Language questions. Please read and answer.

[Crazy Jay]

Americans and British people should learn other languages in school as regular people do

Na. Everyone loves English. Its spoken throughout the entire world. Remember Australia? Don't forget Japan and China.

 

[HIMNL9]

@HINML9: How did you end up learning so many languages lol?

Making short a long story ..... French, i studied it for 3 years at school (then they quit French and switched to English, so instead having a regular 5 years continuous training, i got 3 years of French and 2 of English ..... i left you imagine the result, LOL)

English, practically self-learned, cause when i started my main hobby (electronic), the only datasheets that you can found was exclusively in English ..... having grammaitcal basis, from those two years, was not so difficult to learn to read and write (bad) english, from datasheets and a pair of technical dictionaries ..... and here is a touristic zone, so, also some training speaking it is usual

Spanish and a bit of portuguese, i have some friends that speak them, so, with the time, i also learned something from them ..... and the rest, only few words here and there, from friends that knows them (occasionally, i also try to learn something about Japanese, cause i was always curious about that language, but all the times that i try, my headache quickly rise, til the point that i give up, til the next time ..... i suppose that it's one of those language that there is no way for learn it without a teacher and a training period of time in the country )

Oh, yes, my bad Italian is the easiest one ..... cause, it's my main language, LOL (as i always said, i'm Italian and live in Italy )

Anyway, and i don't know why, i never reached to learn German ..... no matter when i tried, no way, it don't remain in my mind ..... probably, i and German language, we're simply incompatible.



Edit:

You mean "Yeah now I remember". :tsk:

No, you mean "Oh, yes, now I remember" (I've not found "yeah" in the technical dictionary ..... )

Krutz says: "o0ICE0o says: "FireMyLaser says: "Niko likes cereal."""

Oh, great ..... congratulaion, now we're ran out of cereals ..... (j/k )

 

[Crazy Jay]

No, you mean "Oh, yes, now I remember" (I've not found "yeah" in the technical dictionary ..... )

No I meant "Yeah now I remember". Technical Dictionary HA! I looked at the same one and it betrayed me by showing the definition of the word .... Guesstimate!

 

[bobhaha]

I only speak elder futhark

Nah in all seriousness only 2, English and Italian

 

[Elektrotechniker]

I know basic German and I could say good english. Wait lol I voted for 2 languages. Do I count my native language as well? greek I mean. haha

 

[nikokapo]

I'm in my second year of Spanish, and I know I'm not near ready to go to a Spanish forum and try to communicate. The most I could probably do in Mexico is order some food, describe people, and also swear people out (thanks to the help of Niko )

Anytime

When I went to Cleveland, OH on 2003, I went skiing and met some people, the first thing they asked when they realized I was a foreigner was: "Hey, how do you say s**t in Spanish?", followed by the same sentence but with another word

 

[HumanSymphony]

I know merely English and that is all I really care to know. IF a situation occurs of which English is not spoken by the 2nd party, that is THEIR fault for not meeting the prerequisites of being here.

 

[nikokapo]

I know merely English and that is all I really care to know. IF a situation occurs of which English is not spoken by the 2nd party, that is THEIR fault for not meeting the prerequisites of being here.

 

[HumanSymphony]

Are you saying I MUST know all of the world's languages for THEIR convenience? I think not! Those who wish to speak to me or simply be in my presence must speak ENGLISH! Otherwise I'll never know wtf you want. That's that.

 

[roosl]

English, as used in the USA, is my only fluent language. "As used" includes some of the common abuse of the language. Growing up, I was too lazy to learn another.

I too am impressed by anyone who learns English as a 2nd (or 3rd..) language. It is a goofy thing, especially as we abuse it.

In the forum threads, just glance over at the author's info (location, if he/she provided it) before judging their language skills. Even without that info, it's often obvious if someone should know the language better and actually is an idiot.

Tolerance is a good thing, especially in a setting such as this, where we are from all over the place!

 

[Deleted member 8382]

I know merely English and that is all I really care to know. IF a situation occurs of which English is not spoken by the 2nd party, that is THEIR fault for not meeting the prerequisites of being here.

The world has adapted to your language for whatever reasons, we are all learning another language to make things easier for everyone, not only for you. In fact learning English is not an obligation.

Most forums are in English because of this, not because the owner is in USA, so respect the fact that there's people with the same right than you to express theirselves that don't have the luck to have English as their native language!

Yours,
Albert

 

[HumanSymphony]

The world has adapted to your language for whatever reasons, we are all learning another language to make things easier for everyone, not only for you. In fact learning English is not an obligation.

Most forums are in English because of this, not because the owner is in USA, so respect the fact that there's people with the same right than you to express theirselves that don't have the luck to have English as their native language!

Yours,
Albert

The world is adapting to English purely because of BUSINESS. This all really has nothing to do with what I was saying. I said I only know English. Then I pointed out an obvious fact that if you don't speak English, I know not what you say. I don't care to learn another language because, for one, I shouldn't encounter a non-English-speaking person in my country, and two, the world is already adapting to English like you said. Lucky me.

 

[HIMNL9]

the world is already adapting to English like you said. Lucky me.

..... just wait that the world switch on Finnish (strict dialect) or Gaelic (old Welsh form), before say you're lucky ..... (just kidding )



Edit: or wait that China rise enough in global market to ask all the business partners and clients to speak Chinese (mandarin, ofcourse) .....

 

[Deleted member 8382]

This ain't gonna happen. English is almost the easiest (if not the easiest) language to learn. This is why people has adapted to it. Chinese is one of the hardest languages to learn for an occidental person.

 

[Jaseth]

English is easy to learn well enough to understand it, but I have never encountered a single foreigner speaking English as their second or third language who mastered it flawlessly. There are too many odd exceptions to different rules as well as a huge number of sayings which make little or no sense to a non-mother tongue speaker.

I speak 3 languages fluently, 4 other languages enough to have simple conversation and 3 more enough to say what my name is, ask for basic help, curse at people and such.

Seb

 

[charliebruce]

I'm a native English speaker, but I've been learning French since I was about 5 (I still couldn't have a fluent, interesting conversation though, but I have no doubt I could get my points across effectively). My written French is OK, but I don't think I'll be studying any languages after 16. I also did Russian for a year but disliked it, and I know enough to understand written Latin (since 12 I think, now nearly 16), read very basic Spanish/Italian, and have mixed phrases in Chinese (I could say cow or pig, and add the idea of "meat" to it (making it beef and pork), but nothing else really. If you want odd constructions look no further than Cantonese ).