Another thread got me thinking about the way language skills work in SR. Most people I know IRL, don't know more than one additional language and this is primarily because they had to take Spanish or German in high school. Most of this is actually less than conversant, but for this poll conversant will mean that one could communicate on some level to obtain information and relay the same to those of another language. Fluent would mean exactly what it means.
How well do each of you know another language? Myself, I can only speak one other language (Spanish)... and its not what I would consider fluent. Good, but not great. I imagine that some of you in European nations are more prone to be multi-lingual.
Full Version: Languages
English (fluent) and Polish (conversant) plus a basic grasp of French (understand pretty much actually, but I can't speak it) and Spanish (a bit like French, but I understand even less)... I prolly shouldn't mention Japanese, but I'll do it anyway. Not that I know much of it anymore, but some really, really basic stuff I still remember.
This is of course in addition to Swedish.
This is of course in addition to Swedish.
I speak English (native) and Spanish (Conversant... 6 years of schooling, and a bit of time in Mexico). My spanish is slipping, though.
JaronK
JaronK
I think it is highly different if you are American than if you are European. Most Europeans that I know speak two or more languages fluently. Granted, most Europeans that my sorry American ass would know almost by default would speak English and their native tongue, so that's a skewed sample, but language studies are emphasized more often and at an earlier age in non-American schools.
English (fluent) and French (converstand). I understand French much better than I can speak it. Also, I plan to take spanish lessons next semester.
Native language is German.
Native language is German.
| QUOTE |
| I think it is highly different if you are American than if you are European. Most Europeans that I know speak two or more languages fluently. Granted, most Europeans that my sorry American ass would know almost by default would speak English and their native tongue, so that's a skewed sample, but language studies are emphasized more often and at an earlier age in non-American schools. |
Heh. Unless they're from either Britain or Ireland, people have to be at least conversant in english to use this page, so ... yeah, it will definitly look like the majority of Europeans (and generally, people from "not the anglo-Saxon world") know more languages.
However, I don't know if that's really true; after all, those who cannot speak anything but their native language just won't show up in an english-language Forum not take this poll, and maybe make others overestimate Europeans and their linguistic abilities.
| QUOTE (JaronK) |
| My spanish is slipping, though. |
Palabra.
I speak Anglish, the native tongue of the bastards that raped my Welsh and Irish ancestors. 
I slept through 4 years of Spanish, but ended up marrying a woman from Mexico. She can speak English, Italian, French, and a smattering of German in addition to English. I ramped up my Spanish to try and keep up, plus it's a cool language. I'd like to learn Arabic and Japanese, I love the sound of those languages as well.
I slept through 4 years of Spanish, but ended up marrying a woman from Mexico. She can speak English, Italian, French, and a smattering of German in addition to English. I ramped up my Spanish to try and keep up, plus it's a cool language. I'd like to learn Arabic and Japanese, I love the sound of those languages as well.
My own English, but I can also converse in Welsh and Arabic,
But don't ask me to write in them I have enough trouble doing that in English!
torz x
But don't ask me to write in them I have enough trouble doing that in English!
torz x
I'm pretty fluent in Hungarian (since I lived there for 2 years and married a Hungarian to boot) and my French is decently conversant after five minutes or so to get it up to speed (after 6 years of classes and a few weeks in France and (Southern) Belgium). I'd love to have put Irish on there, but after not using it at all for several years... it's not so good. Used to be conversant (which I justify by saying I could converse reasonably well drunk or sober with people in the Gaeltacht in Ireland). My Old English is still okay, but more with the reading and not so much with the speaking. My wife (not an SR player) is the impressive one - she speaks English, German and Hungarian (her native language) fluently as well as a bit of Russian. Hell, she teaches German in English every day, which blows me away. I couldn't imagine teaching, say, French in Hungarian.
I actually like the way languages work in SR. Frankly, as they teach you in linguistics classes, most of the world is at least bilingual (and mainly multilingual) to some extent, at least. Monolingualism is really only the norm AFAIK in N. America (which isn't to say that there aren't monolingual people in other parts of the world, just that its not so common). I think SR's rules allow characters to be bi-and multi-lingual pretty easily, which I think is good. I think bi- and multi-lingualism is only going to get more common in the future, especially with all the balkanizing SR has inflicted on the world.
Anyway, just my 2 . Well, that was pretty long. Maybe it's more like my 4 . 
I actually like the way languages work in SR. Frankly, as they teach you in linguistics classes, most of the world is at least bilingual (and mainly multilingual) to some extent, at least. Monolingualism is really only the norm AFAIK in N. America (which isn't to say that there aren't monolingual people in other parts of the world, just that its not so common). I think SR's rules allow characters to be bi-and multi-lingual pretty easily, which I think is good. I think bi- and multi-lingualism is only going to get more common in the future, especially with all the balkanizing SR has inflicted on the world.
Anyway, just my 2
. Well, that was pretty long. Maybe it's more like my 4 .
Does Sperethiel count?
I think the main reason we Americans have a tendency (overall) towards speaking only English isn't because none of us are interested, it's because the education system waits 'till we're old enough to develop an interest (and therefore be very set in our English-speaking ways) before making classes of any sort available to us.
By the time you're a freshman in high school you're locked into your native tongue fairly securely, I'd say, and being offered a class where you spend one whole whopping hour a day working on another language isn't going to do much to change your ways and bring about real fluency. I know a few people that took one language and stuck with it for four years of high school and some college, and then (after moving or at least taking a long trip to whatever area speaks their secondary language) they can get by. Barely.
It's unfortunate. Looking back, I certainly wish I'd been able to start learning something much, much, earlier. Mandatory second language classes in elementary school would never be a popular enough idea to become a reality, but I think they should be.
By the time you're a freshman in high school you're locked into your native tongue fairly securely, I'd say, and being offered a class where you spend one whole whopping hour a day working on another language isn't going to do much to change your ways and bring about real fluency. I know a few people that took one language and stuck with it for four years of high school and some college, and then (after moving or at least taking a long trip to whatever area speaks their secondary language) they can get by. Barely.
It's unfortunate. Looking back, I certainly wish I'd been able to start learning something much, much, earlier. Mandatory second language classes in elementary school would never be a popular enough idea to become a reality, but I think they should be.
French (native) and English (thanks to Ultima VII and Dumpshock). German just did not work for me, I tried hard but no. But I plan on retrying, as well as greek. I'm also fluent in C and Pascal 
I'm with you 110%. But I think the reason Americans won't get on the language bandwagon more fully is that we don't have to. I mean, when we travel, English is the lingua franca, so we don't absolutely have to speak anything else. It might help, yeah, but it's far from necessary unless you're talking long-term living somwhere else. And in our own country, there's also no need. Yeah, there are a lot of Spanish speakers, but if they want to make money, they usually have to learn English. Same with other ethnic groups. Throughout history, that's how languages got spread - the more power a social group has, the more widespread their language becomes and the less they can afford to use other peoples'. English, because of the economic and social clout of the English speaking countries, gets top billing and so we don't have to bother with anything else. It's too bad, because learning another langauge is really important, I think, and the U.S. is gonna be screwed when the language of power shifts to something else in the future sometime.
Also - to bring it back to Shadowrun - I think the whole language-and-power connection is something that is strongly at work in SR. Look at the NAN. Lots of people (compared to today's figures) speak what are, in our world, often nearly dead Native American langauges. Why? Because those social groups have the power in their respective nations, so their language will propigate.
Also - to bring it back to Shadowrun - I think the whole language-and-power connection is something that is strongly at work in SR. Look at the NAN. Lots of people (compared to today's figures) speak what are, in our world, often nearly dead Native American langauges. Why? Because those social groups have the power in their respective nations, so their language will propigate.
Native Finnish, fluent English (written at least), decent Swedish (haven't needed since school days), weak German (optional at school, haven't used after that), and some knowledge of several other languages, not really usable in conversation, I'm just interested in linguistics.
Native german, fluent english und better-understanding-than-talking french. Picked up some swedish and norwegian phrases over the years - the festivals i'm visiting during the summer months usually sees a lot of scandinavian folks which end up pretty drunk... me too....
Aside from English, as a native, I am a little more than conversant in French - a compulsory course at English prep and secondary schools. I am also slightly more than conversant in that obscure tongue they call "American" - although I'm nowhere near fluent.
I'd love to be able to speak more languages, but it's a talent some people have - and I don't. By the time we finished highschool (see me showing off my American skills...) a chummer of mine was fluent in French, German and Russian! I understand he's now half way along Japanese... or Korean. Can't remember which.
I'd love to be able to speak more languages, but it's a talent some people have - and I don't. By the time we finished highschool (see me showing off my American skills...) a chummer of mine was fluent in French, German and Russian! I understand he's now half way along Japanese... or Korean. Can't remember which.
English, conversant Spanish, a little bit of Arabic (enough to tell someone to drop their weapons or to ask for water), and highly skilled in Jive. LOL
| QUOTE |
| I think the main reason we Americans have a tendency (overall) towards speaking only English isn't because none of us are interested, it's because the education system waits 'till we're old enough to develop an interest (and therefore be very set in our English-speaking ways) before making classes of any sort available to us. |
VERY interesting point. Germany (and it's somewhat sucky schools) start only with 4th grade to teach students English, resulting in many Germans being only half way decent speakers later ... they're considering starting language training right in the first grade, which is a very good idea, since child brains can much better process new languages.
With languages, you cannot start too early.
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| Mandatory second language classes in elementary school would never be a popular enough idea to become a reality, but I think they should be. |
Why? I mean, you have a full-day elementary school, right? Can't be time constraints ...
| QUOTE (L.D) |
| Before you try and learn Japanese you should go and read this. But don't take it too seriously... |
frikkin' hilarious
I'm a typical Englishman - I can order beer in about 3 other languages and ask girls to sleep with me in a few as well. I'd hardly describe it as conversational though
I also know how to say "I love you" in Greek </vomit>
| QUOTE (hermit) | ||
| VERY interesting point. Germany (and it's somewhat sucky schools) start only with 4th grade to teach students English, resulting in many Germans being only half way decent speakers later ... they're considering starting language training right in the first grade, which is a very good idea, since child brains can much better process new languages. With languages, you cannot start too early.
Why? I mean, you have a full-day elementary school, right? Can't be time constraints ... |
I agree completely. I'm better than most (when I choose to be) with English, but I've never had any sort of knack in the slightest for any other language -- in various times I've taken and flunked out of Spanish, French, and German (twice). Heck, with German, I even had my almost-fluent (lived in Germany for three years or so after graduation) mother to help out, and I still just couldn't "get it." On the other hand, I remember to this day a phrase or two, little stuff she taught me when I was little, a part of a nursery rhyme, a few phrases of Spanish (from friends of mine, growing up in California), etc, etc. An hour-long session of class, once a day, five days a week, when you're already almost a fully grown adult? I don't think it's gonna sink in the way it does in the spongelike mind of a child.
I can't speak for every American public school (or private ones), but I know that my schooling didn't offer any choice to take a foreign language until High School (9th grade, ~14 years old), and even then most school counselors, etc, suggested to us that we wait until we "had a better idea" of what High School was like.
And I'm afraid any sort of serious motion to move the availability up any (I beleive some middle schools may offer them now) would be unpopular with parents, on a national scale. Too many people complain as it is about how much homework kids get, how they aren't covering "stuff they really need to know," etc, etc. I heard a lady here at work the other day complaining because her daughter's school was trying to teach them to write cursive "too soon." I can't imagine the general American public (and this relates to the "language of power" that was mentioned earlier on the thread) wanting to spend their hard-earned taxpayer money to teach their children some heathen tongue.
Native English, near-native Irish Gaelic, fluent Italian, fluent German (I can sometimes convince people I'm Austrian) and somewhat rusty, though still get-by-okay French.
I started learning Irish Gaelic when I was two years old, in the home, studied French from eight through til I was eighteen, German from twelve to twenty-four, and learned Italian from my wife (who is Italian).
I was lucky in that almost all my teachers were native speakers who had a real enthusiasm for teaching.
Learning and retaining languages is really about two things: it's partly about talent, I guess (I'd be lying if I didn't say I've been told by all my teachers that I have a talent for languages and linguistics), but it's also about practise, practise and more practise.
Learning any second language in early, in my experience, really helps - provided you enjoy the experience.
Children here in Ireland have to learn Irish from an early age, but it's so poorly taught that most of them hate it. So most of them don't learn it...
I started learning Irish Gaelic when I was two years old, in the home, studied French from eight through til I was eighteen, German from twelve to twenty-four, and learned Italian from my wife (who is Italian).
I was lucky in that almost all my teachers were native speakers who had a real enthusiasm for teaching.
Learning and retaining languages is really about two things: it's partly about talent, I guess (I'd be lying if I didn't say I've been told by all my teachers that I have a talent for languages and linguistics), but it's also about practise, practise and more practise.
Learning any second language in early, in my experience, really helps - provided you enjoy the experience.
Children here in Ireland have to learn Irish from an early age, but it's so poorly taught that most of them hate it. So most of them don't learn it...
Native Polish, Native (technically a misnomer, since I wasn't born in the US, but calling the language I think in most of the time "fluent" doesn't seem right, especially since I don't even have a foreign accent anymore) English, broken Russian and French.
Could get Russian to "conversant" easily if I wanted to, but I don't, since it was something I was forced to learn while growing up in Poland, the (high school) French would take a lot of work before I could do something with it besides order a ham and cheese sandwich.
Could get Russian to "conversant" easily if I wanted to, but I don't, since it was something I was forced to learn while growing up in Poland, the (high school) French would take a lot of work before I could do something with it besides order a ham and cheese sandwich.
| QUOTE (L.D) |
| Before you try and learn Japanese you should go and read this. But don't take it too seriously... |
thats the best, im currently learning japanese so its amusing as hell. I took 4 years of spanish , but ive managed to forget alot of it. Im learning mandarine and japanese at the moment. im much better at japanese than mandarin , mainly because i wont need it till grad school so im avoiding it.
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| fluent German (I can sometimes convince people I'm Austrian) |
| QUOTE |
| Too many people complain as it is about how much homework kids get, how they aren't covering "stuff they really need to know," etc, etc. I heard a lady here at work the other day complaining because her daughter's school was trying to teach them to write cursive "too soon." I can't imagine the general American public (and this relates to the "language of power" that was mentioned earlier on the thread) wanting to spend their hard-earned taxpayer money to teach their children some heathen tongue. |
It's a shame Americans waste an opportunity to learn other languages like that (talk about the ego getting in the way) and thus, getting a grip at foreign cultures.
Myself, I was taught english by my mom (who loves British culture, and being a teacher herself, felt it was a good idea to start learning languages early) since I was four. I have also, in addition to school (and, later in our high school equivalent, extra English courses) started to watch English movies in English as soon as the VCR was available - it's a personal quirk of mine, but dubbing freaks me out. I associate voices and faces strongly, and seeing a different face with the same voice is unsettling to me.
I learned English because they made me. 'They' being the school comission : English classes are mandatory in Quebec from the 4th grade until university.
But if all I had learned of English came from often less than fluent teachers, I'd barely be conversant today.
No, my real teachers were the Simpsons and Frasier.
But if all I had learned of English came from often less than fluent teachers, I'd barely be conversant today.
No, my real teachers were the Simpsons and Frasier.
It's not only Americans ... almost all native english-speaking nations fall into the one-language category. It isn't really ego either, but just a matter of necessity. English is used for business (and entertainment) more than any other language, so there is no real need to learn another language once you know it. European culture is much more cosmopolitan, and there are a number of languages used in a relatively small geographical area. While most Europeans are multi-lingual, you'll notice that a lot of then only learn their native language and english.
Mandarin Chinese and Hokkien(Fujian) dialect, English, Bahasa Malay.
Mandarin because I'm Chinese, Fujian because it is the street language here (you might not be able to read a newspaper with it, but cursing with it and being able to understand it is a must), English because it is a compulsory language we must learn and Malay because that is the language the military uses during parades (might as well learn to speak it well, since you will have learn it at a basic level anyway).
Mandarin because I'm Chinese, Fujian because it is the street language here (you might not be able to read a newspaper with it, but cursing with it and being able to understand it is a must), English because it is a compulsory language we must learn and Malay because that is the language the military uses during parades (might as well learn to speak it well, since you will have learn it at a basic level anyway).
I don't get too worked up about people in the US not learning other languages, because I think (based on my experiences learning English) that studying a language without the opportunity (and a reason) to practice it with those fluent in it on a regular basis is a waste of time. It can make for an interesting hobby, but just because you're not studying other languages doesn't mean your civilization is failing.
Also, let's not pretend that Europeans learn other languages to have a deeper connection with all of humanity... I don't see very many rushing to learn Slavic languages, for example, despite the fact those countries are practically on your doorstep. So much for being open to other cultures - most Europeans display a lot more indifference to my native language and culture than Americans do towards theirs. Learning English (and the languages of some of your neighbors) is not a matter of an enlightened mindset, but of practicality and need. In contrast, what motivation does the typical American have for learning French, or any other language that we'll only use once a year after making a transatlantic flight?
Also, let's not pretend that Europeans learn other languages to have a deeper connection with all of humanity... I don't see very many rushing to learn Slavic languages, for example, despite the fact those countries are practically on your doorstep. So much for being open to other cultures - most Europeans display a lot more indifference to my native language and culture than Americans do towards theirs. Learning English (and the languages of some of your neighbors) is not a matter of an enlightened mindset, but of practicality and need. In contrast, what motivation does the typical American have for learning French, or any other language that we'll only use once a year after making a transatlantic flight?
Out of interest, can any of the Americans on the board speak a Native american tongue? I'd love to learn something like that but, oddly, there's not a lot of classes for that sort of thing over here...
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| In contrast, what motivation does the typical American have for learning French, or any other language that we'll only use once a year after making a transatlantic flight? |
what about Spanish? Also, they do have a french-speaking country right on their doorstep - Canada's officially bilingual ...
| QUOTE |
| Also, let's not pretend that Europeans learn other languages to have a deeper connection with all of humanity... |
No, but it at least gets them into contact with other cultures. That's what I am saying. what they make of that is, of course, another issue.
But yeah, it's not like everyone's rushing to study the East's languages. Guess that's mainly because people haven't really realised that the iron curtain is down. Plus, Poland tends to not be a well-known holiday destination, nor a country that particularily much business is done with.
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| Malay because that is the language the military uses during parades (might as well learn to speak it well, since you will have learn it at a basic level anyway). |
Singapore's military speaks Malay? O_O
Thought Singaporeans hate Malaysia's guts ever since they kicked you out in 1965 ... at least, well, that's the impression my Malay friend gave me.
It's a question of what you need to know.
My family speak in a perculiar concoction of English, with random words from other languages thrown in at random. My conversant French was very good at school and would have faded but for speaking a little of it at home, and the frequent trips I make to France - on holiday, or to go replenish my stock of "Yop." But France is next door, so to speak. If I'd have had to learn Japanese in school, I'd have probably forgotten it, because it's not so close.
My family speak in a perculiar concoction of English, with random words from other languages thrown in at random. My conversant French was very good at school and would have faded but for speaking a little of it at home, and the frequent trips I make to France - on holiday, or to go replenish my stock of "Yop." But France is next door, so to speak. If I'd have had to learn Japanese in school, I'd have probably forgotten it, because it's not so close.
Fluent English, Finnish and Swedish, somewhat useful German. I could manage to get a lift, buy a meal or give directions, but not really hold a conversation on anything beyond the every day things. I could also speak a few curses in Russian, but that won't help me get anything except a beating.
One reason for more languages in school is that people are quite mixed in here. Everyone's been accepting skilled immigrants from the others, armies have marched across just about every place and it's quite likely that national borders don't follow the areas where a certain language is used.
One reason for more languages in school is that people are quite mixed in here. Everyone's been accepting skilled immigrants from the others, armies have marched across just about every place and it's quite likely that national borders don't follow the areas where a certain language is used.
| QUOTE (hermit) | ||||
what about Spanish? Also, they do have a french-speaking country right on their doorstep - Canada's officially bilingual ...
No, but it at least gets them into contact with other cultures. But yeah, it's not like everyone's rushing to study the East's languages. Guess that's mainly because people haven't really realised that the iron curtain is down. Plus, Poland tends to not be a well-known holiday destination, nor a country that particularily much business is done with. |
What about Spanish? A lot of Americans do study it.
As for Canada being on our doorstep... I live in a state that borders Canada, and it'd take me easily 6-8 hours to get to Ontario. There are places in Europe where I could drive across three or four countries in that amount of time.
That reminds of something I've read once... "Americans think 100 years is a long time. Europeans think 100 miles is a long way."
| QUOTE |
| That reminds of something I've read once... "Americans think 100 years is a long time. Europeans think 100 miles is a long way." |
Hahahahaha!, Yeah, fits pretty well.
Officially bilingual doesn't really mean squat. Most Canadians outside of Quebec are not even close to being fluent in french. They'd be lucky to remember a few words from their couple of years of french classes in hgh school, if that.
| QUOTE (Spetulhu) |
| One reason for more languages in school is that people are quite mixed in here. |
While it's true that Finland isn't an ethnic monopoly, I think it's fair to say that our population is far less mixed than most other developed countries. The main reason it's still required of all children to learn Swedish is that it's an official language thanks to native Swedish-speakers once having been the ruling population and a much larger minority than they are now. Given the choice, most Finnish children would not study it -- and that would have included me.
The popularity of English can be explained by it being the language of international popular culture, and business as well, and the need to know at least some other language if you intend to get along with people from any other country since nobody but Finns understands Finnish.
I do not know a single Finn who can speak Russian, but then I don't know that many people anyway.
| QUOTE (??) |
| teaching cursive too soon... |
And it is of my opinion that cursive is the BIGGEST wast of time, aside from your signiture.
I personally woulda loved to have a language early and waited on cursive...
but i'm native american, and i had some german and highschool, but can barely remember a lick of it.... only thing i can remember off hand is "Kahn ick kneife dein brust"
| QUOTE |
| since nobody but Finns understands Finnish. |
It's not that I didn't try, but all that stuck was hyvää yötä. The grammaer is ... murderous ... and the whole concept is so strange.
| QUOTE |
| only thing i can remember off hand is "Kahn ick kneife dein brust" |
Rather "Kann ich deine Brust kneifen?" (do you really mean "pinch"?)
| QUOTE (mmu1) |
| That reminds of something I've read once... "Americans think 100 years is a long time. Europeans think 100 miles is a long way." |
I'm fairly certain that the quote was somewhere on the old 2nd Ed London Sourcebook... not sure though... lost my copy in the pit of despair called my home!
| QUOTE (Fortune) |
| Officially bilingual doesn't really mean squat. Most Canadians outside of Quebec are not even close to being fluent in french. They'd be lucky to remember a few words from their couple of years of french classes in hgh school, if that. |
Actually, Ottawa has a fairly large bilingual population, and so does New Brunswick, if memory serves. Quebec has a quite high francophone population, with a lot of the bilingual population in Montreal. I think the other cities have reasonable bilingual populations, but the Language acts in Quebec are fairly draconian.
I don't know about everyone else, but my french, taken in public school and a little while in high school, is still, well, passable. Better in spoken then written, and only of any use at all when spoken slowly. But, I haven't touched the language for more than 5-10 minutes at a time in 5-6 years.
And yes, officially bilingual does mean something... means any government position has to offer bilingual services (Federally at least)
> Native Language (french)
English (not really good as you can see)
I also learn some year ago German for a year but I forgotten all ^^;; I learn spanish too during 5 years but no... I'm too bad... Finally I don't really learn it but I can read and write in Korean and know some word and expression, I can't have a discuss however.
> Daegann
English (not really good as you can see)
I also learn some year ago German for a year but I forgotten all ^^;; I learn spanish too during 5 years but no... I'm too bad... Finally I don't really learn it but I can read and write in Korean and know some word and expression, I can't have a discuss however.
> Daegann
Ottawa has to have a large bilingual population, because as you say, Federal Goverment demands it. Leaving Quebec out of the picture (as I did in my previous post), I still say that most Canadians are not truly bilingual. Especially not from Toronto westward, where most of the non-francaphone population lives. There is also quite a large percentage of Quebecois that are not truly bilingual, knowing very little english.
I put more than three:
C/C++, perl, java, javascript, pascal and a touch of lisp. Definitely multi-lingual here.
C/C++, perl, java, javascript, pascal and a touch of lisp. Definitely multi-lingual here.
I'm fluent in English(Native), French, Japanese, German, and Latin (I obviously like linguistics).
As to the canadian thing(I live on the Niagara falls border area), in my experience most canadians speak bad/no french, and almost all the people from quebec(quite alot) speak bad/no english.
During college I had a girlfriend from quebec and we helped each other, I always spoke to her in french and she always spoke to me in english, was good learning.
As to the canadian thing(I live on the Niagara falls border area), in my experience most canadians speak bad/no french, and almost all the people from quebec(quite alot) speak bad/no english.
During college I had a girlfriend from quebec and we helped each other, I always spoke to her in french and she always spoke to me in english, was good learning.
| QUOTE (hermit) |
| Rather "Kann ich deine Brust kneifen?" (do you really mean "pinch"?) |
yes, yes i did, but understand, this was during my fat, i can't get a vacum cleaner to suck on me days, so the subtilites of it were lost on me lol besides, rough is fun
Hm. I speak English(native) and French and Japanese, but the latter two are too basic and too rusty for me to say I'm conversant.
Conversant (kinda) French as a hangover from school, the only language I was ever any good at. Bombed in German, was actually asked to leave Latin
Tried learning Welsh recently since I moved here, but whether it was the language or the bloke teaching it, I just wanted to pull my hair out.
Tried learning Welsh recently since I moved here, but whether it was the language or the bloke teaching it, I just wanted to pull my hair out.
I speak fluent english(native) and german, am conversant in spoken spanish, and can get myself slapped by a beautiful woman in over 20 languages.
As a person that lives in Ottawa, let me put my 2 cents in on the whole bilingual thing. You are right Fortune, ottawa does need to be bilingual, partly because of federal pressure, but more because we share a river with the city of Gatineau (previously Hull.) I grew up west of here, spent my 10 years being taught french, then promptly forgot it before ever moving out this way. The major reason any of us, at least in the retail sector, is that most Quebecois are not bilingual, and those that are refuse to speak english to you if you don't speak french.
Person: Parlez Vous francais?
me: oui, mais mon francais est horrible
them: oh, well I was looking for this....
same person: parlez-vous francais?
someone else: non
them: qu'est ce que.....?
On the same note, we have a lot of people who conviently forget their english when they don't' get an answer they want to hear, so you need to be able to flip over and tell them again in French.
That aside, I'm a native English speaker, I have a passable understanding of french, but have a hard time speaking it (and have a terrible accent when I do) and have forgotten all my Macedonian I learned as a child. It is shame we don't work harder on learning other languages at a young age, I always promised myself if I had children they would be fluent in at least 3.
Person: Parlez Vous francais?
me: oui, mais mon francais est horrible
them: oh, well I was looking for this....
same person: parlez-vous francais?
someone else: non
them: qu'est ce que.....?
On the same note, we have a lot of people who conviently forget their english when they don't' get an answer they want to hear, so you need to be able to flip over and tell them again in French.
That aside, I'm a native English speaker, I have a passable understanding of french, but have a hard time speaking it (and have a terrible accent when I do) and have forgotten all my Macedonian I learned as a child. It is shame we don't work harder on learning other languages at a young age, I always promised myself if I had children they would be fluent in at least 3.
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