Fierce_LiNk Posted August 11, 2012 Author Share Posted August 11, 2012 @EddieColeslaw...wow, you are quite a linguist. I feel incredibly guilty as a British person, because as a whole, we seem to only speak the one language. Whenever I go to Belgium, I'm always impressed at the level of English that a lot of people I meet can speak. They've got a totally different attitude to languages than we have. So, yes. Guilty. Spanish is wonderful. I love it, it's just a nice language to listen to, but it isn't too difficult to pick up either. I learned it in school and was immensely gutted when I found that I couldn't do it for A Level due to my school not offering it. I carried on with French, but didn't love it anywhere near as much as Spanish. I've got an opportunity now to re-learn it with my job, so I'm hoping I can get better at it. If I can get myself to the point where I can speak English, Spanish and Dutch/Flemish, being able to go from one to the other in an instant, I will be satisfied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ville Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 (edited) - Finnish: mother tongue. It's actually a pretty difficult language to learn due to all the different cases we have, so I'm quite lucky to been born as a native speaker : D - English: been studying it since I was 9 years old, although the exposure started even earlier in the form of video games. Internet use is also more English than Finnish. Even though I lack the vocabulary / idiom reserve you real natives have, I'd say this is my second "mother tongue". I can read, write and speak in English without having to translate anything in my head, i.e. it's as automatic as Finnish... - Swedish: compulsory to learn here, studied for 6 years. Average level, though now getting a bit rusty. - Japanese: little bit over 1 year, basic uni studies completed. A fun language and culture, but requires constant exposure to the languge in order for you to remember all the thousands of kanji characters o_O I'm not that interested, I mean my most Japanese exposure nowadays is watching Naruto with English subtitles... - Spanish: studied for 1 year, pretty easy to learn. Once started playing Majora's Mask in Spanish, didn't get too far though...and yes, played Double Dash in Spanish too! : D - German: studied it for 3 years in secondary school, can't remember much really. Ich kan nicht Deutsch gut sprechen! The problem with language learning is that you have to have some kind of motivation. It's been easy to learn English, since all the video games, guitar magazines and most of the internet stuff were / are in that language in the first place! And when you have English, what motivation is there to learn anything else? : o A bit of a double-edged sword there...Anyway, Japanese is one language and culture that does interest me, but not so much that I'd subject myself to the pain of playing games / watching anime in Japanese only... o_O Edited August 11, 2012 by Ville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fused King Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 I've been meaning to reply to this. Yeah, conversation/listening is pretty hard at times, but it depends on who is speaking. I heard somebody from a different part of Belgium on a train and couldn't understand a bluddy word they were saying. Sounds weird. Think they were from the coast. Hmm, I've not really noticed a huge difference between Dutch and Flemish so far. They sound different, I prefer Flemish, it sounds softer and is a bit more soothing. Hardcore Dutch is something else entirely. Ahaa. What are the differences exactly? Pronunciation seems different with certain words. Well, I kind of phrased that incorrectly. The differences aren't that huge, but there are certain words and phrases wicht are completely different from one another. I also prefer flemish; a language that suits a female. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieColeslaw Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 @EddieColeslaw...wow, you are quite a linguist. I feel incredibly guilty as a British person, because as a whole, we seem to only speak the one language. Whenever I go to Belgium, I'm always impressed at the level of English that a lot of people I meet can speak. They've got a totally different attitude to languages than we have. So, yes. Guilty. I think it's like that for most of Europe - they are fluent in their own language as well as English at the very least, then probably fluent-to-semi-fluent in a neighbouring country's language. Some Dutch kids came to my secondary school for an exchange program before, and they spoke Dutch, English, and French o___o Irish people are guiltier - we spend at least 10 years in compulsory Irish classes, then everyone seems to forget it immediately after the last exam! There is absolutely no motivation to be able to use it here, apart from some professions (e.g. if you want to work in the government). It's a damn shame, 10 years is a lot of Irish classes and time spent on learning it. The problem with language learning is that you have to have some kind of motivation. It's been easy to learn English, since all the video games, guitar magazines and most of the internet stuff were / are in that language in the first place! And when you have English, what motivation is there to learn anything else? : o A bit of a double-edged sword there...Anyway, Japanese is one language and culture that does interest me, but not so much that I'd subject myself to the pain of playing games / watching anime in Japanese only... o_O Don't forget movies, books, YouTube videos, online tutorials, ebooks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eenuh Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 I think it's like that for most of Europe - they are fluent in their own language as well as English at the very least, then probably fluent-to-semi-fluent in a neighbouring country's language. Some Dutch kids came to my secondary school for an exchange program before, and they spoke Dutch, English, and French o___o Irish people are guiltier - we spend at least 10 years in compulsory Irish classes, then everyone seems to forget it immediately after the last exam! There is absolutely no motivation to be able to use it here, apart from some professions (e.g. if you want to work in the government). It's a damn shame, 10 years is a lot of Irish classes and time spent on learning it. Heh, I spent about 8 years learning French in school, but as soon as school was over, I never used it again and now all that is left is a faint understanding of the language when reading it/hearing it. It's a shame really, as I quite like French. On the other hand, I only had English for 5 years in school I think, but my understanding of it is much greater, simply because I got to use it every day (internet, videogames, films, tv etc.). It really does all come down to using it and being motivated to keep using it. Apart from the French and English (and Dutch), I also studied Latin for 6 years, which I loved. It made me want to learn Italian and Spanish too, as they are sort of similar, but it never happened. Maybe someday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierce_LiNk Posted August 12, 2012 Author Share Posted August 12, 2012 Well, I kind of phrased that incorrectly. The differences aren't that huge, but there are certain words and phrases wicht are completely different from one another. I also prefer flemish; a language that suits a female. Ah, I understand. I'll probably learn the differences a bit further down the line. Flemish sounds lovely on a woman. I've not met that many Dutch girls though, so I can't say for certain which is better. But yes, Flemish, huge fan. I think it's like that for most of Europe - they are fluent in their own language as well as English at the very least, then probably fluent-to-semi-fluent in a neighbouring country's language. Some Dutch kids came to my secondary school for an exchange program before, and they spoke Dutch, English, and French o___o Irish people are guiltier - we spend at least 10 years in compulsory Irish classes, then everyone seems to forget it immediately after the last exam! There is absolutely no motivation to be able to use it here, apart from some professions (e.g. if you want to work in the government). It's a damn shame, 10 years is a lot of Irish classes and time spent on learning it. It's crazy, isn't it. I do think more needs to be done. It seems like mainland Europeans pick up another language effortlessly, whereas it seems like quite a struggle for us British people. It just doesn't seem ingrained into our culture to pick up another one. I was teaching a lesson a few months back, covering for the Spanish teacher, when one of the 10 year olds asked me: "Why bother learning Spanish...they can speak English, anyway!" I almost raged out. :p Welsh is pretty much the same in relation to your second paragraph. In a school in Wales, you have to do it right the way through until you finish your GCSEs. But, outside of the classroom, there is no practical application for it, since the majority of signs will be in English, people will be speaking English, majority of television will be in English, etc. Signs will be posted in Welsh as well, but the English is usually with it, and I think there's one telly channel (S4C!) in Welsh. So...hmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoogleViper Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 What would be the best language to learn for a native english speaker? I don't know any languages. I studied French and German at school for 3 years (just 2 for German iirc). I don't remember much (read: almost nothing). I remember finding German slightly easier than French, I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 I read somewhere that the easiest language to learn if you already know English is Dutch, Here you go Moogle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heroicjanitor Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Tá leor Gaeilge agam a scríobh cúpla frasá ach haon déag bliain!? Cén fáth ní fhios agam níos mó I know a pretty good amount of Irish when it gets down to writing it but if someone spoke it to me I wouldn't be near fast enough to keep the conversation going reasonably. I did Spanish in secondary and it's a similar story, knew loads when it came to reading and writing but slow at understanding speaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieColeslaw Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 What would be the best language to learn for a native english speaker? I don't know any languages. I studied French and German at school for 3 years (just 2 for German iirc). I don't remember much (read: almost nothing). I remember finding German slightly easier than French, I believe. Germanic languages :p Depends on your own interests too, e.g. I found Japanese easy (at the time) because I was really into the music and culture, but if you told me to learn Dutch or something, I'd be like...meh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnas Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 I was teaching a lesson a few months back, covering for the Spanish teacher, when one of the 10 year olds asked me: "Why bother learning Spanish...they can speak English, anyway!" I almost raged out. :p Then tell them that most Spaniards have a very hard time speaking other languages, as well. In places like Portugal and the Netherlands, films and series have subtitles, unless they're meant for children. Not in Spain, where they dub everything*, so they barely have any contact with English outside of school. They can't even understand spoken Portuguese properly, much less English. *(Let me tell you, hearing a crude Spanish voice where Morgan Freeman's should be is an awful experience) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fused King Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Ugh, I was in France on holiday and we went to one of those massive Wall-Mart kind o' stores and it had an entire gaming section with French-a-fied game titles One glance was enough for me to not even bother. These countries are the reason we decent 'able-to-understand-English' folk have to wait another month for a game to arrive here. I'm bypassing all this crap though and study Japanese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyboy-the-Dane Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Very apropos: A friend of mine just posted a massive rant on games being translated (poorly) into Danish: http://gnaslwords.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/why-do-you-bother-me-with-your-shitty-translations/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnas Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 (edited) Game releases are better in Europe, nowadays. And even though translations were the scapegoat, there were other reasons at play, too. Now, you want to know what's funny? Since "Nintendo Ibérica" is a thing nowadays, the game cases we get here now look like this: Spanish on top. Portuguese on the bottom. The same thing happens in that blurb in the bottom-left, and the captions in the back of the box. Since most games aren't translated to Portuguese, we keep the original subtitle on principle. The result is "Spanish on top. Original title below." Also, fun fact: "Bowser's Inside Story" is called "Journey to the Center of Bowser" in Spanish. I have that box, too. Very apropos: A friend of mine just posted a massive rant on games being translated (poorly) into Danish: http://gnaslwords.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/why-do-you-bother-me-with-your-shitty-translations/ Those Danish translators sure sound like a lazy bunch. If that happened here, everyone would be saying "You think this sort of unprofessionalism would happen in Germany or the nordics?!" Though I disagree with his last point. Certainly, the infinitive tense is more appropriate for a pop-up command? Either way, reminds me of a Portuguese translation of The Lord of the Flies I read once. Among half-baked name changes and not knowing what the word "pretend" means, I wish to slap whoever was responsible for that. Edited August 13, 2012 by Jonnas Automerged Doublepost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyboy-the-Dane Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Those Danish translators sure sound like a lazy bunch. If that happened here, everyone would be saying "You think this sort of unprofessionalism would happen in Germany or the nordics?!" Though I disagree with his last point. Certainly, the infinitive tense is more appropriate for a pop-up command? Heh. I agree, her last point is debatable, but rest assured that the choice of infinitive over imperative has nothing to do with linguistic preference and everything to do with shoddy translation. My own personal little nugget: In a Danish translation of the Ocarina of Time manual, the Silver Scale is translated as this type of scale: Because it's not like there's a picture that shows it's a fish scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnas Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 her Curse you, English language! Why u no use gendered nouns? My own personal little nugget: In a Danish translation of the Ocarina of Time manual, the Silver Scale is translated as this type of scale: Because it's not like there's a picture that shows it's a fish scale. I don't think I've ever seen a blunder this severe The closest was SSBB's PT manual listing a fighter known as "Raposa McCloud". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieColeslaw Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Just started learning Lao because my fiancé speaks it...seems like a very simple language in the way sentences are constructed, and "only" six tones. But the exposure probably helps (being around his family and listening to the music). The written language, however, looks like a nightmare...though not as nightmarish as Chinese, I suppose. Basically if you want to find learning languages easy, be fluent in Cantonese which has nine tones >D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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