u/NoelFromBabbel

I expected Brazilian Portuguese to be a lot harder, but it ended up feeling surprisingly manageable, especially because it seems to have fewer conjugations (in everyday use) than I anticipated. Once I got used to the rhythms and a handful of common verb patterns, it started to click way faster than I thought it would.

What language did you expect to be difficult, but turned out to be easier than expected, and why?

No matter how many times I see certain words, my brain refuses to store them and I end up googling them again.
Whenever I want to use the word "agradecer" I get unsure if it is agredecer or agradecer and end up having to look it up even though I have seen it a thousand times.
What are yours?

I’m a German teacher, and occasionally my students ask me about certain mistakes they heard even from native speakers.

For example: das einzigste, they hear it in real life, but in class we’d teach das einzige

What are other good examples of mistakes/nonstandard forms you have noticed that even Germans commonly use (spoken or written)?

I’m curious if others intentionally pick a specific dialect when learning their second language, and how you made that choice. I think it’s amazing that in a new language you can kind of choose your identity, instead of being born into it like with your native tongue. For example, I’m learning português brasileiro because it sounds much nicer to me than European Portuguese, and even more specifically the Baiano accent. Did you choose a dialect on purpose (Mexican Spanish, Quebec French, Swiss German, Kansai Japanese, etc.)? And what drove your decision?