02-08-2005, 08:18 AM | #1 (permalink) |
beauty in the breakdown
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
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What languages do you speak?
I think it would be interesting to see what languages (other than English, of course ) everyone here speaks. I suspect there are some esoteric language speakers around here somewhere, and at the least, we can see what the most common languages spoken around here are. Also, are there any languages you really want to learn?
I speak decent German, and am planning on studying there for a year next year to become as fluent as possible. I can also understand a good bit of Spanish, but cant speak it as I havent had to in several years, and my German has seemingly replaced all my Spanish speaking ability. I really want to learn French, and may start working on that this summer with the hope of learning it better when I am in Europe next year--it shouldnt be hard for me to get to France for long weekends to practice it.
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"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato Last edited by sailor; 02-08-2005 at 07:14 PM.. |
02-08-2005, 08:33 AM | #3 (permalink) |
Born Against
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I'm fluent in German, and my 5-year-old daughter speaks both German and English as native languages. She prefers German though.
We live in Miami, and we wanted so much to have her speaking Spanish as a native speaker, but allowing only Spanish videos hasn't really worked yet, although she does know a lot of words. I took four years of German in high school, but never really spoke it until I married a German. Now we speak only German to our daughter, and English to each other. |
02-08-2005, 08:35 AM | #4 (permalink) |
Shade
Location: Belgium
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English (duh )
Dutch French understand German, really want to learn japenese and spanish, but that won't be happening anytime soon I'm afraid Maybe if I took a trip to Japan for a year, hmmm... Should really look into that. Also, a handful of Swedish and Finnish swear-words, but that doesn't really count, now does it
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02-08-2005, 08:36 AM | #5 (permalink) |
Pickles
Location: Shirt and Pants (NJ)
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I speak english, but i studied Latin for about 5 or 6 years (1 or 2 in elemenary school, and 4 in highschool). I'm rather glad i picked latin to study (i cant speak it) because it gave me a basic understanding of the many romantic languages and english. *shrugs*
Though i must admit that while i did spend so much time taking latin i should have spent more time learning more latin words. I forgot a lot of what i learned already anyway so i guess it doesn't matter much. :P
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02-08-2005, 08:41 AM | #8 (permalink) |
Junkie
Moderator Emeritus
Location: Chicago
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I speak fluent restuarant... ( I can decipher a menu and order in French, Portuguese, Brazilian, Spanish, Mexican, Italian, Japanese and probably a few others)
If a person talks slowly, and doesnt use slang, I can understand French and Spanish (6 years of Latin helped that a lot) As for speaking French, I make the mistake of thinking in English and translating to French - which makes me slow - and also causes me to screw up verbage a lot. (I was in a store in Brussels, talking to a woman in the store, in French, and mistakenly said my brother was a big dog, rather than he had a big dog)
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02-08-2005, 08:57 AM | #10 (permalink) |
undead
Location: Duisburg, Germany
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decent english and, since I'm german, german.
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"It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death Albert Einstein |
02-08-2005, 09:01 AM | #11 (permalink) |
Getting it.
Super Moderator
Location: Lion City
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Sadly I only speak English and French (not well, but I can carry on a conversation).
I am always jealous of polyglots.
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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke |
02-08-2005, 09:53 AM | #14 (permalink) |
Junkie
Location: Some place windy
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English and Spanish reasonably. I was fluent in Spanish in college, but my Spanish fluency has declined considerably since then.
I would like to speak more than English, but I don't have much of a need to. I don't travel outside of the US very often and I don't encounter many individuals who don't speak English where I live. |
02-08-2005, 09:59 AM | #16 (permalink) |
strangelove
Location: ...more here than there...
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Englisch und Deutsch.
I had 2 yrs french in HS and 1 semester of Latin in college, and would like to learn more Latin. Wouldn't mind learning a bit more spanish. Russian would be kinda cool too.
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- + - ° GiRLie GeeK ° - + - ° 01110010011011110110111101110100001000000110110101100101 Therell be days/When Ill stray/I may appear to be/Constantly out of reach/I give in to sin/Because I like to practise what I preach
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02-08-2005, 10:57 AM | #20 (permalink) |
Crazy
Location: Meechigan
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I would like to learn another language, but there is nobody else around that really speaks other languages, so that makes it kinda hard. I bought a whole bunch of "Learn to speak Japanese" type books, and I have spent time studying it, but I feel that I am not really getting good practice if there is nobody else around that can speak it.
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02-08-2005, 11:04 AM | #22 (permalink) |
Guest
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I know English, (of course) and French (enough to get by)
However... studying linguistics has enabled me to learn all the different SOUNDS from different languages, just not the words themselves.... And, I really really want to learn Gaelic if I can ever find the time. |
02-08-2005, 11:15 AM | #24 (permalink) |
Professional Loafer
Location: texas
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English
Bad English German French Latin Spanish (some) Trying to learn Kanji Not completely fluent in any of them (heh), but have learned, conjugation can be a bitch.
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"You hear the one about the fella who died, went to the pearly gates? St. Peter let him in. Sees a guy in a suit making a closing argument. Says, "Who's that?" St. Peter says, "Oh, that's God. Thinks he's Denny Crane." |
02-08-2005, 12:50 PM | #27 (permalink) |
Likes Hats
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
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Swedish like a native of course, and enough German to get by. I understand Danish and Norweigan unless they speak too fast. I studied a bit of Russian, but not much stuck. If I could learn another language it'd be either French or Italian. Italian for the operas and French for all the excellent comics that never gets translated.
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02-08-2005, 02:07 PM | #30 (permalink) |
Knight of the Old Republic
Location: Winston-Salem, NC
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I speak English. I would say I can speak Spanish like a lot of people, but it really means I took 2 levels of it in high school. In other words, I can pick out words and phrases, but speaking it is the exaggeration of the century.
-Lasereth
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"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert |
02-08-2005, 02:18 PM | #31 (permalink) |
beauty in the breakdown
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
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Wow... A lot more German speakers than I ever would have expected. Thats good to see!
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"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato |
02-08-2005, 02:24 PM | #33 (permalink) |
Psycho
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English is my mother tongue; plus French [thanks to 4 years of high school, taking ap french right now]; ironic though, since I learned just as much French in one week there than I did 3 years at school :P
Nice thread everyone.
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currently reading: currently playing : Last edited by keyshawn; 02-08-2005 at 02:31 PM.. |
02-08-2005, 03:14 PM | #35 (permalink) |
Junkie
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I speak medicalese.
I can order dinner from a menu in Spanish, French, and maybe German without accidentally getting anything I would not be willing to eat.
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I was there to see beautiful naked women. So was everybody else. It's a common failing. Robert A Heinlein in "They Do It With Mirrors" |
02-08-2005, 03:20 PM | #36 (permalink) | |
pinche vato
Location: backwater, Third World, land of cotton
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I speak and understand Spanish pretty well, and I am currently learning Portuguese.
Quote:
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Living is easy with eyes closed. Last edited by warrrreagl; 02-08-2005 at 03:23 PM.. |
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02-08-2005, 03:28 PM | #38 (permalink) |
Tilted
Location: New York
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I speak English, my first language was Spanish, so I am fluent in that also, and my boyfriend is taking Japanese as his foreign language requirement in college so I know very little of that. Hopefully I will learn enough to someday go to Japan with him, although I have a feeling he will be doing a lot of translating :P
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02-08-2005, 05:44 PM | #40 (permalink) |
Upright
Location: Athens, Ga
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Portugese and Brazilian, while technically the same language, have been isolated for so long that they are more removed than, say, Swedish and Norweigian. It's not as bad as Sicilian and Italian before the advent of radio and TV, but there are quite a few idioms that don't translate across the pond.
As to languages I speak... English (native language) Spanish (more or less fluent) Japanese (I've forgotten most of what I learned) German (currently taking it)
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The door flew open. A Mongol warrior surged into the hut like a savage wind. Two children ran screaming to their mother who was cowering wide eyed in the corner of the tiny room. A dog yelped. The warrior hurled his torch on to the still glowing fire, and then threw the dog on to it. That would teach it to be a dog. |
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languages, speak |
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