How many here have a foreign language?

[Alvin]

German, English, and my native tongue.
I consider myself disadvantaged because I am a native English speaker.

 

[Si modo]

German, English, and my native tongue.
I consider myself disadvantaged because I am a native English speaker.

I don't.

 

[goldcatt]

I had several years of French, in high school and college. I can still read a little, but I doubt I could understand the directions to the ladies' room at this point. You know what they say, use it or lose it!

It's not a foreign language, but I also learned ASL from a relative when I was just a kid (American Sign Language - he was deaf). I can do a bit more with that since I've used it some over the years. It comes in handy in bars!

 

[Alvin]

German, English, and my native tongue.
I consider myself disadvantaged because I am a native English speaker.

I don't.

I consider myself disadvantaged because I never felt the need to learn another language. I feel I missed out on learning so much more about other cultures etc.
I can, and have travled quite a bit in my time, Both Americas, Asia, Australia, all over Europe of course, North Africa and the ME. The most poinient fact regarding language I have learned is that in many of those countries even the kids have some grasp of English and are willing to try.
I can't speak Spanish or Portugese. So thats South America out, I can't speak French, Italian, Dutch, Norweigen, Polish, Russian etc, so that's most of Europe. I can't speak Chinese, Korean, Japanese etc. So thats Asia gone......

See what I'm getting at? - Wherever I go, I feel like a tourist.

 

[Si modo]

German, English, and my native tongue.
I consider myself disadvantaged because I am a native English speaker.

I don't.

I consider myself disadvantaged because I never felt the need to learn another language. I feel I missed out on learning so much more about other cultures etc.
I can, and have travled quite a bit in my time, Both Americas, Asia, Australia, all over Europe of course, North Africa and the ME. The most poinient fact regarding language I have learned is that in many of those countries even the kids have some grasp of English and are willing to try.
I can't speak Spanish or Portugese. So thats South America out, I can't speak French, Italian, Dutch, Norweigen, Polish, Russian etc, so that's most of Europe. I can't speak Chinese, Korean, Japanese etc. So thats Asia gone......

See what I'm getting at? - Wherever I go, I feel like a tourist.

Not really. But your country is small.

And, when I had to live somewhere where I did not know the language my first and primary goal was to become fluent in that language no matter how brutal those first months were. I did not surround myself with same speakers, either. My choice, and it served me well.

 

[Alvin]

I don't.

I consider myself disadvantaged because I never felt the need to learn another language. I feel I missed out on learning so much more about other cultures etc.
I can, and have travled quite a bit in my time, Both Americas, Asia, Australia, all over Europe of course, North Africa and the ME. The most poinient fact regarding language I have learned is that in many of those countries even the kids have some grasp of English and are willing to try.
I can't speak Spanish or Portugese. So thats South America out, I can't speak French, Italian, Dutch, Norweigen, Polish, Russian etc, so that's most of Europe. I can't speak Chinese, Korean, Japanese etc. So thats Asia gone......

See what I'm getting at? - Wherever I go, I feel like a tourist.

Not really. But your country is small.

And, when I had to live somewhere where I did not know the language my first and primary goal was to become fluent in that language no matter how brutal those first months were. I did not surround myself with same speakers, either. My choice, and it served me well.

My country is small, that's why I liked to travel, unfortunatly there is hardly anywhere outside of it that speaks English nativly. And it's a bitch when some whippersnapper asks you something in for instance, Polish, then switchs to English because they realize that the poor dumb foreigner is lost..

 

[editec]

English was good enough for Jesus so I guess it's good enough for me.

I did learn a spattering of foreign language though when I was living in New York, though.

I learned to speak that Queen's English.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I took Latin in High school for the sole reason that I didn't have to speak it.

 

[PixieStix]

Took no classes for Arabic, but I did stay in a holiday inn last night

I did take Spanish as well as German

But can understand and not exactly speak Arabic, the Egyptian dialect, in particular.

It is a hard language to speak, although I do OK, when some guy says something nasty in the line behind me

 

[uscitizen]

I speak c++, basic, some machine language, pascal, Algol, Fortran and a bit of Cobol.

 

[Douger]

I can cuss, party, go out to eat, and roll around in the sack with a bimbo, in Korean.
Still Ahma learning that thar Eeeenglish. I grew up in Virginia.Damn shame.
Fluent in Spanish.I had some guests from Italy and was able to get by, as they can usually understand some Spanish too.

So so with Portuguese.I was fluent in 74.Peace corps.
I'm spending 6 weeks there next year so I'll tighten that back up.

Portuguese is one of the most important languages for the future.
Mandarin is what I recommend to brainy kids down here in S America. Portuguese if not so brainy.
English, not so much.That movie is almost over.

If you are under 35 or so, in Amurkastan, you NEED to learn Spanish.

"I aint lernin nunna that thar Meskin. This iz Murka !"
OK. Keep the job at Walmart..or upgrade to a laborers position with a Latino landscaping or construction company.

 

[JenyEliza]

I speak c++, basic, some machine language, pascal, Algol, Fortran and a bit of Cobol.

In other words, you speak the Latin version of computer languages.

Dead.

 

[Sunni Man]

I once took a course in Linguistics.

There I was introduced to the "Whorfian Hypothesis"

The hypothesis offered by Benjamin Whorf is:

"That the commonly held belief that the cognitive prosesses of all human beings possess a common logical structure which operates prior to and independently of comunication through language is erroneous. It is Whorf's view that the linguistic patterns themselves determine what the individual perceives in this world and how he thinks about it., Since these patterns vary widely, the modes of thinking and perceiving in groups utilizing different linguistic systems will result in basically different world views".

"We are thus introduced to a new principle of relativity which holds that all observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe, unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar...We cut up and organize the spread and flow of events as we do largely because, though our mother tongue, we are partes of an agreement to so so, not because nature itself is segmented in exactly that way for all to see".

The Whorfian Hypothesis


In other words, your language frames your thoughts and defines your reality.

So a Chinaman views the world around him differently than say a German.

The physical reality is the same for both.

But the unique constructs of the language makes their mind process the information differently.

 

[uscitizen]

I speak c++, basic, some machine language, pascal, Algol, Fortran and a bit of Cobol.

In other words, you speak the Latin version of computer languages.

Dead.

Yeah does kinda date me?

However C++ is not ancient and I mess around a bit in Java and HTML.

But it does not matter since my working days are past.

 

[rightwinger]

I already speak the correct language......no need to learn another

 

[germanguy]

Hi,

I do speak my mothertongue (ahhh..sure), I ad English at school as well as French and Latin.
I prefer speaking English as a foreign language, because I simply love it. I speak French as well, but I would doubt I would stand a debate in it. Reading it is ok, but not more.
And my Latin is nearly lost, because I have not used it for 15 years.
I also tried to learn Polish (awful difficult 7 cases, German only has four) and I can get along in Dutch . I understand nearly every word, but speaking it makes the Dutch laugh.

Regards

ze germanguy

 

[Anguille]

I already speak the correct language......no need to learn another

Que dices?

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Russian has
Nominative
Genative
Accusitive
Dative
Instrumental
Locative.

What do Polish and German have?

One of the funnier Russian expressions is "To talk of him in all six cases" when spreading gossip about someone.


One of the interesting things about Russian expressions is that they are similar to english, only darker and more cynical. For instance the English expression is to "buy a pig in a poke." In Russian it is to "buy a cat in a sack." Which seems to show the english speaker sort of expects to find his pig, and is disappointed, where the Russian speaker has no real faith, and is not.

 

[mightypeon]

German has
Nominative
Genitive
Accusative
Dative

Polish
Nominative
Genative
Accusitive
Dative
Instrumental
Locative.
and "Polonotive"

because if the Russians have 6 cases than the Grand Rcepolita of Poland of course needs at least 7! For no particular reason ;D

 

[mightypeon]

Personally, I should be quite fluent in German and English (suprise), my German accent in English iz very strong, especially ze ze is quite prominent.
I can fluently understand Russian and speak it with an "amusing but weird" accent.

I can do some daily chores in mandarin, and can read French, Dutch and even Danish newspapers (with Dutch beeing easiest).
I can understand Latin sentences but not speak in them.

I have the personal goal of beeing able to say "Hello" "Good Buy" and "I love you" in every language of the world.