NationStates Jolt Archive

How many?

hmmm...

speak...

Fluently, I can speak
American
English
Australian
Pidgen english

I know some...
Spanish (not enough to get into trouble)
Japanese (enough to get me into trouble)
Hawaiian (a couple of words... even less than my spanish.)

hmmm...

speak...

Fluently, I can speak
American
English
Australian
Pidgen english

I know some...
Spanish (not enough to get into trouble)
Japanese (enough to get me into trouble)
Hawaiian (a couple of words... even less than my spanish.)

Pidgen English? 何ですそ?

Only English. Them foreigns speak funny, innit?

Only English. Them foreigns speak funny, innit?

They all sound the same!

I find if I shout and swear and wave my arms around. I am understood. :p

They all sound the same!

I find if I shout and swear and wave my arms around. I am understood. :p

Speak slowly and shout while imitating the accent people from that country have when speaking your language. If its a Spanish speaking country, add an "el" before any object. If they pretend to fail to understand when you've made such an effort for them, frankly they're just being rude.

I understand chunks of maybe six or seven languages, but I only actually speak - as in, routinely participate in conversation - in three languages. Circumstances dictate that I'll probably never be fluent in the rest, but that's okay.

One and four fifths. Four fifths in the sense that I've reached a level somewhat past beginning in 4 distinct languages without really being anything called fluent and it's really annoying to still 'speak one language' after the cumulative amount of work I've put in.

You ethnocentrists!

Speaking Dutch, English, French, German and being able to read Italian and Latin, I still found time to try and learn Greek and Hebrew.

When you learn a language well, you will discover that the existence or use of a certain form of the verb can indicate a distinction that you would never make in your own language. For instance: the sunjonctif in French indicates an incertainty about what you are describing. What about the Hebrew "perfectum", which indicates both past and present, obviating thereby the need for a praesens historicum (western languages are littered by praesens historicum)?

Failing to learn these distinctions will make you fail to understand anything but your own point of view. It will isolate you. Untold intellectual treasures will forever be lost to you. Make an effort, please, and learn some languages.

JuNii should try to expand his grasp of the Japanese language. So few people do it. And then (s)he can tell us about the singular characteristics of Japanese verbs. I, for one, would be intrigued.

You ethnocentrists!

Speaking Dutch, English, French, German and being able to read Italian and Latin, I still found time to try and learn Greek and Hebrew.

When you learn a language well, you will discover that the existence or use of a certain form of the verb can indicate a distinction that you would never make in your own language. For instance: the sunjonctif in French indicates an incertainty about what you are describing. What about the Hebrew "perfectum", which indicates both past and present, obviating thereby the need for a praesens historicum (western languages are littered by praesens historicum)?

Failing to learn these distinctions will make you fail to understand anything but your own point of view. It will isolate you. Untold intellectual treasures will forever be lost to you. Make an effort, please, and learn some languages.

JuNii should try to expand his grasp of the Japanese language. So few people do it. And then (s)he can tell us about the singular characteristics of Japanese verbs. I, for one, would be intrigued.

Smart arse.

Failing to learn these distinctions will make you fail to understand anything but your own point of view. It will isolate you. Untold intellectual treasures will forever be lost to you. Make an effort, please, and learn some languages.

I hear this a lot. I've always thought of learning different languages as learning to say the same things in many different ways: i.e. one of the more useless intellectual pursuits. I'm (for once) not being sarcastic with the following questions, I'm genuinely interested.

What 'intellectual treasures' can be learnt through learning another language, especially given the wide availability of translation of important texts? In what sense do you learn another 'point of view'? I find this phrase confusing. Is it not the case that learning a language does not necessarily automatically give you a particular knowledge of a different culture, and that people who don't know a language can also be interested in other cultures? Given the widespread worldwide use of English, is it not more useful from the point of view of uncovering 'intellectual treasures' to spend your time on other subjects like philosophy, history, politics...even down to those fields widely regarded as less 'weighty' such as sociology and media studies?

Finnish, English, Swedish and German. But, fluently only Finnish and English.

English, French, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Welsh and Latin.
Except I'll regularly use French numbers whilst speaking Italian and vice versa. No idea why.

You ethnocentrists!

Speaking Dutch, English, French, German and being able to read Italian and Latin, I still found time to try and learn Greek and Hebrew.

When you learn a language well, you will discover that the existence or use of a certain form of the verb can indicate a distinction that you would never make in your own language. For instance: the sunjonctif in French indicates an incertainty about what you are describing. What about the Hebrew "perfectum", which indicates both past and present, obviating thereby the need for a praesens historicum (western languages are littered by praesens historicum)?

Failing to learn these distinctions will make you fail to understand anything but your own point of view. It will isolate you. Untold intellectual treasures will forever be lost to you. Make an effort, please, and learn some languages.

JuNii should try to expand his grasp of the Japanese language. So few people do it. And then (s)he can tell us about the singular characteristics of Japanese verbs. I, for one, would be intrigued.

Eh. I don't exactly disagree with you, but there's more to most languages than even native speakers can cover in their lifetimes. Even if English were your only language, you could expand your vocabulary, or, better yet, study the greek, latin and other roots of words to the point that you could convey almost any feeling. Whether anyone would appreciate the precision of your language is less certain, but there's plenty to explore within most languages.

I like learning languages, and I do it for no other reason... Haven't found no intellectual treasures...

I speak Serbian, English, Norwegian and German.. But the last two I can't speak as fluent as the first two.

Besides that I can speak Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin but I do not think of them as being languages. They are only dialects..

English, French, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Welsh and Latin.
Except I'll regularly use French numbers whilst speaking Italian and vice versa. No idea why.

I have the same problems with German and Norwegian. :D

D'you mean fluently or what? Because fluently only English, but I can stumble my way through Spanish with the help of a good guidebook.

hmmm...

speak...

Fluently, I can speak
American
English
Australian
Pidgen english

I know some...
Spanish (not enough to get into trouble)
Japanese (enough to get me into trouble)
Hawaiian (a couple of words... even less than my spanish.)

Theres other people from the 808 on here?

I speak English,Northern English,Salfordian AND mancunian.
Proper genius me

I speak English,Northern English,Salfordian AND mancunian.
Proper genius me

No one from the north is a genius.

naughty that. what about liam gallagher? or shaun ryder? they put dawkins and them lot to shame with their mental exellence

naughty that. what about liam gallagher? or shaun ryder? they put dawkins and them lot to shame with their mental exellence

Ha, if those people are hat you consider to be geniuses that only proves my point.

none.

?
you serious mate? you dont think i was being sarcastic?
im sure middle earth has pure brains innit.

Ha, if those people are hat you consider to be geniuses that only proves my point.

He's being sarcastic.

He's being sarcastic.

Argh! I hate sarcasm.

I speak these four languages fluently: English, Bad English, Gunpoint, and Headdeskese.

I'm still working on picking up others.

Englisch

Ich kann auch ein bisschen Deutsch. Darum ich hab' 'zwei Sprechen' gesagt.

"Argh! I hate sarcasm"
so?
I hate poncey southern woppers but its all good innit

"Argh! I hate sarcasm"
so?
I hate poncey southern woppers but its all good innit

So? I hate stupid northern accents.

So? I hate stupid northern accents.

Again he's being sarcastic, and Northern accents sound better than South East accents.

Again he's being sarcastic, and Northern accents sound better than South East accents.

No they don't.

"Again he's being sarcastic, and Northern accents sound better than South East accents."
got it in one my man!

I didn't know people from oop north could speak. I thought they just had a system of grunts, with one meaning "give me welfare" two meaning "excuse me sir, do you know the location of the nearest dealer" etc.. :p

hahahahahahahha,busted!

I didn't know people from oop north could speak. I thought they just had a system of grunts, with one meaning "give me welfare" two meaning "excuse me sir, do you know the location of the nearest dealer" etc.. :p

lol.

I speak English and enough Spanish to say "I don't speak Spanish"

I speak English and enough Spanish to say "I don't speak Spanish"

Ah, yes.

Me too. No speako el Spanisho.

Ah, yes.

Me too. No speako el Spanisho.

No matter how many times I hear that joke...

Ah, yes.

Me too. No speako el Spanisho.

I always say, "No habla estupido. Su habla random beating?" Amazingly, they learn fluent English within seconds.

I always say, "No habla estupido. Su habla random beating?" Amazingly, they learn fluent English within seconds.

Epic win.

I always say, "No habla estupido. Su habla random beating?" Amazingly, they learn fluent English within seconds.

Shouldn't it be "no hablo estupido", because you're trying to say (at least I'm presuming you are) "I don't" rather than "You don't"?

Shouldn't it be "no hablo estupido", because you're trying to say (at least I'm presuming you are) "I don't" rather than "You don't"?

Nope. "No habla espanol" (assume the strange N is there) actually means "I don't speak Spanish." That's one of the few phrases of the language I managed to learn perfectly.

Nope. "No habla espanol" (assume the strange N is there) actually means "I don't speak Spanish." That's one of the few phrases of the language I managed to learn perfectly.

I'm convinced it should be no hablo. Because for -ar verbs in Spanish, you end them in -o if you are talking about yourself. I.e. yo como las gambas, so surely putting a no in (i.e. no hablo espanol) should leave the -o at the end of the sentence?

I'm convinced it should be no hablo. Because for -ar verbs in Spanish, you end them in -o if you are talking about yourself. I.e. yo como las gambas, so surely putting a no in (i.e. no hablo espanol) should leave the -o at the end of the sentence?

Does it matter?

I'm convinced it should be no hablo. Because for -ar verbs in Spanish, you end them in -o if you are talking about yourself. I.e. yo como las gambas, so surely putting a no in (i.e. no hablo espanol) should leave the -o at the end of the sentence?

Actually, in this case, "hablo" would be incorrect. I don't remember the exact reasoning for it; I do remember I got it wrong every time I put down "no hablo espanol" for translation assignments due to it being properly "no habla" and that it has something to do with intrinsics.

Edit: In addition, at work, the Spanish-speaking coworker I had would always start with "Se habla espanol" to indicate that she spoke Spanish.

I only have conversational fluency in English. I used to have conversational fluency in French when I was taking it.

I've tried (without much success) to teach myself:
German
Spanish
Latin
Japanese
Hawaiian

And if I could, I'd like to learn:
Breton
Portuguese
Mohawk
Italian
Polish

English, French and Latin. Get in there Latin!

Fluent in Czech and English (I am! I am! *stomps feet*) I also know some German and Esperanto, but not enough to efficiently communicate. I'd like to learn more languages in the future-Spanish, Arabic, and Russian. I'm also considering French, but I'm not sure about that one ;)

Ah, yes.

Me too. No speako el Spanisho.

I think the proper term is "Espanisho".

Get a clue. :tongue:

Before my morning caffeine: 0 languages with any fluency and grammar.

After I have a sufficiently high caffeine level in my bloodstream (well, sufficiently low blood level in my caffeine stream) 3: German, English and Esperanto. I probably should re-vise my French again... I forgot it all.

I can only speak English but I studied Latin and I can read that fairly well. I know some French too but I only studied it for a year, so not very much.

I speak 4 languages: Spanish, French, English and Japanese.
I speak 3 dialects: Asturian, Gallego and Mallorquino.
Understand quite well: Italian and Portuguese. I can also understand a bit of Catalá and 2 or 3 words in Euskera.
Being taught: Smatterings of Greek.

Italian, English, German, Russian, Milanese at least decently. Plus some French, Czech, Latin, Ancient Greek, Spanish and Portuguese.

I speak 4 languages: Spanish, French, English and Japanese.
I speak 3 dialects: Asturian, Gallego and Mallorquino.
Understand quite well: Italian and Portuguese. I can also understand a bit of Catalá and 2 or 3 words in Euskera.
Being taught: Smatterings of Greek.

Italian, English, German, Russian, Milanese at least decently. Plus some French, Czech, Latin, Ancient Greek, Spanish and Portuguese.

Jesus Christ. You 2 are like machines.

I speak 4 languages: Spanish, French, English and Japanese.
I speak 3 dialects: Asturian, Gallego and Mallorquino.
Understand quite well: Italian and Portuguese. I can also understand a bit of Catalá and 2 or 3 words in Euskera.
Being taught: Smatterings of Greek.

Actually you also write a good Italian. I don't know how you pronounce it, but it shouldn't be difficult for you.

Actually you also write a good Italian. I don't know how you pronounce it, but it shouldn't be difficult for you.

Why, thanks. I do try to pay attention. With some languages I hardly got a problem reading and writing them, which is what happens with Italian. I see them written and I can follow them easily. But I know I need to take the lessons in order to speak it because I can't.

Jesus Christ. You 2 are like machines.

Not so difficult. Once you speak a Romance language as native, and learn a Germanic language early, you don't have many difficulties with most other Indoeuropean languages.

My progression was: Italian (and Milanese) as native, then German (began at age 11), Latin and Ancient Greek (14), Russian (age 15), then everything else just sort of came along.

Jesus Christ. You 2 are like machines.

Ris and I speak languages that share a common ancestor, Latin. As he explained, once you speak a Romance language, the others come a bit natural to you. You can correlate with your own language and understand quite well. That's why I can follow his posts in Italian (not Milanese) and why I can understand Heikoku's Portuguese.

The dialects, well, I grew up in Asturias and I grew up surrounded by people who spoke Bable, Gallego and Mallorquino. My ear grew accustomed to these at an early age and I was able to pick them up.

As for the English, my mom started tutoring me when I was 5, by age 7 I was quite fluent. Japanese came at a latter age, as Greek is coming.

Not so difficult. Once you speak a Romance language as native, and learn a Germanic language early, you don't have many difficulties with most other Indoeuropean languages.

So you find Welsh and Sanskrit easy then?

SNIP

Nanatsu, seeing as you're Spanish, can you go back to page 3, and also at the top of the 4th page, and tell me who's right please?

So you find Welsh and Sanskrit easy then?

Have yet to try them. But I guess that already speaking languages out of 4 Indoeuropean families gives me a sort of a bonus.

Learning Sanskrit is a thing I plan to do sometime in the future, but right at the moment I don't have much time. As for Welsh, not very interested; Irish Gaelic more likely.

Not so difficult. Once you speak a Romance language as native, and learn a Germanic language early, you don't have many difficulties with most other Indoeuropean languages.

My progression was: Italian (and Milanese) as native, then German (began at age 11), Latin and Ancient Greek (14), Russian (age 15), then everything else just sort of came along.
Second languages should be tought to people at a young age.
Ris and I speak languages that share a common ancestor, Latin. As he explained, once you speak a Romance language, the others come a bit natural to you. You can correlate with your own language and understand quite well. That's why I can follow his posts in Italian (not Milanese) and why I can understand Heikoku's Portuguese.

The dialects, well, I grew up in Asturias and I grew up surrounded by people who spoke Bable, Gallego and Mallorquino. My ear grew accustomed to these at an early age and I was able to pick them up.

As for the English, my mom started tutoring me when I was 5, by age 7 I was quite fluent. Japanese came at a latter age, as Greek is coming.

At 5? And you're now 28? You've been speaking it allot longer than me.

I'm convinced it should be no hablo. Because for -ar verbs in Spanish, you end them in -o if you are talking about yourself. I.e. yo como las gambas, so surely putting a no in (i.e. no hablo espanol) should leave the -o at the end of the sentence?

And you're right. It is ''No hablo español'', to refer that ''I don't speak Spanish''. ''No habla'' is used on the third person he/she.

Edit: In addition, at work, the Spanish-speaking coworker I had would always start with "Se habla espanol" to indicate that she spoke Spanish.

Doesn't count, that's an impersonal form. It can be rendered in english with "Spanish (is) spoken".

English, Spanish (fluent), and Arabic (a work in progress)

Doesn't count, that's an impersonal form. It can be rendered in english with "Spanish is spoken".

Correct again. If she were to say that she speaks Spanish, she would need to say the following: Yo hablo español. (I speak Spanish)

I speak/understand English, German, Spanish

I could get around if I needed to with Dutch, Italian and maybe Portuguese

I understand a tiny bit of Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Russian

Dialects I understand: Swiss German dialects, plus a few German ones.

Nope. "No habla espanol" (assume the strange N is there) actually means "I don't speak Spanish." That's one of the few phrases of the language I managed to learn perfectly.
Might want to hit the books again, because no hablo means I don't speak, where as no habla is used for the third person singular.

Two. Well, one very fluently and another I think I can if I get practice at it. I can speak/read/write/listen English fluently and I can read/listen in French fluently and speak and write it with some difficulty (relating to not really speaking it for six years :( ). I think I can regain fluency in French if I had more opportunities to practice it and all this.

I can also speak a bit of Spanish (i.e. I can string together some sentences). I know one phrase in Japanese and an assortment of words. I know a couple of things in Italian. I know the word "cat" in like five languages... and I know how to say "hi" in a couple of languages as well.

I do want to learn more languages though.

Englisch

Ich kann auch ein bisschen Deutsch. Darum hab' ich 'zwei' gewählt.
Wunderschön
;)

So you find Welsh and Sanskrit easy then?
Welsh is actually the tongue of the devil himself, claiming it's an Indoeuropean language is an insult to the values that make Europe what it is today -_-.

As to myself, I can speak English, quite a bit of the old français and also a fair bit of German (both of those to above A-level standard, although I fully understand this makes me nothing like fluent). Hablo poquito español and all that, also.

I speak English fluently, since I live in Amurrika. 日本語　を　話します。でも、良いくない　です。 I have taken about four years of Japanese, give or take. However, because it is during school, I always forget everything over the summer so I essentially know nothing. Doesn't help that I'm not exactly an 良い　勉強　either.

I speak English and German.

I know a few words and phrases in Bulgarian and I'm planning to learn to speak it one day.

i speak english fluently, since i live in amurrika. 日本語　を　話します。でも、良いくない　です。 i have taken about four years of japanese, give or take. However, because it is during school, i always forget everything over the summer so i essentially know nothing. Doesn't help that i'm not exactly an 良い　勉強　either.

i (私?) 確認 少し 日本語 から 監視 アニメ 。

Welsh is actually the tongue of the devil himself, claiming it's an Indoeuropean language is an insult to the values that make Europe what it is today

You never took a peep to Lithuanian, then.

i (私?) 確認 少し 日本語 から 監視 アニメ 。
Gratuitous Japanese is gratuitous.

You never took a peep to Lithuanian, then.
I'm gonna call out Icelandic. It's like the retarded cousin of the Indo-European (or North Germanic) language family that forgot to evolve.

Though that does also make it rather cool.

I mean, what the hell, man? Where are we? The 8th century?

Smjörið er brætt og hveitið smátt og smátt hrært út í það, þangað til það er gengið upp í smjörið. Síðan er mjólkinni smáhellt út í, og hrært stöðugt í, til þess ekki fari í kekki. Þegar mjólkin er gengin upp og grauturinn orðinn vel jafn og saltið komið í, skal taka hann ofan. Með honum er borin saftblanda eða mjólk, einnig steyttur sykur og kanel.

I'm gonna call out Icelandic. It's like the retarded cousin of the Indo-European (or North Germanic) language family that forget to evolve.

Though that does also make it rather cool.
Something we can 'thank' inbreeding insular types for.

Gratuitous Japanese is gratuitous.

What? Don't know what that means. Damn you foreigners and your superior English skills! :mad:

i (私?) 確認 少し 日本語 から 監視 アニメ 。
漢字は　読みません. I managed to pull out "I", "Japanese" and "Anime" from that sentence.

Something we can 'thank' inbreeding insular types for.
Though that isolation did leave them with a rather hot population. ;)

Though that isolation did leave them with a rather hot population. ;)
Feh. Webbed toes put me off.

Smjörið er brætt og hveitið smátt og smátt hrært út í það, þangað til það er gengið upp í smjörið. Síðan er mjólkinni smáhellt út í, og hrært stöðugt í, til þess ekki fari í kekki. Þegar mjólkin er gengin upp og grauturinn orðinn vel jafn og saltið komið í, skal taka hann ofan. Með honum er borin saftblanda eða mjólk, einnig steyttur sykur og kanel.

Isn't that fascinating?

Isn't that fascinating?
I'll let both sides of me respond.

As a person who appreciates languages, I find it both beautiful and mysterious.

As a person who learns languages, I hate it because it makes it that much more difficult for me to ever learn. :p
Feh. Webbed toes put me off.
Oh, come on. Ever met any Icelandic people? Any icelandic girls? They're only webbed in the right places ;) lol

漢字は　読みません. I managed to pull out "I", "Japanese" and "Anime" from that sentence.

"You do not read" is all I got from that.

How about Romaji? Works much easier. Those kanji before "do not read" are the kanji for "Kanji". I forgot the sentence structure to say "I can't" so I had to settle with "I don't read kanji".

I'll let both sides of me respond.
As a person who appreciates languages, I find it both beautiful and mysterious.
As a person who learns languages, I hate it because it makes it that much more difficult for me to ever learn. :p


I totally agree with you. And THAT's news! :D

I totally agree with you. And THAT's news! :D
Love of language transcends politics. :)

I can order a pint in about four languages, but other than that I've got nothing.

Love of language transcends politics. :)

Na klar. Und ich freue mich darüber.

I'm gonna call out Icelandic. It's like the retarded cousin of the Indo-European (or North Germanic) language family that forgot to evolve.


About language like Icelandish, what about Finnish?

Na klar. Und ich freue mich darüber.
Ich natürlich auch. Wollte dich eigentlich fragen . . . warum wolltest du Russisch lernen?

About language like Icelandish, what about Finnish?

Finnish isn't Indoeuropean.
Mutta minä en puhun suomalaiso.

About language like Icelandish, what about Finnish?

It's called Icelandic, not Icelandish, and Finnish isn't an Indo-European language.

About language like Icelandish, what about Finnish?
I specifically left out the dragon languages of Hungarian, Estonian, Finnish and Lapp, because they are not European.

Pidgen English? 何ですそ?

Pidgin English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin_to_Da_Max)

enjoy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4plKeI8aVI)

Pidgin English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin_to_Da_Max)

enjoy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4plKeI8aVI)

Oh, so many lulz.

Ich natürlich auch. Wollte dich eigentlich fragen . . . warum wolltest du Russisch lernen?

Weil meine Mutter wollte daß ich Englisch lernte. Die klassiche Auseinandersetzung zwischen Mutter und halbwüchsigen Sohn.

Russisch is auch sehr musikalisch. Sein Klang gefiel mir sehr.

Weil meine Mutter wollte daß ich Englisch lernte. Die klassiche Auseinandersetzung zwischen Mutter und halbwüchsigen Sohn.

Russisch is auch sehr musikalisch. Sein Klang gefiel mir sehr.
Es ist nur meine persönliche Meinung, aber ich finde gesprochenes Russich besser als schriftlich. . . Kyrillisch ist, ehrlich gesagt, nicht mein lieblings Alphabet.

Du hast Russich gelernt, weil sie wollte, daß du Englisch lerntest? :p Du kannst aber auch trotzdem fantastisch Englisch . . . Konntest du Russich bevor du English konntest?

Zero

I specifically left out the dragon languages of Hungarian, Estonian, Finnish and Lapp, because they are not European.

I took one look at a passage in Hungarian and my head started spinning. :gas:

Out of the Indo-European languages from Europe, I'd have to rate anything in Cyrillic script, Polish, and the Celtic languages as the hardest to figure out - Polish especially.

English is my native language, and I know a tiny bit of Russian from a summer program (which made me interested in learning it once I get to college) as well as some Spanish from high school classes. Not really that great with the last two languages due to not really ever using them outside of showing off the Russian (and occassional swearing in it).

Two - English and Urdu.

Learning Japanese (~1,000 kanji) , can read and write Korean and Arabic.

I used to speak Spanish, but after more than a decade of disuse I'd be lucky to get directions to a bathroom.

I am fluent in English, but I can read and write in Latin.

dva

dva

What?

What?

Means 2 in Commie-speak*.





*(just kidding) :p

Means 2 in Commie-speak*.





*(just kidding) :p

Argh. I hate it when people write in white.

Argh. I hate it when people write in white.

It's Russian and Finnish for 2, but I think we can safely assume he's speaking Russian.

er only English (do they speak Scottish in Scotland?:S) and some very risky German with a dabble of French here and there

I do speak some brief phrases in about 4 other languages and speak Chinese to my cat for some reason*

*as in I look up words to say to her and now she understands some commands which will be useful should the local try and make some kung-pow of her

Argh. I hate it when people write in white.

white power!

They all sound the same!

I find if I shout and swear and wave my arms around. I am understood. :p

This^^^

Es ist nur meine persönliche Meinung, aber ich finde gesprochenes Russich besser als schriftlich. . . Kyrillisch ist, ehrlich gesagt, nicht mein lieblings Alphabet.
Ich konnte schon Altgriechisch: Kyrillisch war einfach für mich.

Du hast Russich gelernt, weil sie wollte, daß du Englisch lerntest? :p
Tja... nieder mit Mutti-Authorität! :D

Du kannst aber auch trotzdem fantastisch Englisch . . . Konntest du Russich bevor du English konntest?

Ja. Englisch hab' ich selbst gelernt, aber später als Russisch - weißt du, Computer, Dnd, Shakespeare, Tolkien... English ist einfach; eine vereinfachte Variante von Deutsch+Latein.

Two - English and Urdu.
Are you native in English or in Urdu? It's not like many Westerners learn Urdu, or any non-european languages... well, except for Japanese.

It's Russian and Finnish for 2, but I think we can safely assume he's speaking Russian.

"Dva" could also be Czech, or Serbo-Croatian.

"Dva" could also be Czech, or Serbo-Croatian.

I thought there might be some other Slavic languages that used it, but to be honest, we all know he's Russian.

English, Bengali, Tamil, Hindi, French, Italian and German. I'm fluent in the first six...used to be fluent in German but stopped speaking for a couple of years and got very, very rusty.

I can also read and write Latin. It's really not the kind of language you go around speaking though.

Two fluently: English and Dutch.

Two on a reasonable level: German and French (enough to get into trouble, or to just narrowly avoid it)

And a smattering of Finnish, Hungarian, Spanish, Romanian, Russian, Danish, Swedish, Frisian, Afrikaans and Italian. Mostly bad words, stupid sentences and funny songs though :D But most of this I can only speak, not write. Except for Afrikaans and Frisian, I can read it, but not speak it :p

Ich konnte schon Altgriechisch: Kyrillisch war einfach für mich.
Achso! Total vergessen, daß ihr Italiener Altgriechisch und Latein lernen müßt. Könnte man gesprochenes Griechisch verstehen wenn man schon Altgriechisch studiert hätte?

Tja... nieder mit Mutti-Authorität! :D
Typisch. :p:rolleyes::p


Ja. Englisch hab' ich selbst gelernt, aber später als Russisch - weißt du, Computer, Dnd, Shakespeare, Tolkien...
Respekt. :)
English ist einfach; eine vereinfachte Variante von Deutsch+Latein.
Ja, stimmt. Was für Akzent hast du?

I thought there might be some other Slavic languages that used it, but to be honest, we all know he's Russian.
No. If it was Russian, it would be written два.

;)

Könnte man gesprochenes Griechisch verstehen wenn man schon Altgriechisch studiert hätte?
Leider nicht. Zu verschieden. :(

Ja, stimmt. Was für Akzent hast du?
"Foreign", mein Lehrer hat mir gesagt. Ja, vor zwei Wochen lerne ich English; ich muß meine Aussprache verbessern. Ich hoffe daß ich British English sprechen werde.

Leider nicht. Zu verschieden. :(
Benützt ihr dann die Sprache nur für akademische Sachen? Zum Beispiel wie Latein?

"Foreign", mein Lehrer hat mir gesagt. Ja, vor zwei Wochen lerne ich English; ich muß meine Aussprache verbessern.
Hmm...aber so wär's wenn man Englisch von Spielen und so gelernt hätte.;)
Ich hoffe daß ich British English sprechen werde.
Nicht Amerikanisch? :(

I can speak two dialects of English fluently (American and British). I am near-fluent in Hebrew - enough to get around in Israel. I also speak some extremely rusty French and a little Japanese.

I can also read the Cyrillic and Greek alphabets, even if I can't speak the languages.

I used to speak Spanish, but after more than a decade of disuse I'd be lucky to get directions to a bathroom.

Just unzip your pants and shrug. There's a 50/50 chance you'll be pointed to a bathroom. In the event that you are pointed instead to a brothel, wave your arms and make flushing noises.

The brothel may also have bathroom.

I can speak and understand English fluently. I can read Spanish with a bit of help. (Listening is a bit difficult.) I speak very very basic German.

lol, english and spanish.

English is the only language I can speak fluently. I speak a small amount of Tagalog, and I can read a bit of Portuguese and Spanish.

Just unzip your pants and shrug. There's a 50/50 chance you'll be pointed to a bathroom. In the event that you are pointed instead to a brothel, wave your arms and make flushing noises.

The brothel may also have bathroom.

I lol'd. :D

I lol'd. :D

I deal in universal languages.

Are you native in English or in Urdu? It's not like many Westerners learn Urdu, or any non-european languages... well, except for Japanese.
More and more people are learning Chinese.
It's Russian and Finnish for 2, but I think we can safely assume he's speaking Russian.

Really? I wonder how it's pronounced.

I can speak:
English
kiwi
American

and a lil Maori.

I am fluent in over six million forms of communication...

I used to speak Spanish, but after more than a decade of disuse I'd be lucky to get directions to a bathroom.

Yeah, that's about where I'm at...as it stands, I know just enough spanish to be able to tell spanish speakers that my spanish is bad and ask them if they know english. :tongue:

one, amerenglish, poorly.

though i've got a few words in a bunch of others. all of them having to do with trains, and none of them sufficient to carry on a cohierent conversation. well ok, also a few odd cuswords or their equivelant forms, but who hasn't. actually most of those i don't remember too good either.

futs kidosha gas-key des. and schmalspur triebvagon yahvole. also eki bento yum.

Benützt ihr dann die Sprache nur für akademische Sachen? Zum Beispiel wie Latein?
Ja, genau.


Nicht Amerikanisch? :(
Nein, ich habe "the posh accent" lieber.

(American and British).

Um what? Firstly, there are 3 countries in Britain, all of which speak differently, and then there are all the different dialects within those 3 countries. And from what I know of America, they have a massive range of accents and dialects too.

Um what? Firstly, there are 3 countries in Britain, all of which speak differently, and then there are all the different dialects within those 3 countries. And from what I know of America, they have a massive range of accents and dialects too.

He/she may have meant the difference between British English and American English. e.g pants/trousers.

German
English
French

OK, two valid questions were brought up.

Dumb Ideologies suggested that the available translations obviated the need for learning other people's languages, and that studying the philosophy, the history, or the politics of other cultures could be more rewarding (in terms of intellectual treasures).

When Heidegger remarked that only German and Greek were languages capable of philosophy, he may have had a point. For instance, when verging into the field of ontology, we arrive, at some point, to the quiestion: what is being? Which is a pretty inaccurate question in English. It can be translated in German by:

Wass ist? (Greek: tí estin)
Wass ist das Sein? (Greek: tí estin to eisin)
Wass ist (das) Wesen? (Greek: tí esti (to) hoon)

Or what about the being of being? (Das Seinswesen; the distiction between Das Sein and Das Wesen is never made in English, simply because the language never got round to making it!) What about "wesentlich" (real?/ ontological?/ is there a proper English equivalent?)

Translations can only convey what languages have in common. When Teaching Dutch to foreign youngsters, I have found that some words just haven't got an equivalent in foreign languages. The Dutch word "gezellig", although a key to understanding its present-day culture, has only equivalents in French and German, and incomplete equivalents at that.

Plays on words, suggestions, literary effects, some of them are irredemably lost without their original language. And just to give you an example of how badly even famous works can be affected by translations: "To be or not to be, that is the question" is what in French/ German/ Dutch/ Italian/ etc? Most translations just cannot convey both the spirit of the phrase and its aphoristic composition. Voltaire, when translating it, delivered something you wouldn't recognise if a dictionary were your only tool.

History then. Do you know that toponyms (the names of places and rivers and suchlike) can be clues when studying the distant past? The Frisian expansions of the first centuries A.D. can be deducted from toponyms ending with "- ingen" or -"ingham". (As is Birmingham, Nottingham...) But we wouldn't know so, if some clever man had not decided to study their language first.

Politics. Did you know that in Mandarin Chinese, the word for "right" and the one for "authority" is one and the same? One Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs once spent an entire afternoon trying to convince a Chinese diplomat that the Chinese people could suffer from a defecit of rights, only to discover that the Chinese thought the communists had been requested to increase their hold on the population.

If you don't study languages, you will never learn that from the point of view of a Chinese diplomat, the difference between right (legal entitlement) and authority (legal force) is just as non-existent as the difference between Sein and Wesen in English. And if you think this only happens with far-away languages - in German, "Gewalt" means "violence" as well as "law and order".

And this brings us to Pope Lando II and his suggestion that refining your grasp of your own language's vocabulary - probably by learning words with an alien etymology - would be an equally commendable effort. You should always refine your grasp of your own language's vocabulary; no question about it.

But I have a question for you, Pope Lando II. Those words in your language, the ones with an alien etymology? How did they arrive in your language in the first place? I suppose they were copied from other languages and then slightly amended to fit into the new language. But why? - Maybe because they conveyed something that no word in the original language could convey? Because they helped to make a distinction that could not be made with existing words? Because they were a small, intellectual treasure that was, by means of studying a foreign language, dug up for the convenience of another language?

And do we really believe that all our existing languages have been perfected, by now, to the point of making any distinction and conveying any meaning anyone can think of?

OK, two valid questions were brought up.

Dumb Ideologies suggested that the available translations obviated the need for learning other people's languages, and that studying the philosophy, the history, or the politics of other cultures could be more rewarding (in terms of intellectual treasures).

When Heidegger remarked that only German and Greek were languages capable of philosophy, he may have had a point. For instance, when verging into the field of ontology, we arrive, at some point, to the quiestion: what is being? Which is a pretty inaccurate question in English. It can be translated in German by:

Wass ist? (Greek: tí estin)
Wass ist das Sein? (Greek: tí estin to eisin)
Wass ist (das) Wesen? (Greek: tí esti (to) hoon)

Or what about the being of being? (Das Seinswesen; the distiction between Das Sein and Das Wesen is never made in English, simply because the language never got round to making it!) What about "wesentlich" (real?/ ontological?/ is there a proper English equivalent?)

Translations can only convey what languages have in common. When Teaching Dutch to foreign youngsters, I have found that some words just haven't got an equivalent in foreign languages. The Dutch word "gezellig", although a key to understanding its present-day culture, has only equivalents in French and German, and incomplete equivalents at that.

Plays on words, suggestions, literary effects, some of them are irredemably lost without their original language. And just to give you an example of how badly even famous works can be affected by translations: "To be or not to be, that is the question" is what in French/ German/ Dutch/ Italian/ etc? Most translations just cannot convey both the spirit of the phrase and its aphoristic composition. Voltaire, when translating it, delivered something you wouldn't recognise if a dictionary were your only tool.

History then. Do you know that toponyms (the names of places and rivers and suchlike) can be clues when studying the distant past? The Frisian expansions of the first centuries A.D. can be deducted from toponyms ending with "- ingen" or -"ingham". (As is Birmingham, Nottingham...) But we wouldn't know so, if some clever man had not decided to study their language first.

Politics. Did you know that in Mandarin Chinese, the word for "right" and the one for "authority" is one and the same? One Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs once spent an entire afternoon trying to convince a Chinese diplomat that the Chinese people could suffer from a defecit of rights, only to discover that the Chinese thought the communists had been requested to increase their hold on the population.

If you don't study languages, you will never learn that from the point of view of a Chinese diplomat, the difference between right (legal entitlement) and authority (legal force) is just as non-existent as the difference between Sein and Wesen in English. And if you think this only happens with far-away languages - in German, "Gewalt" means "violence" as well as "law and order".

And this brings us to Pope Lando II and his suggestion that refining your grasp of your own language's vocabulary - probably by learning words with an alien etymology - would be an equally commendable effort. You should always refine your grasp of your own language's vocabulary; no question about it.

But I have a question for you, Pope Lando II. Those words in your language, the ones with an alien etymology? How did they arrive in your language in the first place? I suppose they were copied from other languages and then slightly amended to fit into the new language. But why? - Maybe because they conveyed something that no word in the original language could convey? Because they helped to make a distinction that could not be made with existing words? Because they were a small, intellectual treasure that was, by means of studying a foreign language, dug up for the convenience of another language?

And do we really believe that all our existing languages have been perfected, by now, to the point of making any distinction and conveying any meaning anyone can think of?

Jesus Christ! You just wrote a fucking essay.

what is being? Which is a pretty inaccurate question in English. It can be translated in German by:

Wass ist? (Greek: tí estin)
Wass ist das Sein? (Greek: tí estin to eisin)
Wass ist (das) Wesen? (Greek: tí esti (to) hoon)


Should be:
Was ist das? (what it this?) (because you can't skip the subject in German!)
Was ist das Dasein? (what is existance?) btw, shouldn't it be "ti esti to einai" in greek?
Was ist das Wesen? (what is the act of being?)

no. If it was russian, it would be written два.

;)

Моя клавиатуры ненавидит набрав Английский язык! >.<

Моя клавиатуры ненавидит набрав Английский язык! >.<

Yob dvayoo mut. Yu babushka suka.

That's basically the extent of my Russian.

Only one fluently (English). A little bit of Russian and I can tell people in French and Spanish that I don't speak their language.

Argh. I hate it when people write in white.

too f-ing bad RoI

:p

Моя клавиатуры ненавидит набрав Английский язык! >.<

О только дело с... Плаксивый ублюдок. :p

I'm gonna call out Icelandic. It's like the retarded cousin of the Indo-European (or North Germanic) language family that forgot to evolve.
Nope, Lithuanian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_language) takes that award:

Anyone wishing to hear how Indo-Europeans spoke should come and listen to a Lithuanian peasant.
—Antoine Meillet

-----

Anyway, every time a thread like this comes up, I'd usually be the only one who's fluent in any Austronesian language. :( Officially, I am fluent in three languages: English, Filipino, and Tagalog, but in reality Filipino is based extensively on Tagalog so it's almost the same. :wink:

I'm enclined to disagree with you, Risottia.

Wass, being a word capable of nominal use, can be a subject in German.
Dasein and Sein are two different things. One is "existance", the other the act of being (substantivated use of the verb); the two are different things in German.

But we are not really disagreeing with one another. After all, you just proved that "what is being" is even more inaccurate than I suspected. And that the German language really makes plenty distinctions between various kinds of "being".

You are right, however, about the "einai" instead of "eisin".

He/she may have meant the difference between British English and American English. e.g pants/trousers.

Precisely. I am fully fluent in both. I am aware of sub-dialects in both Britain and America, but I am talking about Omaha English in America and Queen's English in Britain.

Precisely. I am fully fluent in both. I am aware of sub-dialects in both Britain and America, but I am talking about Omaha English in America and Queen's English in Britain.

Whoo! I got something right.

Whoo! I got something right.

It had to happen eventually... ;)

I can speak:
English
kiwi
American

and a lil Maori.

For a time, I was interested in learning Maori. All I know is ''Pukaea'' which, iirc, means 'trumpet heralding'.

My pet speaks like 15.

My pet speaks like 15.

Does she?

I am signing up for Arabic. I like to complicate my life. Does anyone here recommends a book that can help me get introduced to the language?

My pet speaks like 15.

My mom's dog understands both English and Spanish. :p

My mom's dog understands both English and Spanish. :p

I think, sir, that you missed Lord Elmo's post by more than a mile. *nod*

And this brings us to Pope Lando II and his suggestion that refining your grasp of your own language's vocabulary - probably by learning words with an alien etymology - would be an equally commendable effort. You should always refine your grasp of your own language's vocabulary; no question about it.

But I have a question for you, Pope Lando II. Those words in your language, the ones with an alien etymology? How did they arrive in your language in the first place? I suppose they were copied from other languages and then slightly amended to fit into the new language. But why? - Maybe because they conveyed something that no word in the original language could convey? Because they helped to make a distinction that could not be made with existing words? Because they were a small, intellectual treasure that was, by means of studying a foreign language, dug up for the convenience of another language?

And do we really believe that all our existing languages have been perfected, by now, to the point of making any distinction and conveying any meaning anyone can think of?

As I recall, Heidegger claimed that Greek and German were naturally suited to the study of philosophy, due in part to the wealth of precise, philosophically-useful vocabulary. I'm not a Heidegger scholar, but I don't believe he ever claimed that other languages were necessarily inadequate for that purpose. English has largely appropriated those words found in ancient Greek and modern German philosophy in any case, and the subtleties, when relevant, can be easily explained to students. My professors dedicated a good deal of time to that end.

I didn't mean to imply that any language has been perfected, or that every emotion can be accurately conveyed. Language is necessarily an abstraction of experience, and our experience and interpretation of language itself is subjective and idiolectal. I just haven't encountered any thought or concept that couldn't be expressed in English, even if other languages are in some cases better suited to discussion on one topic or another.

My fluent languages are English and French, though I apparently speak French with a Belgian accent and use some Belgian idioms ('septante', pas 'soixante-dix', etc.) in speech, much to the general hilarity of my French friends (I spent several years living in southern Belgium as a child).

I can read Spanish well enough to regularly collaborate with colleagues in Venezuela, Argentina, and Panama, but would never try to claim I can speak or write it.

I've taken classes in Icelandic (lived north of Reykjavik for a year) and Welsh (much of my PhD was based on Welsh-speaking Wales), but would claim no particular ability in either, though I can easily order a variety of drinks at a bar and ask where the nearest toilets are in both.

I'm married to the granddaughter of a Russian Orthodox priest, and since her entire family are Russian-speaking, I've picked up bits and pieces and learned to read Cyrillic, but again would claim no particular ability in the language.

Language ability tends to exist in a spectrum from fluent to non-existent rather being an absolute 'speak' or 'don't speak', and even monoglot NSG posters can surely muster up a few words in another language.


My basic language theory is that, when visiting another country, you should at least learn how to say 'hello', 'goodbye', 'please', 'thank you' (where those latter two words exist - they don't always), how to count to ten, and how to ask where the toilets are. Those'll get you through most situations.

English(obviously), Irish and German. In theory. In practice, English and a bit of Irish and German.

And do we really believe that all our existing languages have been perfected, by now, to the point of making any distinction and conveying any meaning anyone can think of?

I want to tackle this particular question because it has been a fascinating topic of debate for me. I don't think all our existing languages have been perfected to the point of them able to convey anything we can think of. Unfortunately, there are a myriad of emotions that cannot be conveyed with spoken or written language.

Love is one of those emotions, to cite an example. We feel it, we try to communicate it the only two ways we know of: speaking and writing. But our language (respective of course), falls short. It only goes so far. There comes a point that, try as we may, we cannot translate feelings to words.