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[MaximumZero]

I could stand to brush up on my German. Especially if I keep getting job offers from Germany.

[scrdest]

Raising this topic from the dead to see if there's any interest in doing this together. I kind of lost interest in Duolingo for a long while, but now I've decided to learn Swedish. I have a Swedish friend I'm trying to get to know better, and I thought learning his language would provide a good excuse for conversation. Much to my surprise, there is a Swedish for English speakers, though it's still in beta. It's not very helpful for pronunciation (dear lord is Swedish pronunciation strange and difficult) but it's been very helpful for learning my first words.

Anyway, the site keeps reminding me that I'm "all alone," and I figure it would help with the motivation if I had some "friends" on there to compare progress with. So is anyone interested in adding me? I think we can study any languages, and it will always show your friends' progress each day.

My username is airavj, if anyone wants to add me. I'm hoping to get at least one person on there to compete with!

I'm interested in learning Swedish, but currently I can barely keep up with the *mandatory* college stuff, so perhaps in the Future (TM)...

[Comrade P.]

How is the Russian Duolingo?

From what I've seen, not that bad. Also, I should probably pick some language, too.

[FearfulJesuit]

How is the Russian Duolingo?

From what I've seen, not that bad. Also, I should probably pick some language, too.

It hasn't been released yet, right?

[Comrade P.]

It looks like it wasn't. But I saw some Russian for English speakers beta exercises and they were rather nice.
EDIT: damn, it is just 60% of beta for now. Sorry, I confused things that I can see as a Russian user and what others see.

Russian is a horrible language, folks, beware. We have a ton of rules and two tons of exceptions.

[Sappho]

Anyone considering giving it a try, maybe post your usernames? Even if you don't get into it yet, just checking in now and then and seeing other people make progress might motivate you. It really doesn't take a lot of time. You can do a lesson in about five minutes. One lesson a day and you'll slowly learn. Better than not doing anything, that's for sure!

[Comrade P.]

That's a swell idea, why not. A friend of mine is studying linguistics in college, and he studies somewhat five languages on his first semester and I become pretty motivated to learn some other language than English every darn time he's around.

Username's ComradeP.

[Sappho]

That's a swell idea, why not. A friend of mine is studying linguistics in college, and he studies somewhat five languages on his first semester and I become pretty motivated to learn some other language than English every darn time he's around.

Username's ComradeP.

I've added you! No idea if you have to add me to see me. airavj is my username.

[Comrade P.]

I'm spectating your progress now as well.
...
Damn, impressive.

[notquitethere]

I've been a bit lax recently. Added you two though, so that might help my motivation!

[Sappho]

I'm spectating your progress now as well.
...
Damn, impressive.

Shit, you're ahead of me now! Must... learn... more... Swedish...

So yeah, I guess the competitive motivation works pretty well, there.

[RedKing]

Why is there never Czech?

English for Czech Speakers is being made, so Czech for English speakers shouldn't be far behind

That's actually not necessarily true. It's very different learning English as a Czech person than it is learning Czech as an English person - it's not like they could just reverse the program. Also, almost all Czech people are motivated to learn English, but there's not a huge demand from English people to learn Czech, since you can live in Prague without Czech and get by just fine. Actually, when I tell Czech people that I can speak Czech, most people respond with "Why???." They don't see any reason why an English speaker would bother. Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, German speakers, sure, but not English speakers. Since it would be up to the native Czech speakers to create this program, the odds don't seem too good. But maybe I can get some people together to help create one, using bribes and blackmail...

From what I remembered, English was somewhat prevalent in Prague, not so much in the rest of the country (especially down towards Slovakia). But German was pretty ubiquitous. Albeit, it was the one country where being an American tourist seemed to be less offensive than being a German tourist.

[Sappho]

Why is there never Czech?

English for Czech Speakers is being made, so Czech for English speakers shouldn't be far behind

That's actually not necessarily true. It's very different learning English as a Czech person than it is learning Czech as an English person - it's not like they could just reverse the program. Also, almost all Czech people are motivated to learn English, but there's not a huge demand from English people to learn Czech, since you can live in Prague without Czech and get by just fine. Actually, when I tell Czech people that I can speak Czech, most people respond with "Why???." They don't see any reason why an English speaker would bother. Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, German speakers, sure, but not English speakers. Since it would be up to the native Czech speakers to create this program, the odds don't seem too good. But maybe I can get some people together to help create one, using bribes and blackmail...

From what I remembered, English was somewhat prevalent in Prague, not so much in the rest of the country (especially down towards Slovakia). But German was pretty ubiquitous. Albeit, it was the one country where being an American tourist seemed to be less offensive than being a German tourist.

Czechs are fond of neither Germans nor Russians, for understandable reasons. They don't mind Americans so much, though they are pretty frigging annoying on public transport with their obnoxiously loud conversation (usually criticizing the local government or culture in some way). In Prague, English is everywhere, now. It's a mandatory part of the public school curriculum all over the country now, as well, and students are expected to be fairly proficient by 9th grade, but that's a fairly recent development. In Brno, Liberec, and Plzen, there's plenty of English, but in other places, it's true, you're better off with German or Russian (if you don't speak Czech of Slovak, obviously).

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

Is russian on Duolingo yet?

[Sappho]

Is russian on Duolingo yet?

Not yet. Still hatching. You can sign up to be notified when it's finished, though.

In other news, I'm totally winning Duolingo. I've got all the points. All of them. All of the vocabularies are mine. My Swedish friend isn't impressed, though. He's too smart. He knows that I'm capable of learning a language really quickly, so he's not showering me with praise and compliments like all the language teachers I've ever had. He just keeps demanding that I speak more and learn more, with this cheeky look on his face because he knows I can do better. I say a sentence, he corrects my pronunciation, then he says "Okay, next one. Keep going." It's kind of nice, actually, having someone actually push me for once in my life. Also, it's nice to have someone who just makes me keep saying things, so I have no choice but to get over the embarrassment. Now I'm really motivated to impress him. So I'm going to secretly meet up with my other Swedish friend this weekend and have an intensive lesson (focusing on pronunciation and things that might impress, or at least surprise, the other friend). Hopefully that will be enough to impress this guy!

(Did I mention that he's handsome and wonderful and makes me have confusing grown up feelings? That may be a factor in my motivation to learn. Teehee GODAMMIT WHAT HAPPENED TO ME)