How many languages do you guys speak?

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > How many languages do you guys speak?

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Al Cowens: Aug 11, 2004; by WE B Bourgeois

Keg posted:

Actually, I'm happy.

This would have, potentially, been an OK thread with interesting discussion if someone other than you posted it.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 02:10

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 03:15

4outof5: Nov 10, 2003; Leader of the ULT Right.
Grabbing pussy since April 2, 1994

Al Cowens posted:

This would have, potentially, been an OK thread with interesting discussion if someone other than you posted it.

I dont know why you're picking on great posters like keg why don't you go fly a kite or something!!

# ? Aug 3, 2016 02:14

4outof5: Nov 10, 2003; Leader of the ULT Right.
Grabbing pussy since April 2, 1994

4outof5 posted:

I dont know why you're picking on great posters like keg why don't you go fly a kite or something!!

NOT.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 02:15

The Bananana: May 21, 2008; This is a metaphor, a Christian allegory. The fact that I have to explain to you that Jesus is the Warthog, and the Banana is drepanocytosis is just embarrassing for you.

4outof5 posted:

NOT.

Oh poo poo! A not joke!

# ? Aug 3, 2016 02:16

a hole-y ghost: May 10, 2010

# ? Aug 3, 2016 05:39

jeff smisek: May 18, 2009

I have been learning swedish for a couple years, but whenever i go to sweden, i am too terrified to do anything other than ask a man at a gas station if he has a spoon for my yogurt. And everyone in scandinavia speaks english quite well. Learning languages is difficult if you don't have many people to practice with.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 07:07

Nooner: Mar 26, 2011; AN A+ OPSTER (:

.. -- / --. .- -.-- / -..-. / -.-. ..- -.-. -.- / -..-. / .-.. --- .-..

# ? Aug 3, 2016 07:10

a hole-y ghost: May 10, 2010

jeff smisek posted:

I have been learning swedish for a couple years, but whenever i go to sweden, i am too terrified to do anything other than ask a man at a gas station if he has a spoon for my yogurt. And everyone in scandinavia speaks english quite well. Learning languages is difficult if you don't have many people to practice with.

yeah it's hard with languages like that because people tend to appreciate your effort but keep trying to just talk to you in english because it's easier

# ? Aug 3, 2016 07:28

Bubble Bobby: Jan 28, 2005

Shaquin posted:

# ? Aug 3, 2016 07:31

KomodoWagon: May 10, 2013; by R. Guyovich

a hole-y ghost posted:

yeah it's hard with languages like that because people tend to appreciate your effort but keep trying to just talk to you in english because it's easier

This is pretty much only true in Sweden, where self-loathing has become a religion and people will take any chance they get to speak English for a chance to be complimented on how good their English is. In the rest of Scandinavia, and also the Netherlands, where people also speak great English, people will continue to speak their native language if that is how you attempt to engage them.

Also well done picking the gayest of three mutually intelligible languages dumbass

# ? Aug 3, 2016 08:10

spud: Aug 27, 2003; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

I only speak English but it's all you need across Europe, even if the other person only speaks their native language. All you need to do is speak louder and put on an accent and they understand you fine.

For example, in France : EXCUSEZ MISSURE, WHEREZ LE TRAIN STATION SEE VU PLATT... YOU KNOW, *CHOO CHOO*?

Works fine for me.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 11:50

new friend from school: May 19, 2008; by Azathoth

Grew up in Ukraine, so fluent in Russian and can understand (but not produce) Ukrainian 100%. Learned English as my third language, confident enough to claim fluency. General professional proficiency in Pashto, can read/write (slowly) and hold a conversation about most topics while looking like an idiot. Three years of Spanish in high school, didn't give a gently caress or actually try to learn anything, so I can understand maybe 40% of what I hear or read, can't produce it too well. I've wanted to learn Arabic (MSA) for a few years now, but too busy with business school.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 12:29

Archer666: Dec 27, 2008

My mother tongue is Polish, but growing up in a different country I ended up learning Dutch and English as well. Now I'm studying Japanese because I am a huge nerd.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 13:15

ferroque: Oct 27, 2007

i speak the universal language of music

# ? Aug 3, 2016 13:24

The Bananana: May 21, 2008; This is a metaphor, a Christian allegory. The fact that I have to explain to you that Jesus is the Warthog, and the Banana is drepanocytosis is just embarrassing for you.

spud posted:

EXCUSEZ MISSURE, WHEREZ LE TRAIN STATION SEE VU PLATT... YOU KNOW, *CHOO CHOO*?

Way to show off. This is obviously native-level french dialog.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 14:46

RobattoJesus: Aug 13, 2002

KomodoWagon posted:

This is pretty much only true in Sweden, where self-loathing has become a religion and people will take any chance they get to speak English for a chance to be complimented on how good their English is. In the rest of Scandinavia, and also the Netherlands, where people also speak great English, people will continue to speak their native language if that is how you attempt to engage them.

Also well done picking the gayest of three mutually intelligible languages dumbass

It's impossible to learn a Scandinavian language when visiting, but once you move there people will get bored of the novelty of speaking English and will just ignore you and start speaking their native language while you look at everyone with a polite smile assuming that everyone in Scandinavia really likes English people.

Then you learn it and realize that everyone loving hates dumbass monolingual British / American retards and just spend their entire time mocking them and calling them faggots in viking.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 14:56

RobattoJesus: Aug 13, 2002

Also the best thing about the scandinavian languages are that there are so many retarded dialects that you don't even need to become 100% fluent because people will just assume that your weird grammatical gently caress-ups and confusing nonsense words are because you're a farmer or a mountain person or something unless you are completely tone deaf and keep your English accent.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 14:59

jeff smisek: May 18, 2009

KomodoWagon posted:

This is pretty much only true in Sweden, where self-loathing has become a religion and people will take any chance they get to speak English for a chance to be complimented on how good their English is. In the rest of Scandinavia, and also the Netherlands, where people also speak great English, people will continue to speak their native language if that is how you attempt to engage them.

Also well done picking the gayest of three mutually intelligible languages dumbass

Sorry for wanting to talk with my friends.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 15:29

a hole-y ghost: May 10, 2010

KomodoWagon posted:

Also well done picking the gayest of three mutually intelligible languages dumbass

you're saying it's the gayest one and then insulting jeff for picking it I'm getting mixed messages here :confused:

# ? Aug 3, 2016 16:16

YeahTubaMike: Mar 24, 2005; *hic* Gotta finish thish . . .; Doctor Rope

i apparently speak good enough norwegian that norwegian people will carry on entire face-to-face conversations with me without requesting that we speak in english, which is nice

# ? Aug 3, 2016 16:33

The_Franz: Aug 8, 2003

YeahTubaMike posted:

i apparently speak good enough norwegian that norwegian people will carry on entire face-to-face conversations with me without requesting that we speak in english, which is nice

You know you have a good grasp of a language when you can visit relatives in a rural area and get into an argument with their drunken hick neighbor without missing a beat.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 16:45

Beef Turret: Jul 9, 2009; by Lowtax

For the more languages a man can speak,
His talent has but sprung the greater leak;
And, of the industry he has spent upon't,
Must full as much some other way discount.
The Hebrew, Chaldee, and the Syriac
Do, like their letters, set men's reason back,
And turn their wits that strive to understand it
(Like those that write the characters) left-handed.
Yet he that is but able to express
No sense at all in several languages,
Will pass for learneder than he that's known
To speak the strongest reason in his own.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 17:15

Hrist: Feb 21, 2011; Lipstick Apathy

I'm only fluent in English, but I know a very small part of Italian and French. And I know enough Japanese to get the gist of what is being said to me, but I can't articulate a reply, and can't read hiragana or most kanji. I'm also working on trying to learn Japanese and Korean for work, because I'm an accountant and a handful of my clients have foreign income, and W-2 equivalents that are entirely in those languages. Or I have clients that have straight from Korea wives and stuff. So I figure it would be nice if I could speak to them in a language that isn't pretty broken for them. Anyway, that's my story about how I'm gonna learn anime speak for actual real life uses.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 17:46

STABASS: Apr 18, 2009; Fun Shoe

I can do the whole alphabet on op's mom

# ? Aug 3, 2016 17:48

Edgar: Sep 9, 2005; Oh my heck!
Oh heavens!
Oh my lord!
OH Sweet meats!; Wedge Regret

Broken english. I learned from road signs and advertisements.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 19:08

Moridin920: Nov 15, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

I speak English and Bulgarian fluently, although if I'm being honest I can't write Cyrillic very well (can't remember all the letters when I go to write, I can read it though).

I also speak some Spanish cuz of HS and living where I do and some German (very very little though, an embarrassingly little amount given that I lived there for a year+).

I'd like to get my Spanish and German up to snuff and maybe learn something else too... what is the best way to do that? Was thinking about Rosetta Stone mebbe but I heard that it wasn't all that great really.

a hole-y ghost posted:

yeah it's hard with languages like that because people tend to appreciate your effort but keep trying to just talk to you in english because it's easier

Exactly my experience in Germany. I'd like kinda try and they'd laugh and just switch to English to make it easier which is considerate but at the same time I'm trying to fix my broken Deutsche dammit

# ? Aug 3, 2016 19:15

ditty bout my clitty: May 28, 2011; by FactsAreUseless; Fun Shoe

Three, only fluent in two. Fran�ais ne sont pas utiles.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 19:46

Jestery: Aug 2, 2016; Not a Dickman, just a shape

I speak 2-4 languages, I grew up with my family speaking English, but I was in Papua New Guinea so I picked up enough pidgin to get by.

I'm an interpreter in Auslan (Australian Sign Language) by trade so I guess that counts.

And I'm working on Spanish and am slowly becoming conversational.That is to say I can have a chat with the cleaning lady at work.

Sign language is a pretty sweet language to learn. You can talk through windows and underwater. And the Deaf are pretty chill people most of the time. It definitely has some limitations compared to English but the versatility of 3D grammar can be put to great use in some specific situations.

# ? Aug 3, 2016 21:49

GET IN THE ROBOT: Nov 28, 2007; JUST GET IN THE FUCKING ROBOT SHINJI

English is my 2nd language, my first is actually caveman grunts

# ? Aug 3, 2016 21:50

a hole-y ghost: May 10, 2010

Jestery posted:

Sign language is a pretty sweet language to learn. You can talk through windows and underwater. And the Deaf are pretty chill people most of the time. It definitely has some limitations compared to English but the versatility of 3D grammar can be put to great use in some specific situations.

Secret To Communicating With 3D Girls Discovered

# ? Aug 3, 2016 21:50