|
Thread: What languages do you people speak? | This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 · «PREV / NEXT» |
|
The_Polyglot
Promising
Supreme Hero
Nuttier than squirrel poo
|
posted May 24, 2011 05:57 PM |
|
|
I really oughtn't have visited this thread! Here I am, proud of the amount of languages I speak/understand, having regged as "Polyglot", and then BAM, I find that 90 percent of You speak more languages than me!! *Sad panda*
Anyways, I know
-English
-Hungarian
-French
-Italian,
though I still am too shy to actively speak French, if I'm not forced to, and my Italian vocabulary is somewhat limited ATM (at least compared to the others)
In addition, I understand, though cannot yet speak
German
Spanish
basic Latin(like proverbs and stuff, plus what I'm able to decipher thanks to English/French)
I am learning (autodidactically )
Polish(I have some Polish friends, with whom I wish to be able to communicate in Polish, when we're going to see each other again, sue me )
German(Not because I like the language, but lately I've been spending a lot of time in Germany, and it is beginning to rub off of me )
I have studied Russian in the past, but due to various reasons, my efforts were futile. I can still count to 100, though
Edits: Stupid keyboard didn't behave, posted this before it was
finished
Edit Nr. 3:
@OhforfSake:
If you're still interested in methods, I'm not afraid to share mine, and hope it'll help
To learn any language whatsoever, one needs to be motivated, so find something that You can look forward to, once You've learned it, like being able to read a book before it gets translated to one's native language, or swearing in a language without being reprimanded, or whatever works
Then You'll have to decide whether You want to follow a course or not.
Both have their share of advantages and disadvantages, but in my experience it helps a great deal if you find a suitable course, because then, you'll be able to compare yourself to the others, and it won't be as easy to skip an occasion without consequences. That way, you'll also be provided with (in most cases, adequate) books to learn from, whereas if you prefer to do it at your own leisure, you would have to procure one by yourself, which is h arder than it sounds.
I find it most useful to incorporate the language you want to learn in your daily routine: Switch the language of your iPod watch shows in that language, with a subtitle You understand, listen to podcasts, etc... In short, surround yourself with it, get used to how it sounds. This way, it won't feel alien when you speak it yourself, and the "flow" of the language, the patterns, the grammar will lodge themselves in your mind, even if at first you don't understand them, making it easier to learn.(These subconscious memories will be triggered when you get to a given part, like ready-made examples, which you recognize for what they are after learning the rule behind them. Using the method described above, I learned French in a relatively short time, barely a year, at a level comparable to my English, in other words, at a level indistinguishable from a native speaker's, despite not having an opportunity to speak it actively, having undergone a major surgery, which had prevented me from attending my French classes for the better part of the year.(Though, as I said, I get nervous, when I do have to speak, probably because of this)
___
Please excuse the many edits, and any spelling mistakes found in this post, my keyboard was having major problems throughout writing it, resulting in a plethora of weird bugs, like posting this message at random intervals, upon pressing Space, and countless others
|
|
noimnotemo
Tavern Dweller
|
posted May 29, 2011 01:02 AM |
|
|
Wow. Polyglot indeed. Just English and some German for me.
____________
|
|
Insanity
Known Hero
Brain cells killa
|
posted May 30, 2011 09:41 PM |
|
|
some body language and basic sign language thats all but i believe that language is overrated, one kick to that special place where sun dont shine sayz it all much better than trillion words
____________
|
|
Kipshasz
Undefeatable Hero
Elvin's Darkside
|
posted May 31, 2011 07:40 PM |
|
|
Lithuanian and Samogitian(Native, the latter is a dialect.), English and a bit of Russian.
Since this is a language thread, I'd like to ask how fast can an average guy learn German? Without going to the language class.
____________
"Kip is the Gavin McInnes of HC" - Salamandre
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior
|
|
Smithey
Promising
Supreme Hero
Yes im red, choke on it !!!
|
posted June 01, 2011 12:09 PM |
|
Edited by Smithey at 12:12, 01 Jun 2011.
|
Quote: Lithuanian and Samogitian(Native, the latter is a dialect.), English and a bit of Russian.
Since this is a language thread, I'd like to ask how fast can an average guy learn German? Without going to the language class.
If you were asking about the list of the languages you speak, German is closest/most similar to English, the easiest way to learn every langauge is to be surrounded by those who speak it, to watch a lot of German tv, to listen to German music, and to work alone on writing and reading as well as on basics of grammar and stuff as such....
If you're living in a non-German country and you have zero interacton with German language it will take you a couple of years at best, however if you live in Germany/parts of Switzerland/Austria and you have to speak German to get around, you can expect to know basics within half a year, to understand good and speak some within a year and to kick ass in German after 2-3 years.... Good luck or better yet "viel gluck"
|
|
Lexxan
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Unimpressed by your logic
|
posted June 01, 2011 12:26 PM |
|
|
Well, Kips, it mostly depends on how good you want your German to become.
I had little trouble with learning Basic German myself, since my native Dutch is the linguistically the language that is the closest to German (and because I also did Latin at the time, I had little trouble with Cases too). I am unfamiliar with Lithuanian, so I wouldn't know how easy it would be for a Lithuanian to learn it themselves.
I do know that it is a very difficult language to learn. (not to the levels of Finnish or Polish, but still) Grammatically German is an incredibly complex language and for every rule there are at least a dozen exceptions. Verbs especially are a huge obstacle to overcome, and so are cases if you aren't used to using these in Latin class or your native language. (Thankfully, German has only four of these, which makes it moderately difficult at best to master)
If you wish to trancend past the level of typical "tourist German" you'll have to work really hard to master it, and specifically practice a lot. I can guarantee it is a much more complex language than English, Dutch, Spanish or French, being around (or rather: slightly below) the difficulty level of speaking Latin.
____________
Coincidence? I think not!!!!
|
|
Kipshasz
Undefeatable Hero
Elvin's Darkside
|
posted June 01, 2011 12:53 PM |
|
|
Thanks for the advices.
@Smithey, I'm moving to Germany in July, however I can only say 'alles bitten trinken schnaps' in German and I'm not quite sure what the phrase means.
I do own a beginner level textbook and a few dictionaries, so I think the learning will be easier.
____________
"Kip is the Gavin McInnes of HC" - Salamandre
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior
|
|
Zenofex
Responsible
Legendary Hero
Kreegan-atheist
|
posted June 01, 2011 01:00 PM |
|
Edited by Zenofex at 13:04, 01 Jun 2011.
|
Quote: 'alles bitten trinken schnaps'
Nice one! Try it in a pub.
Anyway, The German has a very complex grammar (I have no idea why some people say it's easy) and there is no way you can learn it on your own if you're not surrounded by native speakers. You'll be able to express some basics at most but you'll never sound well enough as far as I can tell. Having someone to guide you should help a lot though.
|
|
JoonasTo
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
|
posted June 01, 2011 03:41 PM |
|
|
German beats english anyday, it's not as easy as swedish but not nearly as hard as english is.
There are only two irregular verbs in the whole language w00t!
____________
DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
|
|
SkrentyzMienty
Famous Hero
|
posted June 01, 2011 03:53 PM |
|
|
@Kipshasz Sekmes mokytis vokieciu (gerai pasakiau?)
|
|
Kipshasz
Undefeatable Hero
Elvin's Darkside
|
posted June 01, 2011 04:03 PM |
|
|
Except for the letters that are nonexistant everything's fine.
Better use english here, and thanks.
____________
"Kip is the Gavin McInnes of HC" - Salamandre
"Ashan to the Trashcan", "I got PTSD from H7. " - LizardWarrior
|
|
TDL
Honorable
Supreme Hero
The weak suffer. I endure.
|
posted June 01, 2011 04:17 PM |
|
Edited by TDL at 16:22, 01 Jun 2011.
|
Been studying german lately @ university (the basics more or less) and I can tell boy there are a lot of similarities even between lithuanian and german. Of course a lot of everything comes from english, dutch, even french (esp if you know at least two of the latter), but there are similarities to lithuanian such as cases (they have 4, we have 6+1), many words that are similar and their conjugation is not unlike french conjugaison.
EDIT: There are things to keep in mind though cause they dont use "You" as their formal matter of addressing someone, but rather "Sie", which could be literally translated as "she" in singular (if s is lowercase) or "they" which would serve as comparison to the pronoun.
Also, they use dative and accusative pronouns quite differently in comparison to our language (in lithuania when we call someone on the phone we use dative, while they use accusative).
____________
|
|
bixie
Promising
Legendary Hero
my common sense is tingling!
|
posted June 01, 2011 05:03 PM |
|
|
English and a little broken German. I would say welsh too, seeing as I'm studying in Wales, but welsh isn't a language so much a practical joke on the rest of the world.
____________
Love, Laugh, Learn, Live.
|
|
LizardWarrior
Honorable
Legendary Hero
the reckoning is at hand
|
posted June 01, 2011 06:24 PM |
|
|
Romanian,English and a little bit of German and French.
____________
|
|
tsar-ivor
Promising
Legendary Hero
Scourge of God
|
posted June 10, 2011 11:06 PM |
|
|
Primary Languages: English & Hungarian. (fully understand both, write and speak)
Secondary: French & German
I wish I knew some latin.
____________
"No laughs were had. There is only shame and sadness." Jenny
|
|
thomaslues
Tavern Dweller
|
posted October 24, 2011 01:53 PM |
|
|
I speak German and English fluently. I can read very easy written French or Spanish. I can understand a bit of Dutch. If possible I would like to become fluent in Chinese and then learn Russian through online school.
[url=http://aboutonlineschool.info/walden-university]walden university[/url]
____________
|
|
Fauch
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
|
posted October 24, 2011 02:53 PM |
|
|
Quote: I really oughtn't have visited this thread! Here I am, proud of the amount of languages I speak/understand, having regged as "Polyglot", and then BAM, I find that 90 percent of You speak more languages than me!! *Sad panda*
well, here in france, being able to speak one and a half language is enough to be considered a polyglot
most of us seem to not even master our mother tongue.
|
|
Brukernavn
Hero of Order
|
posted October 24, 2011 04:16 PM |
|
|
Quote:
well, here in france, being able to speak one and a half language is enough to be considered a polyglot
most of us seem to not even master our mother tongue.
That's the impression I've had from world-language countries (that have English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Arabic, Chinese or Russian as their native language).
My impression could be erroneous.
|
|
baklava
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Mostly harmless
|
posted October 24, 2011 04:45 PM |
|
|
I always thought every Frenchman knows English, just refuses to speak it.
____________
"Let me tell you what the blues
is. When you ain't got no
money,
you got the blues."
Howlin Wolf
|
|
Fauch
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
|
posted October 24, 2011 06:35 PM |
|
|
they refuse to speak french as well. they prefer speaking "sms", because you know, writing properly consumes way too much of your time.
|
|
|
|