Foreign Languages that you can speak/write/understand/read?
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  Foreign Languages that you can speak/write/understand/read?
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Author Topic: Foreign Languages that you can speak/write/understand/read?  (Read 3275 times)
jesmo
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« on: May 05, 2008, 12:30:02 AM »

I am curious.

I can spead/read/write and understand the basics of Spanish... basically enough to get me through a few days in Mexico.

And interestingly enough, I am fairly fluent in Bosnian, lol. My bosnian is better then my spanish!
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MasterJedi
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« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2008, 12:52:06 AM »

I took German for two years in Middle School (a year's worth in high school) and 3 years in High School. Stopped taking it when I got enough to get into and out of college, I still know a few words and phrases and could probably read some very basic stuff.
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MODU
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« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2008, 07:11:12 AM »


Tagalog is about all I can do these days (outside of English), and even that is rough.  I just don't use it that often, and most Filipino's I know speak English.
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Kaine for Senate '18
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« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2008, 07:20:36 AM »

I can speak, write, and understand Spanish.  I can read Hebrew fluently.
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Fmr President & Senator Polnut
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« Reply #4 on: May 05, 2008, 07:21:52 AM »

German pretty confidently and I can understand and read more French than I can speak.
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Grumpier Than Uncle Joe
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« Reply #5 on: May 05, 2008, 07:48:18 AM »

Spanish & Greek.....a little.
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snowguy716
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« Reply #6 on: May 05, 2008, 08:16:15 AM »

I can speak German pretty fluently and generally I can understand the dialects of Oberösterreich, Tirol and Südtirol though I have a lot of trouble with the Viennese and Swiss... they're pretty much the equivalent to really fast Jamaican english.
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Franzl
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« Reply #7 on: May 05, 2008, 08:46:39 AM »

English and German fluently, having one parent that spoke each to me as I was learning to talk.

French fairly fluently, 5 years of it in school.
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John Dibble
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« Reply #8 on: May 05, 2008, 08:58:52 AM »

I can speak, read, and write some Japanese.
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Hash
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« Reply #9 on: May 05, 2008, 09:55:51 AM »

English and French fluently.

Some Arabic, and a little leftover German from my time in Bavaria.
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MODU
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« Reply #10 on: May 05, 2008, 10:17:45 AM »


I use to ... 22 years ago.  Sad
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John Dibble
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« Reply #11 on: May 05, 2008, 10:19:15 AM »


It's like most languages - unless it's your native one, you're likely to forget it unless you use it often. I've forgotten a lot of kanji, but I do get some exposure to the spoken language by watching subtitled anime.
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jesmo
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« Reply #12 on: May 05, 2008, 10:26:08 AM »

It is ashame that German has all but died in the United States. But I am glad to see some german speakers in here.

Germany is the greatest country in the Euro Union.
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Frodo
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« Reply #13 on: May 05, 2008, 10:51:45 AM »

Spanish -but only barely.  If I were exposed to the language and learned it at a much earlier age (let's say, before 4th grade), I would be much more fluent.
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Хahar 🤔
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« Reply #14 on: May 05, 2008, 11:13:49 AM »

English, speak Bengali but can't read or write it, have almost two years of middle school Spanish (equivalent to a year of high school), I can generally get the gist of simple written French, I can read and write (but not understand) Arabic, and I know way too many phrases in German (especially those with a political meaning).
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Franzl
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« Reply #15 on: May 05, 2008, 11:17:30 AM »

It is ashame that German has all but died in the United States. But I am glad to see some german speakers in here.

Germany is the greatest country in the Euro Union.

Interesting, I'm not going to necessarily contradict you here, but what makes you so fond of Germany?
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jesmo
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« Reply #16 on: May 05, 2008, 01:12:27 PM »

I would like to remind y'all, that in many ways Americans are lucky. Only one language is neccessary in this country; English.

Yes that is correct, just one. Most countries in this world; you have to be bilingual!

And... just be glad English was your native toungue Smiley, trust me. When you learn another language, you will realize how difficult English is to learn.
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« Reply #17 on: May 05, 2008, 01:29:14 PM »

English

Chinese (Mostly Mandarin, but can understand some other dialects)

French

Spanish (a bit rusty, but still workable)
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Bacon King
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« Reply #18 on: May 05, 2008, 01:34:52 PM »

English, of course, on a completely fluent level.
I know a good bit of French, though not quite at a fluent level.
I also understand a good bit of Spanish and know a tiny bit of Hmong.
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Torie
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« Reply #19 on: May 05, 2008, 08:31:41 PM »

I am curious.

I can spead/read/write and understand the basics of Spanish... basically enough to get me through a few days in Mexico.

And interestingly enough, I am fairly fluent in Bosnian, lol. My bosnian is better then my spanish!

Is "Bosnian" different than Serbo Croatian?
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Хahar 🤔
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« Reply #20 on: May 05, 2008, 08:33:03 PM »

I am curious.

I can spead/read/write and understand the basics of Spanish... basically enough to get me through a few days in Mexico.

And interestingly enough, I am fairly fluent in Bosnian, lol. My bosnian is better then my spanish!

Is "Bosnian" different than Serbo Croatian?

That depends on who you ask.
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Sensei
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« Reply #21 on: May 05, 2008, 08:34:56 PM »

English, of course.
Passable Spanish, which should be much better considering my ethnicity and where I've lived.
Conversational French
A little bit of Japanese
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snowguy716
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« Reply #22 on: May 05, 2008, 10:02:10 PM »

I would like to remind y'all, that in many ways Americans are lucky. Only one language is neccessary in this country; English.

Yes that is correct, just one. Most countries in this world; you have to be bilingual!

And... just be glad English was your native toungue Smiley, trust me. When you learn another language, you will realize how difficult English is to learn.

There certainly are much more difficult languages to learn than English.

The things that make English hard to master (but not hard to learn.. basic English is pretty easy) are the insanely large vocabulary and the lack of solid rules, especially in spelling.

There are several ways to say the same thing in English.

Some very little, like:

"I've not done that before" and "I haven't done that before"

We also have a knack for using the same spelling for completely different words that often even have the same pronunciation, but have completely different meanings.

Sentences like

"The dump was so full that they had to refuse any more refuse."
"The man decided to desert his dessert in the desert."
"I did not object to the object"
"They were too close to close the door."

Or, pronounce the following:

Plough, slough, draught, thought, drought, trough, caught, sought, naught, bought

Here's a good poem written about the English language by a Dutchman:

Dearest creature in creation
Studying English pronunciation,
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse
I will keep you, Susy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye your dress you'll tear,
So shall I! Oh, hear my prayer,
Pray, console your loving poet,
Make my coat look new, dear, sew it!
Just compare heart, beard and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it's written).
Made has not the sound of bade,
Say said, pay-paid, laid, but plaid.
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as vague and ague,
But be careful how you speak,
Say break, steak, but bleak and streak.
Previous, precious, fuchsia, via,
Pipe, snipe, recipe and choir,
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, shoe, poem, toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery:
Daughter, laughter and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles.
Exiles, similes, reviles.
Wholly, holly, signal, signing.
Thames, examining, combining
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war, and far.
From "desire": desirable--admirable from "admire."
Lumber, plumber, bier, but brier.
Chatham, brougham, renown, but known.
Knowledge, done, but gone and tone,
One, anemone. Balmoral.
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel,
Gertrude, German, wind, and mind.
Scene, Melpomene, mankind,
Tortoise, turquoise, chamois-leather,
Reading, reading, heathen, heather.
This phonetic labyrinth
Gives moss, gross, brook, brooch, ninth, plinth.
Billet does not end like ballet;
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet;
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Banquet is not nearly parquet,
Which is said to rime with "darky."
Viscous, Viscount, load, and broad.
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation's O.K.,
When you say correctly: croquet.
Rounded, wounded, grieve, and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive, and live,
Liberty, library, heave, and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven,
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the difference, moreover,
Between mover, plover, Dover,
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police, and lice.
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label,
Petal, penal, and canal,
Wait, surmise, plait, promise, pal.
Suit, suite, ruin, circuit, conduit,
Rime with "shirk it" and "beyond it."
But it is not hard to tell,
Why it's pall, mall, but Pall Mall.
Muscle, muscular, gaol, iron,
Timber, climber, bullion, lion,
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, and chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor,
Ivy, privy, famous, clamour
And enamour rime with hammer.
Pussy, hussy, and possess,
Desert, but dessert, address.
Golf, wolf, countenance, lieutenants.
Hoist, in lieu of flags, left pennants.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rime with anger.
Neither does devour with clangour.
Soul, but foul and gaunt but aunt.
Font, front, won't, want, grand, and grant.
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say: finger.
And then: singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, age.
Query does not rime with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post; and doth, cloth, loth;
Job, Job; blossom, bosom, oath.
Though the difference seems little,
We say actual, but victual.
Seat, sweat; chaste, caste.; Leigh, eight, height;
Put, nut; granite, and unite.
Reefer does not rime with deafer,
Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Dull, bull, Geoffrey, George, ate, late,
Hint, pint, Senate, but sedate.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific,
Tour, but our and succour, four,
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, guinea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria,
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean,
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion with battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, key, quay.
Say aver, but ever, fever.
Neither, leisure, skein, receiver.
Never guess--it is not safe:
We say calves, valves, half, but Ralph.
Heron, granary, canary,
Crevice and device, and eyrie,
Face but preface, but efface,
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust, and scour, but scourging,
Ear but earn, and wear and bear
Do not rime with here, but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew, Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, clerk, and jerk,
Asp, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation--think of psyche--!
Is a paling, stout and spikey,
Won't it make you lose your wits,
Writing "groats" and saying "grits"?
It's a dark abyss or tunnel,
Strewn with stones, like rowlock, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict, and indict!
Don't you think so, reader, rather,
Saying lather, bather, father?
Finally: which rimes with "enough"
Though, through, plough, cough, hough, or tough?
Hiccough has the sound of "cup."
My advice is--give it up!


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Colin
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« Reply #23 on: May 05, 2008, 10:09:24 PM »

Besides English, I can speak, write, read, and understand some Russian, this leads to being able to pick up very simple words, such as "book" or the verb "to write" etc., in other Slavic languages. Can also read most Cyrillic alphabets, though I'm trying to learn Serbian cyrillic.

I can read and write Latin, having taken four years of it in high school. I still can remember some simple French from Middle School and can read simple sentences. T
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Rin-chan
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« Reply #24 on: May 05, 2008, 10:18:41 PM »

I know a little Latin because I took it in middle school and high school and I know random Japanese words lol

I'm only fluent in English... T_T

Rin-chan
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