1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

What Other Languages Apart From English Do You Know?

Discussion in 'Evolution of Language' started by Helene Lawson, Jul 9, 2015.

  1. Helene Lawson

    Helene Lawson Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2015
    Messages:
    394
    Likes Received:
    118
    Is Romanian a tough language to learn?
    You will get there finally with Japanese, it isn't an easy language to learn, although German was quite easy to learn for me. :D
     
    #16
  2. John Donovan

    John Donovan Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2015
    Messages:
    379
    Likes Received:
    149
    I've often heard people saying that Romanian is really hard to learn. Why? Because for (almost) each verb, its form is different on (once again, almost) each person (while English only sees changes in the 3rd person of the verb, singular). For example, the verb "eat":

    I eat
    You eat
    He, She, It eats
    We eat
    You eat
    They eat

    Meanwhile, the same verb in Romanian:
    to eat = a mânca

    Eu mănânc
    Tu mănânci
    El, Ea mănâncă
    Noi mâncăm
    Voi mâncați
    Ei, Ele mănâncă
     
    #17
    Corie Henson and Helene Lawson like this.
  3. Helene Lawson

    Helene Lawson Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2015
    Messages:
    394
    Likes Received:
    118
    Oh, sounds like a tough language to learn, but nothing is impossible.
    Especially if you start learning languages while your a child or teenager then you learn it way quicker.
    Polish my mother tongue is also a very tough language to learn too.
     
    #18
  4. John Donovan

    John Donovan Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2015
    Messages:
    379
    Likes Received:
    149
    Yeah, when you are young, you learn languages way faster. That's why I was able to learn English as pretty much a second mother tongue once I moved in the States with my family.
    As for Polish being hard, yeah, pretty much all European languages are hard to learn, because of the sheer diversity they offer.
     
    #19
  5. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2015
    Messages:
    1,222
    Likes Received:
    2,300
    Apart from languages, there are so many different dialects in Europe that it's not uncommon that people in one part of one country find it different to understand people from another part. Even different accents can be hard to understand. Using the UK as an example, the cities of Newcastle and Sunderland are only ten miles apart, but it's very easy to tell the accents apart.
     
    #20
  6. Jennifer Graves

    Jennifer Graves Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2015
    Messages:
    413
    Likes Received:
    125
    I know sign language.I don't know anyone else who knows it. But if I'm going to have a resource like the internet available to me, then I'm going to take full advantage of it. I learned morse code and how to build solar panels, as well.
     
    #21
    Pat Baker likes this.
  7. Carlota Clemens

    Carlota Clemens Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2015
    Messages:
    430
    Likes Received:
    323
    This explains why most US government websites and organizations have now a Spanish version for the content they publish. In fact most reputable websites run by large companies have a Spanish version now; Godaddy, Sears, Macy, 1&1, About.com, so on and counting.
     
    #22
  8. Jennifer Graves

    Jennifer Graves Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2015
    Messages:
    413
    Likes Received:
    125
    That doesn't bother me as long as I'm not going to get penalized for only speaking English. The day it becomes a serious disadvantage is when you'll read my posts cursing and screaming about it.
     
    #23
    Brittany Houser likes this.
  9. Pat Baker

    Pat Baker Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2015
    Messages:
    874
    Likes Received:
    487
    I speak english, french and spanish.
     
    #24
  10. Jennifer Graves

    Jennifer Graves Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2015
    Messages:
    413
    Likes Received:
    125
    oh wow! I had enough trouble bumbling my way through german. It always so impressive when someone can learn an extra language. But 2? very nice!
     
    #25
  11. Brittany Houser

    Brittany Houser Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2015
    Messages:
    677
    Likes Received:
    561
    Bravo Yvonne! Right you are! We'll either all be speaking Spanish or Farsi if the powers that be have anything to do with it! :(
    I used to speak pretty decent Latin. It was the only language they offered in my high school that I could tolerate. I haven't kept up with it, but I kinda wish I had. It might come in handy since America seems to also be overrun with ancient Romans. ;)
     
    #26
  12. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2015
    Messages:
    14,354
    Likes Received:
    23,351
    English only for me.;)
    [​IMG]
     
    #27
    Brittany Houser likes this.
  13. Angel J More

    Angel J More Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2015
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    5
    Being born in the Philippines,my native language is Filipino and we are called Filipino citizens--as simple as that.:) Tagalog is the dialect widely known in Filipino but since our country was an American colony in World War I era,we have been exposed to American influences,including language. Thus, among young people,there is now such a thing as "Taglish" , short term for Tagalog and English combined which is generally accepted in colloquial terms.However, in the formal education system, English is still being taught as the universal language with all its rules. This is why Filipinos easily get jobs in the global community.
     
    #28
  14. Jennifer Graves

    Jennifer Graves Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2015
    Messages:
    413
    Likes Received:
    125
    I've heard about how many islands are in the Philippines, and that there are so many dialects. Do they typically use one certain dialect for filipino movies? I've seen a couple, with subtitles. And I've noticed a lot of english scattered throughout. Is that common?
     
    #29
  15. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2015
    Messages:
    1,222
    Likes Received:
    2,300
    I was partly amused and partly astounded to read of the New Zealander who won the World Scrabble Championship. Nothing too surprising there, but this was the French version and the winner does not speak French. He managed to memorise the French dictionary in nine weeks and win the title. Quite an extraordinary feat and one that I, as a Scrabble aficionado, can only marvel at.
     
    #30
    Harry Kemp likes this.

Share This Page