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What languages do you know or want to learn?


Mint Petal

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I'm in the process of learning Esperanto; at this point I can speak basic sentences. I don't really know WHY I chose to learn this language, I guess I just felt like it. The United Nations has been thinking about using it as one of their official languages, as it was designed to be "the international language", and it would cut down on translation costs. For anyone that knows me, all of the titles of my songs are in Esperanto, and my username for most sites, "hundidosplodo" is Esperanto for "puppysplosion".

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How wonderful. It's always great to see a fellow language learner on here :) I only know English and advanced Spanish so far, but I definitely agree with you on the basis that the best way to start is to "just do it." Throw yourself at the kanji/hiragana. Throw yourself at the subjunctives of Spanish or French. Just get started right away and you'll be amazed at how much you will learn :)

 

Y para los hispanohablantes que quieren aprender un idioma nuevo, ¡es muy fácil! La gramática no te importa sino la comunicación es lo que más te debe importar. No tengan miedo de cometer muchos errores. Es natural. Sólo háganlo y van a aprender muchísimo ;)

Essentially, yeah

 

A good majority of people who attempt language learning though think they are "too stupid" to do it or that they just aren't built for it but people who are blind, deaf, and dumb can become polyglots, someone with no disabilities surely can, just need the right attitude and  with that, comes motivation. Anyone heard of language immersion programs? Fascinating things. If your school does that, then you WILL learn, I do not care how dumb you think you are, if you're forced to use  it, you will acquire the skills naturally. You will make mistakes, yes, but making mistakes is a sign that you're improving (at least you're good enough to make mistakes, some people can only say "food" "please" "thank you") 

I'm in the process of learning Esperanto; at this point I can speak basic sentences. I don't really know WHY I chose to learn this language, I guess I just felt like it. The United Nations has been thinking about using it as one of their official languages, as it was designed to be "the international language", and it would cut down on translation costs. For anyone that knows me, all of the titles of my songs are in Esperanto, and my username for most sites, "hundidosplodo" is Esperanto for "puppysplosion".

 

YES YES YES and YES. Esperanto is a great language and I'd love for it to be a de facto tongue. Why? Well, despite what people say, there are actually a low amount of English speakers relatively speaking in the "so-called" great English-speaking places such as China or France. Sure, conversation like this can be understood, but getting into a very complex situation (business dealings) and wording is something that is still a challenge in many places. Contracts can be very tricky to the point where native English speakers still have to have some level of law skill to make sure they're not getting screwed. Especially with the "wordiness" that people in the business world tend to enjoy overdoing. 

Edited by ARagY
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Essentially, yeah

 

A good majority of people who attempt language learning though think they are "too stupid" to do it or that they just aren't built for it but people who are blind, deaf, and dumb can become polyglots, someone with no disabilities surely can, just need the right attitude and  with that, comes motivation. Anyone heard of language immersion programs? Fascinating things. If your school does that, then you WILL learn, I do not care how dumb you think you are, if you're forced to use  it, you will acquire the skills naturally. You will make mistakes, yes, but making mistakes is a sign that you're improving (at least you're good enough to make mistakes, some people can only say "food" "please" "thank you") 

 

I agree with you on just about everything you said. Anyone can learn a language regardless of age, gender, personality, or even common disabilities such as blindness or deaf. In fact, I have heard of an account about this mute guy, who is able to write in at least 7 languages. I wish that I can remember more ideas, but basically in cases like these, it is clearly evident that mastering a foreign language is much feasible than it may appear.

 

I personally think that it's really silly when I hear someone talk about certain languages that they want to learn someday, or just one other language in particular, and yet they never fully achieve that goal. They always postpone it for later, saving it for some indefinite date in the distant future. Why not start now?

 

Then there is often the following excuse, which also appears to be the most common: I don't have time.

 

How much time do you waste throughout the day. I myself can admit that I used to waste a couple hours or more each day. Frankly, no matter how busy you are, you will always have those little increments of time in which you can spend studying the language. What about when we want to hang out with our friends? Why not meet new friends who speak your target language? If you can't find such friends then take advantage of Skype :)

 

And in regards to taking an immersion, I am curious to know if you have ever taken one and if so, I would love to hear your experience. I've always wanted to participate in an immersion program myself. One in particular that I have been wanting to attend is in Puebla, Mexico. It's notable for being ranked one of the best programs for mastering the Spanish language. Anyways, the only problem with that would definitely be the costs of attending as well as traveling.

 

I think a cheaper alternative, though not as efficient, would be to create an artificial immersion bubble in your own household. Listening to the radio, watching TV only in Spanish, taking advantage of those sticky notes and labeling every object in the house, and more with certainly help you. It won't help you to the same extent, but you'll get by. Take advantage of Skype to meet and talk with those living in the country to which you cannot afford to travel :P

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I know English (as I'm used to the language), some of my native Mandarin Chinese, some homeland Malay, and a smaller bit of my more native Cantonese Chinese.

Some languages with fragments that I can understand include: Sanskrit, Russian, Latin, Old Persian, Latvian, Manchu, Japanese, Spanish, and Mongol. Fictional ones may include mostly my conlangs, followed by Quenya, than Sindarin.

I desire to learn my native Chinese dialects, my national Malay tongue, Italian, Manchu, and Japanese. Oh, and some Filipino/Tagalog and Thai.

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I agree with you on just about everything you said. Anyone can learn a language regardless of age, gender, personality, or even common disabilities such as blindness or deaf. In fact, I have heard of an account about this mute guy, who is able to write in at least 7 languages. I wish that I can remember more ideas, but basically in cases like these, it is clearly evident that mastering a foreign language is much feasible than it may appear.

 

I personally think that it's really silly when I hear someone talk about certain languages that they want to learn someday, or just one other language in particular, and yet they never fully achieve that goal. They always postpone it for later, saving it for some indefinite date in the distant future. Why not start now?

 

Then there is often the following excuse, which also appears to be the most common: I don't have time.

 

How much time do you waste throughout the day. I myself can admit that I used to waste a couple hours or more each day. Frankly, no matter how busy you are, you will always have those little increments of time in which you can spend studying the language. What about when we want to hang out with our friends? Why not meet new friends who speak your target language? If you can't find such friends then take advantage of Skype :)

 

And in regards to taking an immersion, I am curious to know if you have ever taken one and if so, I would love to hear your experience. I've always wanted to participate in an immersion program myself. One in particular that I have been wanting to attend is in Puebla, Mexico. It's notable for being ranked one of the best programs for mastering the Spanish language. Anyways, the only problem with that would definitely be the costs of attending as well as traveling.

 

I think a cheaper alternative, though not as efficient, would be to create an artificial immersion bubble in your own household. Listening to the radio, watching TV only in Spanish, taking advantage of those sticky notes and labeling every object in the house, and more with certainly help you. It won't help you to the same extent, but you'll get by. Take advantage of Skype to meet and talk with those living in the country to which you cannot afford to travel :P

 

I have not been through an immersion program myself, no (though I had wanted to attend Middlebury), but I have seen the results of it in some people I know. A friend of mine did German immersion for upwards of a year and he can understand cartoons with sound off and German subs, then there are many before/after videos, testimonies, and blogs that all point to its effectiveness. Although I suppose that's not much proof to go on, I do think it is pretty useful because of the very idea. Immersion has always been (on some level) a point you want to get to. 

 

And yes, you're right. A cheaper method is to make your own immersion, putting your operating system in your target language, all your appliances, putting notes on your fruit and vegetables with the words of them in your target language, listening to cartoons and reading in your target language. All of those are a good way to get the same experience without so much cost. 

 

One thing I will say though, is that listening to cartoons is going to be MUCH easier at first (along with practicing with people over Skype or Interpals) than reading. Because you WILL be flipping in the dictionary every 2-3 words. That's pretty impractical if you honestly want to finish the book in any reasonable amount of time. Song lyrics are another story though..

Edited by ARagY
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I'm only fluent in English, but I know quite a bit of Spanish and learned Mandarin Chinese throughout High School. I also taught myself a bit of Irish Gaelic but without anyone to practice with, I've lost almost all of it. I'm hoping to reteach myself someday. I love languages and learning new ones :)

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*Pulls out a notebook and flips through it*

 

Hmmm.. Let's see here... *Puts hoof to chin* I wanna learn to speak... Latin, Japanese, French, Dovah, Daedric, Italian...

 

*Starts flipping through the notebook some more* Hmm... I guess that's it.. I thought I had more.. *shrugs* Oh well.. The only languages I know right now are English and.... The language of.... HUGGLES~♪!

 

*HUGGLES* =D

Edited by Storm Shine
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My native language is english, I took two years of spanish class in high school just because many colleges in my state require two years of a foreign language. I've forgotten almost all of what I learned.

 

I'd like to learn German, Russian, and maybe Norwegian.

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One language I would absolutely love to learn is Japanese. I'm obsessed with Japanese culture, aside from also loving anime. It's always been my dream to learn more and to also study the language as well. Another language I want to learn is Spanish. The reason is because I live in Arizona, and we have a lot of people who are mexican around her too. It would be nice to be able to communicate with them in their native language.

 

Also, I'm not sure if it counts or anything but... I've always wanted to learn American Sign Language. It's hard trying to communicate with people who can't hear, and I just want to be able to understand them and also know how to communicate with them. However, I doubt I could ever learn this though. My fingers and hands have a hard time due to poor motor skills and coordination. :(

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i speak... English  :P of course, and my second language is Korean, i also speak Latin which is useful for honors English and science.... but, i would really love to learn German, Dutch, and maybe some Japanese.... and Greek, and Hebrew heheh...

Edited by Fire Flower
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One language I would absolutely love to learn is Japanese. I'm obsessed with Japanese culture, aside from also loving anime. It's always been my dream to learn more and to also study the language as well. Another language I want to learn is Spanish. The reason is because I live in Arizona, and we have a lot of people who are mexican around her too. It would be nice to be able to communicate with them in their native language.

 

Also, I'm not sure if it counts or anything but... I've always wanted to learn American Sign Language. It's hard trying to communicate with people who can't hear, and I just want to be able to understand them and also know how to communicate with them. However, I doubt I could ever learn this though. My fingers and hands have a hard time due to poor motor skills and coordination. :(

 

ASL is awesome, it isn't as hard as you think it is. there is no "grammar" involved or pronunciation problems. Its just memorizing different signals and pretty soon its like.... second nature in a way... ish (and it can be a self-teach language   ;) )

Edited by Fire Flower
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ASL is awesome, it isn't as hard as you think it is. there is no "grammar" involved or pronunciation problems. Its just memorizing different signals and pretty soon its like.... second nature in a way... ish (and it can be a self-teach language ;) )

Actually, it is highly recommended that you do not learn ASL nor any other language completely by yourself. I used to teach myself Spanish for over 5 months but since I've been also using it to communicate with my Hispanic girlfriend and others online, I've been able to advanced in my writing and reading tremendously. However, due to my lack of speaking opportunities, I can't express myself well verbally. Although ASL doesn't involve writing, reading, or even speaking, it does have its own unique form of communication that is heavily based on only interaction with others. I would say that ASL requires more human interaction than any other language.

 

It's not like you can immediately teach yourself individual hand signs. It's like learning individual words without context and then randomly throwing them together into mashup sentences. You need context, it's very important, especially since ASL has a very complex sentence structure.

 

It's a really beautiful language, but do not underestimate it by all means. Many consider it as difficult as Mandarin Chinese. Overall, I am not discouraging anyone. I just want you to know that actual communication is key with learning this kind of language. There is a lot more to it than just waving random hand signs xD

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Actually, it is highly recommended that you do not learn ASL nor any other language completely by yourself. I used to teach myself Spanish for over 5 months but since I've been also using it to communicate with my Hispanic girlfriend and others online, I've been able to advanced in my writing and reading tremendously. However, due to my lack of speaking opportunities, I can't express myself well verbally. Although ASL doesn't involve writing, reading, or even speaking, it does have its own unique form of communication that is heavily based on only interaction with others. I would say that ASL requires more human interaction than any other language.

 

It's not like you can immediately teach yourself individual hand signs. It's like learning individual words without context and then randomly throwing them together into mashup sentences. You need context, it's very important, especially since ASL has a very complex sentence structure.

 

It's a really beautiful language, but do not underestimate it by all means. Many consider it as difficult as Mandarin Chinese. Overall, I am discouraging anyone. I just want you to know that actual communication is key with learning this kind of language. There is a lot more to it than just waving random hand signs xD

I'm curious about something, are you able to understand movies in Spanish fairly well?

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I'm curious about something, are you able to understand movies in Spanish fairly well?

I haven't exactly ventured down that route yet. I've been listening to the radio every now and then, as well as watching some clips and commercials in Spanish on YouTube. As far as I know, I can understand 45-50% of spoken Spanish, which isn't too bad. :P

 

Why? :)

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I haven't exactly ventured down that route yet. I've been listening to the radio every now and then, as well as watching some clips and commercials in Spanish on YouTube. As far as I know, I can understand 45-50% of spoken Spanish, which isn't too bad. :P

 

Why? :)

I was wondering how well it worked for you in regards to movies and such, training the ear, as much as it's not hard, is usually one of the longer parts in the learning process

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