How many languages do you know?

[Venetia]

Like, for example, betcha din know this'un:

Spoiler: Definition

de·fen·es·trate      (dÄ“-fÄ›n'Ä­-strÄ

 

[second_crimson]

I've taken more of a jack of all trades approach to language. My first language is English, but I've learned basic Spanish, German, and Japanese. I speak Japanese to a few friends, and me and my mom converse in German quite a bit. I've had two years of formal learning in each. I'm trying my hardest to learn a little Chinese on my own, but I can't seem to grasp it.

 

[Retlaf]

My native language is English. I'm also currently studying Japanese (一ねん生でございます).

 

[sixtyandaquarter]

The act of being a schmexy toad-rider; "You can defenestrate me all night long, fella."

Seriously I should not read your spoilers when having a drink - but thanks for cleaning out my nasal passages there XD

 

[Skye_Vrbas]

Just a note... and to be a prick - languages are GINORMOUS.
Even linguists would be hard pressed to understand 75% of any given language, unless it is that amazingly hampered and simple.

Take your favourite writer - author of stories, or penned philosopher, whatever - take any with the greatest vocabulary you can find.  Then open up a few English dictionaries, literary dictionaries, and thesauruses and you'll find their knowledge of the language no matter how great and impressive, is simply daunted by the possible wordings, let alone the words themselves, and expressions that they are completely unaware of.

Yes I know, but I didn't know that anyone else knew, so from here on I should lower my knowledge percentages if I where to use them again... But I think I'll follow Venetia's advice and use verbal expressions when decelerating my language knowledge... *lol

But since you're talking about dictionaries; If you where to study "speech therapy" called "Logopedie" in Belgium, you have to learn the whole "Van Daele" dictionary, which is the most complete dictionary of our language. Pretty freaky, right ?

 

[JonoSasson]

Haha I found this ironic...

English [also verry good]
French [not so verry good, but still]

Just to nit-pick.  ;D

 

[odanion]

I can speak two languages fluently...not that special but meh :p

English = not very hard to speak this as I learned it when I was young

Dutch = Ook niet zo moielijk want ik was nogal jong toen ik het leerde :p

 

[Skye_Vrbas]

I can speak two languages fluently...not that special but meh :p

English = not very hard to speak this as I learned it when I was young

Dutch = Ook niet zo moielijk want ik was nogal jong toen ik het leerde :p

So you MUST be from belgium or the nederlands.
Kinda funny since it's so comon to speak those 2 in these countries...

 

[odanion]

I can speak two languages fluently...not that special but meh :p

English = not very hard to speak this as I learned it when I was young

Dutch = Ook niet zo moielijk want ik was nogal jong toen ik het leerde :p

So you MUST be from belgium or the nederlands.
Kinda funny since it's so comon to speak those 2 in these countries...

almost right...I am canadian...I just live in the Netherlands though ^^

 

[Pisteleh]

I actually am thinking of going to school for linguistics later on. I am currently working on Japanese and am probably going to start on French in a year or two.

Spanish - 18 years : Fluent
English - 14 years : Fluent
German - 7 years : Fluent
Japanese - 4 years : OK

I also know bits and pieces of many other languages. My username is actually a misspelling of a Yiddish word. It is supposed to be "Pitseleh" with the "t" and "s" switched around, and it means "Little One" in that language. Also, if anyone would like some help learning any of the above listed languages, feel free to PM me!

 

[iceplosion]

^That's awesome and if you can speak all those languages you should totally go to a school for linguistics.

 

[Paige Knightly]

First, I find it amazing that soneone else here actually knows what Yiddish is.  :rock:  My grandmother tought me quite a few insults in Yiddish, and some of them are absolutely hilarious; one of them, for example, translates to "May an umbrella enter your stomach and open up."

I am by know means a linguest, but I am bilingual, and I'm hoping to learn more.

English: 19 Years- Fluent
Hebrew: 14 Years- Fluent
French: 4 Years- Forgot most of it
Japanese: 1 Semester- Terrible but improving
Pig Latin: Uentflay

 

[mawk]

Unfortunately, I speak nothing but English. I figure I should start learning soon, with either Spanish or French. I find myself picking up little gems from other languages regularly ("may you be struck by lightning" in Yiddish has to be one of my favourites thus far,) so I take it as a sign that I should get learning before my young supple brain starts to harden and settle itself into a rut of hopeless disillusionment paired with near-everpresent pessimism and I spiral downward towards my eventual self-destruction.

It's gonna be a blast.

 

[Calibre]

I usually speak some form of English but when I'm drunk I magically become affluent in bullshit.

 

[sixtyandaquarter]

God damn the greatest insults in the world are Yiddish.
Forget Italian slangs and Spanish insults, if you want to say some really nasty things learn a bit of Yiddish.  Especially if your saying it to someone who actually speaks the language :grin:

 

[KuraiYukita]

My main language is Swedish. I can English (Obviously....), trying to learn Japanese and I read German In school. I can talk Thai, but just a bit.

 

[Skye_Vrbas]

Hey I forgot to mention I also know body language :thumb:...

:shock: ok, that was pretty stupid  :lol:

 

[keisukeyui]

French, English, Mandarin Chinese (hanyu) and of course, Japanese.

I'm also interested in Sign Language.  Dunno if that counts or not.

 

[Trek22]

how hard is Mandarin Chinese to learn, its a language I need to start working on soon, but I haven't yet looked at it.  (the course is $300 so it will be a bit before I buy it)

 

[keisukeyui]

how hard is Mandarin Chinese to learn, its a language I need to start working on soon, but I haven't yet looked at it.  (the course is $300 so it will be a bit before I buy it)

Woah, $300?  That seems a bit pricey for a beginner course.  I thought it was pretty easy to learn, personally.  It was a year in high school, so it was only the basics, but I found the grammar very easy.  Probably the problem you'll run into most is remembering the hanzi (chinese characters) And you can get some books from chinasprout.com that are MUCH cheaper than 300 bucks.