How many languages do you speak?

[Classic]

And by this, I mean human languages.

Computer languages like C++, Perl, and Java, while valuable, aren't what I'm talking about.

I'm a native English speaker, and I speak Fluent Italian, and pretty good French.

[edesignuk]

Sorry to say, but I only speak (bad) english! :D

[Durandal7]

I only know English as of now. I am however beginning a spanish course next year.

[billiam0878]

I can speak a little French and I am currently learning Spanish, so maybe in a couple years I'll be able to speak three languages.

Bill

[King Cobra]

Hey, verbose, you just reminded me of something Bruce Willace said from 5th Element. (And whoever responded to me earlier with "Multi-Pass" is gonna get his ash kicked if he wasts another post like that...kidding :D)

So I know three languages: Spanish, English and Bad English. I usually speak the first two. I have taken about 16 years of English and around 4 years of Spanish.

Besides, I find Spanish so easy to speak, and, in many cases, easier than English! Seriously. :cool:

[coolocity]

I speak English and French, and I can also sign, so techniclly that should be 3 languages. Yes! I rule!

[Royal Pineapple]

me talk american goodly:D :D

[Backtothemac]

Well, three really.

English, Countryboy, and all out friggin hick. Aka, Redneck.

he.he:D

[eyelikeart]

I only speak English fluently. I've taken French a little bit in college, through high school, and also in grade school. I'm very rusty now in French of course.

I will be required to take foreign language in order to qualify to get my graduate degree, so I've been torn between picking back up on French or going full throttle into Spanish since it's easier...

any ideas??

[King Cobra]

Originally posted by Royal Pineapple
me talk american goodly:D :D

no is right for demi talk bad english and no use caps

can give newbies bad impression how demis do work the forums

you learn more better grammar and talk again when learns how speak right way :D :cool:

[Santiago]

I'm a native speaker of English and Spanish, am fluent in French, and know a reasonable amount of German.

[King Cobra]

Originally posted by eyelikeart
I will be required to take foreign language in order to qualify to get my graduate degree, so I've been torn between picking back up on French or going full throttle into Spanish since it's easier...

any ideas??

I would not be able to compare the two languages that well, but Spanish IMO is such an easy language. I am not sure if there are any easier.

Anyways, ¡Lo mejor suerte! (The best luck!) :cool:

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by Santiago
I'm a native speaker of English and Spanish, am fluent in French, and know a reasonable amount of German.
Dude! 4 languages! I'm impressed! :D
...and welcome to macrumors.com!

[eyelikeart]

Originally posted by King Cobra


I would not be able to compare the two languages that well, but Spanish IMO is such an easy language. I am not sure if there are any easier.

I've always been told how easy Spanish is to pick up. French is pretty complex as far as I'm concerned. Of course, English is the largest & the hardest (correct?) language to learn...so I guess I'm ahead of the game then? ;)

[King Cobra]

I think you are correct, eye. English is the hardest language to learn.

so I guess I'm ahead of the game then? ;)

LOL! Hey, that makes two of us! Anyone else? :cool:

[Gelfin]

Oh, I'm basically your typical American monoglot, with at least the good sense to be embarassed about it. But I know a bit of French from high school, a bit of Spanish from traveling in Central America and a bit of Japanese because teaching myself is kind of an off-and-on hobby of mine. I can probably conduct myself equally well in any of those three, but that's not saying a lot.

[Royal Pineapple]

Originally posted by eyelikeart


I've always been told how easy Spanish is to pick up. French is pretty complex as far as I'm concerned. Of course, English is the largest & the hardest (correct?) language to learn...so I guess I'm ahead of the game then? ;) i read once that Manderain Chinese, is more dificult to pick up than even english.
if this is wrong plese someone inform me:D

[King Cobra]

Ladies and gentlemen, the hardest language in the world (http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459f97/evert/report2.html)! :D :D

:cool:

[AlphaTech]

Real languages: English (American style, there is no ******** 'u' in color :P)

Alternates: technobabble... :D Also known as GeekSpeak...

I keep intending to learn Russian, but have yet to actually start on it. maybe one of these days I will.

[mymemory]

Of course Spanish, you have to tell me is my English is good enough (I speak better) and I had some French but I was learned it when I was an exchange student learning English, so you can imagine. When you are an exchange student in the US by the end of the year you are able to talk 4 different languages in just one centence (usually English, German, Spanish and French).

Spanish is such easy language to learn, I do no thos why, we have 4 times of past tense, 2 present tense and 3 furture tense and not auxiliaries, beside, everything is in backwards but I think it makes more sense.

What I have seen is that Spanish spoken people are more used to understand more, there are tons of variations between accents, slangs, etc. In the US if I didn't say the word in the exact way, it didn't make sense. Well, the other reason could be that it happend in Arkansas where people never had contact with the rest of the world, only the Bible.

[King Cobra]

Originally posted by mymemory
When you are an exchange student in the US by the end of the year you are able to talk 4 different languages in just one centence (usually English, German, Spanish and French).

¿Bonjour, mag ich ir a bed? :D

I agree on the spanish, though. The only thing that may be confusing about Spanish would be the irregular verbs (we don't have enough in our language :D). But those are easy to get used to.

I just finished my last year of spanish and I got As or A-s throughout the board, even on the two hour 180 Q exam.

And I think Rower would know best about having a conversation in Spanish, as he did minor in it in college. :cool:

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by mymemory
Of course Spanish, you have to tell me is my English is good enough (I speak better)

Honestly, your writing of English sucks. My 7 year old niece does better, and my 5 year old nephew can speak better then you type here.

[Classic]

Originally posted by AlphaTech


Honestly, your writing of English sucks. My 7 year old niece does better, and my 5 year old nephew can speak better then you type here.

That's so wrong!!! But kind of funny all at once. :p

I was just about to write that mymemory's writing has improved considerably over the past year of posting.

[kettle]

English only sorry, while trying my best to understand American and Australian.:)

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by Classic


That's so wrong!!! But kind of funny all at once. :p

I was just about to write that mymemory's writing has improved considerably over the past year of posting.

Like so many things in the US.... so wrong, yet so right at the same time... :D

[Wildcat]

I currently only speak 1 but I have to take 4 semesters of German so we will see how I am doing it 2 years.

[eyelikeart]

Originally posted by Wildcat
I currently only speak 1 but I have to take 4 semesters of German so we will see how I am doing it 2 years.

wow...why German?

that's my dilemma with my return to college...

I can either pick back up where I left 6 years ago in French....rusty of course...3 more semesters...

or I can start over and do 4 straight in Spanish fresh...and use my French credit as an elective...

they say French is the language of love...but damn...I think I'm opting for door #2... ;)

[3rdpath]

english mainly.

but i know enough to get a beer, some food and directions to the bathroom
( in that order) in multiple countries. what more do i need?

oh, and i used to speak a rather strange language in college but i think that may have had something to do with chemicals...:D

[Rower_CPU]

First language: English
Second languages: French, Spanish

Dialects: Hawaiian Pidgin English, Californian English

[resm]

my mother tongue is Swiss-German (thats a German dialect).....in school we did speak and write High-German.
Later on in school French was added (thats why not to much remains...I hate learning languages in a school).
I worked in the Italien part of Switzerland where I added fluent Italien, then went on to Denmark where Danish was added (loved that language) and on my stints to Scottland..Philippines..Malaysia and now Singapore, English has now become my "mother tongue".

so that makes it 6 :D

[job]

I can speak English (obviously) and fluent German, since I lived in Germany for 4 years. I even tested out of A.P. German in High School as a Freshman.

hitman

[FelixDerKater]

Native tongue: English
Others: German, Italian, Spanish, some French, and some Hebrew (no, I'm not Jewish... It was the only elective that was interesting and at a good time that still had seats available in college)

The best and most beautiful language in all the world is Italian.

[3rdpath]

Originally posted by FelixDerKater
Native tongue: English
Others: German, Italian, Spanish, some French, and some Hebrew (no, I'm not Jewish... It was the only elective that was interesting and at a good time that still had seats available in college)

The best and most beautiful language in all the world is Italian.


wow, thats impressive...here's a question since english is your native tongue:

when you speak another language do you think in your head in english but talk(italian or whatever...) or do you think completely in the language you're speaking? just wondering.

btw, please help out when those crappy google translations are used in the rumour sections...

[firewire2001]

i read once that Manderain Chinese, is more dificult to pick up than even english.

yeah.. the asian languages are definately the hardest...

however, there are two types of chinese which are equally hard by my standards -- Mandarin and Cantonese..

The mainland mostly speaks Cantonese, while Taiwan speaks Mandarin.. However, both the cantonese and mandarin languages use the same character set - so if you can read mandarin, you can rad cantonese, or vica versa....

japanese is also a very hard language... however, pronounciations are slightly easier than those of chinese...

finally theres korean.. i would still consider korean still a really hard language -- however, Korean has its own "Alphabet" -- twenty something characters ( i think ) that are repeated to form words -- just like english...

i myself am going to learn Japanese next year, which is really cool for me.. since ive always liked Asian Languages.. i know a bit of chinese (no reading..), a bit of german, some hebrew, and of course, english...

[job]

Originally posted by 3rdpath



wow, thats impressive...here's a question since english is your native tongue:

when you speak another language do you think in your head in english but talk(italian or whatever...) or do you think completely in the language you're speaking? just wondering.

btw, please help out when those crappy google translations are used in the rumour sections...

Yep, whenever I speak German, I also think in German. So I would guess that if you are speaking a language, you also have to be thinking in the same language. It is really hard to do otherwise. I have even had a couple of dreams in German, and when I wake up in the morning, I start thinking in German.

[britboy]

So far.....

I learnt french when i was about 6, at a school near collonges (in france). A few years later i spent some time in spain, living with a spanish family (2 years), and just recently i've returned to the UK after spending a year in germany. In between i lived in the middle-east for most of the 80's, and picked up a fair amount of arabic. At the moment i'm busy learning (trying ;)) finnish.

Not bad, for a start :rolleyes: :D

[King Cobra]

That seems pretty young for french.

I learned some Spanish probably around the same age, but this was from a little kids' show.

britboy, I saw your signature and dial-up, you're in my world! Actually, there is another language I know, but I don't think I'm allowed to post it, as it would get censored! :eek:

I'm still working on the sign language for it... :D

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by King Cobra
britboy, I saw your signature and dial-up, you're in my world! Actually, there is another language I know, but I don't think I'm allowed to post it, as it would get censored! :eek:

I'm still working on the sign language for it... :D

I almost pity you dial-up fools... but then again, if I did, I wouldn't be the cruel, heartless bastard you all have come to know and love. :D

[Gelfin]

Originally posted by firewire2001

japanese is also a very hard language... however, pronounciations are slightly easier than those of chinese...

finally theres korean.. i would still consider korean still a really hard language -- however, Korean has its own "Alphabet" -- twenty something characters ( i think ) that are repeated to form words -- just like english...

i myself am going to learn Japanese next year, which is really cool for me.. since ive always liked Asian Languages.. i know a bit of chinese (no reading..), a bit of german, some hebrew, and of course, english...

Japanese is much easier than any Chinese language. You have to drop fewer preconceptions about how to pronounce things, and there are none of the weird tonal distinctions you hit in Chinese. Chinese relies upon tone more than English does, while Japanese actually relies on it less. I don't know how Chinese sentence construction works, but one of the challenging things about Japanese is that sentences are assembled in something like reverse polish (postfix) notation on a scientific calculator.

Japanese also has a phonetic alphabet. Two, actually. You just wouldn't use the phonetics exclusively. I've been told that Korean is actually very similar to Japanese, to the extent that native Japanese speakers can make a bit of sense of native Korean speakers. But I was never sure if that meant they were as close as German is to some of the languages in neighboring countries (very close), or as close as German is to English (not so close). There was a language barrier in that conversation as well. :D

[King Cobra]

Originally posted by AlphaTech
you all have come to know and love. :D

Don't worry...fyter and I will still like you anyway.

We're just finishing up the cake... :D :D

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by King Cobra


Don't worry...fyter and I will still like you anyway.

We're just finishing up the cake... :D :D

If he shows up with any of that pepsi blue *****, it's going right up his rectal cavity (opened). :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :D

[King Cobra]

Don't worry, Bubba...as long as he brings the most expensive Guinness and he keeps the Blue to himself will that be all right? :D

Come to think of it I might bring a blue! :D

[britboy]

Originally posted by King Cobra
That seems pretty young for french.

I learned some Spanish probably around the same age, but this was from a little kids' show.

britboy, I saw your signature and dial-up, you're in my world! Actually, there is another language I know, but I don't think I'm allowed to post it, as it would get censored! :eek:

I'm still working on the sign language for it... :D


You know what they say. "You can't teach an old dog new tricks"! :D :D My parent's figured they'd start me young, and gave me the chance to learn french (and to hate them ;))

Dial-up really sucks phalus. I'd not realised just how good the connection i had at uni in germany was :) I'm checking around right now though, to see what the best deal is for broadband.

I want my high-speed connection back!!! :( :mad: :D

[King Cobra]

For NJ it doesn't look like I'll EVER get dial-up, since my parents have to save as much dinero as possible for the move to Maine, and $20 per month for dial-up is enough as it is. The cable service for FCC is $60 month and we are not close enough for DSL.

Even when we move to Sweden, Maine we won't get cable, because we will be so isolated from everything we can only get get dial-up. It looks like I will have to live my life with dial-up. :eek: :(

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by King Cobra
For NJ it doesn't look like I'll EVER get dial-up, since my parents have to save as much dinero as possible for the move to Maine, and $20 per month for dial-up is enough as it is. The cable service for FCC is $60 month and we are not close enough for DSL.

Even when we move to Sweden, Maine we won't get cable, because we will be so isolated from everything we can only get get dial-up. It looks like I will have to live my life with dial-up. :eek: :(

You poor, poor bastage... heh heh heh... You could try to go with satellite for both tv and online. It should provide you with better speeds then dial-up does, but then again, you never know. Depending on how far into Maine you go, you might want to put some de-icing coils on that dish. :D As well as your car, your roof, the windows, and everything else that is bolted down. It can get blue balls cold up there...

Don't forget the rifles too, especially if you are isolated. Never know when a bear will come a callin on your ass. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :D

[King Cobra]

>You poor, poor bastage... heh heh heh...
Hey there, Bubba!

>You could try to go with satellite for both tv and online. It should provide you with better speeds then dial-up does, but then again, you never know.
My father did bring up the topic of satellite modems, but I'm not too sure how they work.

>Depending on how far into Maine you go, you might want to put some de-icing coils on that dish. :D As well as your car, your roof, the windows, and everything else that is bolted down. It can get blue balls cold up there...
We'll probably also get a UPS generator, since we are bound to have power outages from the several feet of snow that fall each week, to keep the heat goin'. :D

>Don't forget the rifles too, especially if you are isolated. Never know when a bear will come a callin on your ass. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :D
Bears are sometimes common in those areas, but once in a while the horses will break loose from their little homes from down the street and end up in our back yard up there.

BTW, Tech, if you want to bash someone else w/o cable I think cb911 and britboy (now) suffer from dialup-ism! :eek: :eek:

[DavPeanut]

Originally posted by King Cobra
I think you are correct, eye. English is the hardest language to learn.



LOL! Hey, that makes two of us! Anyone else? :cool:
me!

[DavPeanut]

I speak english very well. Hablo el español también, sort of. I have taken two years of spanish now, and will start a third at the end of the summer.

[mmmdreg]

I can speak quite a bit Japanese, complete English, Australian, and a bit of Chinese from school...

[Promostyle]

I speak-read-and write English.
I also speak and read (Romanji) Japanese.

I grew up in LA, CA so I speak a little Spanish. I also know a little Italian.

[groovebuster]

Originally posted by eyelikeart
Of course, English is the largest & the hardest (correct?) language to learn...

That's a good one! :D

Who told you the ferry-tale, that English is the hardest language to learn? Actually it's one of the easiest languages... If you want a challenge, try to learn Chinese or a slavic language. Even German is more complicated than English (although it has the same roots as English).

Just ask anyone whose mother-tongue is not English and was learning English and another more complicated language. ;)

Back to the topic... I speak 3.x languages. German, English and French fluently and a little bit turkish, greek, croatian and italian...
The advdantage of living in a multi-cutural city like Berlin. My class-mates were from all over the world. :)

I really would like to talk an asian language... we'll see.

groovebuster

[Promostyle]

GrooveB:

English is one of the hardest languages to learn (because of the multiple word meanings).

Japanese, and Cantonese are some of the easier languages to learn (unless you count writing), because of the simplified grammar structure.

[groovebuster]

Originally posted by Promostyle
GrooveB:

English is one of the hardest languages to learn (because of the multiple word meanings).

Japanese, and Cantonese are some of the easier languages to learn (unless you count writing), because of the simplified grammar structure.

Maybe it depends on the point of view, since my mother-tongue is German, for me it was easy to learn English. Multiple word meanings are very "popular" in German too, so no big thing.

I still think that English in the beginning is very easy to learn. It has a very simple grammar and you can communicate already after a short time with other people even with limited vocabulary. It starts to become complicated when you need to understand sayings and common phrases in daily-life talk. But that's something you are faced in every language with more or less.

The statement that English is easier to learn than other languages is not from me, it came from friends with different mother-tongues than English or German in my environment So you think they are wrong? I don't know... I tend to believe them. Or is your opinion based on some scientific studies?

I know that German is a very complicated language if you want to speak it properly, but I don't know how it is for beginners.

I just know when my wife started to learn German that she had a lot of problems with the grammar (she's Canadian, fluent in French (mother-tongue) and English). Since we have three sexes for our nouns, combined with the use of nominative, genitive, dative and accusative, plus a *****-load of irregular verbs and words with multiple meanings, she was going crazy and still has problems after 3 years (she's living in Germany since 2 years).

So I don't know... maybe the decision if a language is hard to learn should be made by those who have to learn it and not by native speakers.

groovebuster

[groovebuster]

Originally posted by Promostyle
GrooveB:
Japanese, and Cantonese are some of the easier languages to learn (unless you count writing), because of the simplified grammar structure.

I totally forgot... ;)

Of course learning a language also means to read and write it. That's why I think that Chinese (cantonese) is very difficult to learn. Japanese was never a subject, I know that it is relatively simple compared to Chinese.

But the slavic languages are also very difficult. I had a croatian girl-friend once and she was teaching me a little bit of croatian. I have to admit that it was very difficult since they have a grammar from another planet... But a very nice language anyway! :)

groovebuster

[McFreggle]

Dutch (mother tongue)
English
French
German

Like everyone else in Belgium ;)

k.

[FelixDerKater]

Want to have fun, try reading unpointed Hebrew... No vowels. You have to have a huge vocabulary and read just about everything in context. Of course it isn't used too widely anymore.

German has an interesting grammar structure, which is similar to English, but a bit more difficult.

English is a very strange language because of all the exceptions to the rule. Example: I read MacRumors. (present) I read MacRumors. (past) I have read MacRumors.
1 Goose. 2 Geese. Why not 2 Gooses?

Easiest Language? That'd have to be Italian. I'm sure many of you will disagree, but it is definitely easier than Spanish.:rolleyes:

[FelixDerKater]

Originally posted by 3rdpath



wow, thats impressive...here's a question since english is your native tongue:

when you speak another language do you think in your head in english but talk(italian or whatever...) or do you think completely in the language you're speaking? just wondering.

btw, please help out when those crappy google translations are used in the rumour sections...

For German, Italian and Spanish I think in them so you can get a good understanding of what people are saying. I haven't mastered French yet so its a bit hard to think in French.

Sometimes I dream in the other languages. When I get mad I sometime slip into German. Just about anything you say in German can be taken as a curse word if they don't know German.

I think the key to learning a languages is listening to music in that language. It was pretty helpful for me when learning Italian, but not as much as the time I was there.:rolleyes:

[AlejandroGonzo]

I speak English and Spanish fluently, some French, and a little Russian. English is harder to learn I think because its words are derived from so many different sources, Anglo-Saxon, Danish Influence, Germanic roots, French, Latin, Spanish, and many words from the British colonies. This makes spelling difficult.

[groovebuster]

Originally posted by FelixDerKater

Sometimes I dream in the other languages. When I get mad I sometime slip into German. Just about anything you say in German can be taken as a curse word if they don't know German.

:confused:

Dann lass mal hören!

I don't know what you are talking about. There are curses in German like in every other language, the rest is just words with different meanings, like in every other language!

To use a word like "Laternenpfahl" as a curse is just plain stupid! If someone who understands German listens to you he'll laugh about you for hours!

groovebuster

[groovebuster]

Originally posted by FelixDerKater
English is a very strange language because of all the exceptions to the rule. Example: I read MacRumors. (present) I read MacRumors. (past) I have read MacRumors.
1 Goose. 2 Geese. Why not 2 Gooses?

French and German have exceptions wihout end too... so no big deal. And a lot of other languages do as well!

groovebuster

[jefhatfield]

i speak some japanese since my mom is from there and when she doesn't want me to hear something, she speaks...but i know way more than she realizes

i took german for a few semesters in high school/jr high but i don't remember enough to distinguish it from dutch or another similar language if i just hear a quick phrase by some tourists

but if i get to stand around long enough, i could catch the context of the conversation a little

[groovebuster]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
i speak some japanese since my mom is from there and when she doesn't want me to hear something, she speaks...but i know way more than she realizes

i took german for a few semesters in high school/jr high but i don't remember enough to distinguish it from dutch or another similar language if i just hear a quick phrase by some tourists

but if i get to stand around long enough, i could catch the context of the conversation a little

Yeah... it is fun when people talk in "their" language and don't realize that you can understand them!!! :D

I experienced already some very funny situations because of that!!! :D The best part is when you can't hold it back anymore to laugh and they start to realize that someone else was listening!! :p

groovebuster