The Languages Thread

[Wish Fulfillment]

So, who speaks a language other than English? I do all right with Spanish and French, and I recently started German.

If you'd like to get into languages, here are some links to get you started.
Links
How to learn languages (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_learn_a_language)- While many of the language Wikibooks are subpar, this is a useful, informative guide for beginners. Suggested Wikibooks: French, German, Japanese.
Indo-European Languages (http://www.ielanguages.com/)- A great site with information on most of the major European languages.
BBC Languages (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/)- Lively and entertaining courses in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Mandarin and Portuguese.
Omniglot (http://www.omniglot.com/)- A language lovers paradise, this site features information on choosing which languages you'd like to learn.
How To Learn Any Language (http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/index.html)- The forum of this site is a great place to practice your languages and get advice on learning.

The book How To Learn Any Language by Barry Farber is highly recommended. For courses, I suggest Living Language and Teach Yourself.

[blargh127]

DEINE MUTTI IST EINE KATZE! ICH MUSS TANZEN!

Yeah.. English and German.. I do parlais some Francais when I feel like it. But whatever floats one's boat. lol

[chubbydan]

For modern languages:
I have a fairly good command of German, and I'm currently learning Arabic.

For languages not currently spoken ("dead" if you will):
To be modest, my knowledge of Latin is excellent, and I'm able to read a lot of literature in the language (e.g. Cicero, Vergil, Catullus, Ovid, and so on). My Attic Greek is decent, but I am still learning the language.

If you couldn't already tell, I'm a language geek. ;)

[buy more product]

Grandiloquendi causa linguam maiorum didici, si ita dicere fas est--ut videlicet, Romanorum. Ut semper me ad intellectualis limen mortis stantem--sicut imbris frigore horribilis pulsatum sentirem, quoad in noctis pallore vibrantes corpora torpores adriperet, ut nulla spes mihi laetitiae vitaeve remaneret, litteras Graecas didici. Ut sussurans magister tori essem, et linguam barbarorum, ut fit, provinciae linguam Germaniae, didici.

But in my off hours I speak English.

[buy more product]

For the sake of grandiloquence I learned the language of the ancestors, if it is appropriate to speak thus--that is to say, that of the Romans. That I might always feel myself to be standing at the threshold of intellectual death, as though I were beaten by the chill of a horrible rain until, in the pallor of the night, quivering numbnesses would sieze my body, so that no hope of happiness or of life might remain to me, I learned Greek. That I might be a murmuring master of the couch, I even learned the language of the barbarrians--as it were, the language of the province of Germany.

Ast in otiosis horis Anglicos sermones habeo.

[Wish Fulfillment]

Wow, impressive. I tried Latin once, and despised it. But now that I've got experience with Spanish and French, it should be easier if I decided to go back and try it again.

[buy more product]

Well, don't be impressed yet--let's see what ChubbyDan, apparently our other resident latinist, thinks of it first. ;)

[Wish Fulfillment]

Do you plan on going into teaching?

[buy more product]

In college, yeah.

[chubbydan]

Grandiloquendi causa linguam maiorum didici, si ita dicere fas est--ut videlicet, Romanorum. Ut semper me ad intellectualis limen mortis stantem--sicut imbris frigore horribilis pulsatum sentirem, quoad in noctis pallore vibrantes corpora torpores adriperet, ut nulla spes mihi laetitiae vitaeve remaneret, litteras Graecas didici. Ut sussurans magister tori essem, et linguam barbarorum, ut fit, provinciae linguam Germaniae, didici.

A verb at the end of nearly every sentence? How pedantic! I'm only kidding of course ;) gaudeo valde alios esse qui hac lingua pulchra, ut ego, fruentur. :)

[Omniscient]

Swedish and German. I regret the German though, it's the ugliest language I've ever heard. SCHMETTERLING FFS! I regret not choosing French instead.
I'll be starting on Japanese and Croatian this fall though.

[blargh127]

HAHA Isn't Schmetterling butterfly?

Und.. ich kann nicht Latein verstehen. :(

[jaketastic28]

I speak English, Italian, and Spanish, and I took one year of Latin two years ago. I love different languages and I definitely want to do something with that after college. I wanted to be a teacher but I've recently been looking more into the international business field.

[Omniscient]

HAHA Isn't Schmetterling butterfly?

Yup, "Butterfly" is quite a nice word in most languages, but in German it sounds so brutal.

[Wish Fulfillment]

Yup, "Butterfly" is quite a nice word in most languages, but in German it sounds so brutal.

See, that's what I like about German. Its forcefulness, its brutality. If this makes any sense at all, I find the language's ugliness its most appealing trait. And isn't Swedish, like, really similar to German?

And Croatian is pretty cool. It's very similar to Russian but not as complicated.

[Omniscient]

See, that's what I like about German. Its forcefulness, its brutality. If this makes any sense at all, I find the language's ugliness its most appealing trait. And isn't Swedish, like, really similar to German?

In pronunciation Swedish is most similar to English actually, and I think the grammar is quite alike. Written, it resembles German slightly and the grammar does not even come close to it.

[buy more product]

Feh. I think the "german is a brutal-sounding language" stance is largely the placebo effect talking. I mean, I think "schmetterling" is fairly fitting for a butterfly. schmetter... it's suggestive of their little flittery wings and fragility.

[bellydude17]

My first language is english, but I am also fluent in french. I can understand Italian, Spanish, and some Korean.

[eric]

english but all the way on speaking spanish here

[Big_fat_kiddo]

Dutch, English, bit of German, bit of Norwegian.

[Phoenix Brave]

I know how to speak English very well. Only know a word or two of Spanish, since I'm not very good at remembering those words. >.=.<

Started learning Japanese by myself almost 6 years ago, when I was 10 years old, and I'm still learning. I know a few sentences to pass by, but I'm still learning. =/

[SandertjHe]

For me Dutch,English,French,German and maybe a bit of other languages :P

[Toddle]

For me Dutch,English,French,German and maybe a bit of other languages :P

Fluently??

[SandertjHe]

Fluently??
yeah :P think so

[Toddle]

Damn man. Wish I could speak many languages fluently

[Potjomkin]

i speak german(the mainlanguage and the bavarian dialect ,which is that differnt from the mainlanguage ,that germans from the northern countries aren`t always able to follow me ,when talking bavarian),english ,a little bit spanish and i`m learning hebrew....i also learned once latin ,but i can`t say very much in latin....
lg chris