1. Are there new grammatical structures that will postpone
fluency? (look at SOV vs. SVO, as well as noun cases)
2. Are there new sounds that will double or quadruple time to
fluency? (especially vowels)
3. How similar is it to languages I already understand? What
will help and what will interfere? (Will acquisition erase a previous
language? Can I borrow structures without fatal interference like
Portuguese after Spanish?)
4. All of which answer: How difficult will it be, and how long
would it take to become functionally fluent?
These six sentences alone expose much of the language, and quite a
few potential deal killers.
First, they help me to see if and how verbs are conjugated based on
speaker (both according to gender and number). I’m also able to
immediately identify an uber-pain in some languages: placement of
indirect objects (John), direct objects (the apple), and their
respective pronouns (him, it). I would follow these sentences with a
few negations (“I don’t give…”) and different tenses to see if these are
expressed as separate words (“bu” in Chinese as negation, for example)
or verb changes (“-nai” or “-masen” in Japanese), the latter making a
language much harder to crack.
Second, I’m looking at the fundamental sentence structure: is it
subject-verb-object (SVO) like English and Chinese (“I eat the apple”),
is it subject-object-verb (SOV) like Japanese (“I the apple eat”), or
something else? If you’re a native English speaker, SOV will be harder
than the familiar SVO, but once you pick one up (Korean grammar is
almost identical to Japanese, and German has a lot of verb-at-the-end
construction), your brain will be formatted for new SOV languages.
Third, the first three sentences expose if the language has
much-dreaded noun cases. What are noun cases? In German, for example,
“the” isn’t so simple. It might be der, das, die, dem, den and more
depending on whether “the apple” is an object, indirect object,
possessed by someone else, etc. Headaches galore. Russian is even
worse. This is one of the reasons I continue to put it off.
| English |
Deutsch |
Français |
Português |
Русский |
| The apple is red. |
Der Apfel ist rot. |
La pomme est rouge. |
A maçã é vermelha. |
Яблоко имеет красный цвет. |
| It is John's apple. |
Es ist Johannes Apfel. |
Il est la pomme de Jean. |
É maçã John. |
Это яблоко Джона. |
I give John the apple.
|
Ich geve Johannes den Apfel. |
Je donne la pomme Jean. |
Eu dou a maçã John. |
Я даю Джон яблоко. |
| We give him the apple. |
Wir geben ihm den Apfel |
Nous lui donnons la pomme. |
Nós damos-lhe a maçã. |
Отдаем ему яблоко. |
| He gives it to John. |
Er gibt ihn Johannes. |
Il la donne à Jean. |
Ele dá a John. |
Он дает ее Джон. |
| She gives it to him. |
Sie gibt es ihm. |
Elle lui donne. |
Ela dá a ele. |
Она дает ему. |
| I must give it to him. |
Ich muß es ihm zu geben. |
Je dois lui donner. |
Eu devo dar para ele. |
Я должен дать ему это. |
| I want to give it to her. |
Ich will es ihr geben. |
Je veux lui donner. |
Eu quero dar a ela. |
Я хочу дать ей. |
These two are to see if auxiliary verbs exist, or if the end of the
each verb changes. A good short-cut to independent learner status, when
you no longer need a teacher to improve, is to learn conjugations for
“helping” verbs like “to want,” “to need,” “to have to,” “should,” etc.
In Spanish and many others, this allows you to express yourself with “I
need/want/must/should” + the infinite of any verb. Learning the
variations of a half dozen verbs gives you access to all verbs. This
doesn’t help when someone else is speaking, but it does help get the
training wheels off self-expression as quickly as possible.
If these auxiliaries are expressed as changes in the verb (often the
case with Japanese) instead of separate words (Chinese, for example),
you are in for a rough time in the beginning.
Deutsch
Deconstruction and for review/revival
Foundation I-II
ich du er/e wir
Verbs sein to be bin ist tun to do haben to have habe können to be able to kann wollen will, would you like to will wollen werden willwünschen to wish brauchen to need brauche müssen must muss weissen to know weiß gehen to go gehe kommen to come komme ankommen to arrive lemen to learn verstehen to understand vestehe finden to find sehen to see sagen to say hören to hear essen to eattrinken to drink bringen to bring geben to give gebe bleiben to stay
es ist
sehr schnell very fast bald soon nicht jetzt not now mehr more leider unfortunately auch also
um wie viel Uhr at what time
heute abend today, night etwas something Doch, Sie haben noch viel geld. Hier ist fünf und drezig euro. Dast ist genug.
| when |
where |
who |
what |
why/because |
how |
| wann |
wo |
wenn |
was |
warum/denn |
wie |
Español
Pronunciation
- stress the 2nd last syllable
Nouns
- -ible/-able same meaning
- -ence/-ance → -encia/-ancia
- -tion → -ción
- -ical → -ico
- la ~a, el ~o, el ~ma
- exceptions: el dia, la mano
- la gente people
es possible/probable/acceptable differente, importante
- Adj. ocupado, cansado tired
- enfermo sick
- boracho drunk
- vestido dressed
- caro expensive
- delicioso
- para mi/usted
- est-e/a/o this es-e/a that aqui here alli there
- -a before -a/e ending noun, -e before -o ending noun, -o w/o noun
- asi that way
- hay there is ..
- listo ready, clever
- todo all, everything, algo something, nada nothing, nadie nobody
- esta noche today night, mañana tomorrow, la semana que viene next week
- todos los dias all the days todo el mundo everybody, all the world
- ¿quiento tiempo? how much time/how long?
- todavia un poco still/yet a little more más tarde later
| when |
where |
who/whom |
what |
why/because |
how (how much) |
| ¿Cuándo? |
¿donde? |
¿quien? |
¿qué? |
¿por qué? |
¿Cómo? (¿Cuánto es?) |
domingo
y, pero (al contrario), o or
- más o menos more or less
- demasiado too/too much
Verbs (in form of -ar, -er, -ir): yo usted/tu
| Verbs |
en ingles |
yo/el/ella |
usted(tu) |
nos |
se |
past tense |
imperative |
| future tense |
will |
-ré |
-rá/s |
-remos |
-rán |
| conditional |
would |
-ria |
-rias |
-remos |
-rian |
estar
soy |
to be
(permanent) |
estoy
soy |
| tener |
to have (to) |
tengo
tendre |
tiene/-s
tendrá |
tenemos
tendremos |
tienen
tendrán |
| haber |
to have (in past) |
he ~-ado/-ido |
ha/-s~-ado/-ido |
hemos ~-ado/-ido |
han ~-ado/-ido |
|
hacer
hecho |
to do |
hago
haré |
haga
hará/-s |
hacemos
haremos |
hacen
harán |
haca |
ir
ir~ a |
to go
going to |
voy |
va/-s |
vamos |
van |
|
| poder |
can/will |
puedo |
puede |
podemos |
pueden |
|
| querer |
to want |
quiero |
quiere |
queremos |
quieren |
|
|
| cenar |
to dine |
|
| comenzar |
to begin |
comienzo |
comienza |
comenzamos |
comienzan |
comience |
| comer |
to eat |
como |
come |
comemos |
comen |
coma |
| comprender |
to understand |
comprendo |
comprende/comprendes |
|
comprenden |
|
| dar |
to give |
|
decir
quiere decir |
to say/tell
to mean |
digo
diré |
diga
dirá |
decimos
diremos |
|
dicho |
| empezar |
to begin/start |
empezo |
empieza |
|
| encontrar |
to find |
encuentro |
|
| entender |
to understand |
entiendo |
entiendes |
entendemos |
|
entendido |
| escribir |
to write |
escribo |
escribe |
escribemos |
escriben |
escriba |
| esperar |
to wait, hope |
espero |
espera |
esperaremos |
esperan |
espere/esperemos |
| guster |
to be pleased, to like |
me gusta
me gustaria I would like to |
te/le gusta |
nos gusta |
|
| hablar |
to speak |
hablo |
habla |
hablamos |
hablan |
hable |
| llamar |
to call |
llamo |
lláme/lláme |
| llegar |
to arrive |
| levantar |
to lift, get up |
levanto |
levanta/-s |
levantamos |
levantan |
| mandar |
to send |
mando |
manda
mandaría |
|
|
|
| negar |
to arrive |
|
| olvidar |
to forget |
olvidare |
|
olvidaremos |
|
|
olvidado |
| pensar |
to think, plan |
pienso |
piensa |
pensamos |
|
| poner |
to put |
pongo
pondré |
ponga
pondrás |
ponemos
pondremos |
ponen
pondrán |
|
puesto |
| preguntar |
to ask |
p |
piensa |
pensamos |
|
| quedar se |
to stay |
quedo |
queda |
quedamos |
quedan |
| recordar |
to remember |
recuerdo |
| saber |
to know |
sé |
sabe |
| salir |
to leave |
salgo
saliendo (I am leaving)
saldré |
sale
saldrá |
salga
saldremos |
salgan
saldrán |
|
| suponer |
to suppose |
supongo |
| sient |
to feel |
|
| tomar |
to take |
tomo |
toma |
|
toman |
tome |
| traer |
to bring |
traigo |
traiga |
|
| vuelver |
to come back |
vuelvo |
vuelve |
volvemos |
vuelven |
| venir |
to come |
vengo |
viene/-s |
venimos |
vienen |
venga |
| ver |
to see |
veo |
ve |
vemos |
ven |
|
visto |
| vender |
to sell |
vendo |
vende/vendas |
vendemos |
venden |
venda |
| vivir |
to live |
vivido |
|
|
|
|
- to need' necessito
- verbs derived from nouns similar in English: attach -ar instead of -ion
- confirmar, preparar, aceptar
- infiinitive form: -ar/er/ir
- past tense: -ar -> -ado, -er -> -ido
- tener +que to express obligation, must/have to tengo
- le lo -> se lo
- voy a~ I am going to~
- ¿a qué hora~ what time~?
- he salido I have left
- lo hago = lo estoy hacidendo
- acaba de + infinitive I have just ~
| verb type |
past tense |
past perfect |
future |
| -ar track |
-ado |
-aba |
-e |
| -er track |
-ido |
-ia |
| -ir track |
|
- verlo to see it
- verme to see me
- verle to see you
- verlos to see them
- quiero saber a qué hora va a estar listo porque lo necesito y tengo que tenerlo hoy si es posible.
- quiero mucho aceptar la condición, pero lo siento no puedo aceptarlo porque no es aceptable para mi asi.
- hable espanol conmigo! quiero hablar contigo
Fraçais
Key facts on the language
>60% similarities in vocabulary
- -ible/-able possible, table,, confortable,
- -ent/-ant différent, important, évident, récent, constant,
- -ary→-aire nécessaire, au contraire, militaire, vocabulaire,
- -ance/-ence la différence, préférence, importance, influence,
- -ion (1,200 nouns) opinion, condítion, la position, la réservation, la situation
- exceptions: traduction(translation), explication(explanation), les vacances(vacation)
- -ical→-ique politique, économique, philosophique, astronomique, logique, practique,
- -al/-el normal, normalement(normally), général, généralement(generally), animal, spécial,
- -ty→-té feminine la liberté, la difficulté, la facilité, la possibilité, l'opportunité, la spécialité, la qualité, société
- verbs -ate→-er opérer, modérer, accélérer, faciliter, négocier, coopérer
- verbs -fy→-fier certifier, modifier, justifier
Expressions
- C'est pour vous.
- Ce n'est pas pour moi.
- Je regrette maisce n'est pas très confortable pour moi comme ça
- je voudrais parler français avec vous.
- Voulez-vous venire avec moi
- Avez-vous une réservation pour moi pour ce soir?
- Au revoir(see you again)
- À quelle heure (verb) (subject)? At what time ~?
- Il y a quelqu'un ici qui voudrait parler avec vous. (There is...)
- Est-ce qui'il y a quelqu'un ici qui parle anglais?
- Quelle est votre numéro de téléphone?
- Je ne comprends pas ce que vous voulez dire.
- C'est exactment ce que je veux, mais ce n'est pas ce que je veux dire.
- On va partir/rester/commencer? shall we..? Qu'est-ce qu'on va boire/commander/prendre? what shall we take?
- Pourquoi ne pouvez-vous pas venir avec moi? why don't you come with me?
- Ce n'était pas possible de le faire comme ça parce que j'étais très occupé. it was not possible to do it that way because I was very busy
- Je vous aime bien mais je ne vous aime pas. I like you but don't love you
- Ça me fait plaisir de vous voir. Ça me fera plaisir de vous voir. It's a pleasure to see you. I'm looking forward to see you.
- Ne le lui dites pas, et Ne me le dites pas; je ne veux pas le savoir.
Idioms
- comme ci, comme ça so-so, like this like that
- Quelle sorte what kind of
- encore un verre (another glass)
- Je suis désolé/je regrette I'm sorry.
- passer la journée/la matinée/la soirée to spend the whole day/morning/evening
- à+le → au e.g. le restaurant → au restaurant
- avoir besoin de (to need): J'ai besoin de ce livre. J'ai besoin de le faire.
- il faut (one must): il me faut le faire(it is necessary for me to do it.)
Construction
5W1H
| when |
where |
who/whom |
what/which |
why/because |
how (how much) |
| Quand? |
Où? |
Qui?/À qui? |
Quel(le)? |
Pourquoi?/parce que |
??? (c'est combien?) |
- Que <-> Qu'est-ce que (what is it that.../ in a sentence form: subject, verb, infinitive)
Pronunciation
- consonant at the end of a word not pronounced unless followed by an 'e'.
Conjunctions: mais(but), et(and), si(if)
Prepositions: à (in/to), en (in/to), entre(between)
- en/au: in (places, countries, continents)
- en(feminine): en France, Angleterre, Italie, Allemagne, Suisse, Espagne, Californie
- au(masculine): au Japon, Danemark, Portugal, Brésil, Canada, Québec
- en: in (languages) en français, anglais, espagnol
- en passant(while passing), en attendant(while waiting)
- en: of it, from it, some of, any of'
Nouns
- port, aéroport, la porte(the door), sac(bag), une bouteille de vin blanc(a bottle of white wine), un verre d'eau minérale(a glass of mineral water), une tasse de café
- tout le monde(everybody), la personne(the person), personne(nobody), quelqu'un(someone)
- la chose: quelque chose(something), la méme chose(same thing), autre chose(something else), l'autre chose(the other thing), une autre chose(another thing), rien(nothing)
- demain(tomorrow), matin(morning), soir(evening), jour(day), aujourd'hui(today), la semaine prochaine(next week), maintenant(now), hier(yesterday), après-midi(afternoon)
- à Londres en Angleterre
- ici(here), la(there)
- argent(silver), l'argent(money), mon pére/ma mére(my father/mother)
- vrai(true)/vraiment(truly), jamais(never)
- fois(sequence of time, count): une, deux, trois fois
- la premiére~(the first~), la prochaine~(the next~), la dernière fois(the last time), encore une fois(once more)
- le petit déjeuner(breakfast), le déjeuner(lunch)
- -ct: le fait, objet, sujet
Adjectives
- libre(free), occupé(busy)
- plus tard (later), vite(fast),
- grande(big/tall), petite(small), un peu(a little),
- maintenant(now), possiblement(possible), peut-étre(can be/perhaps)
- occupé, pressé(in a hurry), trop de temps(too much time), vite(fast)
- prét/e(ready): prét-à-poter, prét-à-manger, faim(hungry)
- cher (dear/expensive) cher ami, chérie(darling)
- heureux(happy), content(glad), plaisir(pleasure/pleased), confortable,
- assez(enough), marre(really enough)
- bon/bien(good), meilleur(better/best in terms of good), mieux(better in terms of well)
Negatives
- ne .. pas not
- ne .. rien anything
- ne .. plus anymore
Gender patterns
- feminine: -té, -ance, -ence
- masculine: -me
Adverb:
- trop(too much), très/si(very), beaucoup(much), encore(still, still more)
- expressions of quantity + de: trop de temps, combien de temps?
- chose/quantity + à + verb: J'ai beaucoup à faire, j'ai quelque chose à vous dire
- toujours(always), jamais(never), bientót(soon)/à bientót(until soon/so long)
- +ement: spécial→spécialement(specially), normal→normalement(normally), possible→possiblement, certain→certainement, constant→constamment(constantly, irregular), évident→évidemment
- encore(still,yet), dejá(already)
Object: only in front of verb, lui means both him/her, otherwise pour elle, avec alle, à elle, ce que(ska, what)
Possessives
| Posessor |
masculine |
feminine |
plural |
| my |
mon |
ma |
mes |
| his/her |
son |
sa |
ses |
| their |
leur |
leur |
leurs |
Verbs Conjugation
| Verbs |
Subject |
je -(-r)/-s |
il/elle/ça less -r/-t |
ils -ent |
vous -ez |
nous -(e)ons |
| Object |
me(ante)/moi |
le/la/lui/on |
leur |
vous |
nous |
| étre |
to be |
suis
étais
serai |
est
était
sera |
sont
étaient
seront |
êtes
étiez
serez |
sommes
étions
serons |
| aller |
to go, going to |
vais
avais
irai |
va
avait
ira |
vont
avaient
iront |
allez
aviez
irez |
allons
avions
irons |
| avoir |
to have |
ai
avais
aurai |
a |
|
avez |
avons |
| faire |
to do/make |
fais
ferai |
fait
fera |
font |
faites |
faisons |
| devoir |
must/have to |
dois
devais
devrai |
doit
devait
devra |
|
devez |
devons
devrons |
| pouvoir |
able to, can |
peux
pouvais
pourrai |
peut
pouvait |
|
pouvez |
pouvons |
|
would ... |
-rais |
-rait |
-raient |
-riez |
-rions |
| veux conditionel |
would like |
voudrais
voulais |
voudrait
voulait |
voudraient
|
voudriez
voulez |
voudrions
voulons |
| future form |
will |
-rai |
-ra |
|
-rez |
-rons |
| accepter |
to accept |
accepte |
acceptent |
acceptez |
acceptons |
| acheter |
to buy/purchase |
achete |
achetent |
achetez |
achetons |
| appeller |
to call |
appelle |
appellent |
appelez |
appelons |
| apporter |
to bring |
apporte |
apportent |
apportez |
apportons |
| attendre |
to wait |
attends |
attend |
attendent |
attendez |
attendons |
| arriver |
to arrive |
arrive |
arrivent |
arrivez |
arrivons |
| commencer |
to start |
commence |
commencent |
commencez |
commençons |
| considérer |
to consider |
considere |
|
considérez |
considérons |
| décider |
to spend money |
décide |
décident |
décidez |
décidons |
| demander |
to ask |
demande |
demandent |
demandez |
demandons |
| se dépêcher |
to hurry |
me dépêche |
se dépêche |
leur dépêchent |
vous dépêchez |
nous dépêchons |
| dépenser |
to spend money |
dépense |
dépensent |
dépensez |
dépensons |
| déranger |
to bother |
dérange |
dérangent |
dérangez |
dérangons |
| diner |
to dine |
dine |
dinent |
dinez |
dinons |
| dire |
to say/tell |
dis |
dit |
dirent |
dites |
disons |
| donner |
to give |
donne |
donnent |
donnez |
donnons |
| dormir |
to sleep |
dors |
dort |
dorment |
dortez |
dortons |
| écrire |
to write |
écris |
écrit |
écrient |
écritez |
écrions |
| (r)enseigner |
to (inform)teach |
(r)enseigne |
(r)enseignent |
(r)enseignez |
(r)enseignons |
| envoyer |
to carry/wear |
envoye |
|
envoyez |
envoyons |
| espérer |
to hope |
espére |
|
espérez |
espérons |
| expliquer |
to explain |
explique |
expliquent |
expliquez |
expliquons |
| (con-) former |
to (con)form |
forme |
forment |
formez |
formons |
| inviter |
to invite |
invite |
invitent |
invitez |
invitons |
| lever |
to lift |
lève |
|
levez |
levons |
| manger |
to eat |
mange |
mangent |
mangez |
mangons |
| (com/o/per/pro/sou-) mettre |
to put (commit, omit, permit, promise, submit) |
mets |
met |
mettent |
mettez |
mettons |
| observer |
to observe |
observe |
observent |
observez |
observons |
| oublier |
to forget |
oublié |
oublient |
oubliez |
oublions |
| parler |
to speak |
parle |
parlent |
parlez |
parlons |
| partir |
to leave |
pars |
part |
partent |
partez |
partons |
| passer |
to spend time |
passe |
passent |
passez |
passons |
| penser |
to think |
pense |
pensent |
pensez |
pensons |
| porter |
to carry/wear |
porte |
portent |
portez |
portons |
| préférer |
to prefer |
préfère |
préferent |
préférez |
préférons |
| (com/re-) prendre |
to take
(understand, take back) |
prends |
prend |
prennent |
prenez |
prenons |
| préparer |
to prepare |
prépare |
préparent |
préparez |
préparons |
| réserver |
to reserve |
réserve |
réservent |
réservez |
réservons |
| rester |
to stay |
reste |
restent |
restez |
restons |
| savoir |
to know |
sais
savais |
sait |
savent |
savez |
savons |
| servir |
to serve |
sers |
sert |
servent |
servez |
servons |
| sentir |
to feel, smell |
sens |
sent |
sentent |
sentez |
sentons |
| travailler |
to work |
travaille |
travaillent |
travaillez |
travaillons |
| trouver |
to find |
trouve |
trouvent |
trouvez |
trouvons |
| venir |
to come |
viens
viendrai |
vient
viendra |
viennent
viendront |
venez
viendrez |
venons
viendrons |
| vendre |
to sell |
vends |
vend |
vendent |
vendez |
vendons |
| voir |
to see |
vois |
voit |
|
voissez |
voissons |
- lavender: -er group(last consonant sound), (plum:same as English)
- hl1: non-er, irregular verbs, only 'they' case sound the last consonant
- gold: unique cases
- present→past→future
- past form: aller + (present form)-
eré
- aller + -
reu
- aller + -
iri
- irregular: -prendre → -pris e.g. compris(understand, included), pris(took, learnt)
- -mettre → -mis: promis
- faire, dire, écrire → fait, dit, écrit
- future form: -rai/-rez & -rons/-ront have same sounds respectively.
Pусский
| Russian Letters |
English Equivalents |
| А, а |
A [as first 'a' in 'marmelade' never as 'a' in 'mat'] |
| Б, б |
B |
| В, в |
V [this is one of the trick letters!] |
| Г, г |
G [as in 'good' never 'ginger'] |
| Д, д |
D |
| Е, е |
YEH [no 'h' sound; the 'y' sound is more noticeable after a vowel or when it is the first letter in a word]* |
| Ж, ж |
ZH [harsher than 'j' in 'jejune' |
| З, з |
Z |
| И, и |
I [closer to the vowel sound in 'feet' than in 'fit'] |
| Й, й |
Y [as in 'boy' or 'bay'] |
| К, к |
K |
| Л, л |
L |
| М, м |
M |
| Н, н |
N |
| О, о |
O [as in 'tot' never as in 'tote']** |
| П, п |
P |
| Р, р |
R [must be trilled; get a Russian to show you] |
| С, с |
S |
| Т, т |
T |
| У, у |
U [like 'oo' in 'book' never like 'u' in 'hut' or like 'you'—Russian has another letter for the 'you' sound] |
| Ф, ф |
F |
| Х, х |
KH [like 'ch' in German 'Buch' or Scottish 'Loch'] |
| Ц, ц |
TS [as in 'tsetse fly'] |
| Ч, ч |
CH [as in 'church' |
| Ш, ш |
SH |
| Щ, щ |
SHCH [as in 'fresh cheese'] |
| Ъ, ъ |
'Hard sign' [ignore it] |
| Ы, ы |
I [as in 'bit' or 'dim'] |
| Ь, ь |
'Soft sign' [ignore it] |
| Э, э |
E [as in 'bet' never as in 'beet'] |
| Ю, ю |
YU |
| Я, я |
YA |
|
