I Was Just Thinking About How I Don't Speak Very Good Japanese, But I Speak More Japanese Than Most People

I was just thinking about how I don't speak very good Japanese, but I speak more Japanese than most people in the world. And this will probably be true of almost any skill you practice even a little bit. There are many skills out there and we each know only a small subset of them, so if you go out and decide to pick up a new skill you can end up better than 50%, 80%, maybe even 99% of the population pretty quickly. Another example is math. Like, when I'm around other math people, I feel like I basically know nothing. All of math is baffling to me. But realistically I know more math than basically every single person I meet in a non-academic context. So like.

If you are feeling bad about yourself this is a good thing to keep in mind. You're probably better than most people at something. If you aren't, you can become better than most people relatively quickly and easily just by giving something a go for a bit.

Fuck it

*get distracted by the productivity app*

I’m at level A2 in Spanish. What verbs should I know?

ser = to be (permanent, personality, height/weight, color, description)

estar = to be (temporary, location, mood, condition, wellness, dead/alive)

ver = to see (sometimes “to watch”)

ir = to go

hacer = to do/make [also used with many idiomatic expressions like hacer calor etc.]

salir = to go out, to exit

decir = to say

tener = to have [also used with many idiomatic expressions like tener hambre etc.]

dar = to give

poder = to be able to

poner = to put

querer = to want / to love

venir = to come

saber = to know (facts)

conocer = to know (people/places) / to meet

deber = must, should

llegar = to arrive

llevar = to carry, to bring

parecer = to seem, to appear (as if/like)

amar = to love (usually romantic)

recordar / acordarse = to remind, to recall / to remember [if you haven’t learned reflexives, then just ignore acordarse for now]

empezar/comenzar = to start/begin

pensar = to think (or sometimes “to plan to (do something)”)

escribir = to write

soñar (con) = to dream (of/about) 

gustar / encantar = to like, to really like [used with indirect objects]

resolver = to resolve, to solve

contestar = to answer

preguntar = to ask, to question, to wonder

dormir = to sleep

hablar = to speak

comer = to eat

vivir = to live

cocinar = to cook

preparar = to prepare / to cook

seguir = to continue, to follow

conseguir = to achieve, to get

darse cuenta = to realize (in the sense of having an epiphany or gaining understanding) [reflexives again]

correr = to run

andar = to go, to walk

haber = to exist, to have (done something) [only the basics of hay at this point probably for A2]

dejar = to leave / to stop, to quit

llamar = to call

encontrar = to find

buscar = to look for

necesitar = to need

permitir = to allow, to permit

tomar = to take / to drink (usually with drinks and/or medicine)

trabajar = to work

leer = to read

escuchar = to listen, to hear

oír = to hear

creer = to believe

decidir = to decide

tocar = to touch / to play (an instrument)

jugar = to play (a game/sport)

sentir = to feel, to sense, to noticesentirse = to feel (emotions)

levantar = to raise, to lift uplevantarse = to stand up

acabar = to finish, to end

terminar = to stop, to finish

esperar = to wait / to hope for

añadir/agregar = to add

volver = to return, to come back

regresar = to return

caer = to fall

comprar = to buy

vender = to sell

mentir = to lie, to tell a lie

mirar = to look, to stare, to watch

ganar = to win, to earn

cambiar = to change

estudiar = to study

nacer = to be born

nadar = to swim

volar = to fly

beber = to drink

ayudar = to help

abrir = to open

cerrar = to close

llorar = to cry

reír(se) = to laugh

sonreír = to smile

intentar = to try, to attempt

recibir = to receive, to get

colocar = to place, to put

saltar = to jump

notar = to notice

mandar = to send / to give orders

enviar = to send

parar = to stop (doing something), to not move

construir = to build, to construct

destruir = to destroy

asistir = to attend, to assist

realizar = to accomplish, to finalize

lograr = to achieve, to accomplish, to get done

cumplir = to comply, to fulfill [in the A2 level this would show up more with the idea of birthdays as in “to turn (X number of years)”]

convertir(se) = to change (into), to convert

guardar = to hold onto, to save/reserve, to keep (objects/promises/silence)

ahorrar = to save (money)

despertar(se) = to awaken, to wake up

bañar(se) = to bathe, to take a bath

duchar(se) = to shower, to take a shower

replicar = to reply

responder = to respond, to answer

servir = to serve

invitar = to invite / to pay for, to treat

resultar = to happen [when used with indirect objects it means “to seem like”]ocurrir = to occur

considerar = to consider, to think about

llover = to rain

nevar = to snow

adquirir = to acquire

alquilar = to rent

prestar = to borrow

arreglar = to fix

corregir = to correct

examinar = to examine, to look over

pasar = to pass [also used in many idiomatic expressions]

quedar = to remainquedarse = to stay / to become [situationally]

entrar = to enter

repasar = to go over, to review

revisar = to revise, to look at

quitar = to remove, to get rid of

sacar = to take out

pedir = to request, to ask for

morir (probably) = to die

There might be some repeats or things I missed here. But these are the ones I could think of off the top of my head.

If there are any major ones people think of, let me know!

People who shit on Duolingo as a learning method are the bane of my existence. No, Duo won't make you fluent. But, it is a GREAT tool for BEGINNERS, especially those who find it difficult to study with traditional methods.

this post is meant to be a directory of every resource I come across for Mandarin, often referred to as Chinese or Standard Chinese. It will be a continuous work in progress so thank you for your patience! if you have any issues or things to add, please reply to this post!

info

history of the chinese writing system

“in mandarin chinese, we don’t say…”

language learning profile

playlist of samples

the languages gulper

wikipedia

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this post is meant to be a directory of every resource I come across for Slovak. it will be a continuous work in progress so thank you for your patience! if you have any issues or things to add, please reply to this post!

info

about world languages

fun facts

glottolog

history of the slovak language

learning profile

omniglot

playlist of samples

wikipedia

world atlas of language structures

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