knock on the table when greeting your friends ( group hand shake)..
ein Bier bitte..
leck mich am ar$$..( it's lick...)
but you get the idea...
wo ist die toilette bitte..

Rika

I'm on Duolingo Spanish. But I think getting immersed is the best way... I know I'm in CA and there are tons of Spanish speakers around, they just aren't in my circle.

This is timely. I need to learn French. Wife needs to learn Italian.

You can do it but it's going to be hard, unless you're a natural at languages. But regardless, the key to learning to communicate - as opposed to learning to be perfectly correct about everything - is going to be using it often, with native speakers. This may be hard with German in Tennessee.

My mom learned Spanish in her 20s after she married my dad, first taking lessons and then using it when they would visit his family in Colombia and then when they moved to Mexico City and eventually Venezuela. The biggest part of her learning was just using it. I've spent most of my life in the US and speaking English, so I've long had a bit of a complex with Spanish, so I understand things like a fear of saying something 'wrong'. Shoving any such fears in the closet will do a lot to help you learn. People who speak a language are invariably happy to hear you trying, and don't care whether you're correct or not. They'll help you.

talk to self in your shower loud..
you have to hear it...
and as oldies we don't want to be laughed at..
German is easy ..its phonetic..
you don't know what your saying ....but can..
new word or planet....
Germans will string 9 words together..
best recomb,...
listen and laugh at self..

Rika

I have been ridiculed for my attempts to speak English my whole life ;)...

I do think you have to immerse one's self to be fluent.... back in college (when I was most adept at Spanish), I could read and write pretty good, but conversing with a native speaker ....

Naw ;)

fork in.....
Left hand...

Rika

I've been on Duolingo for over three years now and while I'm not sure I would ever feel comfortable having a conversation in Italian or now French with a native speaker, I thought I could at least read road signs, a menu, or understand some of what I heard others saying. Started in preparation for my daughter's school trip to Italy (Canceled due to COVID) and now we are going to London, Paris, and Amsterdam this June. I think Duolingo does a good job in how it reinforces the words, tense, and sentence structure.

That's my understanding. Immersion is the best way to become fluent in the shortest time. Most of us can't easily do that. Maybe for Spanish. We could probably have a one way immersion by watching TV/Movies in the language that you're trying to learn.

Don't sell yourself short. You could ask where the bathroom is too

Spanish is very nuanced depending where you are in the world
My father left Denmark for Peru after WW2. He learned Spanish real quick with full immersion.
Fast forward to being in Baja California Mexico and they would always say he had a funny accent.
I speak to a degree the border version of "Spanglish"
When I was in Spain, they would ask where I learned to speak like a Savaje

I had 2 years of Spanish in high school, and learned nothing.
A couple years ago I challenged myself and made a big effort to learn it.
I took a year of Spanish at the community college. Regular college spanish classes with college kids, not “adult education.”
Did one of those online programs (Duolingo maybe).
Watched daytime Spanish TV dramas.
Read books in beginner Spanish.
Spoke in Spanish to as many people as I could (which varied, sometimes I had decent access, other times not at all).
Worked on it every single day for over a year.

Result:

I still suck at Spanish.

My conclusions:

I think it’s true some people have an aptitude for language, others decidedly don’t.
But even for those that do, it’s still harder the older you get.
All the things i did of course helped, but by far the most important and best way to learn is by being around people who speak the language, and using it frequently. Without that live interaction it’s very difficult.

My wife is German and speaks it fluently. I can understand the conversation when she is talking with friends, I just have trouble speaking fluently. I won't have a problem with the German language.

I work with a lot of Spanish speaking guys so I would be able to immerse myself in Spanish at work. I feel that listening in the car while driving and then practicing at work and home would be great exercise for the mind as I get older.

for fun I can sound like..
the guy on Rat Patrol..
or willkommen zu Stalag 3...

Mom still does...
50 years later...

Rika

I am enjoying using Duolingo to learn French. I will certainly butcher the language when I actually try to speak it to a French person. But perhaps I will get some cred for at least trying. And I will know some words, which could become important. Like.....bathroom.