World, Writing, Wealth discussion
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How many languages do you speak/understand? What would you like to learn?
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Scout
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Nov 12, 2018 07:54PM
I speak and write English, but I have a rudimentary understanding of Spanish and French when spoken. I can't speak or write either fluently, but I'm thinking of using Duolingo to hone my skills. I'd like to learn Italian.
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I can speak and write English and French. I'm not exactly fluent in French, but "functionally bilingual" is the term I use when asked. I can understand some Spanish and know a few words in a few other languages (perks of being married to a linguist) but that's it.
I can speak English :) I can read very basic French, and could possibly manage to ask very basic questions, and understand parts of the answers as long as every word is spoken slowly and deliberately...😬I can say 'cough' in many languages. (It's a physio thing.)
What do you think is the best way to learn a foreign language? I've always read that being totally immersed in an environment where the language is spoken is the best way. But I've also heard of people learning English by watching TV. And do you think one can become fluent in a foreign language as an adult?
Scout wrote: "What do you think is the best way to learn a foreign language? .."Some say it's to have a target language native speaking lover -:)
Scout wrote: "And do you think one can become fluent in a foreign language as an adult? .."
Yes, and my impression - the more languages one knows, the easier it is to master new ones...
I know a bit of Russian, English, Hebrew and Ukrainian)Very basic Portuguese, which allows sometimes to understand words in Spanish and Italian.
From my personal experience - after spending a few days in a county with another Slavic language, I start to understand 50-60 percent of Polish, Croatian, Bulgarian and such.
That's cool - real world experience where you can apply what you already know.
Uri NorwichLanguages, I command.
English(R,W,S)
Italian( R,S)
Russian (R,W,S)
German (R,S)
Knowing languages and some culture helped me writing four of my novels.
It also helped me to work and do business in foreign countries.
My last novel that has been released just two days ago reflects usefulness of knowing languages.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
English is my native language. I can read Italian and French and most of the time I can understand and be understood with these languages when spoken, but regional accents and usages still baffle me.I am currently learning Irish Gaelic. After that I would like to learn Russian and Japanese because I have clients who speak those languages.
I was recently watching a show on HBO called My Brilliant Friend, set in Italy. The actors spoke Italian, and I was surprised by how many words I understood because I know some Spanish.Holly, I'm wondering if there's any crossover between languages you know (Italian and French) and the Russian and Japanese languages. I'd think not, but I don't know. I'd think it would be difficult to learn a language from scratch.
I gather that Spanish and Portuguese are sufficiently similar that a speaker in one can usually make reasonably communication with someone in the other.
Ian wrote: "I gather that Spanish and Portuguese are sufficiently similar that a speaker in one can usually make reasonably communication with someone in the other."Yeah, they are very similar, yet it works from Portuguese to Spanish (meaning those speaking Portuguese easily understand Spanish), but not the other way around. A friend of mine from Madrid could hardly decipher anything in spoken Portuguese, because the pronunciation is so very different.
Yeah, pronunciation is awkward. I used to be able to read and write in French reasonably/awkwardly, depending on your viewpoint, but when I finally got to France, following them was an awful problem and speaking even worse because I knew the words but my accent got it all wrong. As it happens, my comment above was thanks to a Spaniard I met in Brazil, and he said he had no formal knowledge pf Portuguese, but he could make it out quite reasonably. Of course Brazilian accents will be different from, say Lisbon accents.
Pronunciation - I had a hard time in college when I took French. I had studied Spanish for two years in high school, and the first time I spoke in French class, the professor completely embarrassed me by saying that I was speaking French with a Spanish accent. I spent hours in the language lab trying to correct this. Don't know how successful I was, as I never opened my mouth in French class again.
English is my mother tongue, but I speak German at home. My husband's Austrian. We met in Austria and lived in Vienna for 10 years. I spoke hardly any English during this time (although I read a few English books) and I had to relearn English when I returned to the UK.I read French and Italian (slowly) and could speak them at a push I suppose, although I'm very out of practice. I plan to read at least two books in each in each this year to 'keep my hand in'.
It's completely possible to learn a new language as an adult. Immersion or as much exposure as possible is the trick. My husband managed to learn English - he's had no lessons and vowed never to learn it ever! Needs must (lol).
I'd love to learn another language, but, ideally, I'd need to find people who speak it locally and no one language springs to mind at the moment. There are quite a few Polish, Lithuanian and Hungarian speakers living in the islands, but I don't know any of them personally.
Scout wrote: "Pronunciation - I had a hard time in college when I took French. I had studied Spanish for two years in high school, and the first time I spoke in French class, the professor completely embarrassed me..."Pronunciation is hard because it takes a while for your ear to tune in to the subtleties and it's not easy to learn how to form the new sounds. I had a similar experience with French (a French speaker laughed at me). It's good if you're in a situation where you need to communicate in the language anyway, as you have to get past this and getting the message across is the most important thing. Speaking to children helps, they are more forgiving I think.
Annerlee wrote: "Scout wrote: "Pronunciation - I had a hard time in college when I took French. I had studied Spanish for two years in high school, and the first time I spoke in French class, the professor complete..."I sing classical music at times, and much of it's in French, German, Italian and Latin. Every time I learn a new song, I have to learn it phonetically, as well as musically. And for some languages, the sung language is slightly different to the spoken language - mainly in the rolling or not rolling of the R.
Consequently, not only do I have backing music CDs/files, but also phonetics files. It's fascinating in many ways, but also extraordinarily tricky.
Leonie- that's really interesting. How much do you understand of what you're singing? Is it important for your interpretation of a song, or does it depend?
Annerlee wrote: "Leonie- that's really interesting. How much do you understand of what you're singing? Is it important for your interpretation of a song, or does it depend?"Usually I need to know the English translation, so that I can interpret the dynamics correctly, in the context of both the words and music.
I read a little French, which is helpful, but most classical songs have readily available translations, and often analyses of the language and where the wording comes from - sometimes poetry, and sometimes they're in the context of an opera or cantata, which is also helpful.
Being able to interpret music in the context of the emotion is really important for your connection to your audience.
I've just reached the stage where my technique is beginning to allow me a bit more freedom of expression, although it's really tricky trying to maintain technique while also connecting with the audience. Brain is trying to remember support/tongue/soft palate/relax/ breathe properly/engage/open/jaw/lips all while producing an 'effortless' performance...
Yeah, it's nice to be able to mimic a desired accent/proper pronunciation (and in Inglorious Basterds we see what happens, if the lingo is imperfect), but in my opinion it's the least important aspect of mastering a tongue. Way more important is to understand and be understood... Wouldn't recommend it as a learning technique, but booze seems to improve communication skills in a foreign tongue-:)
I occasionally understand English. At least, that is my firm belief, but I may be wrong.
So Nik. If a Ukrainian and and Australian stagger out of a pub, slurring their words they could well converge upon a common understanding...
Good chances - that yes/da. Of course, there is also a small chance of an aggressive behavior, resulting from some misunderstanding. And if they are of opposite sexes ...... staggering out of the pub together may lead to a learning session becoming more intense -:)
If you're in a foreign country, body language may fill in the gaps where spoken language fails, I'd guess. Me Tarzan, you Jane.
For what it is worth, I have been in a number of countries where, if I knew three words, I was lucky. You would be surprised how much you can get over with pointing, hand signals, facial expressions, etc.
I do not speak Spanish, but I do know there are differences. I was at a conference in Chile, and I tried a little Spanish, and was immediately corrected for getting the gender wrong. But then a Spaniard pointed out politely that in Madrid I would have been correct. This probably doesn't help - as far as I could tell the real Spaniards and the South Americans understood each other well. There will also probably be difference similar to US and English English - but each knows what the other is saying.
I came across this free app called duolingo. Haven't had time to check it out, but it sounds good if you want to learn a new language. I'll try it in the new year. I'd like to get better at Spanish and French, and maybe try Italian. Japanese would be cool, but this old dog probably is past that.
I'm completely fluent in English. I'm fluent in Bosnian, though I'm not free of all grammar mistakes. I'm learning German now, and want to learn Russian, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and maybe American Sign Language. Oh boy.
There was no choice,had to speak three from the very start,Urdu (national language) ,English(colonial language) and Punjabi (mother tongue).Then,had to learn to read Arabic (religious language).Had to learn one for work,(so studied French for six months). Plus,very basic college course in Persian.Then,learnt rudimentary Russian.Can understand Hindi,it is similar to Urdu.After all this,no real desire to learn any more.Sometimes,my French and Russian get mixed up.(I also like Spanish,Russian and Italian music).
I speak Spanish and English fluently, have a rudimentary understanding and some basic sentences in French and Italian, a few words in German, and I know exactly three words in Arabic. :-) One of my goals for this year is to improve my French to a level in which I can talk with my family-in-law.
Wonder if they'll offer a microchip with builtin google translate together with first grade vaccination this decade already :)
I've been trying to learn English for over four decades, with little progress. I have an idiomatic grasp of Spanish and French. And my Latin is as rusty as the Titanic. So I'm about average for most Americans.
Just saw this gadget that you can carry with you. You can speak into it and it translates into any language.
