AUWENFIELD NOTES
JOHNNY AUWENEARTH
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Guided language lessons

Pick something you want to say or understand, then work through it.

Find your next lesson

These 12 focused units extend the existing language practice. Each includes prerequisites, a pattern to learn, worked examples and four exercises with explained answers. They are individual lessons, not complete language courses.

12 lessons available.

Dutch

Put the verb where the sentence needs it

Move beyond isolated word-order drills. Transform one travel statement into a time-first statement, a question and a reason clause.

Before you start
Recognize ik (I), we (we), vandaag (today), morgen (tomorrow), reizen (travel) and werken (work). A subject tells you who does something. A finite verb is the form that changes with person or tense, such as werk in ik werk.
By the end
Keep the finite verb in the right position when starting with a time phrase, asking a yes/no question or using omdat (because).
Dutch

Choose what you are saying no to

Keep the word order you learned, then add a useful distinction: geen for an indefinite thing you do not have, niet for a state or statement that is not true.

Before you start
Complete the word-order lesson first. Recognize ik (I), vandaag (today), omdat (because) and heb (have). New items: een kaartje (a ticket), een reservering (a reservation), tijd (time), klaar (ready) and ben (am).
By the end
Choose geen or niet in the models taught here, explain what is being denied, and retain finite-verb placement in a statement and an omdat clause.
Finnish

Change the person in a negative sentence

Finnish changes its negative verb to show who is speaking. Build a small set of useful negatives instead of adding ei to every sentence.

Before you start
Read the Latin alphabet, including ä and ö. Learn puhua (speak), puhun (I speak), puhu (the form used in these negatives), ymmärtää (understand) and ymmärrä (its negative form). This unit teaches standard present-tense statements.
By the end
Use en, et, ei and emme with the same negative main-verb form, and explain why en puhun is not the target pattern.
French

Make a negative sentence without losing the verb

Explain a small problem clearly: you do not understand, you do not have a ticket, or you are not a tourist. Learn why these negatives are built differently.

Before you start
Recognize je (I), vous (polite or plural you), comprends (understand), ai (have) and suis (am). A conjugated verb is the form that identifies person or tense. This lesson uses present-time statements.
By the end
Place ne…pas around a conjugated verb, use n’ before a vowel, and distinguish pas de with avoir from an unchanged article after être.
German

Give a reason with weil or denn

Connect two short statements without carrying English word order into every German clause.

Before you start
Know ich (I), lerne (learn), arbeite (work), Deutsch (German), hier (here) and heute (today). A finite verb is marked for person or tense. A clause is a group built around a verb and its participants.
By the end
Explain a reason using weil and denn, locate the finite verb, and move a weil-clause to the front without losing the main-clause inversion.
Italian

Make a request with vorrei

Order something or ask to do something without assembling a sentence word by word from English. Learn how a request changes when you speak for two people.

Before you start
Read the Latin alphabet and recognize un caffè (a coffee), un tè (a tea) and due (two). The accent in caffè and tè is part of the spelling. No prior knowledge of the conditional is required.
By the end
Build requests with an item or an action, distinguish vorrei from vorremmo, and complete a short café exchange.
Italian

Ask for some, or say exactly how much

Build on vorrei by distinguishing an unspecified amount from a counted or measured order. Work through bread, water and a small shopping list.

Before you start
Complete the vorrei lesson first. Learn these noun groups as a set: il pane (bread, masculine singular), l’acqua (water, feminine singular), i panini (bread rolls, masculine plural), le arance (oranges, feminine plural). Due is two; un chilo is one kilogram.
By the end
Use selected partitive forms with familiar nouns, replace an unspecified amount with a number or measure, and explain why the wording changes.
Japanese

Ask permission or ask someone to act

Choose a request by who will perform the action. Compare taking a photograph yourself with asking someone else to take it.

Before you start
You can read hiragana and recognize a verb’s て-form. The forms used here are 撮る(とる)→ 撮って, 座る(すわる)→ 座って, and 書く(かく)→ 書いて. This is an intermediate usage lesson, not a complete て-form course.
By the end
Distinguish permission from a request for help, form both with the same verb, and explain how context affects the level of politeness.
Mandarin

Separate “no need” from “do not”

Understand a distinction that changes what someone expects you to do: 不用 removes a need, while 不要 can tell someone not to act.

Before you start
Traditional characters come first. Key forms: 不用 bù yòng (ㄅㄨˋ ㄩㄥˋ), 不要 bù yào (ㄅㄨˋ ㄧㄠˋ), 等 děng (wait), 袋子 dàizi (bag), 謝謝 xièxie (thanks). You may use the readings while learning the characters.
By the end
Interpret simple instructions with 不用 and 不要, decline an offered bag, and distinguish an unwanted item from an unnecessary action.
Russian

Say what you have and what is missing

Build a practical possession sentence and make it negative without treating нет as an English auxiliary.

Before you start
Read Cyrillic slowly. Stress accents here are learning aids, usually absent in ordinary Russian writing. Learn these pairs: биле́т → биле́та (ticket), па́спорт → па́спорта (passport), ка́рта → ка́рты (card/map).
By the end
Use у меня́ есть and у меня́ нет with a small set of travel nouns, change the possessor to we, and explain the noun ending after нет.
Spanish

Build a request, then change who is speaking

Turn a memorized phrase into a sentence you can adapt: say what you want, ask another person, and recognize a polite request.

Before you start
You can read the Latin alphabet. Start with yo (I), tú (informal singular you), usted (polite singular you) and nosotros/nosotras (we). You do not need to know a conjugation table yet.
By the end
Write a request for yourself, one for a group, and a question addressed to one person. Explain which verb changes and which stays unchanged.
Spanish

Say no, and explain what you do not want

Extend your requests with a clear negative answer. Distinguish no quiero, no quiero nada and nadie quiere without importing English double-negative rules.

Before you start
Complete the request lesson first. You should recognize quiero, quieres and quiere, plus the infinitives comer (eat), comprar (buy) and esperar (wait). Ahora means now; más means more.
By the end
Decline an offer, negate a request, and place no correctly when using nada or nadie. Explain the difference between a negative answer and a negative sentence.