Learning a Language: A Tale of Randomness and Outdated Technology

What's the most random word, phrase, or sentence that's indelibly etched upon your brain from learning a language?

Mine is الامم المتحدة alamam almutahida, Arabic for "the United Nations" which I somehow remember from chapter 1 instead of like "how are you?"

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

This phrase almost counts as useful, really, but the method gets double extra points for randomness so I will allow it https://t.co/4cXDNqDZTE

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Bonus points for outdated technology! https://t.co/dEUwhQQOPr

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

"I don't know" is very useful! Especially when you're not very fluent and you want to distinguish between not knowing and not understandinghttps://t.co/tBaBwEf2hp

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Absolutely beautiful examplehttps://t.co/UfZnUow9W6

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

I think that's "around the corner straight ahead" for those of us who weren't in @SarahMackAttack's high school German class

This one is like...sorta useful? At least in the pre-Google Maps days, I had so many language lessons on asking for directionshttps://t.co/feDHKRxl87

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Yes omg kids programs are such a great source of random phraseshttps://t.co/kr97Tamc5r

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Some of these phrases are so indelibly linked to particular textbooks and teaching methods (high-five in Ecce Romani!) https://t.co/7bKZWAwa8D

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

This sounds both useful and delightful! https://t.co/hDevdzl9oE

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

That's um. very specific. https://t.co/QQiUz3eLDH

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Lots of people for "donde está la biblioteca" (where is the library), which means I need to link you to Foux da Fa Fa, the Flight of the Conchords song about its French equivalent "où est la bibliothèque" https://t.co/aexzUflGc8https://t.co/t6880Ri0Sf

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

yet, here it is https://t.co/bnReVI57mP

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Love the "classroom management" vocab which you use constantly in class and then encounter precisely zero times in the outside world https://t.co/jAT2edlWXq

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Aww this is useful and delightful! https://t.co/3FfnFZyxYG

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Yes, in my first year of learning a language I'm generally satisfied with just calling them all "bird" https://t.co/sg4pXpJX4e

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Can't decide whether useful or terrifying https://t.co/hAC9ojZ5x6

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

According to google translate, that's one, two, three (great all very useful!).... "sound iron" (???) https://t.co/sIypYihRLT

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

That sounds pretty useful, especially because you could presumably also subtract the negation! I have called a lot of things interesting before I knew more adjectives https://t.co/g0DpulnbLZ

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Ah yes, the phrases that assume I live a much fancier life than I do https://t.co/xnPoGpvesB

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

That's pretty useful! And you could substitute in other places that you might go as well! https://t.co/EhxIGFTzpS

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Extremely random but also high on delightful! https://t.co/sX2arBg0nk

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Very useful in one specific context, yes https://t.co/lwWpSDKHSm

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023

Ah yes, a word that's both culturally irrelevant and not the actual word, my favourite! https://t.co/PvqMZoplaP

— Gretchen McCulloch (@GretchenAMcC) March 15, 2023