Week Four (I think)

My lesson for this week was jam-packed. The verbs kaschten, kafen, brauchen, kréien, comparison and degrees of comparison, pronouns, the fir ze locution, and the niceties, as well as using vocabulary from previous lessons. I also have to remember the 'n' rule (thank you Herr Boudoumit) which is kind of like saying 'a' or 'an' before a noun. It all makes sense and I know where these things go in sentences, but the trouble is memorizing the words, and in the case of the verbs, conjugations. Conjugations, like their endings, aren't regular at all and it makes me unhappy. For example:

To need           To buy

Ech brauch      Ech kafen

Du brauchs     Du keefs

Hie brauch     Hie keeft

Hatt brauch     Hatt keeft

Si brauch     Si brauch

Mir brauchen     Mir kafen

Dir braucht     Dir kaaft

Si brauchen      Si kafe

See? While some conjugations are similar, they're not exactly the same and I haven't been presented with any rules as to how to conjugate verbs. There aren't many Luxembourgish verb resources, so I have to do without and just memorize. It seems to m that this QuattroPole website is taking me beyond what would amount to Luxembourgish I. This is starting to get to Luxembourgish II. The intensity is building.

On the bright side I've been practicing my note cards and I've memorized a bunch of words. Simple stuff, like kitchen and grass and blue. Just going over them again and again is helpful for German and it's been just as effective for Luxembourgish. You can practice note cards anytime, anywhere. Also, activities like these, when you see the word with a picture and hear a recording of a person saying it, are excellent: 

For my final product I will still be making my video and incorporating it into my presentation, but I've decided upon some changes Since this TED Talk will be in the Audion and it'll be a bit awkward to do translations of things I just said, I'll make a video of myself saying certain phrases and show it to the audience. The video will still have subtitles and I might go into some rules of Luxembourgish, but my fabulous adventure won't be the sole topic of  my talk. I'm going to make a Prezi because they look really cool, but there are two possible topics I would talk about. I'm interested in dying/little-spoken languages (thank you, Drew Ells) and I've found a few things (here, here, and here) that talk about them and their importance. However, I think talking about how learning a foreign language helps you better connect to your own. I could definitely talk about either one for three to five minutes, with my video. Does anyone have any preferences or advice? Does anyone speak a dying language that can give insight? No one? No one? Latin counts, guys.

Okay, I think I've bored you long enough, but I have one more thing to talk about. Online flashcards sites. May the alien god Xenu bless and keep them. They're just as effective as note cards and I've come across some words I wasn't taught using QuattroPole. Very useful. Beautiful things.

Alright, now go off and do whatever it is you do when you're not stalking my blog. Go. Shoo.

P.S. I am still not Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Baby steps.

P.P.S. Stay tuned for my vlog later today.

First link:

http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/

Second link:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/21/tech/web/google-fights-save-language-mashable

Third link:

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/

Flashcard links:

http://quizlet.com/12762320/luxembourgish-flash-cards/

http://flashcarddb.com/isl/study/luxembourgish