More Fun with Language Software
I just figured out how to switch my language preferences in the Swedish tutorial software. Now I can learn the Swedish while viewing the translations in French, or German, or one of a gazillion other languages. I’ll admit that it’s a little more disorienting to see the word “eins” when the software minions are saying “ett” than it is to see “one,” but whatever. (Yeah, this isn’t going to screw me up at all, I’m sure. By the time I finally get to Stockholm, I’ll probably speak in complete gibberish — but at least it’ll be polyglot gibberish.)
Useful phrase: Jag aeter inter koett — I don’t eat meat. (I persist in subbing es for umlauts out of habit, not out of conviction that that’s acceptable Swedish typography. If I’m wrong, I apologize.) The software minions pronounce this vaguely akin to “yo etter inteh [or "eenteh," depending on which one you listen to] shoht.” Let’s hope at least one of them is right.
Minor pronunciation discrepancies still abound, and annoy me. If I can figure out how to do audio samples, I’ll post one or two of the more egregious examples. I also find the little quizzes to be way too easy: they’re all multiple choice, and I’ve gotten perfect scores on even the “hard” tests without even reviewing the vocabulary first. (Well, except for the one on nations of the world — I suck at recognizing flags, which screwed me up.) That’s not to say I’ve actually learned the words, just that the tests are pretty easy, and you know you’re just being tested on, say, types of food, not being asked to identify random words, or compose sentences all on your own. Maybe there’s a later level of testing that will show you a picture and ask you to type in the word, or at least select it from a long list. Having to remember the word yourself is rather a bit harder, I think.
Even so, I find the software more useful than the audio CDs, which are probably useful for building vocabulary but not so much for my purposes. They seem to mainly consist of random strings of nouns, adjectives, etc., and aren’t grouped by what I would consider anything vaguely resembling our Earth logic (e.g., one sequence begins, “the grass / the moon / the sound / the airport”). Viewed philosophically, I suppose it could be poetic, almost haiku-like and meditative. Viewed practically, not so much.
I think I’ll need to invest in a grammatical text, as well as the software and CDs, so I can compose actual sentences on my own rather than spouting random words and phrases. Still, this is a bit of an adventure — it’s my first time trying to learn a language on my own, rather than taking actual regimented classes, so even the disappointments are kind of entertaining. Well, to me, at least.
