38 Comments
This is really starting to frustrate me. I keep getting these words like plazo. It will say give you several meanings of the word and if you choose certain ones they are wrong! How am I supposed to know which word I am to choose without enough context clues. The dictionary hints really are lacking.
But, the thing is, they need to teach you how to speak spanish. So you need to learn the equivalent Spanish phrases. Yes, its hard, but if it just counted some nonsense as correct just because you technically translated it correctly, then you wouldn't be learning how to speak a different language.
I think that we should be less afraid to get things wrong and lose hearts. It's a learning processes. We might not know right away what the correct phrase is, but we will figure it out eventually.
90
I sometimes share your frustration, but I think we must remember this is a computer generated, user moderated system and all it can give is a literal, word for word translation. We need to plod along before we can soar...! (She said wisely... ;) LOL )
but you have to look at the suggestions they give you, look at the context, and try to find the right english expression. if you think "we have one month of installment" looks wrong, it's because it is! you just have to think more, and you see the option for "period, term, installment..." then think, ok, the other words are clearly "we have" "one month" so think a bit more, a bit more, and boom, obviously it's "we have a one-month period." then you start to see that the other words (term, installment) can also have something to do with periods of time.
in english we would easily answer the question "how much time will it take to train for the race?" with "well I have a one-month window before my son is born."
I have a feeling for someone learning english, seeing that "window" - you know, the things in our houses and cars made of glass - also sometimes refers to "a period of time" would be confusing at first too. that's why it's important to learn and think in the whole expression, not word by word.
haha exactly. and to me the answers do not make much sense.. ''We have one month window.'' wtf? i answered ''we have one month of installment'' and got it wrong but to me it makes more sense than window haha
That's exactly what I answered and according to the dictionary it was an option. If they want to teach the phrase as a whole then they should give that as the translate, not give us a word for word translation and expect us to know the expression.
Like, in German they say, "Morgen Morgen, nur nicht heute, sagen alle fallen Leute." It means "Tomorrow, tomorrow, not today, say all the lazy people."
How many people would actually get that it was "Why put off till tomorrow, what you can do today?"
They aren't EXACTLY the same expression so they shouldn't be treated as exactly the same.
Exactly. I felt the same way at the beginning for beginners who do not know that the literal translation of "How old are you?" in Spanish is "How many years do you have?"
That example is much more idiomatic and not really a fair comparison. In the Duolingo sentences, sometimes it can be unclear what we should be writing, but in that case, we just have to get it wrong! That forces us to think about why it was wrong, understand why it was wrong, and in the process understand a little more about how Spanish works.
I'm not here to boast to people how many points I can rack up, I'm here to learn Spanish.
It means window as in "window of opportunity" rather than a window you look out of. Still, your complaint is pretty valid as installment is one of the words they say should work.
I assume they meant window as in the abstract expression which means an amount of time. Basically, the phrase means the amount of time the speaker has is one month.
I was told that "plazo" could be translated as "deadline". But "We have a one month deadline" did not work.
I feel "We have a window of one month" would be a better English translation than "We have one month window", which I don't believe and English speaker would say.
It should at least read, "We have a one month window." It's poor grammar the way it's worded currently.
or even "we have a time window of one month", just to be clear. without context, this sentence is really useless.
Notice "window" was NOT even among the definitions given for the "new word" plazo! (At least it didn't mark me wrong for using "period" -- that's almost surprising at this point, given Duolingo's inconsistencies.)
Ya... "period" didn't make sense... so I tried installment...
Then I saw "window" and went "WTF?!"
I'm thinking that "window" is more to convey "window of time" rather than window (ventana).
Ya... but I didn't know what "plazo" meant, so I scrolled over and saw "period, installment, and something else".... and yet WINDOW was the word shown in the translation...
I tried "We have a month long term" and it insisted on "We have a month term." A month term? What is that?
What is this phrase even supposed to mean? "We have a period of one month" - is it English?
I answered "We have a term of one month" which looked a little bit less of nonsense, and for some reason it was not accepted.
This program is frustrating, because it asks for idiomatic translations without having taught you anything but the literal. If you're going to ask questions on idioms, TEACH THE DAMN IDIOM FIRST!!!
I translated this into "we have a months time" wouldn't that be correct? Or is there another way of saying "we have a months time"?
We have a month period is not good English. Nor is we have a month term. In English we would normally say 'We have a month'.
In sales or accounting a "one month term" is used all the time. As in "what are the terms of the agreement?" "We have a one month term."
We need to use some common sense "we have one month's time" is a valid translation for this sentence but duolingo says otherwise. Just learn what their version is understand the words and then use them your own way in other situations.
