Week 2: Grammar & Some More Vocabulary Fun

I think the above accurately describes the *vibes* of this week in which Neha and I attempt to learn the two very different grammar structures of Italian and Dutch at once, not really understanding why grammar across languages has to be so different yet so similar at the same time.

It makes me admittedly appreciate English sitting there all the time like: 💅 even more.  Also, I love the depiction of German in the photo. It's just so representative of the unnecessary struggle.

This week Neha and I could only zoom virtually once, as she was having WiFi issues, therefore we were able to practice verbal communication less and were not able to film anything fun for the end of this week. However, we did get to work asynchronously.

Our goals this week were to learn vocabulary surrounding family, food, & likes and dislikes. We were able to begin doing so, but found that we also needed to get much more vigorous learning grammar in order to start piecing the vocabulary together and have better conversation.

So along with practicing vocabulary, we started to begin research on grammar. We have been having to spend time especially on Dutch, as information on grammar is a little more complex to understand. It lacks clarity because the grammar fits less inside of "pretty tables" in the way that Italian does.

We still have a lot of work to do to completely understand the use of certain language in Dutch such as the "present perfect". I know that a similar tense exists in German, but it is difficult for me to translate any understanding to Dutch. Since my use is automatic, I honestly don't have the underlying grammatic principles, but I hope to soon.

In the next week Neha and I hope to get a better understanding of grammar, continued use of vocabulary and want to implement it in lengthier conversation. We hope to learn to sing some Italian & Dutch music for ourselves and maybe for you guys, as well as start to learn food vocabulary so that we can eventually have *oooh* a cooking show (if Neha's Wifi can agree to cooperate 🙏).

Week 1: Introductions!!

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Hi! My name is Chloé. :)

My friend Neha and I are learning some Dutch and Italian for our Senior Project.

Us zooming in on the day we filmed some conversation (linked below)

    When speaking with Neha one day, I told her I was interested in learning Italian and Dutch for my senior project. I was very surprised when she readily told me that it was a really fun idea and she would love to come onboard. I have always loved learning languages and always wanted to learn another romance language along with my French and Spanish, so that was my reason for wanting to take Italian, while I thought it would also be cool to learn another Germanic language other than my German. Learning Italian and Dutch at once would give me and Neha contrasting sounds and grammar to tackle, challenging ourselves much more than just learning one language would, so off we went. ;)

    This week Neha and I have begun to acquaint ourselves with the Italian and Dutch languages. We began learning the language for introductions and have gone back and forth practicing that communication. Meanwhile, we have started to understand the sounds made in the language based on spelling, such as the fact that the "g" in makes a "kh" sound in Dutch, the "gl" make a "y" sound in Italian etc. The Dutch language gives us a good laugh every time because we find ourselves butchering the foreign sounds and cracking up because the language happens to have many expressions that sound like phrases in English.

    Now we have begun to learn days of the week, family vocabulary, weather, and how to express our likes dislikes. This will be our next step in the languages. Meanwhile, while learning this vocabulary we are going to try to pick up on grammar patterns and how we can use this vocabulary in context. To do this, we have already begun to set up tables for irregular and regular verbs. We also often write down example sentences on how to use certain vocabulary such as "I like" in a sentence based on different situations.

     The next goals Neha and I have set are to continue to practice introductory conversation and add on to what we already know. Along with this, we would like to learn the vocabulary I highlighted above and how to use it in context. After learning this vocabulary, next week we will also have other goals such as learning food vocabulary, color, and clothing. Grammar is also important to our ability to improve, so we will try to focus on verbs in present tense. We know that the more we learn, the more we'll be able to integrate fun/more varying activities into our learning such as music, cooking etc., so we are especially inspired to do so.

Here are the links to our conversations in Dutch in Italian, with subtitles included. This was filmed mid-week, after a few hours of learning so we apologize for any mistakes and offense to the Dutch or Italian communities in advance 😆. Also we often mixed up formal and informal:

Recorded Italian Convo #1

Recorded Dutch Convo #1