Besides English, What Languages Do You Speak?

[Stray Cat]

.. I guess it'll be funny for me to say:
English is my second language.
I speak Bulgarian, French and Spanish.. AND Serbian (my native language).. lol

(OK, I do understand quite a bit of Bosnian, Macedonian, Croatian.. but it's unfair to mention, because they are all pretty much the same).. Wow! So many languages!

 

[Tomasso]

When I studied English while living in Russia I was taught British English, pronunciation and all. When I moved to the United States all the kids at school were pretty miffed by my British accent and unorthodox (to them) vocabulary. I've since adjusted.

A Ruskie in Idaho........ how odd. Not you (you're beautiful) just the thought.

 

[avedwards]

When I studied English while living in Russia I was taught British English, pronunciation and all. When I moved to the United States all the kids at school were pretty miffed by my British accent and unorthodox (to them) vocabulary. I've since adjusted.

That's what I resent, the Americans tacitly forcing their accent and vocabulary upon you. May I ask whether you're a Russian or whether you just lived there for a while?

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

A Ruskie in Idaho........ how odd. Not you (you're beautiful) just the thought.

hmmmm... from Moscow, Russia to Moscow, Idaho.

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

After a year of it, I can understand Chinese a bit. But I'm hard to understand I'm told. Not many people to practice on in Tennessee. My written Chinese is in the toilet. QQ does help though.

I am proficient in Southern.

 

[Edward]

fftopic:
I have no problem with Hammond or May. I don't like Jeremy Clarkson though due to his arrogant attitude and casual xenophobia which sometimes borders on racism.

I'm not a fan either. I do suspect a large part of it is more pandering to a particular market than it is honestly held, though to my way of thinking that's almost worse! It is a shame, as otherwise the show is tremendously entertaining. I think it's very clever that they have managed to create a show themed around cars that can be tremendously entertaining for those of us with no interest whatever in the contemporary automobile, nor need nor desire to own one. I gather from those who are experts that none of the three presenters appears to actually know very much about cars, but then I suppose if you really wanted serious information you'd buy Which?. The relationship between the presenters is also interesting, and a very genuine friendship, it seems - when Hammond had his accident, both of the others raced to see him in hospital as I recall.

James May has a nice sideline in nostalgic shows with content that would appeal to many vintage folks, worth watching out for.

Do not get the opportunity to practice my German or French much anymore. But every Bastille day I do call and old friend and I do sing her this certain anthem! Interestingly enough I was able to help two Basque gentlemen in the shop the other day find shotgun parts with my French as I couldn't make heads or tails of their dialectal Spanish. Wasn't the Basque dialect they were speaking, but it was nuthin' like the Spanish spoken here!!!!

Renault

Castilian Spanish as spoken in Spain is significantly different than the Spanish spoken in South America, to much the same degree as US dialects of English are markedly different than English English. Not really a surprise, I suppose, as the language has simply evolved differently on two different continents.

When I studied English while living in Russia I was taught British English, pronunciation and all. When I moved to the United States all the kids at school were pretty miffed by my British accent and unorthodox (to them) vocabulary. I've since adjusted.

That's unfortunate that you had to do that. I made a very conscious decision when I moved to London thirteen odd years ago that I was not going to lose my Irish accent; of course, it helped tremendously that when I made the move to live here things had settled down a bit politically in Northern Ireland and thus my accent was no longer something that got me followed round shops and so on as it used to over here. I do have to make a conscious effort to maintain my dialect (I have a lot of fun throwing in the vocabulary among the Sassenachs) - you do find yourself automatically adapting to the vocabulary here - it's a practical thing as much as anything - we all need to be understood, and just as one might learn another language to 'fit in' in another country, there are also shifts within the same language. I do find that the dialect all comes flooding back as soon as I'm speaking to one of my own, though. One has to be realistic about it, but I'd hate to lose it entirely. I suppose it'd be much the same for you as your Russian if you only spoke in English for many years. I've known folks who moved to Brazil and France, and who became so used to speaking in the relevant languages there daily that when they came back to visit a few years later, sometimes they would struggle to find the right words in English, simply through lack of process. It's a fascinating thing, language and communication (those two not always being the same thing - I've had times where no common language was spoken and yet we understood each other better than when a common language was employed! Once, in Beijing, I had to actually mime having a wee to be directed to the toilet.... fortunately in an all-male environment!).

After a year of it, I can understand Chinese a bit. But I'm hard to understand I'm told. Not many people to practice on in Tennessee. My written Chinese is in the toilet. QQ does help though.

I am proficient in Southern.

Ah, yes..... written Mandarin is a whole different ballgame - I'm still limited to Pin Yin. I can tell written Mandarin from written Japanese, but that's as far as I've gotten with it.

 

[rue]

I am proficient in Southern.

Me too. When we moved to Virginia, my mother couldn't understand what anyone with thick accent was saying, so I had to repeat everything to her. It's definitely another language, but one I love

 

[Spitfire]

Danish of course. And Swedish too - they are very close. Just like Norwegian. That was 3!
German - understanding it better than speaking it fluently. But when I am there it gets OK after a while.
And french and italian just enough to get by...
And then I can say "stick a finger in your throath" in Czeck

 

[avedwards]

I'm not a fan either. I do suspect a large part of it is more pandering to a particular market than it is honestly held, though to my way of thinking that's almost worse! It is a shame, as otherwise the show is tremendously entertaining. I think it's very clever that they have managed to create a show themed around cars that can be tremendously entertaining for those of us with no interest whatever in the contemporary automobile, nor need nor desire to own one. I gather from those who are experts that none of the three presenters appears to actually know very much about cars, but then I suppose if you really wanted serious information you'd buy Which?. The relationship between the presenters is also interesting, and a very genuine friendship, it seems - when Hammond had his accident, both of the others raced to see him in hospital as I recall.

James May has a nice sideline in nostalgic shows with content that would appeal to many vintage folks, worth watching out for.

I do find the show itself entertaining, despite like you not owning a car or being much of a petrol-head. I would watch it if it weren't for the Daily-Mail-esque humour and stereotyping.

I'm also glad you kept your Irish accent because I'm in favour of people keeping their own cultural identity, plus I find it's an accent which can be quite pleasant to listen to. That's precisely why I find it a shame that today's generation of Germans speak English with an American accent rather than with a "German" accent, as I find the obviously German accent quite pleasant to listen to.

 

[Edward]

Ah, now, I have quite a weakness for ladies who speak English with a German accent.... shades of Dietrich, I suppose....

 

[avedwards]

I just wish I could speak English with a German accent. Sadly no matter how hard I try and despite being fluent in German I simply cannot put on a convincing German accent when speaking English.

 

[C-dot]

I just wish I could speak English with a German accent. Sadly no matter how hard I try and despite being fluent in German I simply cannot put on a convincing German accent when speaking English.

That's a tough one to do! I've been told I have a beautiful French accent while speaking French, but I couldn't put it on for speaking English. However, after years of watching Coronation Street, I can imitate a Manchester accent pretty well lol

I often speak on the phone to my mother's American Midwestern friend, and she laughs her head off at *my* accent. I didn't think Canadians had accents (except for the East Coasters), so I was pretty surprised!

 

[hatophile]

I do find the show itself entertaining, despite like you not owning a car or being much of a petrol-head. I would watch it if it weren't for the Daily-Mail-esque humour and stereotyping.

I'm also glad you kept your Irish accent because I'm in favour of people keeping their own cultural identity, plus I find it's an accent which can be quite pleasant to listen to. That's precisely why I find it a shame that today's generation of Germans speak English with an American accent rather than with a "German" accent, as I find the obviously German accent quite pleasant to listen to.

I find accents and dialects quite intriguing and I heartily agree with one keeping their own intact if possible. My wife and I have an older lady friend from Scotland who has been here at least 50 years, but still has a very strong Scots burr, and also uses a lot of the slang.

I have recently met some folk from New Orleans, which apparently has quite a broad range of accents. With the exodus after Katrina, it seems many New Orleanians aren't returning, thus those distinct accents will be lost to a newer generation, especially as newcomers from other areas move in to the Crescent City.

I was raised in parts of Florida that retain a Southern Accent, as well as Georgia, but I've been up North for over half my life now, so I've probably lost some of that. It certainly reappears though, when I travel back down South. My wife uses me as an interpreter if we get in to a heavy dialect area.

 

[Harp]

I find accents and dialects quite intriguing and I heartily agree with one keeping their own intact if possible.

Last March, I hailed a cab along Michigan Avenue and the Lebanese driver
and I began discussing books-he claimed an English Lit baccalaureate and had
something of a professorial air-and he deplored the fact that Americans were not
reading enough; to which I readily agreed.
At LaSalle Street Station I paid the fare and tipped him a volume of Thomas More's
A Dialogue on Conscience out of my Gloverall coat pocket.
He liked my Irish accent.

 

[wahine]

I just wish I could speak English with a German accent. ....

Why do you want to do that? I always hate it when people tell me I have an accent. But then, I AM German, that's probably the difference.

Besides German and English, I speak enough French and Spanish to get along (like go shopping, rent an appartment, tell people to buzz off), but not enough for a sophisticated discussion - and don't ask me about grammar!
I studied a few semesters of Arabic but unfortunately forgot most of it for there are so little opportunities to practice.
Btw, I don't think it sounds scary. It depends on who's talking and what mood the person's in. arabiyya quayyis awi!
I also know some Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian and Coptic. Can't claim though that I'm able to speak the first two (nobody really is).

 

[LaMedicine]

Ah, yes..... written Mandarin is a whole different ballgame - I'm still limited to Pin Yin. I can tell written Mandarin from written Japanese, but that's as far as I've gotten with it.

The People's Republic of China has completely butchered Chinese characters. What they use now are only shades of its original beauty, though the original characters are still very much in use in Taiwan (Formosa). Chinese characters used in Japanese have been somewhat simplified, too, but not as much as in PRC. Most Japanese can decipher the characters used in Taiwan, but I wonder if the younger generation from PRC can, unless they are versed in classic Chinese.
Japanese is a mixture of phonetic alphabetical characters and Kanji-Chinese characters. Along with classical Japanese like the Tale of Genji, we are taught some classical Chinese literature such as ancient verses by Li Po and writings by Confucius in school. Not that it would be of any use in China, as we are trained to translate directly into Japanese from the rows of the ancient characters
It's interesting to watch the screen in the trains that announce the next station along the line that services the area I live. The names are projected in turn in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean.

Incidentally, the US when occupying Japan after WWII, tried to force us to completely ditch our Japanese characters--both kana, the alphabet and kanji, and change our writing to romaji, the usage of the English alphabet, because they thought that since written Japanese was soooo difficult, many people must be illiterate and it should be made simpler for better educating our people. What made them give up the idea was a test given to random groups of Japanese. Imagine their surprise when over 80% of the Japanese aced the test. That was the end of that bright idea lol

Back to spoken language. Japanese is my native language, but English comes in a close second-- I started school in a British school in Turkey (not much Turkish and all forgotten) as well as receiving part of my secondary education in the US. So, I've been taught in school, both Japanese and English as the mother tongue, and apprently, my English accent falls somewhere between British and American. Foreign language education for me was French, plus German and Latin in pre med. Mostly gone to dust, though I was suprised how much I could follow the French conversation between a relative and her American husband, who talked to each other in French, because had they met in Paris while studying there.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I'm not originally from this part of the state, and people here mock my accent. I always get asked, 'You're from Milwaukee, aren't you?'

That's a tough one to do! I've been told I have a beautiful French accent while speaking French, but I couldn't put it on for speaking English. However, after years of watching Coronation Street, I can imitate a Manchester accent pretty well lol

I often speak on the phone to my mother's American Midwestern friend, and she laughs her head off at *my* accent. I didn't think Canadians had accents (except for the East Coasters), so I was pretty surprised!

 

[george]

Yasu George.
Welcome to the Lounge.
Greece stole my heart many years ago, and Thessalonikki is my second home.

Yeia sou re... Thessaloniki is the city where my grandparents grew up! And of course I am a big fan of PAOK just like papou taught me, haha. I've never been to Thessaloniki myself, but supposedly that visit is being saved for when I graduate. Yiayia will be going with me and we will stay with her brother, and they both know the city very well. I can't wait!

If you go to France speaking the Québécois dialect, you'll have baguettes thrown at you! I speak Parisian French myself, and I cannot understand the Québécois. It's almost like a patois.

I suspected as much, haha. No, if I learned French I would want to learn it "clean." Though I've heard that the French they speak in many African countries is even better than the French they speak in France just because the French people have come up with all these ways of shortening words so much that when they speak it's hard for someone who hasn't lived in the area their whole life to know what they're saying. Don't know how truthful that is. Either way, my desire to learn French remains.

I would also like to brush up on my Spanish but at least I know I can do that on my own if I have to, with little difficulty.

 

[Widebrim]

That's what I resent, the Americans tacitly forcing their accent and vocabulary upon you.

Alan, if I may politely comment on the above...Marla simply said that they were "miffed" by her accent and vocabulary. If this resulted in "tacitly forcing" her to adjust the latter two, it is at least somewhat understandable. Last term I had an English student (London) whose vocabulary was was not much different than the rest of the class, but whose "accent" sometimes interfered with our understanding of what he was attempting to say (including sometimes me, who is quite used to varieties of spoken English). Another boy I had last year for Social Studies, born here but with a heavy English accent due to his father, also sometimes was not intelligible to the rest of the class. To my knowledge, though, neither student was explicitly/implicitly suggested to change his pronunciation or vocabulary; both still speak the way they did when I first met them. The point is, accents and regional vocabulary can interfere with communication, and sometimes the speaker must accordingly adjust, as I would have to do if I busted out speaking Castilian Spanish to a group of Mexican Indians from Oaxaca...And I think the same would likely happen to me if I began enunciating Southern California Surfer/Valley-Speak in the middle of Manchester.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

That's a tough one to do! I've been told I have a beautiful French accent while speaking French, but I couldn't put it on for speaking English. However, after years of watching Coronation Street, I can imitate a Manchester accent pretty well lol

I often speak on the phone to my mother's American Midwestern friend, and she laughs her head off at *my* accent. I didn't think Canadians had accents (except for the East Coasters), so I was pretty surprised!

Now come on, admit it. Do you say "about" or "a boot"? lol

I've always loved accents. I learned how to do them from watching Peter Sellers and Monty Python when I was growing up. So much so that the British accent is now second nature to me. The Canadian accent is very simple (or at least the approximation of one): I just talk like I have a head cold. In fact I use it sometimes to avoid the more persistent signature gatherers in front of Target or Walmart who want me to sign their petitions. I tell them that I'm a noncitizen (Canadian) who can't vote. ...it's better than claiming to be a felon, eh?