momos-languagejourney

[momos-languagejourney]

Little fact about French because I just learned that

The accent circonflexe (^) exists in French words to replace the “s” that no longer exists but used to be there in older French.

For example: fenêtre used to be fenestre

It is still possible to see the “s” at times in family words like “défenestrer”.

#french

[momos-languagejourney]

Some common expressions with “Qué” in Spanish 🗣️

¡Qué asco! Yuck, yikes, gross, disgusting!

¡Qué bueno! / ¡Qué bien! Good, great, awesome! 

¡Qué casualidad! What a coincidence!

¡Qué suerte tienen algunos! Some people are just lucky!

¡Qué vergüenza! So embarrassing!

¿A qué hora? At what time? 

¿A que sí? Right, isn’t that right? Isn’t you, aren’t you, won’t you? and similars

¿Para qué? What for, for what?

¿De qué se trata? What is it about?

¿En qué medida…? To what extent…?

¿Qué hay de malo? What’s wrong with (it)?

¿Qué hay? What’s up, what’s new?

¿Que qué? Say what again?

¿Qué se siente…? What does it feel like to…?

¿Qué tal todo? How’s everything going?

¿Qué tal? How’s it going, how are you?

¿Qué tiempo hace? How’s the weather?

¿Y qué? So what? 

my vocab lists

#spanish #sp vocab

[momos-languagejourney]

How to use written accents in Spanish

People who are studying Spanish struggle a lot with written accents, and some even learn them by heart. But that’s not necessary if you know the rules, which are quite simple! Back when I was 8 and learnt them in school, I discovered that I could write anything without making spelling mistakes (then I forgot the rules and know I just know when to write an accent because I read a lot)

What are accents used for?

In Spanish, accents tell you when you should put more emphasis on a syllable. Also the absence of accents shows you which is the stressed syllable. This is super handy when reading a text with words you don’t know, because you’ll know how to pronounce them. When I had a quite basic English level, guessing how to pronounce something was a nightmare.

The syllable where you put more emphasis is called sílaba tónica, and I will be using that term from now on.

Based on the position of la sílaba tónica, Spanish words can be classified in 4 groups: 

AGUDAS

LLANAS

ESDRÚJULAS

SOBREESDRÚJULAS (not that common)

AGUDAS

Agudas have the sílaba tónica AT THE END OF THE WORD (1st position). This word can have as many syllables as you want, but the stress must be on the last one. Always.

Example: CA-FÉ, CRIS-TAL*. – As you can see, the emphasis is on the last syllable of the word. 

When do we write an accent on the AGUDAS?

The rules are quite simple. You’ll write an accent if:

- the word ends in a vowel: (ca-fé, a-llá, be-bé, en-con-tra-rá )

- the word ends in -n: (sar-tén, a-le-mán, a-cor-de-ón, co-a-li-ción)

-the word ends in -s: (bur-gués, ho-lan-dés, vi-vi-rás)

NOTE: the words that are agudas and end in consonant + S do not have an accent (ex: robots)

NOTE: The words that are agudas and end in “y” do not have an accent (virrey, convoy, and NOT virréy, convóy)

* CRIS-TAL does not have an accent because it ends with -l, so it is telling you that the emphasis is on the last syllable.

TIPS & TRICKS:

It’s cool knowing the rules, but sometimes is faster to know some tricks

Words that end in -ión have an accent (coalición, religión, contaminación, destrucción…)

A verb in the future simple will carry an accent in every version of the verb, except for the 1 person plural (compraré, comprarás, comprará, compraremos, compraréis, comprarán). As you can see, they all end in a vowel, in -n or -s, and “compraremos” doesn’t have an accent because la sílaba tónica is not the last one.

Words that are agudas and end in -ía always have an accent (geología, filosofía, biología, astronomía, gastronomía, tranvía)

The infinitives of the verbs are agudas and DO NOT have an accent because they end in -r (dormir, comprar, destrozar, aniquilar, cocer)

LLANAS

Llanas have the sílaba tónica on the penultimate (=next to the last) syllable (2nd position). This word can have as many syllables as you want, but the stress will be on the penultimate one. Always. So, when you pronounce it, you’ll make emphasis on the penultimate syllable.

Example: ÁR-BOL, IN-VE-RO-SÍ-MIL, CO-CHE. - As you can see, the emphasis is on the penultimate syllable of the word. 

When do we write an accent on the LLANAS?

The rules are quite simple. You’ll write an accent if:

-llanas that end in ANY consonant, except for N OR S: (lá-piz, fá-cil, án-gel)

-when the llanas end in two consonants, even if it they are consonant+n // consonant+s (bí-ceps, fór-ceps)

-when the llanas end in -y, they have an accent (pó-ney)

ESDRÚJULAS AND SOBREESDRÚJULAS

ESDRÚJULAS

Esdrújulas have the sílaba tónica in the antepenultimate (=third to last) syllable (3th position).

Example: ES-DRÚ-JU-LA, Ó-PE-RA, CA-Ó-TI-CO.

When do we write an accent on the ESDRÚJULAS?

The rule is THE EASIEST. You’ll write an accent if:

ALWAYS. ALWAYS. ALWAYS.

SOBREESDRÚJULAS

Sobreesdrújulas are really weird, and they are normally verbs with pronouns added to them. Sobreesdrújulas have the sílaba tónica in the syllable before the antepenultimate syllable (4th position)

Example: Á-BRE-ME-LO, BÁ-JEN-SE-LA

When do we write an accent on the SOBREESDRÚJULAS?

The rule is THE EASIEST. You’ll write an accent if:

ALWAYS. ALWAYS. ALWAYS.

THIS SUMS UP EVERYTHING:

If you have any questions, let me know! I know this can be difficult to grasp at first, but once you master it it is a really simple system.

#spanish #sp grammar

[momos-languagejourney]

There’s a fine line between “pushing yourself out of your comfort zone” and “pushing yourself into a mental breakdown” and we need to fucking find it and stop encouraging people to do the second in an attempt at making them do the first.

#general language learning #mental health #important

[momos-languagejourney]

625 Words to Know in your Target Language: A Masterpost

I noticed @linguangelica asking if there was one of these floating around, so I thought hey, why not start one? This is a directory of the 625 most useful words to know in your target lang, which you can find here. It’s by no means complete, so feel free to make one in your target/native langs!

Spanish by @tryingpolyglot

Spanish by @polyglotten

German 1 2 and 3 by @marvelous-language

Hungarian by @finnishfun

Finnish by @languagesandshootingstars

Norwegian by @lingolden

Turkish by @langrecs

Italian by @metamoros

Dutch by @helaas–pindakaas

French by @helaas–pindakaas

(Brazilian) Portuguese by @autumnian

Romanian by @wordsnnblues

Hindi by @she-learns

(Standard) Arabic by @polyglotten

If there are any that I forgot to include, or if you decide to make one, please send me a message so that I can include it. Thanks!

#sp vocab #fi vocab #no vocab #fr vocab #language learning

[momos-languagejourney]

So... I disappeared.

It has been half a year since the last time I posted to this blog, which is a ridiculously long time. Last spring was just not very good, with a lot of things going on both personally and in my family. So I had to take a break from Tumblr and studying languages, because I needed to use all the energy I had on feeling better and managing my university studies. 

But now things feel a bit more stable and back to normal, and I started to realize that I miss being on here. I miss learning languages, miss learning things just because I want to. So I’m giving it another try. I still can’t promise that I’ll be super active, because my uni subjects have to come first and sometimes they are rather demanding. But I want to try my best.

It feels good that the motivation for learning is there now, and I want to use that for all it is worth. It feels good to be back.

#personal

[momos-languagejourney]

Synonyms of “Beaucoup”

8/2/2018

Saying “beaucoup” over and over can get tiring for you and for your audience so here are some ways to try and avoid using it too much.

Bien de(s) + nom + action (la plupart du temps) [formal]: Il y a bien des choses à faire. - There is a lot of stuff to do.

Bondé de + personnes : Il y a bondé de monde ici. - There are a lot of people here.

Des/un tas de + nom : J’ai signé des tas de papiers pour mon boulot. - I signed a lot/heap of papers for my job.

Énormément [formal]: Nous aimons énormément cette ville, mais on doit déménager. - We love this city a lot/tremendously but we have to move.

Plein de + nom [informal] : On a plein de raisons de te détester. - We have a lot of reasons to hate you.

Tarpin de + nom [informal, from the south of France] : Il y a tarpin (trop) de personnes à cette putain de fête. - There are a lot (too many) people at this fucking party.

Vachement de + nom [informal] : J’ai faim et on n’a pas vachement de choix. - I’m hungry and we don’t have a lot of options/choices.

Bonne journée !

#french #fr vocab

[momos-languagejourney]

Learn Finnish with ~300 words

According to this post by Fun with Languages, you can learn to express yourself in any language by learning basic grammar and just 300 words. I decided to translate their word list into Finnish to help those who would like to learn Finnish using this method. The ~200 words version can be found here. 

FIRST VERBS (English: Finnish) Be: olla There is: on Have: -lla/-llä on Do: tehdä Go: mennä Want: haluta Can: voida Need: tarvita Think: ajatella Know: tietää Say: sanoa Like: pitää, tykätä Speak: puhua Learn: oppia Understand: ymmärtää

CONJUNCTIONS (English: Finnish) That (as in “I think that…”): että And: ja Or: tai But: mutta Because: koska Though: vaikka So: joten If: jos

PREPOSITIONS (English: Finnish) Of: -n To: -lle, -n From: -lta, -ltä, -sta, -stä In: -sa, -sä At (a place): -sa, -sä At (a time): -lta, -ltä With: kanssa About: -sta, -stä Like (meaning “similar to”): niin kuin For: -lle Before: ennen After: jälkeen During: aikana

QUESTION WORDS (English: Finnish) Who: kuka What: mitä, mikä Where: missä When: milloin Why: miksi How: miten How much: kuinka paljon Which: mikä

ADVERBS (English: Finnish: A lot: paljon A little: vähän Well: hyvin Badly: huonosti Only: vain Also: myös Very: tosi, todella Too (as in “too tall”): liian Too much: liian paljon So (as in “so tall”): niin So much: niin paljon More (more than): enemmän (enemmän kuin) Less (less than): vähemmän (vähemmän kuin) As… as… (e.g. “as tall as”): yhtä… kuin… Most: eniten Least: vähiten Better: parempi Best: paras Worse: huonompi Worst: huonoin Now: nyt Then: silloin Here: täällä There: siellä, tuolla Maybe: ehkä Always: aina Usually: yleensä Often: usein Sometimes: joskus Never: ei koskaan, ei ikinä Today: tänään Yesterday: eilen Tomorrow: huomenna Soon: pian Almost: melkein Already: jo Still: vielä Even: jopa Enough: tarpeeksi

ADJECTIVES (English: Finnish) The, a: -  This: tämä That: se, tuo Good: hyvä Bad: huono All: kaikki Some: joitakin No: ei Any: mikä vaan, mikä tahansa Many: monta Few: muutama Most: eniten Other: toinen, muu Same: sama Different: eri Enough: tarpeeksi One: yksi Two: kaksi A few: muutama First: ensimmäinen Next: seuraava, ensi Last (meaning “past”, e.g. “last Friday): viime Last (meaning “final”): viimeinen Easy: helppo Hard: vaikea Early: aikainen Late: myöhäinen Important: tärkeä Interesting: mielenkiintoinen Fun: hauska Boring: tylsä Beautiful: kaunis Big: iso, suuri Small: pieni Happy: iloinen, onnellinen Sad: surullinen Busy: kiireinen Excited: innostunut Tired: väsynyt Ready: valmis Favorite: lempi New: uusi Right (meaning “correct”): oikea Wrong: väärä True: tosi, aito, oikea

PRONOUNS (English: Finnish)

Know them in the subject (“I”), direct object (“me”), indirect object (“to me”), and possessive (“my”) forms. I: minä, minua, minulle, minun You: sinä, sinua, sinulle, sinun He/she: hän, häntä, hänelle, hänen It: se, sitä, sille, sen We: me, meitä, meille, meidän You: te, teitä, teille, teidän They: he, heitä, heille, heidän They (plural form of “it”): ne, niitä, niille, niiden

NOUNS (English: Finnish) Everything: kaikki Something: jokin Nothing: ei mikään Everyone: kaikki Someone: joku No one: ei kukaan Finnish: suomi, suomen kieli English: englanti Thing: asia Person: ihminen Place: paikka Time (as in “a long time”): aika Time (as in “I did it 3 times”): kerta Friend: kaveri, ystävä Woman: nainen Man: mies Money: raha Country: maa Finland: Suomi City: kaupunki Language: kieli Word: sana Food: ruoka House: talo Store: kauppa Office: toimisto Company: yritys Manager: johtaja Coworker: työkaveri, kolleega Job: työ Work (as in “I have a lot of work to do”): tekeminen (”minulla on paljon tekemistä”) Problem: ongelma Question: kysymys Idea: idea Life: elämä Word: sana Day: päivä Year: vuosi  Week: viikko Month: kuukausi Hour: tunti Mother: äiti Father: isä Parent: vanhempi Daughter: tytär Son: poika Child: lapsi Wife: vaimo Husband: mies Girlfriend: tyttöystävä Boyfriend: poikaystävä

MORE VERBS (English: Finnish)

Work (as in a person working): tehdä töitä, työskennellä Work (meaning “to function): toimia See: nähdä Use: käyttää Should: pitäisi Believe: uskoa Practice: harjoitella Seem: näyttää Come: tulla Leave: lähteä Return: palata Give: antaa Take: ottaa Bring: tuoda Look for: etsiä Find: löytää Get (meaning “obtain”): saada Receive: saada, vastaanottaa Buy: ostaa Try: yrittää Start: aloittaa Stop: lopettaa Finish: lopettaa, tehdä loppuun Continue: jatkaa Wake up: herätä Get up: nousta ylös Eat breakfast: syödä aamiaista Eat lunch: syödä lounasta Eat dinner: syödä päivällistä/illallista Happen: tapahtua Feel: tuntea Create (aka “make”): tehdä Cause (aka “make”): tehdä Meet: tavata Ask (a question): kysyä Ask for (aka “request”): pyytää Wonder: ihmetellä Reply: vastata Mean: tarkoittaa Read: lukea Write: kirjoittaa Listen: kuunnella Hear: kuulla Remember: muistaa Forget: unohtaa Choose: valita Decide: päättää Be born: syntyä Die: kuolla Kill: tappaa Live: elää Stay: jäädä, pysyä Change: muuttua Help: auttaa Send: lähettää Study: opiskella Improve: parantaa Hope: toivoa Care: välittää PHRASES (English: Finnish) Hello: Hei, moi, terve… Goodbye: Hyvästi, näkemiin, hei hei… Thank you: Kiitos You’re welcome: Ole hyvä Excuse me (to get someone’s attention): Anteeksi Sorry: Anteeksi It’s fine (response to an apology): Ei se mitään Please: Kiitos Yes: Kyllä No: Ei Okay: Okei My name is: Minun nimeni on What’s your name?: Mikä sinun nimesi on? Nice to meet you: Hauska tavata, hauska tutustua How are you?: Mitä (sinulle) kuuluu? I’m doing well, how about you?: (Minulle kuuluu) hyvää, entä sinulle? Sorry? / What? (if you didn’t hear something): Anteeksi? / Mitä? How do you say _____?: Miten sanotaan  _____? What does _____ mean?: Mitä  _____ tarkoittaa? I don’t understand: (Minä) en ymmärrä Could you repeat that?: Voisitko toistaa? Could you speak more slowly, please?: Voisitko puhua hitaammin, kiitos? Well (as in “well, I think…”): No… Really?: Oikeasti? Niinkö? I guess that: Niin kai It’s hot (talking about the weather): On kuuma It’s cold (talking about the weather): On kylmä

#finnish #fi vocab

[momos-languagejourney]

Day 38: Learn 20 Words

French: Éparpiller - to scatter Louange (f) - praise Tomber d’accord - to reach agreement Clou (m) - nail Apercevoir - to catch sight of Effilé - slender, sharp Tantôt ..., tantôt ... - sometimes Crever - to burst Combler - to fill

Finnish: Mennä - to go Suihku - shower  Auttaa - to help Ystävä - friend Sänky - bed Nukkua - to sleep Uusi - new Mukava - comfortable Tai - or Kuulla - to hear Kanssa - with

#100daysoflanguages #french #finnish

[momos-languagejourney]

Day 37: Learn Grammar

Today I did a few more pages in my Finnish textbook, about yes/no questions (the -ko/kö suffix) and vowel harmony. I also started to look at the genitive case, but I will continue that another day as I became too tired.

#100daysoflanguages

[momos-languagejourney]

how do you say "nevermind"?

‘laisse tomber’ in a v casual chat, ‘c’est pas grave’/’c’est rien’ otherwise.

#french #fr vocab

[momos-languagejourney]

Day 36: Watch a movie

I watched La famille Bélier because we had the DVD. And I ended up liking it a lot, so that was nice! I had French subtitles on because my listening skills are not good, but I understood almost everything that was going on even though there was many words I didn’t know. And I tried to listen closely to what they were saying.

#100daysoflanguages

[momos-languagejourney]

Day 35: Translate a song

I’m going to go with Testify by NEEDTOBREATHE because I love them and I’m currently obsessed with this song.

Give me your heart, give me your song Donne-moi ton cœur, donne-moi ta chanson Sing it with all your might Chante-le de toutes tes forces Come to the fountain and Viens de la fontaine You can be satisfied Tu peux être satisfait There is a peace, there is a love Il y a une paix, il y a un amour You can get lost inside Tu peux te perdre dedans Come to the fountain and Viens de la fontaine  Let me hear you testify Laisse moi t’entendre témoigner

Into the wild Dans la déserte Canyons of youth Des canyons de la jeunesse Oh, there's a world to fall into Il y a un monde pour se tomber dans Weightless we'll dance Sans poids on danse Like kids on the moon Comme des enfants sur la lune Oh, I will give myself to you Je vais me donner à toi As soon as you start to let go Aussitôt que tu commence à lâcher

Wave after wave Vague après vague As deep calls to deep Pendant que le fond appelle le fond Oh, I'll reveal my mystery Je vais dévoiler mon mystère As soon as you start to let go Aussitôt que tu commence à lâcher

Mist on the mountain Brouillard à la montagne Rising from the ground Monte de la terre There's no denying beauty makes a sound On ne le peut pas conteste, la beauté fait du bruit We can't escape it On ne le peut pas échapper There's no way to doubt Il n’y a aucun manière de douter Mist on the mountain rising all around Brouillard à la montagne, monte partout

#100daysoflanguages

[momos-languagejourney]

Words of encouragement in Finnish

Hyvä! - Good! Hienoa! Mahtavaa! Loistavaa! - Great! Sinä teit sen! - You did it! Hyvin tehty! - Well done! Jatka samaan malliin! - Keep up the good work! Hyvin menee! - You’re doing well! Harjoitus tekee mestarin! - Practice makes perfect! Vielä vähän! - Just a little more! Sinä pystyt siihen! - You can do it! Jaksaa, jaksaa! - You can do it! (”you manage/have enough strength”) Minä uskon sinuun! - I believe in you! Minä olen ylpeä sinusta! - I’m proud of you!  Se menee varmasti hyvin! - It will go well for sure! Tee parhaasi! - Do your best! Tsemppiä! - Good luck! Do your best! Onnea! - Good luck!; Congratulations! Sinä olet kehittynyt paljon! - You have improved a lot! Sinä olet tosi hyvä/taitava! - You’re really good/talented! Sinä olet paras! - You are the best! Ei mitään hätää! - It’s alright; don’t worry! Parempi onni ensi kerralla! - Better luck next time! Älä luovuta/anna periksi! - Don’t give up!

#finnish #fi vocab

[momos-languagejourney]

Language Challenge 11/100: 4 Idioms

•Coûter les yeux de la tête: (lit. “to cost the eyes of the head”) On utilise cet idiome pour dire que quelque chose est très cher. En anglais, on peut dire “that costs an arm and a leg!”

Ex) « On dit que vivre là-bas, ça coûte les yeux de la tête ! » (Living there costs an arm and a leg/a fortune!)

•Avoir le cafard: (lit. “to have the cockroach) Cela signifie qu’on est triste ou déprimé, qu’on a les idées noires.. En anglais on peut dire “down in the dumps”

Ex) « Je ne peux pas concentrer aujourd’hui- j’ai le cafard. » (I can’t concentrate today- I’m depressed.)

•Fais gaffe: (lit. make mistake) Une locution familière qui signifie faire attention, prendre garde. En anglais, “to pay attention/be careful.”

Ex) « Ça peut être dangereux- fais gaffe ! » (That can be dangerous, be careful!)

•Se creuser la tête/la cervelle: (lit. to dig in one’s head) beaucoup réfléchir en vue d’une solution, de la résolution d’un problème.. On peut traduire ça comme “to rack your brains”.

Ex) « Je me suis creusé la cervelle pour trouver une solution à ce problème mais san succès. » (I racked my brains to find a solution to this problem but had no success.)

#french #fr expressions #fr vocab

[momos-languagejourney]

Day 34: Learn 15 Words

French: Vif - lively Quant à - as for Paresseux - lazy Grêle (f) - hail Démordre - let go of Blé (m) - wheat Rame (f) - åre

Finnish: pöytä - table tulla - to come ovi - door mies - man istua - to sit keittiö - kitchen iso - big missä - where

#100daysoflanguages #finnish #french

[momos-languagejourney]

Words you think are feminine but are masculine: These words come from Greek (I’m pretty sure) so while you might be tempted to have them be feminine, you would be wrong.

el problema = problem

el tema = subject, theme

el poema = poem

el drama = drama / a play / theater [as a subject i.e. “dramatic arts”]

el idioma = language

el clima = climate / clime

el lema = slogan, motto

el programa = program*

el anagrama = anagram

el planeta = planet

el cometa = comet [see also la cometa which is “kite”]

el coma = coma (medical) [la coma is “comma”]

el esquema = schematics, blueprints / outline

el dilema = dilemma, problem, quandry

el sistema = system

el enigma = riddle, puzzle, enigma

el cisma = schism, rift

el teorema = theorem

el axioma = axiom / precedent, something taken to be true

el dogma = dogma, creed

*Most anything ending in -grama is masculine, el telegrama or el diagrama and even el holograma

Some people will say it’s any word ending in -ma, but that’s not true; la crema “cream”, la llama “flame”, la cama “bed”… it’s typically “these words come from Greek rather than Latin, so they’re something like loanwords, and now in Spanish they’re masculine”

Something like that.

Side Note: Nobody knows what the deal is with el mapa. It’s not Greek, it’s just weird for no real reason. It’s masculine, but in Italian it’s feminine la mappa… and French shrugged and backflipped onto carte so we can’t ask them

el mapa is just weird, masculine, and not Greek.

#spanish #sp grammar