Discussion
Me: "I want to learn German."
Them: "Why would you do that? Don't bother!"
Me: "Because I spend half my time on the Fediverse clicking on the 'Translate' button."
I can't help it if so many of the awesome accounts I follow are in German. And I want to be able to understand their messages without clicking on 'Translate' 50+ times a day. Plus this way I would understand / could attend ALL the talks at Berlin #FediDay.
I'm putting this here so that people hold me accountable 😅🤗
@_elena it would also be helpful if the translate option was located at the 🔝 of a post rather than the bottom.
@_elena
Viel Erfolg und gutes Gelingen!
🍀🍀🍀
@_elena wait what... There is a translate button?
@_elena Good luck! As a german I find it problematic, that so many parts of the fediverse are german. The Fediverse needs to spread more around the world to be a real competitor to X, Bluesky and all other alternatives that pop up nowadays. I like it here, but Mastodon lacks so many interesting people that use Bluesky or sometimes X. Especially in science and nature conservation related topics.
Before I went on stage at Berlin #FediDay the MC mistakenly said "the following presentation will be in German." My friends in the audience giggled because they know I don't speak it.
And then surprise!
I started my presentation with "Hallo zusammen. Vielen Dank an alle Organisatoren des Berlin Fedi Day."
@samvie's reaction - who was sitting in the front row - was priceless 😂
Special thanks to @Tobias and a couple of FediDay angels for letting me practice with them.
Next year: 4 sentences!
@_elena that's more German than I've managed to learn in th last 4 years, living in Germany! <sobs>
@_elena I'm curious, what are you using to learn German or what method? I had a good streak with Duolingo some years ago, but I understand it's become AI'ified.
@jzb the same method as when I learned French: starting with children’s books and cartoons and then graduating to classic books (editions with a parallel text translation).
I never managed to learn any languages with apps. Physical media + shows with subs are better for me
@_elena Vi povus lerni Esperanton?
@earwigplanet one language at the time please! but yes, I'd love to one day 😊
Where is this Translate button? I think that it is something that the administrator has to enable?
If so, @mathieugp , could you enable this button? That would be cool.
@_elena somehow, and I really don't know why, books are also cheaper in German, I always take that advantage specially if looking for second hand books 😆 so another reason to!
@_elena I think you will love the super power of creating new words by combining two or more words.
@pixelcode OMGGGG I am not ready for this, LOOOL
@_elena ma che interfaccia usi? Io non ho "Translate", mi devo copiare tutti i post (in finlandese) per tradurli da un altra parte
@umbeebmu sul computer, connessa a Mastodon nel mi browser, c'è un link "translate" sotto i messaggi in lingua straniera. Sennò su Ivory (iOS) c'è un bottone "translate" che ti fa vedere il post d'origine e sotto la traduzione
@_elena Oh, I understand you so much! I used to learn German for nine years and I haven't actively used it for 20 years at least. But now I'm finding it super useful during mornings when the trending page is half in German until folks across the pond wake up :D I'm glad I can understand most of the toots. Just one downside: I am no longer able to feel smug about saying my secondary school German teacher that I won't ever be able to use the knowledge. Dang, I hate that she was right 👿
@_elena Ich wünsche dir viel Erfolg!
@_elena Es gibt nichts Gutes außer man tut es.
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@_elena Ich habe Dich gerade zum ersten Mal im Fediverse gesehen und Dein Einführungsvideo angesehen.
Es ist großartig, Danke dafür!
Ich zeige es jetzt meinen Freundinnen und Freunden (leider per WhatsApp) 😀