View Full Version : What foreign languages have you studied?
Windswept
2004-06-29, 22:49
What foreign languages have you studied? You may vote for multiple foreign languages. (Please do NOT include your own native language.) Also, did you study these foreign languages in high school, university or both?
oldmacfan
2004-06-29, 23:01
French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Polish, Romanian, Italian, Latin.
French in high school. Spanish, German, Japanese, Polish, Italian, Romanian on the job. Latin as a self-study course I am still working on.
Windswept
2004-06-29, 23:12
French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Polish, Romanian, Italian, Latin.
French in high school. Spanish, German, Japanese, Polish, Italian, Romanian on the job. Latin as a self-study course I am still working on.
Good heavens! Well, I am totally impressed. Do you speak any of these fairly well, oldmacfan?
Btw, I'll get in there and add your votes to the ones you didn't get to vote for. I didn't realize the very first voter would have *eight* languages!!! :wow:
"Which" ones did you NOT get to vote for (when the original limit was four)?
oldmacfan
2004-06-29, 23:39
Good heavens! Well, I am totally impressed. Do you speak any of these fairly well, oldmacfan?
Btw, I'll get in there and add your votes to the ones you didn't get to vote for. I didn't realize the very first voter would have *eight* languages!!! :wow:
"Which" ones did you NOT get to vote for (when the original limit was four)?
I suck at most of them, because I so rarely get to use them any more. I clicked all that were relevent and it took them.
Except for the last, the others I used while working in restaurants one French place in particular, I was the interpreter since I was the only native born english speaking staff member.
When Polish server and French owner were confused as to what each was saying or trying to say, I was the one that had to figure it out and set them straight. They all knew some English to wide ranging degree's, I was best at listening to it and converting it to English.
Their was very little reading or writing of any of it except for French, German, and Italian. That mostly related to working as a Sommelier.
I am studying Latin in the hope that some day I can take it as my Foriegn Language requirement to get my BS.
Hopefully I can take it as a Pass-Fail and not have it hurt my perfect GPA.
I have no problems with programming languages, but Foriegn one's are near impossible for me. As for why I was able to interperet like that, I am not sure. I am a Dyslexic with ADD, a bad ram chip (short term memory), and a flakey hard drive (long term memory).
I also did all the PC tech support for these guys. I kept telling them to get a mac. It didn't translate well.
Next year I'll be starting German as my foreign language in high school.
darkerknight
2004-06-29, 23:57
I'm native German, and have studied English, French and Latin and will get started on another European language (Portugese or Spanish, but perhaps even Swedish or Norwegian) and one Asian language later this year. I really suck at Latin! I've studied these languaegs 'on the go' since I moved around a lot with my dad. When we moved to Canada, I didn't speak any English, so I was able to pick up a Canadian accent... although that's pretty mixed up by now since I had another British teacher after that, in Brussels. That's were I had to learn French then... moving helps a lot! Now that I'm in University, I'll start some other languages...
Windswept
2004-06-30, 00:36
Except for the last, the others I used while working in restaurants one French place in particular, I was the interpreter since I was the only native born english speaking staff member.
When Polish server and French owner were confused as to what each was saying or trying to say, I was the one that had to figure it out and set them straight. They all knew some English to wide ranging degree's, I was best at listening to it and converting it to English.
Your story reminds me of an incident during the Lewis and Clark expedition when they were passing through Shoshone country.
In trying to communicate, Lewis would make a comment in English to the trapper/guide, Charbonneau. Charbonneau would say the comment in French to his wife, Sacagawea. She would then make the comment in Shoshone to the tribal chief (who actually turned out to be her brother, iirc). The reply would then go back up the line. Kinda funny to think of, but I guess it worked okay. :)
autodata
2004-06-30, 00:48
French, spanish and latin. Can somewhat still read french, less with spanish, but latin ... well I don't know since it has no substantial practical relevance to me.
Windswept
2004-06-30, 01:02
I'm native German, and have studied English, French and Latin and will get started on another European language (Portugese or Spanish, but perhaps even Swedish or Norwegian) and one Asian language later this year. I really suck at Latin! I've studied these languaegs 'on the go' since I moved around a lot with my dad. When we moved to Canada, I didn't speak any English, so I was able to pick up a Canadian accent... although that's pretty mixed up by now since I had another British teacher after that, in Brussels. That's were I had to learn French then... moving helps a lot! Now that I'm in University, I'll start some other languages...
Of all the places you have lived, which have you liked best, and why?
Were you in Canada very long? Do you speak English with a German accent or do you sound like a Canadian? :)
Powerdoc
2004-06-30, 01:04
I have learn english in school, and russian. Unfortunately for the latter I am a professional sucker :(
Windswept
2004-06-30, 01:08
I have learn english in school, and russian. Unfortunately for the latter I am a professional sucker :(
Hi Powerdoc.
I don't understand what you mean about being a professional sucker. :confused:
Anonymous Coward
2004-06-30, 01:08
Grammar school: French and Latin
French is the language I studied the longest, but now I only remember enough to recognize street signs. (That is, except for the first part of the first lesson: "Paris is divided into two parts. The Right Bank and the Left Bank ..."). I don't remember much Latin.
High school: Latin and Spanish
I might remember more Latin from grammar school. Spanish - what else being from California.
A little bit of self study in Greek and German ... not enough to speak of (trying to decide on what to study as a requirement for a chemistry major ... but I never graduated so it didn't matter).
College: Russian
Well, at the time we were still in the Cold War and it seemed like a good idea. The Commanding Officer of my submarine called me into his office once to discuss my subscription to the Russian language edition of Scientific American. (It came in a brown paper wrapper from Moscow.) I sort of gave up after a visit to (the former) Yugoslavia and someone not only did not understand a word I tried to say, but asked me (in English, in a rather angry tone) why in the world I would want to buy a Serbo-Croatian dictionary. (I also tried to learn the basics of that language, but since I can barely speak English well, you can guess how that went.)
Work: Italian
My last duty station was in Italy for four years. One might think it unusual that in that time I progressed less in that language than any other, but work was busy and I rarely interacted with the local people. I also tried a little Arabic (seemed like a good idea for a trip to the Persian Gulf) but didn't get past the alphabet.
Oh, and Tagalog and Visayan, the languages of my birth country? Well, they won't even acknowledge me, so I'm not going to even try. (Filipinos say I look Japanese. Japanese say I look Chinese. Chinese know I don't look like them.)
I did French at school from Year 7 to 10... I can still more-or-less read it (well, I can handle Le Monde with the occasional peek at a dictionary), but my spoken French has always sucked...
I've done Latin since Year 7 continuously — thirteen years. I'd like to think I'm quite good at it, although I still have disturbing holes in my knowledge of it. Strangely, it's more relevant to me (as a medieval history student) than French.
I'd like to learn German at some point, 'cos it sounds funky, and there's a lot of academic literature in it. Similarly, I'd like to learn Italian, but mostly because it sounds funky.
Hi Powerdoc.
I don't understand what you mean about being a professional sucker. :confused:
Unless he has a secret double life, I think he means he's not very good at it. ;)
Windswept
2004-06-30, 01:25
I picked up Spanish as a child (ages 7-11) when my family lived in Mexico. In high school, I studied two years of French and four years of Latin. At university, four years of Russian.
I do not have any facility with conversational Russian, but would like to change that. I'd love to learn some Japanese and would love to learn to speak German and (Brazilian) Portuguese.
It's ironic that the only foreign language I actually speak is the one I never really studied - Spanish. heh. :)
I used to listen to German tapes when I would sunbathe by the pool. German seems easy to me compared to Russian. I studied a smidgeon of Italian, and a miniscule amount of Japanese. Just enough to know I'd like to study more.
Powerdoc
2004-06-30, 05:13
Unless he has a secret double life, I think he means he's not very good at it. ;)
Bingo ! :D
InactionMan
2004-06-30, 05:45
As a Canuck, I had to take French through to grade 9 though I don't speak a word of it. I had no interest in learning it back then but now I'm pissed off that I live in a bilingual country and cannot speak the other official language. When we have more time, my girlfriend and I are going to sign up for one of those Berlitz courses. I studied German throughout high school and a bit at university and can still understand and speak it at a very basic level. I have dual citizenship and plan on living in Germany for at least a portion of my life so I'll just immerse myself in the language when I move there.
Spanish for 3 years in Middle School. Hated every minute of it!
Japanese for 3 years in High School and 2 years at College. Loved it, but I never made that leap into conversational.
Latin for 11 years total. There is nothing I love more than reading Cicero and Tacitus in Latin. :eek:
I was actually surprised how much Latin and Japanese have in common.
Spanish for 3 years in Middle School. Hated every minute of it!
I had a look over some recently... not surprisingly, it kind of looks like a relaxed Latin to me. Just goes to show.
Japanese for 3 years in High School and 2 years at College. Loved it, but I never made that leap into conversational.
Latin for 11 years total. There is nothing I love more than reading Cicero
You strange man. ;)
and Tacitus in Latin. :eek:
Now that I can understand. :cool:
My favourites include Ovid (now there's a man after my own heart!), Nepos (because despite being crap he has character!), and Livy. I'm rather fond of Virgil's Georgics, but the Aeneid has to be one of the most overrated pieces of literature in the history of humanity.
I was actually surprised how much Latin and Japanese have in common.
I've never studied any Japanese... what kind of things do they have in common?
So many Latinists on this forum! :smokey:
Native American speaker here.
I "studied" German from 10th grade until my Freshman year in College.
I can still speak enough to get a very basic point across. Actually, I'm suprised at how much I remember since its been 17 years since I studied German.
I took a course in Italian a few years ago, I remember almost nothing about it.
I can say a few curse words in Dutch, but thats about it.
I can read spanish at about the third grade level probably, can't write it or speak it worth a damn anymore because I don't practice. Ironically, I have in-laws from Spain so they love to give me a hard time for still not being able to speak it well.
I studied up on Japanese a little bit on my own in college because I spent summers over there, but I have no real functional abilities other than being able to recognize certain common Kanji characters, sayings and greetings. I could study Japanese diligently while living and working there for the next 10 years and still not be "fluent". It's THAT hard to master...very deep language. Thousands of characters in their "alphabet", etc.
My first language was actually German. I lived in Germany as a boy – my father was an RCAF pilot and my mother is German – marriages like that happened a lot back then. We lived off the military base - my father learned German himself and left the military and flew for a German company. I initially grew up very much as a little German boy. Then my parents decided to come back to Canada – but we lived in Montreal, where I spoke German at home with my parents and learned French playing with other kids. Then we moved to other places in Canada and the U.S. – entirely English. My education was in English, and our family language switched to English as well. I lost some of my French, but then relearned it by studying and also through employment in French work environments in Ottawa and Montreal. I am rated bilingual English/French in my current job – although I don’t consider my French to be nearly as good as my English. I have lost almost all of my German – although I can understand a fair bit of it again, after a few days, when I visit Germany.
curiousuburb
2004-06-30, 11:02
As a Canadian, we got some French in high school and as an officially bilingual country, all government documents and food packaging is bilingual, so I can speak french ingredients pretty well. ;) Haven't kept in practice, but I can still understand a little French.
Took a year of Japanese at university, but thereafter, living in Taiwan and HK, didn't use it much and it got lost in the bits of Mandarin and Cantonese I tried to pick up (goddamn tonal languages).
I'd also say I'm fluent in HTML, and can understand some actionscript/lingo/javascript/basic/pascal/... :D
I'm surprised that, in a forum like this, programming languages weren't choices. :D
As for real languages, I've had two years of high school spanish. I would take more, if our teacher wasn't so terrible. The foriegn language program here is a joke. I'll probably do more foreign language stuff in college, but until then, I will just be able to read a little bit of spanish and not understand a single spoken word of it...thanks to my spanish teacher's heavy southern accent.
:mad: :smokey:
Crusader
2004-06-30, 14:53
I took Spanish in 8th Grade, and Freshmen year, and I hated it. I then moved onto Latin which was really cool. I remember next to nothing except "sum" and it's conjugations, oh and the last part of Dr. King's "I have a Dream" speech, translated into Latin. I hope to study more Latin in College, Russian (or the Mother language as my Grandfather calls it), German, and maybe some Asian language. I donno, I guess I have to see what I enjoy :)
GSpotter
2004-06-30, 17:13
My first foreign language was french. I had it for 7 years in school, but barely used it since then. When I recently looked at a french text, I was astonished that I could still figure out most of the content ...
My second language was english, also 7 years. I had it as a one of my major classes for the last two years. Apart from using it to post in some obscure Mac forums ;) , I use english nearly every day on my job.
My third language was latin (two years). I forgot most of it in the meantime.
My native language is german.
GSpotter
2004-06-30, 17:17
Your story reminds me of an incident during the Lewis and Clark expedition when they were passing through Shoshone country. Reminds me of a scene in the '13th Warrior'.
Native French and German as a toddler (in that order).
Latin, English, Italian, and Spanish in high school (in that order).
More Spanish and Ancient Greek in college.
I consider myself fluent in English, French, and German. I can get around reasonably well in Italian and Spanish. Latin and Ancient Greek have gone unused and have fallen by the wayside.
Escher
I have learn english in school, and russian. Unfortunately for the latter I am a professional sucker :(
Wow, Powerdoc! Quelle bonne surprise de te trouver ici. J'avais aucune idée...
A+
Escher
Powerdoc
2004-07-01, 00:48
Wow, Powerdoc! Quelle bonne surprise de te trouver ici. J'avais aucune idée...
A+
Escher
Heureux de te voir ici,aussi Escher. :)
stevegong
2004-07-01, 01:09
French, English, Italian, Spanish
My mother tongue is Chinese because I speak it at home.
I grew up in Italy so I speak Italian.
I have been studying French at school since 3rd grade (elementary).
I went to an English speaking school.
i'm fluent in the above four.
I am now trying to learn Spanish but it don't seem so easy (despite being so similar to Italian)! Maybe I'm too old to learn a new language!
Naderfan
2004-07-01, 10:01
I really wish I had been offered the chance to learn a foreign language in elementary school. I did an after school program in fourth grade to learn French, but that only lasted for a semester and then no more language until 8th grade. And even after having taken French almost every semester since 8th grade and through college, I still struggle with it, especially if I'm trying to follow someone else speaking it. But I did better than a lot of my classmates and I think that little time I spent in elementary school is to thank for that. I wish I was fluent in more languages. I love learning them, but I can't ever seem to keep them in my head. I studied German and Spanish as well, but only for a year and a semester, respectively. I did all right in German, but Spanish...not so good.
First, while we're on the topic of learning languages, has anybody ripped language CDs to MP3 and loaded them onto their iPods? I would think that listening to "language tapes" on your iPod during a long commute or a lunch break could be a great way to study a language during otherwise wasted/unproductive time.
Secondly, I have found that total immersion is by far the best way to learn a language. Pick a language, then go to a place where people speak nothing but that language, and practice it because you have no choice. ;)
Finally, my English would not be what it is today if it were not for Voice of America (http://www.voanews.com/) (VOA) radio. Listening to the news on VOA -- every hour on the hour -- and listening to Casey Casem's (spelling?) Top 40 on Sunday mornings strongly influenced my move to the US. So, thank you VOA!
For those of you learning French, there's Radio France Internationale (http://www.rfi.fr/) (RFI), which you can get almost anywhere in the world. I'm sure there are equivalent services in other languages.
Escher
propellerhead
2004-07-01, 13:43
I am fluent in German and have studied Spanish, Chinese, and French.
I will continue German and Chinese in college and probably start studying Arabic.
I am studying Japanese in high school as part of the magnet program at my school, in about 3 years I'll be going to Japan for the program. On my own, I have been studying Russian, I could've taken that instead of Japanese, but they cancelled the Russian language.
English, German and Italian. Being tempted to learn French.
tallslacker
2004-07-02, 01:28
Studied almost 3 years of German in high school and am lucky if I can make up three sentences. :p
I like German, though I had a hard time concentrating on the way they think.
To say the time, they say first the minutes and then the hour -and things like that.
regards
I studied Latin in Yr 7 "Caecilius est in culina" :lol: and surprisingly found it quite enjoyable - but that was the only year it was offered.
My heritage is Italian, but my parents never spoke it at home, so what I have learnt was picked up from my secondary school study (three years) and my backpacking holiday in 1996. As Escher points out, there is no substitute for immersing yourself in the culture and being forced to learn the language. My conversational skills are solid - but are based primarily on survival (or "guerilla" skills, as I like to call it) ... I know how to book a train ticket and order at a restaurant, for example, but I can't explain my feelings or inner thoughts about art, music and culture in any great way. :(
My wife might be posted to China next year, with her work, so there is a good chance that I will learn Chinese whilst there if the work change comes through.
I studied Latin in Yr 7 "Caecilius est in culina" :lol: and surprisingly found it quite enjoyable - but that was the only year it was offered.
Ah, the dreaded Cambridge Latin Course. All I have to say to that is "Canis est in Metella". How we laughed. :lol:
Ah, the dreaded Cambridge Latin Course. All I have to say to that is "Canis est in Metella". How we laughed. :lol:Well - now you're testing me - it has been soooo long... but is that "The dog is in Metella"?
I cannot remember all the names of the characters. There was Caecilius, his wife, (was it Metalla?) an obedient servant, Caecilius' son... help me staph - fill in the names please.
We completed 12 books with the orange cover. My friend told me that toward the end of the series they suffer at the volacano of Pompei, but Caecilius grants freedom to one of his slaves or something like that.
Also please forgive the spelling of the names - I don't think I spelt Caecilius correctly.
And finally - an old Wayne & Shuster routine:
"Bartender, give me a martinus"
"You mean a martini."
"If I wanted two, I'd have asked for two!"
boom boom :)
Well - now you're testing me - it has been soooo long... but is that "The dog is in Metella"?
Yep. As I said, we laughed and laughed.
My excuse is that we were 12 at the time.
I cannot remember all the names of the characters. There was Caecilius, his wife, (was it Metalla?) an obedient servant, Caecilius' son... help me staph - fill in the names please.
Caecilius
Metella
Quintus (the son)
Grumio (the cook)
Cerberus (the dog)
Clemens (the good servant)
... there may have been more, but I'd need to think about it.
We completed 12 books with the orange cover. My friend told me that toward the end of the series they suffer at the volacano of Pompei, but Caecilius grants freedom to one of his slaves or something like that.
Yep, that's stage one (of four). They all die at the end of Stage 1, except for Quintus (the son), and Clemens (the slave), whom Caecilius emancipates. Stages 2–3 continue the story of Clemens and Quintus, although the focus shifts away from them increasingly in Stage 3.
Also please forgive the spelling of the names - I don't think I spelt Caecilius correctly.
Actually, you got it right!
And finally - an old Wayne & Shuster routine:
"Bartender, give me a martinus"
"You mean a martini."
"If I wanted two, I'd have asked for two!"
boom boom :)
:lol:
Caecilius
Metella
Quintus (the son)
Grumio (the cook)
Cerberus (the dog)
Clemens (the good servant)
Priceless - thanks.... Grumio (classic) :lol: will definitely win me a few beers next time I play trivial memory games with some of the old school mates.
Glad you appreciated the W&S - if ever you get the chance try and hunt down some of their routines. They did a great parody about the murder investigation following the death of Julius Caesar called "Rinse the blood off my toga". Classic stuff. :)
Latin for 4 years in High-School (not done with that yet), Spanish and German for 8 years (1st-8th Grades), Italian in Italy, French in Quebec, and I am trying to find a good way to learn japaneese (my school doesn't offer it).
Ave Magister. Morituri te salutant. - I say this before each of my exams. It means "Greetings teacher. Those who are about to die salute you."
Windswept
2006-07-03, 16:04
Thought I'd bump this two-year-old thread in case some of our newer members would like to post about their languages.
Wow. It sure is a shame I didn't make the poll public. Tsk. :\
I suppose I should update my post.
Next year I'll be starting German as my foreign language in high school.
I actually ended up taking French, since the administration at my old high school screwed up and put me in a French class rather than German. It ended up alright, since the French teacher is really cool.
I'd love to learn some Japanese and would love to learn to speak German and (Brazilian) Portuguese.
Why Brazilian Portuguese instead of (Portugal) Portuguese? Just curious.
Brazilian is a (rather irritating) morph of portuguese, with tons of adapted foreign words replacing the portuguese one. :grumble:
I suppose it's like wanting to learn American English instead of English UK?
blakbyrd
2006-07-03, 16:53
Spanish in high school and college. Woulde like to know Japanese and Mandarin. :p
Windswept
2006-07-03, 17:09
Why Brazilian Portuguese instead of (Portugal) Portuguese? Just curious.
Brazilian is a (rather irritating) morph of portuguese, with tons of adapted foreign words replacing the portuguese one. :grumble:
I suppose it's like wanting to learn American English instead of English UK?
Hi omem. :)
I fell in 'love' with Brazilian Portuguese when I was in Brazil for a few weeks one summer.
I thought it was the sexiest language I'd ever heard. I mean, it made French sound like German. :lol: ;) :p
Then again, maybe it was the 'sexy Brazilians' speaking their version of Portuguese that actually attracted me. :) ;)
And yes, if I had a choice, I'd like to speak British English. :D
Btw, I've never actually 'heard' Portuguese spoken by someone from Portugal. :)
I'm taking Spanish now in middle school, and ain't(/aren't, or amn't??) too bad at it. Aprendo más (casi) cada dÃa...
Saludos
Hi omem. :)
I fell in 'love' with Brazilian Portuguese when I was in Brazil for a few weeks one summer.
I thought it was the sexiest language I'd ever heard. I mean, it made French sound like German. :lol: ;) :p
Then again, maybe it was the 'sexy Brazilians' speaking their version of Portuguese that actually attracted me. :) ;)
And yes, if I had a choice, I'd like to speak British English. :D
Btw, I've never actually 'heard' Portuguese spoken by someone from Portugal. :)
You know, those brazilian "beach chicks" could make german sound sexy! :)
Portuguese PT and Portuguese BR are indeed equivalent to English UK and English US when it comes to smoothness of speech. Portuguese PT and English UK sound much less smooth than its "colonies", at least for foreign people. For us Portugal poertuguese people, "brazilians" just assassinate portuguese with every weird word thet adapt from the USA, and it's so hard to listen to it because of that. :grumble:
desporto > esporte (sport)
equipa > teame (team)
autocarro > ônibus (bus)
oportunidade > chance (chance)
:no:
Those are just a few words.
Portuguese is a beautiful language.
Listen to this artist:
Madredeus (http://madredeus.mind.pt/flash.asp?primeiro=true&linguagem=EN)
I know it's sang and not spoken but I couldn't find videos of beautiful portuguese women in bikinis talking about how warm the water is and how you should go for a swim. :D
Fluent in English (and American)
Fluent in French
Can understand Spanish (not Mexican, Puerto Rican or South American though)
Can understand Italian and speak enough to get by
Lost speaking practice with Spanish and Italian :(
I've been studying Japanese for 4 years now. About 2 years in, after watching and reading a lot of Japanese entertainment it sort of clicked. I can conversate with Japanese friends without being annoying to them. I can read books and magazines pretty well. On occasion there is a new word I have to look up. I'm playing through Final Fantasy XII import right now in Japanese. In the future I'm thinking of learning Mandarin.
I could study Japanese diligently while living and working there for the next 10 years and still not be "fluent". It's THAT hard to master...very deep language.
Speaking it is actually very easy. Japanese phonetics and syntax are really simple.
Thousands of characters in their "alphabet", etc.
Flashcards. That's how I got to be good at Kanji. You really only need to know 10,000. I think of them as icons. Just think of all the icons and logos you already know. You probably know thousands.
Windswept
2006-07-03, 21:28
You know, those brazilian "beach chicks" could make german sound sexy! :)That may very well be true. ;) :p
In my case, however, at one point I had 'sweet nothings' whispered in my ear in Brazilian Portuguese by the lead singer of a rock group. I can tell you now that those were the sexiest 'sweet nothings' I've ever heard. Omg! :lol: ;) :D
Portuguese PT and Portuguese BR are indeed equivalent to English UK and English US when it comes to smoothness of speech. Portuguese PT and English UK sound much less smooth than its "colonies", at least for foreign people. For us Portugal poertuguese people, "brazilians" just assassinate portuguese with every weird word thet adapt from the USA, and it's so hard to listen to it because of that. :grumble:
desporto > esporte (sport)
equipa > teame (team)
autocarro > ônibus (bus)
oportunidade > chance (chance)
Well, yes, I guess you could say Brazilian Portuguese sounded 'smooth'. I sort of thought of it as sounding 'mooshy'. Very, very sexy, easygoing, laid-back. I guess that's just how we colonials are. haha :)
Portuguese is a beautiful language.
Listen to this artist:
Madredeus (http://madredeus.mind.pt/flash.asp?primeiro=true&linguagem=EN)
I know it's sang and not spoken but I couldn't find videos of beautiful portuguese women in bikinis talking about how warm the water is and how you should go for a swim. :D
No worries, omem. How about videos of hunky Portuguese guys playing beach volleyball? :D
hflomberg
2006-07-03, 22:08
BAck when Lyndon JHohnson was my travel agent - I lived in Bangkok for a year - I actually speak some Thai
RowdyScot
2006-07-03, 22:14
Took German for 4 years in HS, been studying bits and pieces of Russian since my brother-in-law is from there. Not on the list, but I've been studying Scots Gaelic for about 6 years now.
chinesebear
2006-07-03, 23:16
I've lived in China for 4 years now...and taught 3rd grade for one of those years, so I sure do know a lot of useful words for bodily functions :D So yeah, I guess I've studied Chinese. (Actually, I studied for 2 years before I moved as well)
I studied French for one year in middle school, four years in high school and three semesters in college. I wasn't that bad, but I am a use it or lose it kind of guy. I've lost it.
I studied ASL for two semesters in college. IMO ASL is a perfect match between form and function. The structures take some getting used to but the result is amazing. After two semesters I could do actual movements a lot better then I could gloss them with a pen. It is sort of like being able to use Marshall Law's move set, but not being able to write down the key presses.
I picked up a minimal amount of Thai in Queens of all places. The tonal aspects were very hard to get any level of comfort with having had no exposure to tonal languages before my early 20's.
Windswept, few things in this world are more enjoyable then listening to a Brit speak. IMHO being an American and trying to emulate that is one of the most annoying things one could attempt. To each their own. :)
For the life of me I cannot comprehend a single blessed thing a Scottish person may try to convey. I just have a block. I had a friend that lived in Edinburgh for a couple of years and occasionally will get turned onto a movie that is supposedly great. No dice.
If I could pick one language to know, it would be Hindi. It would be nice to be able to talk to more then twenty-five percent of the people that live on my street.
I can read spanish at about the third grade level probably, can't write it or speak it worth a damn anymore because I don't practice.
I'd say that describes my skill level of Spanish also. I'm pretty much lost in spoken conversations, but I can at least get the gist of written Spanish.I had 3 years of Spanish in High School (20-some-odd years ago).
I picked up Spanish as a child (ages 7-11) when my family lived in Mexico. In high school, I studied two years of French and four years of Latin. At university, four years of Russian.
It's ironic that the only foreign language I actually speak is the one I never really studied - Spanish. heh. :) Everyone I know that is fluent in a second language got that way by living in the culture and speaking it as their primary language for a semester or year abroad while in school, or when they were younger, or after college.
4 years of Spanish in High School
1 year of Chinese (Mandarin) in College
About 6 months of listening to Japanese lessons via podcast
Probably on the same level as Moogs and FFL for Spanish (better at reading than speaking/writing). Would like to spend more time learning Chinese and Japanese as time permits.
blakbyrd
2006-07-04, 01:40
I've been studying Japanese for 4 years now. About 2 years in, after watching and reading a lot of Japanese entertainment it sort of clicked. I can conversate with Japanese friends without being annoying to them. I can read books and magazines pretty well. On occasion there is a new word I have to look up. I'm playing through Final Fantasy XII import right now in Japanese. In the future I'm thinking of learning Mandarin..
I wish I could find a Japanese class, but they're pretty hard to find around here (South Carolina).
All the local schools just teach European languages. :\
I wish I could find a Japanese class, but they're pretty hard to find around here (South Carolina).
All the local schools just teach European languages. :\
Hey someone mentioned podcasts ... And I listened recently to a Slate.com podcast that discussed various language learning podcasts - the pros and cons - and I remember them talking about Japanese, Chinese, French.... You might try that.
I studied Japanese for three years while living in Japan. I am quite competent still, although my reading and writing skills have fallen to pieces.
I am currently 'studying' French (as I live in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and my kids go to French speaking schools) and Catalan (as my wife is from Barcelona and speaks Catalan with the wee ones). My comprehension is good in both but my speaking skills stink; I am always mixing up Japanese, French and Catalan. The only things I can keep straight in all of the languages are 'Supermarket' stuff and 'dirty' or seemingly unnecessary words like 'bra' and 'underwear'. :D
blakbyrd
2006-07-04, 03:02
Hey someone mentioned podcasts ... And I listened recently to a Slate.com podcast that discussed various language learning podcasts - the pros and cons - and I remember them talking about Japanese, Chinese, French.... You might try that.
I studied Japanese for three years while living in Japan. I am quite competent still, although my reading and writing skills have fallen to pieces.
I am currently 'studying' French (as I live in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and my kids go to French speaking schools) and Catalan (as my wife is from Barcelona and speaks Catalan with the wee ones). My comprehension is good in both but my speaking skills stink; I am always mixing up Japanese, French and Catalan. The only things I can keep straight in all of the languages are 'Supermarket' stuff and 'dirty' or seemingly unnecessary words like 'bra' and 'underwear'. :D
Which slate.com podcast? There's a couple of different series. Daily. Explainer, etc.
Heh. The original Iron Chef is coming on Food Network, right now. :lol:
babelfish
2006-07-04, 03:43
Studied seriously: Korean, French, Latin, Ancient Greek and Russian.
Dabbled in: Italian, German and Japanese.
It was the daily slate podcast; about 6 weeks ago? I'm sure it is still in my iTunes library, so I will check when I get home.
blakbyrd
2006-07-04, 04:22
It was the daily slate podcast; about 6 weeks ago? I'm sure it is still in my iTunes library, so I will check when I get home.
Okay.. Thanks.
I don't really speak it well anymore because I never need to use it, but I can listen to somebody speaking Spanish and pick up on what they're saying still. I guess if I had to re-learn speaking skills, I could do it in about six months of consistent study.
I also know a little bit of French, but I let my girlfriend handle the French, since she's about 90% fluent in it.
Which slate.com podcast? There's a couple of different series. Daily. Explainer, etc.
Heh. The original Iron Chef is coming on Food Network, right now. :lol:
:lol:
FYI, the one I've been using right now for Japanese is JapanesePod101 (http://www.japanesepod101.com). It's educational and quite entertaining at the same time.
Podcasts are free, but the additional material (PDF lesson notes, online learning center) is subscription-based.
Okay.. Thanks.
I spoke too soon. I guess I had cleaned out anything pre- 1 May 2006; must be April, or March? Gu-do la-ku. ;)
blakbyrd
2006-07-05, 06:24
I spoke too soon. I guess I had cleaned out anything pre- 1 May 2006; must be April, or March? Gu-do la-ku. ;)
Ah. Okay. :cancer:
I've had several Japanese language podcasts on my computer, just not sure which one's the best.
Windswept
2006-07-05, 16:03
Wow! When I bumped this thread a few days ago, 51 people had voted. Now it's up to 90!!! :)
I read in the paper recently that pressure is being exerted in our city (can't remember by whom) for schools to start teaching Chinese and Arabic. I think this pressure/encouragement was accompanied by an offer of funding for those programs to be offered, so perhaps the pressure is coming from the business community.
Iirc, they also mentioned Russian and Japanese as their next choices in the priority list of offerings.
Wrt the American public education system sucking, I completely agree. This problem has several factors:
1) Comparatively low teacher salaries don't attract the most capable university students into education programs.
2) Therefore, the students who go into education tend to be pretty average.
3) The education curriculum itself sucks in some universities, and therefore doesn't produce creative, innovative teachers.
4) In primary and secondary schools (K-12), when a rigorous curriculm IS implemented, many American parents resist having their little darlings suffering under such stress, so the requirements eventually become watered down by self-interested parental pressure. :rolleyes:
5) Result: I think we have the *least* well-educated students of any first-world democracy. Not only is this state of affairs embarrassing, but it does not bode well for the future of our country. :no: :\
Windswept
2006-07-06, 12:08
A question.
Are Arabic and Farsi relatively similar?
I guess what I'm asking is: if a person studied Arabic, would he/she be able to understand any Farsi at 'all', or are the languages too distinctly different?
Thanks for any replies.
Windswept:
Yes, Arabic, Farsi, and Turkish languages have many similarities in vocabulary, but Arabic and Farsi are not mutually intelligible.
In Iran (Farsi) and other Persian dialects, a modified Arabic alphabet is used, 4 letters are added, while other Persian dialects are written in Cyrillic or even Roman letters. Hope that helps!
Interesting Q & A, W & x. :)
You need to add Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Malay etc. etc.
Then I can tick more boxes.. I look like a moron at the moment on this poll!!! ;)
EDIT - I am not playing unless you add options that make me look clever...
*taps foot*
Come on.. How long does it take!?!?!
*taps foot*
;)
Windswept:
Yes, Arabic, Farsi, and Turkish languages have many similarities in vocabulary, but Arabic and Farsi are not mutually intelligible.
In Iran (Farsi) and other Persian dialects, a modified Arabic alphabet is used, 4 letters are added, while other Persian dialects are written in Cyrillic or even Roman letters. Hope that helps!
Isn't there a lot of French influence in Farsi? I know that a lot of the words I learnt with my Iranian friends were French basically! And I seem to remember discussing that with them, but forget the history now..
DMBand0026
2006-07-10, 15:44
Anyone have suggestions for learning basic spanish? I thought I knew enough to communicate with non english speaking people in my job, but it's been falling shorter and shorter lately. Anyone heard or used the Rosetta Stone (http://www.rosettastone.com/en/?a=b) line of software? Positives, negatives? I would like to be fluent, but a better than basic knowledge would be great too.
Rosetta Stone is the best software you can get, but software isn't the key to learning a language. If your not looking to take a class, I think your best and cheapest bet (RS is expensive) is to get an textbook to learn grammar, which can be done on your own. Download the program iFlash for 12 dollars, download Spanish vocab and drill vocabulary to increase your word bank. But the most important is speaking everyday with native speakers, or really anyone who speaks more than you do. If you live in or near a city (chicago right?) then it should not be hard to find night sessions for free where people meet to speak and learn together. Speaking is the only thing that will get you fluent, and the only thing you need unless your looking to be literate in another language. Its fun!
I did French and German at school, Spanish for my own amusement, and Tagalog (Filipino) as a result of work. My entire crew (save 2) were Filipino, and they used to run the stage during turnarounds in Tagalog. If I stood a chance of understanding what the hell was going on (and I was the boss, so you'd hope so!) I had to speak at least a little Tagalog. The worst thing was that they insisted on teaching me all the swearing first, so for a while all I could do is swear!
I'm visiting Estonia next month, and their language is totally bonkers.
Windswept
2006-07-11, 13:22
Windswept:
Yes, Arabic, Farsi, and Turkish languages have many similarities in vocabulary, but Arabic and Farsi are not mutually intelligible.
In Iran (Farsi) and other Persian dialects, a modified Arabic alphabet is used, 4 letters are added, while other Persian dialects are written in Cyrillic or even Roman letters. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the reply, xionja. :)
That's all very interesting. I wouldn't mind studying some Arabic, just for the heck of it; but I would consider it a real bonus if my efforts provided an insight into 'other' languages/cultures as well.
Wow, it's pretty amazing that Persian could be written in alphabets of Arabic, Cyrillic, and Roman origin! :eek: The very thought makes one want to fly to the shelves and break out some books on history of the ancient world, for a good refresher course.
By the way, how do you happen to know all this stuff? :)
(Remember, when you're ready to run, I'll be more than happy to be a volunteer worker in your presidential campaign. ;) )
Windswept
2006-07-11, 13:23
I'm visiting Estonia next month, and their language is totally bonkers.
Hmm. To what 'other' languages is Estonian most closely related, Bryson?
GSpotter
2006-07-11, 13:26
But the most important is speaking everyday with native speakers, or really anyone who speaks more than you do. In order to improve your passive vocabulary and understanding the language, try foreign language TV programs or DVDs. I learnt english at the same time that we got cable TV and was glad that I had finally access to an english program (SkyTV). I remember watching 'Charlies Angels' and trying to decipher what they were saying. :D
drewprops
2006-07-11, 15:17
TLDR, did you guys cover Esperanto (not a foreign language)? I know that it's not a foreign language per se, but I *did* learn several incorrect Esperanto terms watching Red Dwarf. Knew I shouldn't have listened to Rimmer. Charmita.
Hmm. To what 'other' languages is Estonian most closely related, Bryson?
It sounds like Finnish with a German accent...sort of. For people used to "European" languages, it's quite difficult to learn. I'm getting nowhere with it, to be honest.
Bizarre really - I was worried about Tagalog (being an "asian" language and all) but it was actually quite easy. Estonian? No hope.
Well, I don't know if I would say I studied it, but I learned how to write the Greek alphabet, and some of the Hebrew alphabet as well.
Windswept
2006-07-12, 10:06
Well, I don't know if I would say I studied it, but I learned how to write the Greek alphabet, and some of the Hebrew alphabet as well.
Well, I studied Russian at university for four years; and since the Cyrillic alphabet is based on the Greek, I keep thinking it should be really easy for me to learn to read, write and speak the Greek language.
Not too useful perhaps, but I think it would be kinda fun. ;)
Windswept
2006-07-12, 10:08
It sounds like Finnish with a German accent...sort of. For people used to "European" languages, it's quite difficult to learn. I'm getting nowhere with it, to be honest.
Bizarre really - I was worried about Tagalog (being an "asian" language and all) but it was actually quite easy. Estonian? No hope.
Well, if the written words are about 20 letters long, and all consonants with maybe 'one' vowel, then yeah, Estonian is probably related to Finnish. ;)
Chinese really intrigues me, when I traveled there were three people with our group that spoke Catonese, Mandarin (the official language) wasn't understood by them at all. However it's written the same way!
Mandarin to me sounds like the constant repetition of the schw sound, and I think would be impossible to learn, Cantonese sounds a little easier but not much.
I'm learning Italian for an upcoming trip, and have been downloading a podcast from learnitalian.com and do the lessons while I'm riding my bike. (if you see an idiot in Chicago on his bike repeating "where is the men's room?" or something else like that, it's me) I need someone to practice with, and there are a couple of older ladies at my market that I'm going to spring it on once I get the nerve.
Well, I studied Russian at university for four years; and since the Cyrillic alphabet is based on the Greek, I keep thinking it should be really easy for me to learn to read, write and speak the Greek language.
Not too useful perhaps, but I think it would be kinda fun. ;)
Writing the Greek isn't too hard, reading it takes a bit more time. :)
Windswept
2007-09-25, 13:47
Whoa!
My library has a section of books for sale. Some are donated; some are library books.
I just bought an Arabic language workbook with two DVDs, all for the amazing price of... $1.50. :)
I just thought it might be fun to see if I can make heads or tails of the most basic Arabic writing.
I haven't reread this thread, so can't remember if anyone mentioned familiarity with Arabic.
Anyone here ever tried to learn Arabic? Have any luck with that? :)
Oops! I see from the poll that three people have studied Arabic. Amazing how handy those polls can be. :D haha
I did Spanish in high school, Japanese at the local college for one semester still during high school, and then Japanese I again last summer at Rutgers. Spanish was ridiculously easy. Japanese was a mix: earning the hiragana and katakana was hard, and the kanji was difficult. The vocab and grammar wasn't very difficult for me to learn, though.
stevegong
2007-09-25, 13:54
Whoa!
My library has a section of books for sale. Some are donated; some are library books.
I just bought an Arabic language workbook with two DVDs, all for the amazing price of... $1.50. :)
I just thought it might be fun to see if I can make heads or tails of the most basic Arabic writing.
I haven't reread this thread, so can't remember if anyone mentioned familiarity with Arabic.
Anyone here ever tried to learn Arabic? Have any luck with that? :)
Oops! I see from the poll that three people have studied Arabic. Amazing how handy those polls can be. :D haha
Yup, I've been learning Arabic for a month now with the new Rosetta Stone software. The new one is quite good. I think the only way to study a language like Arabic is by immersion. It's a real challenge though. I'm also learning Spanish and I'd say Spanish is probably 1/10th the difficulty of Arabic.
Windswept
2007-09-25, 13:57
I did Spanish in high school, Japanese at the local college for one semester still during high school, and then Japanese I again last summer at Rutgers. Spanish was ridiculously easy. Japanese was a mix: earning the hiragana and katakana was hard, and the kanji was difficult. The vocab and grammar wasn't very difficult for me to learn, though.
I think it would be great to learn Japanese.
I did buy a program from Costco an age ago, but for some reason, haven't even opened it yet. :rolleyes:
I took a "free university" course in Japanese when I was an undergraduate, but it was just a tantalizing taste of the language.
After four years of Russian, no language seems inordinately daunting to me. ;)
Windswept
2007-09-25, 14:04
Yup, I've been learning Arabic for a month now with the new Rosetta Stone software. The new one is quite good. I think the only way to study a language like Arabic is by immersion. It's a real challenge though. I'm also learning Spanish and I'd say Spanish is probably 1/10th the difficulty of Arabic.
How much does that Arabic language software cost, if you don't mind my asking? :)
I agree about the immersion. That's exactly how I learned Spanish as a child. Picked it up really quickly as a 7yr. old. Though now, as an adult, I feel insecure about Spanish verb tenses, because I never learned them in a disciplined way.
I've heard Rosetta Stone's software is expensive, but I've also heard several people at my school say that it's great for learning.
Windswept: Japanese is a lot of fun, and if you do have the program, I say try it out! It's best if there's someone else you can practice with, of course. For various reasons I couldn't take part 2- I don't know if the uni will let me into part 2 this spring since I took part 1 in the summer and I don't know if I'll still remember it all. A friend from the class and I still speak together on occasion, and I Skype with a good friend who is more fluent then me. A conversation partner who's supportive will help _a lot_. I think that's true for all languages though.
I actually started with Arabic a few years ago, but I just didn't spend enough time on it and eventually had to give it up (I'm not one of the people who voted for Arabic in this poll). The writing is really darn difficult, you feel like you're in kindergarten again when it takes you forever to write a sentence with three words (and you make five mistakes). Pronunciation also requires quite a bit of practice to get some of the sounds even halfway right.
But it's a fascinating language, and knowing it would give you access to a culture that you otherwise only get second-hand information about. Perhaps I'll try again some day ...
I think it would be great to learn Japanese.
After four years of Russian, no language seems inordinately daunting to me. ;)
I wouldn't mind trying to learn how to *speak* Japanese or Russian. The *written* part though....... That's why I've stuck with trying off and on to learn German and Spanish. The spelling and alphabet is close enough to English so I can at least sound out what I'm reading.
I wouldn't mind trying to learn how to *speak* Japanese or Russian. The *written* part though....... That's why I've stuck with trying off and on to learn German and Spanish. The spelling and alphabet is close enough to English so I can at least sound out what I'm reading.
My first Japanese class we used entirely romaji. (Romaji means using English characters to write out the Japanese word. i.e. konnichi wa.) If you think the writing is difficult, then you could try learning basic conversations and use romaji when you're writing stuff. When you feel ready, learn the hiragana and katakana alphabets. As for kanji, well... let's just say I'm purely using hiragana/katakana still. *cough*
stevegong
2007-09-25, 14:29
How much does that Arabic language software cost, if you don't mind my asking? :)
I agree about the immersion. That's exactly how I learned Spanish as a child. Picked it up really quickly as a 7yr. old. Though now, as an adult, I feel insecure about Spanish verb tenses, because I never learned them in a disciplined way.
It's pretty expensive compared to some of the bargains for learning languages you can find on Amazon, it's over a hundred dollars. However, I think it's really worth it if you take into consideration how much and how fast you can learn. I've been very happy with my results.
When you feel ready, learn the hiragana and katakana alphabets. As for kanji, well... let's just say I'm purely using hiragana/katakana still. *cough*
Not for ichi, ni, san, shi, go ... you're not. :)
I wouldn't let written Japanese put you off the language. It's fun to learn, not too difficult, a great place to visit, and a good way to learn about the Japanese and there "stuff".
Windswept
2007-09-25, 14:50
Windswept: Japanese is a lot of fun, and if you do have the program, I say try it out!
I'll have to go look for it and try it out. I can't tell you how many truly *horrible* language programs I've spent money on. One of them is for French (audiotapes), and they have people speaking at a restaurant. You can't really make out their words very well, because there's so much clanking of silverware and conversation noise in the restaurant. :rolleyes: SO annoying. What were they thinking to make such an unusable program? :no: So, frankly, I'd be happy to spend money on a really good program that I had confidence in.
The writing is really darn difficult, you feel like you're in kindergarten again when it takes you forever to write a sentence with three words (and you make five mistakes).
:lol:
Oh, ghoti, that really made me laugh. :D Thanks, I needed that. :)
But it's a fascinating language, and knowing it would give you access to a culture that you otherwise only get second-hand information about. Perhaps I'll try again some day ...
Very true about getting to know the culture. And, you know, even if one's skills are not great, the people in many countries are often very appreciative that one at least made the effort.
I wouldn't mind trying to learn how to *speak* Japanese or Russian. The *written* part though....... That's why I've stuck with trying off and on to learn German and Spanish. The spelling and alphabet is close enough to English so I can at least sound out what I'm reading.
Seriously, German seems almost exactly like English, compared to some of these other languages. :)
It's pretty expensive compared to some of the bargains for learning languages you can find on Amazon, it's over a hundred dollars. However, I think it's really worth it if you take into consideration how much and how fast you can learn. I've been very happy with my results.
I would be okay with spending $100 for a well-done program, Steve. It would actually be a bargain in many ways. :)
Seriously, German seems almost exactly like English, compared to some of these other languages.
Actually, it is the other way around, at least according to my High School German teacher.
Old English has a strong basis in the Germanic language with some french thrown in.
That's why there are so many similar/same words in German and English.
My first Japanese class we used entirely romaji. (Romaji means using English characters to write out the Japanese word. i.e. konnichi wa.) If you think the writing is difficult, then you could try learning basic conversations and use romaji when you're writing stuff. When you feel ready, learn the hiragana and katakana alphabets. As for kanji, well... let's just say I'm purely using hiragana/katakana still. *cough*On my first Japanese class we started with hiragana. No Japanese is ever written in our materials in romaji. The teacher says it's one less thing to learn and be confused by, and I have to agree. There were two classes a week, we were reading and writing hiragana decently on the third week I think (writing is slow though as you'd expect). Pretty effortless, just a small, well-defined, non-repeating memorizing task. Katakana doesn't sink in quite as reliably because you don't need it that often, but it's easy too.
Anyway only about two classes were dedicated for the alphabets, after that we were expected to somehow handle the material that comes up. Practically speaking that meant a tiny review of the alphabets every day till we got them down pat, and writing our own notes for quick pronunciation next to anything we need to read aloud in the material, until we can read the actual hiragana fast enough to pronounce the words/sentences. That's what took the three weeks.
Now Kanji I find much, much harder. Gonna use some flashcard software to attack that problem.
Windswept
2007-09-25, 15:02
Actually, it is the other way around, at least according to my High School German teacher.
Old English has a strong basis in the Germanic language with some french thrown in.
That's why there are so many similar/same words in German and English.
Yes. :D
Actually, it is the other way around, at least according to my High School German teacher.
Old English has a strong basis in the Germanic language with some french thrown in.
That's why there are so many similar/same words in German and English.
Also, the grammar in Shakespeare and other Old English texts is very similar to German. When we started to read Shakespeare in our English classes, I couldn't make any sense of it. At some point, I figured I would just treat it as German using English words, and suddenly it was really easy (it helps having German as your mother tongue, though ;)
The basis for both modern German and English is Middle German (or even before that), which isn't all that similar to any of these current languages. So it's more of a common ancestor, not one language based on the other.
Freewell
2007-09-25, 16:45
I began studying French, German and Italian as a young teen. Thankfully, I have a natural ear for languages, and was able to not only learn the proper pronunciations for the various languages, but to pronounce them so true to form that on many occasions, native-born individuals from the respective countries would approach me and inquire suspiciously as to whether or not that was truly my native language, and not English! Pretty groovy. One of the funniest things that ever happened was during one of my performances, where I was singing in German. There was a very old, VERRY German, elderly gentleman perched intently on the front row of the audience. Throughout my performance, I could hear him begin to sing along softly here and there in German. Just as I finished, in that split second before the applause filled the room, he stamped his cane emphatically on the wooden floor of the hall, and announced quite loudly: "Now zats a goot German... and I shoult know!!!" :lol:
I never really studied writing the languages, just reading and pronouncing them. I also studied conversational Russian in high-school... picked it up quite well. Was able to communicate on a basic level while in Moscow, as long as the sweet old babushkas didn't get too excited that I was actually speaking their language and take off rattling off Russian at 90 miles an hour!!
stevegong
2007-09-25, 16:55
I began studying French, German and Italian as a young teen. Thankfully, I have a natural ear for languages, and was able to not only learn the proper pronunciations for the various languages, but to pronounce them so true to form that on many occasions, native-born individuals from the respective countries would approach me and inquire suspiciously as to whether or not that was truly my native language, and not English! Pretty groovy. One of the funniest things that ever happened was during one of my performances, where I was singing in German. There was a very old, VERRY German, elderly gentleman perched intently on the front row of the audience. Throughout my performance, I could hear him begin to sing along softly here and there in German. Just as I finished, in that split second before the applause filled the room, he stamped his cane emphatically on the wooden floor of the hall, and announced quite loudly: "Now zats a goot German... and I shoult know!!!" :lol:
I never really studied writing the languages, just reading and pronouncing them. I also studied conversational Russian in high-school... picked it up quite well. Was able to communicate on a basic level while in Moscow, as long as the sweet old babushkas didn't get too excited that I was actually speaking their language and take off rattling off Russian at 90 miles an hour!!
I used to show off about my language abilities too until I met someone who was fluent in 9 languages.
Freewell
2007-09-25, 16:59
Um... I'm not quite sure I understand... You have apparently misjudged my motive. I truly wasn't trying to show off. That's not who I am. As you can see from this thread alone, I practically know nothing of languages in comparison with most of the people on here!
:confused:
lavieboheme
2007-09-25, 17:04
Spanish, Chinese, and Irish Gaelic.
Boomerangmacuser
2007-09-25, 17:06
I'm an anglophone who grew up in Quebec so I'm not really sure my French vote is really a "foreign" language.
Because my parents were anglophones they were issued a letter from the ministry of education saying they were allowed to send their kids to English school. At the time, if your parent's mother tongue or primary education were anything other than English, they HAD TO send their kids to French school. French families were not alowed to send their kids to english school. New immigrants who's mother tongue was, say, German but who also spoke English, HAD to send their kids to French school.
They took that letter and stuck it in their safe deposit box and sent my sister and I to French school with the ability to pull the plug should we struggle. I graduated from the French public system and did my college and Uni in English.
My friends who went through the French immersion program never really learnt the language. I am fluent. I really believe complete immersion is key.
digitalprimate
2007-09-25, 17:10
My friends who went through the French immersion program never really learnt the language. I am fluent. I really believe complete immersion is key.
I agree. I wrote about this in some other thread a while ago.
I can speak English, French, German and Spanish, and am starting to understand Swedish/Norwegian. (And I think I finally cracked the code at Danish). I'd love to be able to speak Turkish, Japanese, Chinese and Croatian.
I went to Kindergarten in Germany, learned French from the primary school (10yrs), and English from the age of 13 (high school). I listened (and stil do) A LOT to BBC radio four and BBC 7. I had the choice at Spanish or German when I was studying Journalism, and chose Spanish because I didn't know that one. It almost cost me my entire year (re-exams and stuff), but in the end it was worth it, as I can now speak to my Mexican cousin and niece.
I'm fluent in all languages....with teh language of love.
I can do pushups with my tongue.
Chicks dig me. :p
Freewell
2007-09-25, 18:23
From the sounds of it, the digging is quite the other way around! ;)
From the sounds of it, the digging is quite the other way around! ;):lol:
That's good (and true ;)).
But how many cock pushups (http://homepage.mac.com/murbot/.Music/CockPushups.mp3) can you do?
Oompa Loompa
2007-09-25, 18:52
Oh, so... nobody learns good old Dutch anymore? What's wrong with Dutch? Just not cool enough for you, hey, is that it? Tsssjuckkk... tssssss...
Dutch is too easy! When you speak German and English, you just have to jumble the two up and you speak Dutch :p
Oompa Loompa
2007-09-25, 19:51
Dutch is too easy! When you speak German and English, you just have to jumble the two up and you speak Dutch :p
Ah, shizzle... the man knows too much! :lol:
Freewell
2007-09-25, 20:01
...
I can do pushups with my tongue.
...
Yeah, yeah... But that's just mere brute force. (Same for murbot's recommendation) Dexterity, now that is the real gem! I happen to be very close friends with someone who can readily tie a perfect knot in the middle of a cherry stem... Cherry goes in mouth, stem and all, a minute or two later, out comes a perfectly tied stem! Now I call that language art!!!
;)
:p
:D
:cancer:
stevegong
2007-09-25, 20:24
Everyone learns English
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tDCb44O6Euo
World Leader Pretend
2007-09-25, 22:06
I'm learning my first true foreign language currently, Latin, at Kansas State. It is a really good class and I feel like I am making a ton of progress compared with the Spanish, German and French classes offered at my high school (that I could have taken). I can translate long sentences and am starting to master all the cases and ending sets.
It is a little bit weird in the sense that I won't really ever speak fluent Latin, but it will help a ton if I ever decide to learn a romance language. From what I understand it shares lots of vocab.
I do hate all those ending sets though. My god why is it possible to have like 60 different endings to ONE word? Makes learning a bit tricky to say the least.
I do like how saying stuff in Latin makes you sound like a badass or an emperor. Liberi magnum numerum officiorum semper habebunt.
See? ;)
Windswept
2007-09-25, 22:28
...but it will help a ton if I ever decide to learn a romance language. From what I understand it shares lots of vocab.
It will help a ton if you ever decide to go into medicine too.
I do hate all those ending sets though. My god why is it possible to have like 60 different endings to ONE word? Makes learning a bit tricky to say the least.
60? Uh-huh. ;)
World Leader Pretend
2007-09-25, 23:03
60? Uh-huh. ;)
I'll decline the latin word "magnus" (great, large, important) for the first two declensions to give you a look.
Macrons are indicated with ( )
SINGULAR
Case----Feminine---Masculine----Neuter
----------------------------------------
Nom----magna-----magnus-----magnum
Gen-----magnae----magn(i)-----magn(i)
Dat-----magnae----magn(o)-----magn(o)
Acc-----magnam---magnum-----magnum
Abl-----magn(a)----magn(o)-----magn(o)
Voc-----magna-----magne------magnum
---
PLURAL
Case----Feminine---Masculine----Neuter
----------------------------------------
Nom----magnae-----magn(i)-----magna
Gen-----magnarum--magn(o)rum--magn(o)rum
Dat-----magn(i)s----magn(i)s-----magn(i)s
Acc-----magn(a)s----magn(o)s----magna
Abl-----magn(i)s----magn(i)s-----magn(i)s
Voc-----magnae-----magn(i)-----magna
Plus verbs have their own personal endings and tense indications. -o -s -t -mus -tis -nt plus other crap you add to the endings. :p You can get a single word to express an entire sentence. Ex: "sustinebis" would translate to "will you endure?" :D
GSpotter
2007-09-26, 02:48
You can get a single word to express an entire sentence. Same with the ablative case. I remember how I tried to decipher which ablative variant was used in a sentence so I could select the matching sentence. By now, I forgot most of my Latin knowledge (I had it 3 years in school, 22 years ago) by now. For some strange reason, I still know the very first latin sentence in our text book "Incolae romae non indegenae sunt sed advenae ex asia"...
GSpotter
2007-09-26, 02:54
That's why there are so many similar/same words in German and English.But to make it more fun, we also have some words (http://german.about.com/library/blfalsef.htm) which look similar but have a totally different meaning, like "gift" or "handy"... ;)
I do hate all those ending sets though. My god why is it possible to have like 60 different endings to ONE word? Makes learning a bit tricky to say the least.
That was one of the things about German that I grew to dislike.
So many different endings/spellings for the cases.
Not to mention trying to figure out the whole feminine/masculine/neuter thing (who the hell determined which thing is F/M/N? it seems almost random). It sometimes seemed like a purely evil person had set up the cases/tenses in German.
I did not realize how true Mark Twain's 'The Awful German Language' was. Despite all that, I love the sound of the German language.
Windswept
2007-09-26, 13:09
I'll decline the latin word "magnus" (great, large, important) for the first two declensions to give you a look.
Macrons are indicated with ( )
SINGULAR
Case----Feminine---Masculine----Neuter
----------------------------------------
Nom----magna-----magnus-----magnum
Gen-----magnae----magn(i)-----magn(i)
Dat-----magnae----magn(o)-----magn(o)
Acc-----magnam---magnum-----magnum
Abl-----magn(a)----magn(o)-----magn(o)
Voc-----magna-----magne------magnum
---
PLURAL
Case----Feminine---Masculine----Neuter
----------------------------------------
Nom----magnae-----magn(i)-----magna
Gen-----magnarum--magn(o)rum--magn(o)rum
Dat-----magn(i)s----magn(i)s-----magn(i)s
Acc-----magn(a)s----magn(o)s----magna
Abl-----magn(i)s----magn(i)s-----magn(i)s
Voc-----magnae-----magn(i)-----magna
Plus verbs have their own personal endings and tense indications. -o -s -t -mus -tis -nt plus other crap you add to the endings. :p You can get a single word to express an entire sentence. Ex: "sustinebis" would translate to "will you endure?" :D
Actually, WLP, I had four years of high school Latin; so, yeah, I do know about the word endings. :)
amo, amas, amat... ;)
Boomerangmacuser
2007-09-26, 14:36
University of British Columbia motto: Tuum est
Intended translation: It's up to you.
Literal translation: Up yours.
:lol:
Windswept
2007-09-26, 14:38
University of British Columbia motto: Tuum est
Intended translation: It's up to you.
Literal translation: Up yours.
:lol:
:D ;)
Edit:
You know, I'm embarrassed to confess that after fours years of Latin, I've always had trouble coming up with the *intended* meaning of the odd university motto.
World Leader Pretend
2007-09-26, 19:31
Actually, WLP, I had four years of high school Latin; so, yeah, I do know about the word endings. :)
amo, amas, amat... ;)
It would have been nice to mention that before I typed that... :D
Oh well, I got some review at least.
Windswept
2007-09-27, 00:53
It would have been nice to mention that before I typed that... :D
Oh well, I got some review at least.
Yeah, that was a very nice review for me too. Thanks. :)
You *do* realize, WLP, now that you're taking Latin, you really do need to make plans to go to medical school. I'm 'not' kidding. ;)
zsummers
2008-01-05, 21:01
My wife and I are thinking of learning French. She needs to learn it for her career (she's a singer). And I would like to do it in case I should decide to go back to grad school (I studied mostly French & German thinkers in undergrad).
I've seen a few people mention Rosetta on here. What's the assessment for interoperability with Macs? What about teaching accent (a big problem for me--I can learn vocabulary, but have a terribly slow Midwestern tongue)?
I'm thinking of getting all three levels for her for her birthday. Any experience with any of the levels would be great.
I took Spanish in high school (It was the only language offered in my tiny high school, and I don't remember anything!), and I'm taking French next semester. I can't wait. :D
It's interesting that French is leading Spanish in the poll; I guess that's because everybody I know insists that Spanish is TEH FUTURE!!!1 and that taking any other language would be absolutely pointless. Given the international status of this board, I probably shouldn't be surprised - I guess I'm taking a America-centric point of view there. But so is everybody who's telling me to take Spanish. :p
Everyone: "Taking Spanish will totally help you find work here in Vegas!"
Me: "I'm not planning on staying 'here in Vegas,' and last I checked, I wasn't going to college just to 'find work.' And someday, I'd like to move to Europe. Failing that, I'd like to move to Canada. And they speak French in both of those places, merci." :D
I took Spanish in high school (It was the only language offered in my tiny high school, and I don't remember anything!), and I'm taking French next semester. I can't wait. :D
It's interesting that French is leading Spanish in the poll; I guess that's because everybody I know insists that Spanish is TEH FUTURE!!!1 and that taking any other language would be absolutely pointless. Given the international status of this board, I probably shouldn't be surprised - I guess I'm taking a America-centric point of view there. But so is everybody who's telling me to take Spanish. :p
Everyone: "Taking Spanish will totally help you find work here in Vegas!"
Me: "I'm not planning on staying 'here in Vegas,' and last I checked, I wasn't going to college just to 'find work.' And someday, I'd like to move to Europe. Failing that, I'd like to move to Canada. And they speak French in both of those places, merci." :D
I'm taking Spanish (second year and honours) and French (1) right now. Before high school is over (in 3years !!!) for me, I'm sure I'll drop out of one of them to make room for other things, but I like it right now. Knowing Spanish has especially helped me much (how in the world does one know that salade and heure are feminine ?, well for me: la ensalada and la hora :D ). The only thing hard about taking two languages at once is that Spanish comes right after French, and I'm surprised I haven't called my teacher Madame or asked her something in French yet. :lol: (Though, she did study French and Italian also, so she could probably answer me...)
Now that I'm thinking, like you/Roboman, I want to move to Europe also, and I think I'd get more use of French than Spanish there... France and England have that intertrain !, and France has all the views and food that I want to experience. IMO Spain just has a few landmarks and civil-unions/ gay marriage (which affects me, but we'll save politics {if that's what human rights are !} for another time). :)
Have fun in French, remember some Spanish for aid, and don't let not-getting pronunciation get to you ! ;)
Dorian Gray
2008-01-06, 16:44
Just moved to Paris and am learning French now. It's hell.
turbulentfurball
2008-01-06, 16:49
I've spent a total of 9 years learning German so I know it to a reasonable proficiency, although I left university in June '06 so I must be getting a little rusty on a few things. I've never been to Germany to put it into practice (or Austria or Switzerland for that matter).
I know maybe 5 or 6 phrases in French and I've been there twice in the past year and I'm going to Paris again next week. Heh. Maybe I should have gone with French after all.
Windswept
2008-01-06, 17:22
I took Spanish in high school (It was the only language offered in my tiny high school, and I don't remember anything!), and I'm taking French next semester. I can't wait. :D
It's interesting that French is leading Spanish in the poll; I guess that's because everybody I know insists that Spanish is TEH FUTURE!!!1 and that taking any other language would be absolutely pointless. Given the international status of this board, I probably shouldn't be surprised - I guess I'm taking a America-centric point of view there. But so is everybody who's telling me to take Spanish. :p
Everyone: "Taking Spanish will totally help you find work here in Vegas!"
Me: "I'm not planning on staying 'here in Vegas,' and last I checked, I wasn't going to college just to 'find work.' And someday, I'd like to move to Europe. Failing that, I'd like to move to Canada. And they speak French in both of those places, merci." :D
Take French now because you are intrigued with the idea. :)
Take Spanish later, after you graduate, if it would prove helpful to you at that time.
nikopolidis
2008-01-08, 04:25
English, Spanish, French.
English - from 7 years old till nowadays (in school, high school, university, English school, English summer school).
French - forced studying, just a couple of months to enter the school.
Spanish - high school, English summer school (totally 1 year)
I want to study Spanish to speak it fluently. They say that it is better to study Italian first and then it will be easy to switch on Spanish. Does anybody know smth about this?
English, German, French, Japanese.
Also understand Swedish, Norwegian and quite a bit of written Dutch.
I'm honestly amazed at the amount of people here who've studied Japanese... One in every sixth...
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