March 29, 2004

• I can read french fairly well. Don't speak it very well, though.
• English, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish. That makes two languages.
• I can speak/read French alright - although I really haven't used it in a while. I'd reall like to get back into it though so many jobs here require you to be bilingual. I've taken some German classes. I can read it with a struggle, but I speak it horribly. I'd learn to speak it properly if I had more time to devote.
• I speak German to some small degree, but only because my high school didn't offer Russian.
• i speak english and Yooper. comes in handy in michigan; it's often amusing to people from outside the state. other than that, despite 4 years of spanish in high school and a month in spain, the only words i seem to remember well are the naughty ones, although i feel i might do ok if forced to take it up again...
• English, German, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish. So that's three.
• clf : "yooper"? Can you give a demonstration?
• english only. sigh. not for lack of trying. took eight years of spanish, nothing stuck. when pressed, i can manage to say, "my dog is small" in german. that greatly amuses my boyfriend's pals when i'm over there visiting. oh! and i can say "hospital" too. and "train station." that's about it. so if i ever need to take my small dog on the train to the hospital, i'm all set!
• english, and just enough french to not get my ass kicked when visiting montreal. oh, and i'm also fluent in ubby-dubby, and can swear in serbo-croation :-) *waits for languagehat to come by and kick our asses with his million fluencies* (yes i know that's not a real word, heh)
• French (native), English (quite well I suppose, though it's always difficult to say), Spanish (but not as well as English, lo siento). I'm also learning breton and korean in my spare time, which amounts to 5mins/week at the mo.
• Momma spoke little English when I was born, so Spanish was the first one. Also I learned French in high school, and since half the students were hispanic including the teacher, she tended to teach French with emphasis on similarities with Spanish, using effective mnemonics that made it seem like an extension of the Spanish we already knew. Spanish+French = reading Portugese and Italian is a breeze, though they are nearly impossible to me when heard.
• Mein bein ist ein klein Schwein.
• Do programming languages count? Also, I can talk in maths.
• BBF : ah yeah, German Toungetwisters. Did you also have to do "Ich lieb' du nicht, du liebst mich nicht"?
• English and passable but rusty Spanish. Same as ernie with Portuguese and Italian. I took some Russian in college and loved it, but the only phrases I remember are "Mama and Papa listen to music and Grandmother reads a book," and "What a nice kitty." I can also wish someone good morning and invite them to the zoo in Japanese. If I had time I'd love to learn more of everything.
• And thanks to this thread, I've spur-of-the-moment signed up for German classes for next semster. Thanks, Monkeys, for reminding me how much I loved German.
• I'm a native English speaker, fluent in Spanish and conversant in Russian, French, and Aymara (the language of the Bolivian altiplano). I'm going to have to learn Italian soon, since my sister is marrying one of them...
• I know bits and pieces of French and Japanese from 6+ years of watching those movies. I know how to curse in Spanish, Polish and Ancient Greek. I speak redneck when needed. Thats it.
• Native Spanish speaker, fluent in English, conversant in ASL (American Sign Language). Took a year of Latin and a year of Russian, but that was so long ago . . . My next focus will likely be French, though Mandarin is beginning to appeal to me.
• sciurus : I know bits ... of ... Japanese from 6+ years of watching those movies. I do not assign you, sciurus, into this category of people, but I'd like to gather up those who "learn" Japanese by watching anime and shoot them into the sun.
• English only, I'm ashamed to say. Although I do know enough conversational French to get by in a pinch, and am dying to find the time to learn more.
• I'm not talking about anime. I've only seen one or two. I'm talking Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, etc. All I really know is how to say is yes and thank you but I can pick up on random words now and then. I actually just got done watching The 47 Ronin a few days ago.
• English, Spanish (fluent), Portuguese (fluent but rusty), French (ditto) took enough German to be able to carry on a simple conversation once upon a time, but never really nailed it, and enough tourist Italian to get around, falling back into Spanish if I can't find the right word, and that's often enough to be understood. Oh, and a smattering of Norwegian from my grandmother. I count that as four.
• I do not assign you, sciurus, into this category of people, but I'd like to gather up those who "learn" Japanese by watching anime and shoot them into the sun. O-yurushi o!
• boo_radley - the upper peninsula of michigan is an interesting mix of cultural oddities. it's a bit like a canadian accent, and a wee bit like a wisconsin accent, but different from both. there's a couple of ways to experience this: find a live yooper, or find a reasonably good facsimile. there's a band that makes use of the general accents, and you can always watch a rather strange but quite informative movie on the region. i generally use the "fluent in Yooper" line as a joke. but it brings up an interesting question... the US is large enough to have somewhat fragmented differences in local word usage and pronunciation; i imagine other countries (especially countries older than the US) would have even more. so, what odd local dialects are you familiar with in your own countries? (not talkin' other languages, like welsh or gaelic, i mean "you can tell he's from X by the way he says Y" kind of things...)
• I am also fluent in the international language of looove. Will tutor for food. Baby.
• mrlivefrogs: In Sweden (old country...) we have several hundred dialects. The smaller are only understood by the locals. It's really weird coming to a small town in rural Sweden and not have a fuckin clue what people are saying.
• and no, none of them is BORK. ;)
• *waits for languagehat to come by and kick our asses with his million fluencies* Дарбанзаалак ауаюы иара идунеихъа8шышьа да6ъи0уп, насгьы иши0ахыу уи аар8шра азин имоуп! But seriously, folks... I know bits ... of ... Japanese from 6+ years of watching ... Kurosawa ... Chikusho! Samuree da!
• The Swedish Language Sorry, I'll stop now.
• English, southern U.S. It's a different dialect, y'all. I also remember very little of my Spanish after several years of courses in high school and college. I was planning to major in it, until I took the Spanish equivalent of Western Civ with a bunch of kids who just returned from studying abroad in Madrid. The professor was in the US after (I think) a self-imposed exile leftover from Franco's time. I never had a chance.
• Do not be listening to marx. He is no good for you. I got what you need, baby. Otherwise, elementary school French, secondary school Latin, college German, postgraduate Thai. The German stays halfway paged into core from the occasional opera, but the rest is pretty much shot to hell (I can struggle through Le Figaro with great effort, and have no conversational chops at all in any of these). I have a huge Chinese jones from a year of CMA, and so want to learn Mandarin next.
• I am also fluent in the international language of looove. Heh. This reminds me of something one of my language tutors once told me, with a hopeful look in is eye: "A shared pillow is the best dictionary."
• I have a huge jones too.
• English, fluently...I can read a bit of Spanish & speak less, but generally make myself understood. I have even less French, but can ready simple sentences & communicate the basics. 2 years of college Latin enable me to enjoy the poetry of Catullus & Horace in the beautiful original. one semester of modern Greek has left me with a random variety of vocab & a single sentence "this is the family photograph". In Japanese I can say "oh my goodness" and "please hurry", in addition to being able to thank Mr. Robato ;)
• I speak/write/read basic Hebrew. I also know conversational Spanish and French. I took 5 years of Latin reading/writing classes, too. Right now, I
• English, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit (rapidly diminishing), a bit of French.
• Ball' eis kopakes, languagehat. I know how to say 'I have a big Jones' in Polish. it sounds something like 'Momn Deesjaygah Hooyuh' other than that i'm worthless.
• English eh! Sadly every other language I have attempted to learn fell victim to my lack of dedication; namely French, German, Italian, Mandarin and ASL. Although there is still hope for ASL as my wife is studying to be an interpreter and we are teaching our Son. Oh and Music.
• Live frogs: run, do not walk to England. Get out of the south east. Ask older people to speak among themselves. Marvel at the way that something which is technically English is completely unintelligible to you. I tried this when I was working in Dudley; a 60 year old and his mum demonstrated real Black Country speech for my wife and I. Couldn't understand a fucking word, and I have no problem with a thick Glasgwegian accent spoken at speed. I imagine the same effect could have been obtained had I performed the same experiement in Cornwall or Yorkshire.
• My conversational Latin skills just may come in handy someday. I JUST KNOW IT.
• When the Roman zombies come back to enslave us all. Who'll be laughing then?
• English, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, rusty French and even rustier Russian.
• I can read some Spanish and will be going back to spoken Spanish classes soon. Some spoken Japanese which is fading away rapidly (1 year living in Japan - not by watching amine...pbbbbbbt!)
• i will learn spanish eventually, if only to read garc
• I've wanted to learn Persian for a similar reason, t r a c y. I'd like to read The Blind Owl in its original form.
• No, Blaise, it's when i feel unusual is sucked through a time warp into the time of Julius Caeser. He'll be Just Fine.
• Oh, yeah. I somehow forgot to mention my natural gift for Spanish.
• Wrote my PhD in French. And my MA. *tries to forget*
• English (native). German (fluent). Yiddish (understand but can't speak). French, Dutch, Afrikaans, Swedish: reading knowledge only. Can read Beowulf with the aid of a wordlist and my ancient copy of Sweet's Anglo Saxon Primer. Poor Maori, less Hebrew. Dog Latin. Can misremember enough random language factoids to annoy real linguists. Currently having a crack at Portuguese in preparation for a trip to Brazil to learn more capoeira.
• I don't suppose you also speak Wolof, Wolof?
• Tragically, monoglot English. (With a smattering of l33t, lol!!!) Although increasing amounts of Yiddish are infiltrating my everyday vocabulary.
• I speak English as my native language and I'm fluent in German after a year studying abroad.
• English is my first language; Mandarin my second language. Teochew (a Chinese dialect) is my mother tongue. Hokkien is fairly fluent, although my Teochew accent is laughable; Cantonese is ok, provided you give me time to think about what to say. I can understand Hainanese (fraternal grandma was a Hainanese - from Hainan Island, southernmost China), but can't speak it to save my life. That makes it two languages I suppose. I can spout individual phrases of Japanese, due to loads of anime, too!
• Alnedra, beware of boo!
• Erk, studied japanese for a few years through high school and college, lived here for two years. I can speak conversationally about things I am interested, but I am generally too antisocial to bear along with my day to day work discussions. Plus, my boss is high strung and totally nuts. My Japanese is somewhere between hoodlum and retarded 3rd grader that just learned how to swear. Then again, I dont use it much, or watch anime or T.V.... or study. My english is passable. On the other hand, I know lots of programming languages, and math.
• That's it! *loads Alnedra into the space ship*
• so languagehat, pardon me if this is covered well elsewhere, but i just have to ask - how exactly does one end up learning 13+ languages? did you discover that you had what people generally call a gift for it, or was it due to self-interest (or necessity) and plain hard work?
• Mandarin (native) and English. Can understand Cantonese and Taiwanese most of the time, given context. Know several Japanese words from anime, TV shows amd J-pop.
• 俺は日本語（関西弁）ができる。標準語や神奈川弁もぼちぼちいけるやけど最初に出会ったのは関西弁。 I'm not a fan of manga, anime, or Japanese cinema so I'm not good with references to those things. I also suck at reading Japanese in roman characters. I also know enough French, Spanish, and German to misread everything I encounter from those languages. And Zemat, correct me if I'm wrong, but by increase the apparent intellectual level of discussions did you really mean "let's nerdalize this m*ther fucker!"
• let's nerdalize this m*ther fucker! Exactly... But I was fooling about that, really. I would never use spanish here unless provoken. But i love to use the "
• caution live frogs: rodgerd and i can converse in broad Niu Zilnd at sufficient speed to flummox speakers of Estuary English. Another place where you can hear magnificently varied English is Ireland. I once had the pleasure of drinking with two Irishmen from different counties who could only understand each other (or me) with the greatest of exertions. Thanks to the lubrication provided by Guiness, (for me), and vodka and Red Bull (for them), we triangulated on something approximately a standard international English. I am also fluent in Strine. You may wish to consult "Let's Talk Strine", by Afferbeck Lauder, or the companion volume, "Nose Tone Unturned".
• *screams, smacks boo_radley with 100 ton hammer*
• English only. Starting Bhasa course in May. Partner speaks German, Italian, French and English - so I don't need to.
• English is the only language I can claim to really speak well. I can read Spanish alright and know various words and phrases in German and Irish Gaelic. Speaking of languages are there siblings of monkeyfilter except in a language other than English?
• Tellurian: Just out of curiosity.... if your partner starts swearing at you in other languages...how do you tell?
• English (no duh) both US and NZ. Strine when required. German to speak and read (although as anyone who saw my Einstein translation can attest, I can't translate well), and a little everyday Spanish for visiting Ensenada. :) I could tell a funny but embarrassing story about the time I admonished some boys who were throwing rocks at a frog by calling out, "Pobre naranja!" having misheard the word for "frog" (la rana) as naranja, Spanish for "orange".
• are there siblings of monkeyfilter except in a language other than English? Sort of.
• how exactly does one end up learning 13+ languages? Well, for me it started with spending my first few years in Japan
• I'm pretty fluent in English. I can count to ten in Spanish......that's about it. Yep.
• Fluent in English. Fluent (but rusty) in German. I used to do ok with Italian, but after 9 years of disuse I can't remember much beyond "Don't touch me!" and "I'm a vegetarian." Spatterings of Spanish. Bits of Biblical Hebrew. (I can say "I am Rachel, daughter of David.") And I don't speak French or Latin, but I can read both pretty well thanks to the Italian and I understand a lot of French. (My parents used to speak French when they didn't want us kids to know what they were discussing.) (We lived in Korea for a few years when I was about two. Now that languagehat mentions it, I wonder if that explains why I find languages fairly easy to pick up?)
• "Don't touch me!" is your only surviving Italian? Does this mean all those steretypes I hear about Italian men really are true?
• rodgerd, yes. Edit: I was in Milan when I was about 6-7 months pregnant and guys were still coming up to me in parks and in the street and asking me if I was single and whether I'd like to come for a drink.
• *Packs bag and books ticket for Italy.*
• tracicle: I'm not sure if that kind of reaction is limited to Italian men. Pregnancy is an internationally understood sign that you put out.
• Western Canadian French (read Corn Flakes box while eating breakfast), gringo Spanish and Strine. Fluent in dead langauges eg. COBOL.
• Native English (spoken in the sweet tones of a northern boy), fluent Mandarin, quite good French though it's all passive now, some Cantonese. Would most like to learn Welsh and Spanish.
• Native English (South-eastern English) French fluently and indeed professionally (BA degree, a year living there, and I am now a French-English translator), German not as well as I used to (not that I was ever that good, but studied it at school), Russian one year of beginner's classes (so not much). I was seduced under (semi-)false pretences by a Welshman - had I known he didn't speak the language beyond 'the small saucepan is boiling on the fire' I might not have been that interested...
• Only English fluently, but I have in the past been conversational in Japanese and Spanish with little need of translating back to English. I'd pick them up again pretty quickly. Some German, a little Latin, and a very little Hebrew. I can read Spanish, French, German, Latin, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese roughly in that order of competency, and pieces of other Germanic and Romance languages. C++, Java, PROLOG, and various scripting and markup languages. I like languages an awful lot, though I've mostly been learning programming languages for the last few years. PROLOG is so I can program about languages. Metalingual!
• English (American and British,) Middle English, French, Italian, German. Learnt a smattering of Swedish from a Swedish friend and a tiiiiiny amount of Czech from frequent visits there. Used to speak Anglo-Saxon, but mostly lost it. Basically, when I have a friend who studies or speaks a foreign language, I become a Language Vampire and drain knowledge from their brain when they're not looking.