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I have a deep interest in languages. I have a smattering of a few different ones, and (sadly) know French to a degree and also Spanish. I'm wondering what languages the people here speak/write, just for the sake of my own curiosity. Please list whether you're conversant in the language or "passable", and also any languages you'd like to learn.

Languages I have some knowledge of:

Spanish
French

2 or 3 words of Portuguese

I would like to learn: Mandarin Chinese, German, and more Portuguese.
Nemo me impune lacessit

http://ttrim.blogspot.com
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I like different languages too. I find it easy to learn new languages, and by watching a foreign TV station, I start to be able to "know" what they are talking about and get the words.

Languages I know:

* Brazillian Portuguese. Obviously. Not totally familiar with some words and slangs from Portugal, but I can understand it too.

* English. Being absolutely fluent since I was about 13 - although I do make some mistakes now and then. I can speak even better than I can write - I'm not a good speller - I can detect almost every kind of accent, and I can imitate a british, southern american, indian, irish and australian accents. Since I work directly with americans and british, there are days in which I speak and write almost totally in english.

* Spanish, because it comes from the same origins as portuguese. Someone who speaks spanish can understand 75% of what is said in spanish, if it is said slowly without using local slang. And I know a lot of words that are different in spanish, so... by the way, did you know that the word for "weird" in portuguese is the word for "delicious" in spanish? Stuff like that.

* Japanese. I am currently learning japanese, although I am going on a very slow pace, since I've been very busy lately. I know hiragana and katakana completely, I can write about 50 kanji and read about 90 kanji, and I know some basic sentence structure. I can't have a full conversation in japanese, but I can slowly comunicate whatever I want in a broken, gramatically incorrect japanese.

After I learn japanese, I wanna try to learn French, and then it'll be enough.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Languages I know:
English--well, duh!
French--did nine years of French, from grade 4 to grade 12. It's rusty, but I can still string a sentence together if I work at it.
Haitian Creole--the native language of Haiti; it's actually more of a dialect than a language. The best analogy I can draw is that creole is to French what Jamaican patois is to English.
Biblical Hebrew--not to be confused with modern Hebrew. I took two courses of this in university and actually practiced translating portions of the Old Testament.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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"Biblical Hebrew"

Damn!

I know English, 'cause I'm born and raised in Southern California. I took German in high school because girls took French and everyone else took Spanish (and the German teacher was cool.) I took Russian in college because I always thought it would be a neat language to learn (and I could do the countdown in "2010"), and I also took Spanish in college to help me as an elementary school teacher.

Oddly enough, Spanish was my worse language. German was my best, because I could think in German.
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<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
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I speak, read, write, etc. English.

I took 4 years of German between 8th and 11th grades. What remains is a few words, limited conjegation skills, crude sentencing structure and the ability to swear.
(Funny story: One day, I get home from work, and my brother greets me by saying Ich bin ein dumpkopf!
Apparently, during the day, he had asked my mother, who also knows German, how to say Drop dead! and she played a trick on him by, instead, teaching him how to say I am an idiot/moron. We all had fun with that for some time.)

I had 7 weeks of French in 6th grade. What remains, is the ability to count to 5.

Speaking of language, did you guess hear about what French President Jaques Chirac did?
French President Jacques Chirac stormed out of a European Union summit meeting in protest Thursday because he couldn't bear to hear a Frenchman speaking English.

The entire French delegation promptly left the room when business executive Ernest-Antoine Seilliere announced that he would address the summit in English — which he called "the language of business."

Chirac, who has fought to keep the French language internationally relevant, says he was "profoundly shocked" that a Frenchman would use a foreign tongue at the Council table, adding that he "walked out rather than listen to that."
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"he would address the summit in English — which he called "the language of business."

Well....it is the language of air flight controllers. Besides, French is still the language of love, so they still have that over us.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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English and French. I'm not completely bilingual anymore, because I still translate to English in my head, but if I'm immersed in it, I get it back fast.

I'd like to learn to speak Spanish and German.
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Very few people know this, but in the late 40s there was a major movement to make Esperanto the official language around the world. They even had set a date for the change, something like 1960. During this hype, my grandmother started learning it, she can speak it.

In case you don't know, Esperanto is a fabricated language, created in the XIX century to serve as a universal language. It is simple to learn, and a lot of enthusiasts speak it nowadays. There are several books written on it, and even a few films spoken in Esperanto. It's mostly used as a device to meet people, create groups, and stuff like that.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Originally posted by: ricarleite
Very few people know this, but in the late 40s there was a major movement to make Esperanto the official language around the world. They even had set a date for the change, something like 1960. During this hype, my grandmother started learning it, she can speak it.

In case you don't know, Esperanto is a fabricated language, created in the XIX century to serve as a universal language. It is simple to learn, and a lot of enthusiasts speak it nowadays. There are several books written on it, and even a few films spoken in Esperanto. It's mostly used as a device to meet people, create groups, and stuff like that.
I've heard that before. I cannot remember where, but I know I've heard about the language and the idea of making it universal.
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I studied French, and I am *nearly* fluent in Japanese. Lived in Osaka for 3 weeks a few months back - spent the first week remembering all the stuff I had forgotten, and then the next two learning new stuff. If I was there for a few more weeks I would have got there, but at present I can at least say whatever I want if I think hard enough. I gave up trying to memorise kanji eventually (although I did learn a whole tonne reading names of towns on road signs) - I found it more beneficial figuring out how they're made up, and how to work out the meanings and readings of complex kanji.
MTFBWY. Always.

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Originally posted by: starkiller
Originally posted by: ricarleite
Very few people know this, but in the late 40s there was a major movement to make Esperanto the official language around the world. They even had set a date for the change, something like 1960. During this hype, my grandmother started learning it, she can speak it.

In case you don't know, Esperanto is a fabricated language, created in the XIX century to serve as a universal language. It is simple to learn, and a lot of enthusiasts speak it nowadays. There are several books written on it, and even a few films spoken in Esperanto. It's mostly used as a device to meet people, create groups, and stuff like that.
I've heard that before. I cannot remember where, but I know I've heard about the language and the idea of making it universal.


It's supposed to be the easiest language to learn - and I think they were trying to use it in the UN as well.
MTFBWY. Always.

http://www.myspace.com/red_ajax
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Esperanto and its creator.
I saw the original theatrical release of the Old Trilogy on the big screen and I'm proud of it...
How did I accomplish that (considering my age) is my secret...
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Obviously I am fluent in written and spoken Englsih, but I am also 'passable' in basic Italian (I can understand it better than I can speak it, but I could survive if I found myself starnded in an Italian city, for example). I also know some VERY basic Japanese which I learnt from a friend.

War does not make one great.

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I'd like everyone to speak in binary code. I mean according to Jodie Foster's character in Contact mathematics is the only truly universal language (DUH)...could be like the Binars on Star Trek: TNG. "We do EVERYTHING in pairs".... please oh please.
Nemo me impune lacessit

http://ttrim.blogspot.com
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I can hold basic conversations in Spanish. And my Spanish knowledge gives me some rudimentary understanding of Italian, French, and Portuguese. Plus I took a German course in college and had some sidebar teachings from a girl in Germany.
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Originally posted by: JediSage
I'd like everyone to speak in binary code. I mean according to Jodie Foster's character in Contact mathematics is the only truly universal language (DUH)...could be like the Binars on Star Trek: TNG. "We do EVERYTHING in pairs".... please oh please.


Speak on binary? You mean, like, ASCII? Like, HI being 72 73, or 01001000 01001001?

I'm surprised on how many here know some portuguese...
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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I know English and thats about it, unless ebonics counts I did take 3 years of Spanish in High School (or was it 4, either way i dont remember any of it) and 1 semester of German in college. I just dont have a very good ear for language and cant seem to learn others.

Funny thing is, i watched Leon: The Professional over the weekend so when i saw this thread today it reminded me of how looking at the 'Talent Files' it said that Natalie Portman speaks fluent Hebrew, Japanese and one other, i think it was French but im not sure (i assume those were in addition to English ). Ill have to look at the dvd again to see.

-Darth Simon
Why Anakin really turned to the dark side:
"Anakin, You're father I am" - Yoda
"No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!" - Anakin

0100111001101001011011100110101001100001

*touchy people disclaimer*
some or all of the above comments are partially exaggerated to convey a point, none of the comments are meant as personal attacks on anyone mentioned or reference in the above post
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Originally posted by: ricarleite
I'm surprised on how many here know some portuguese...


That's primarily due to its similarity to Spanish. Having one romance language under your belt helps out a lot.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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This thread went away for a while, but seems to have resurfaced in the Video Game thread. Here's a link to a product I've had some luck with. Bought their introductory Spanish a while back, picked up some of it, then lost the set! ARRRRRGH.

Pimsleur Languages
Nemo me impune lacessit

http://ttrim.blogspot.com
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Originally posted by: ricarleite


* Japanese. I am currently learning japanese, although I am going on a very slow pace, since I've been very busy lately. I know hiragana and katakana completely, I can write about 50 kanji and read about 90 kanji, and I know some basic sentence structure. I can't have a full conversation in japanese, but I can slowly comunicate whatever I want in a broken, gramatically incorrect japanese.

After I learn japanese, I wanna try to learn French, and then it'll be enough.


I'd love to learn Japanese. How are you learning it? I know a tiny bit from watching lots of anime and japanese films, but I'm nowhere near being anywhere near being somewhat near anywhere fluent.
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I know English ( duh ), and I am learning Spanish right now. I would love to learn Latin though.
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I'm in Spanish first year the freshman in the class think i've failed it 3 times but I just took it for the hell of it.
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Eeto, watashi wa sakunen kara kumon ni nihongo o benkyoushiteimasu, demo... sukoshi hanasu kotogadekimasu ne...

Here in Brazil Kumon offers japanese classes for kids and adults due to our huge japanese immigrant population (highest japanese population outside Japan). So I just go there once or twice a week and study at home whenever I can. Sadly, for the past few months, I've been so busy I'm having trouble keeping up.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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I lived in France for 5 years and got my high school diploma in the French system.

So yeah, I speak French. Although having moved back to the states for 5/6 years has totally hindered my ability.

I took Italian in High School and I am ok in that. The problem is that with so much Spanish in the States, I've picked up some of that and I'm always confusing the two languages seeing as they're so similar.

Oh and ricarleite, I've always equated portuguese to sounding like a Spaniard with a cold. Would you agree with my analogy?

(European Portuguese that is...as I have no experience with Brazillian Portuguese apart from watching Cidade de Deus once 3 years ago)

What’s the internal temperature of a TaunTaun? Luke warm.