French/English ski dictionary

Dave Mac wrote:I found Finnish (phrase book stuff) difficult. Many words have lots of side by side vowels, and each is pronounced separately. The one word I can remember was, I think, kiiota, pronounced kee-ee-oh-ta.

Also did five years of Latin study. I thik it is fair to say, that is the worst way I have wasted time, since I have never used it.

I bought a Finnish phrase book last year but could'nt really get on with it. I just could not pronounce the same as they do. But found a nod and a smile went a long way. Going around the supermarkets the names of some of their things........hilarious and too rude for this forum, we sounded like Beavis and Butthead sniggering around the aisles.
I too wasted time on learning Latin but there are occasions I need it, in my job but only text book stuff really.

Rose,
Thanks for explaining the Finnish/Latin conundrum.

Although I can remember very little latin now, I don't think it was a waste of time at all. It does teach one a great deal about grammar, which applies to whichever language one is learning (including English!). Early training in latin is said to be very good for developing a logical brain.

Also, I enjoyed the poetry in Virgil's Aenead, even though it was hard to translate.

Finnish does sound very hard. At least, with the French, I know how to pronounce it and it is only a case of increasing my vocab and learning how to distinguish individual words when French people spout them at me.

Ally