Languages

[cosmicpanda]

So, who speaks what?

 

I have recently decided that I want to learn German. So I'm working on that. I've discovered that a bunch of Scandinavian languages are similar. I'd love to learn Finnish, but from my point of view as a native speaker of English it looks more-or-less completely insane.

 

 

(Also, they've taken my Shayol Ghul away from me (not funny, admins ), so for the moment I'm going to be giving you WT denizens all my attention. Muaha.)

[Ledinna Sedai]

I'd love to learn Finnish, but from my point of view as a native speaker of English it looks more-or-less completely insane.

 

 

...

 

 

I'll take that as a compliment, Finnish is my native

[Rasheta Ardashir]

I have recently decided that I want to learn German.

 

Ich kann Deutsch sprechen, weiß ich nicht verwenden, es zu viel im Moment.Ich habe auch Englisch sprechen.

 

Translation: I can speak German, I do not use it to much at the Moment.I also speak English.

[Elgee]

Jy kan altyd Afrikaans probeer - dit is van Nederlands en Duits afkomstig, maar is veel makliker.

 

or:

 

You could always try Afrikaans - it is derived from Dutch and German, but is much easier. My home language is Afrikaans.

[michellem]

I speak Norwegian and English, Norwegian is my native tounge, but I have English family so I don't really think of it as a second language, more one and a half?

 

Norwegian, swedish and danish is very similar in written form, and similar to German; know one and you can understand a lot in the others. But Finnish is very different from those, and Icelandic is hopeless :P

[cosmicpanda]

Ledinna! I have only admiration for folks who can get their head around Finnish. (Also, Gerry Brownlee is a big fat slob and I didn't vote for him.)

 

Rasheta, are you German?

 

Elgee, I had a friend in my German class who was from South Africa. He had no trouble with the pronunciation. I can't say 'r' like Germans do...

 

Misheru, two languages always count as two languages!

[_wolfbrother_]

Is as Éire mé. Is é Gaeilge mo theanga dúchais, ach, le gach daoine in Éireann, úsaidim Béarla gach lá.

 

 

Translation: I'm from Ireland. Irish is my native language, but, like everyone else in Ireland, I use English on a day-to-day basis.

[cosmicpanda]

Does anybody make a point of speaking Irish? Are your street signs in Irish?

[_wolfbrother_]

Everything is in Irish and English

[_wolfbrother_]

And yeah, there are parts of the country that predominantly speak Irish [i live in one XD], but to even become slightly employable, you need to at least have a basic understanding of Irish.

[Panchi]

Mein Angreyzi ke saath Himdi bhi bloti hoon.

 

Or

 

मैं अंग्रेज़ी के साथ हिंदी भी बोलती हूँ I

 

Translation: A speak Hindi with English. Hindi is my native tongue.

[Elgee]

How do you cope with the "ch" sound, Pandy? The way the Germanic languages (and the Scots) pronounce it? Our "g" is the same as that, so we don't struggle with it all, like the poor English do.

 

Wolfbrother, I think it's brilliant that your native language is used in an official capacity - quite often such languages are pushed aside in favour of English.

[cosmicpanda]

I can do the 'ch' sounds, they're not too hard once you get them. It's just the 'r' in the back of the throat that gets me. (Terrifying words include Fahrrad und Gitarre)

[Elgee]

Well at least the R in German isn't as bad as in French - that one even I struggle with a bit.

[Aiel Heart]

I speak some German and a tad Russian. Just woke up so can't do either correctly :P

[michellem]

Misheru, two languages always count as two languages!

 

Yeah I ment that I don't consider english as my second language, but almost as natural to me as my native language. I speak and write english perfectly (when I bother, forum chatty posts are after all a more unformal way of speaking).

 

I find the discussions about the r-s and ch-s very funny. Being native with both my first reaction was "what? It's so easy" XD

 

Jeg er fra Norge og snakker norsk. I dag er det søndag første april, aprilsnarr! Sola skinner og det blåser.

 

I am from Norway and talk Norwegian. Today it's sunday april 1st, aprils fool! The sun is shining and it's blowing.

[Razen]

Я немного говорю по-русски. I also am considering learning either Swedish, Finnish, or Japanese.

[Ledinna Sedai]

^^ Suosittelen suomea. Ruotsikin on aika helppoa, ja sillä tajuaa norjaakin.

 

translation: I recommend Finnish. Swedish is pretty easy too, and with that you can understand Norwegian as well.

 

I've been learning German since I was ten, so it goes ok too.

[Rekinu Alasayaar]

I speak Spanish (from the two years i spent in Chile), but English is my main language. I dont have lots of opportunities to speak Spanish though in Idaho unless the Mexicans come to K-mart

[Brandie]

I took spanish in High School but I don't really remember much. I can say some things but not enough to carry on a conversation...

[cosmicpanda]

[i find the discussions about the r-s and ch-s very funny. Being native with both my first reaction was "what? It's so easy" XD

 

 

At least in my country, learning languages is something that you just don't have to do. It's been quite eye-opening for me to discover these new ways of communicating. Also quite humbling, since while you're learning the basics of a language you feel a bit like a child... heh.

 

 

^^ Suosittelen suomea. Ruotsikin on aika helppoa, ja sillä tajuaa norjaakin.

 

translation: I recommend Finnish. Swedish is pretty easy too, and with that you can understand Norwegian as well.

 

I've been learning German since I was ten, so it goes ok too.

 

See, Finnish looks like such a pretty language, almost as much as Italian (sorry!). But the grammar looks so convoluted! Once I'm fairly good at German I might have a crack at Finnish. I'm considering training to be a teacher, and Finland is supposed to have the world's best education system, so I can justify learning the language that way.

[Nyanna al'Meara]

German is my native language, but I use English just as much, and have been learning Spanish for 5 years :)

 

*rrrrolls her RRrrrrrs* :P don't worry Pandy Sr, the north Germans don't roll it properly either XD

 

 

Oh, and that's awesome wolfbro. I really wanna learn Irish one day, even if it's just enough to understand Clannad texts I've always been fascinated by everything Gaelic and it's awesome that the beautiful language is still in use!!!

[_wolfbrother_]

Gaelic isn't Irish its what Scots Gaelic, Welsh and Irish derived from. In Ireland, Gaelic is a sport

[Nyanna al'Meara]

Yeh I wasn't referring to Gaelic as the language, but the whole culture and history surrounding those countries *waves hand around vaguely* ;D

[_wolfbrother_]

Ah, well that's fine Irish don't like it when Irish is called Gaelic. Never understood why *shrugs*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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