What languages do you speak?

[Nuytsia]

Hey Farseer have you started learning Spanish yet?
Hmmm I'd like to learn Spanish too ..... better put in on my to-do list.

['thul]

Norwegian (mother language)
English (fluently)
German (basic to mediocre)
Latin (a little... mostly for fun...all self-learned)
spanish/russian/black speech of mordor/old norse/old english (a few words/phrases in each)

These beings are best at the top three, having actually studied those properly. They know some parts of various other languages, but not enough to get by. French is a language they cannot make any sense out of. And dutch is rather annoying... it seems almost like they should understand it, but they dont.

[Albertosaurus Rex]

Well, if you know English and German, Dutch should indeed look somewhat familiar. I often find myself in the position of almost understanding German, since it's a fairly closely related language.

['thul]

its the "almost" that gives them the problems.

[Nuytsia]

A lot of German words are familiar to me being an English speaker - unlike Chinese!

['thul]

Norwegian, English and German form a sort of triangle, from what these beings called 'thul have noticed. When trying to understand german, most words are either similar to norwegian words, or similar to english words... (but not always, of course)

[Atthis]

Wow, so many multilingual people on these forums! The only language I consider myself truly fluent in is English. However I do have some ability in a couple of other languages (but not as much as I’d like).

I understand Polish well, and speak it passably, but my vocabulary is somewhat limited. It is my mother’s native language, and she has always spoken Polish to me. Unfortunately at some point in my childhood I started answering her in English, which left my speech skills lagging behind. Even though I never did any kind of Polish schooling, I can also read simple Polish texts fairly well (again, it’s my small vocab that gives me problems). The fact that I am able to read Polish without any formal schooling just shows how much more consistent and sensible it is than English! I’ve actually read an article about how it takes children born in English-speaking countries years longer to learn to read and write than children born in other countries, all because of the inconsistencies of the language. Lately I’ve been finding the ability to read Polish most useful for deciphering recipes in various Polish cook books.

Now when it comes to deciphering Swedish recipes I usually run into considerably more trouble, which is unfortunate because I absolutely LOVE Swedish breads and pastries. My father’s native language is Swedish. I used to speak it when I was very little, but then lost it when he remarried and began speaking English at home. That was when I was five years old. Now I can understand some Swedish, but it’s all very sketchy. There are some simple and common phrases that I have no idea about, while at the same time I’ll suddenly remember some far more obscure terms and expressions. So I can quite often recognise large chunks of what I’m hearing, but I can barely speak it at all. Oh how I’d love to learn Swedish properly! But nobody seems to do classes where I live.

Then there are the languages I did in school, which are hardly worth mentioning considering how little I gained from them. I did a few of years of French in primary school, but really didn’t get very far. Then I did a few years of Japanese, which was fun, but again didn’t get me far. Right now all I can remember in Japanese is “Please turn left”, and “I like apples”. I’m sure that will come in handy if I ever visit Japan. :rolleyes: I think the way they teach languages at school in Australia is just shocking. I sure hope they’ve improved since my time.

[Nuytsia]

Gees sounds like my school ..... in fact I think they did used to alternate teaching Japanese/French with Chinese/German every so often ..... omg maybe we went to the same school !!!!!
AND the longest sentence I can remember from Chinese is 'I would like a glass of orange juice' !!!!!!!!

Well there goes the theory that you learn languages best when you are, what, under 3 years old or something? If your parents spoke other languages and you have forgotten them I mean ........

Polish and Swedish parents? I hope you will be posting something the in the recipes thread!!! YUMBO!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH breads and pastries *drool*

[Mervi]

I agree that the way languages are taught in many schools is far from practical. I think German was the worst for me in that regard. I remember having to read and translate articles about dangerous particles in coffee and what kinds of bugs people had to try to avoid after their aircraft landed in the middle of Amazonian rainforest. I mean, sure, German was my first foreign language and I understand that the more you study a language, the more advanced the vocabulary gets. But I never learned to discuss my day in German or write a book review - or even order a cup of tea. I think we did go through a "how to give instruction to a tourist in your city" exercise but that was only once twice.

I've probably mentioned this already, but the site I use to learn Welsh has a really interesting article about learning languages and why they use different techniques at that site. The article is about learning Welsh, but I believe what they are saying applies to all languages. It starts here and there are 4 pages altogether (the links are at the bottom of each page).

[Atthis]

AND the longest sentence I can remember from Chinese is 'I would like a glass of orange juice' !!!!!!!!

Hey, after reading your post I realised I remember orange juice in Japanese too! Hehe, but that's probably because it sounds almost identical to the English way of saying it.

Well there goes the theory that you learn languages best when you are, what, under 3 years old or something? If your parents spoke other languages and you have forgotten them I mean ........

Actually I think languages are like most things you learn: if you don't continue your practise you'll just start to forget. Sure, a language you once knew should come back to you easier, but if you don't use it you lose it! I know a Swede who's lived in Australia for almost 40 years (I think he left Sweden at about age 20) and no longer feels comfortable reading or writing in Swedish. He has one of those classic Swedish accents when he speaks English, but still speaks it better than he does his own mother tongue. So the moral of the story is practise, practise, practise!

Polish and Swedish parents? I hope you will be posting something the in the recipes thread!!! YUMBO!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH breads and pastries *drool*

Actually I just realised that my favourite breads in Sweden are actually the Finnish rye breads you can buy there, so I think we'll have to ask Mervi and the other Finns for the recipe! The Swedish pastry-type recipes I know are pretty standard: gingerbread biscuits, cinnamon buns and so on. But I'll be happy to post them if anyone wants.

I remember having to read and translate articles about dangerous particles in coffee and what kinds of bugs people had to try to avoid after their aircraft landed in the middle of Amazonian rainforest.

Now that just sounds bizarre, Mervi! I wonder whose idea that was. I had a look at that article you linked to. Very interesting. And it's funny that they got you to do such complicated translations in German when the article points out that translation is one of the most advanced language skills of all!