Languages

[Rexenm]

It feels like I know the languages of sorts of art, like j-rock and kung-fu movies. I will type in a word I think, and it will have a similar meaning. Honestly, I think learning a new language is easier than it is scary. I also know chipmunk and bark-bark.

 

[Ned Marcus]

Actually, Google translate has got pretty good. Definitely better than 10 years ago. I agree that learning a language takes time, but it can give energy (as well as take it) especially when you achieve progress or use it to communicate. And it's fun.

 

[Ned Marcus]

Honestly, I think learning a new language is easier than it is scary.

It can be faster than many people think, too.

 

[Ned Marcus]

Talking about fun, I've recently been rereading Michael Moorcock's El Bastón Rúnico (The Runestaff). While I don't get all of the words in Spanish, I'm still enjoying it. It does help that I read it several times in English when I was younger.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Me, english only and google translate. Id like to learn others but i only have so much lifetime and so much energy to spend. Even with english, theres stuff i dont know.

To speak another language, just talk English but slower and louder...

 

[Ned Marcus]

To speak another language, just talk English but slower and louder...

The tried and tested method. It's always funny to watch it in progress.

 

[CupofJoe]

I can read French fairly well and can speak it a little. I have been told [in the politest of ways] that my accent is terrible. I suspect I sound like the policeman in Allo Allo

 

[Mad Swede]

To speak another language, just talk English but slower and louder...

I've seen Swedes do that in the UK, hoping that they would be understood if they spoke Swedish loudly and slowly...

 

[Devor]

I took Spanish in high school, but although I learned all the words on paper, I couldn't hear or speak it, at all. Since that's the important part, it never did me any good, and I've long since forgotten what I knew.

I read somewhere that languages all transmit information at about the same rate. A language like Spanish uses extra syllables (de la, etc), so it's actually spoken faster to maintain that transmission rate. I sometimes wonder if it would've helped me to try a slower language.

My oldest son is in High School now, and he's not required to learn a language. I would've gotten more from another class, but I don't know if that's true for most people, so I'm not sure how to feel about that.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

My extent of knowledge of other languages is damned near nil. I was in China and asking for water, and an old guy started laughing at me, and the guy behind the counter seemed confused. I assumed my pronunciation was torturing their language. Mind you, I have a knack for pronouncing things even if I don't know what the hell I am saying, and I'd asked for water many times before with no problem and practiced saying things with our guides and they thought I did well pronouncing words. Being laughed at didn't bother me, I figured it was deserved, but I was perplexed and questioned my pronunciation.

Much later, I learned that the old guy was laughing because a white dude knew the Mandarin word for water, and the guy behind the counter was f'n with me, which then got the old guy laughing more.

Yep, that's the extent of my expertise in Mandarin, LMAO.

 

[Ned Marcus]

I've seen Swedes do that in the UK, hoping that they would be understood if they spoke Swedish loudly and slowly...

It's so common. I used to think only Brits and Americans did this, but since I've travelled more, I've seen Spanish speakers in Portugal do it, and even Mandarin speakers in Cantonese-speaking areas do it.

 

[Ned Marcus]

I was in China and asking for water, and an old guy started laughing at me...

Hopefully, you got your water! Actually, that's one of the essential words I always learn when I'm going to a new country. I still remember the Hindi for water after about 30 years.

 

[Ned Marcus]

My oldest son is in High School now, and he's not required to learn a language. I would've gotten more from another class, but I don't know if that's true for most people, so I'm not sure how to feel about that.

The UK stopped making language learning compulsory for secondary education in 2004, and the result was a predictable drop in the linguistic abilities of students. I don't think it's a good thing, but it shows the national attitude towards language learning. Amongst the people who do study languages in the UK, it looks like Spanish will overtake French in popularity in the next few years.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I think we still have a limited requirement in high school, but my oldest daughter speaks Mandarin, and English is her second language, so she got out of it easy enough, heh heh.

I would like to learn Latin. We had a Latin prof show up at the University right after I got out of that prison. It was almost enough to make wanna go back to my cell, but not quite.

 

[Ned Marcus]

Latin would give a lot of literature, history etc. At least you'd only need to read, unless you wanted to work for the pope.

 

[pmmg]

Living in the US, it would probably by most advantageous to learn Spanish, but that is not one I am interested in. Id not mind Latin, as it is the base for some many others, French, Russian, Arabic and Chinese... But...I think I already said... It not a front burner issue. Probably never will be.

 

[Ned Marcus]

Id not mind Latin, as it is the base for some many others, French, Russian, Arabic and Chinese...

French came from Latin, that's true. Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian, too. But Russian, Arabic, and Chinese have different origins.

 

[Genly]

I read once that languages differ considerably in the ability of native speakers to follow a conversation that they have not heard from the beginning. I think that Japanese is like this: a native Japanese speaker can overhear two others having a conversation but may have no idea what they are talking about. Japanese is thus apparently a "high-context" language. English, on the other hand, is "low-context". For fantasy writing, it might be a fun idea for two characters to speak a language that is so high-context that literally no one else can understand what they are saying at all (not even individual words) without being told by the characters themselves.

 

[pmmg]

Not heard of Low and High context languages before, and it would be neat to incorporate it, but not being knowledgeable, it would probably be best if I did not.

I am reminded of the Star Trek episode, with the language where everything is symbolic "Dalmok at Shakar when the walls fell down" or such. I thought it was a nice attempt, but I find I am just asking too many questions to buy into it. How could one have a concept of walls, and not just use that for the language?

My general opinion on language is that words lack sufficient accuracy to exactly say anything. Thus, we get to go round and round on what things really meant. Just above, I was not saying I thought Chinese had Latin as a base, I was including it as one I would like to learn, and yet... I am also reminded of Steven Kings 'imagine a bunny in a cage with a number 7 written on its side...' Seems like a clear image, but if you go deeper and ask...what color was the bunny, what color was the number, what type of cage...and you find that people all have different answers. The image was not the same, even for something so simple. Its a wonder we can communicate at all.

 

[Queshire]

I've had one semester of German, one semester of Japanese and one semester of Chinese. I remember almost none of any of them. =0

I haven't seen the star trek episode mentioned, but I have to imagine that they would have a word for walls. It's like with a Pyrrhic Victory. Since we know the story that goes along with it that changes the meaning from just victory and when it goes long enough it just ends up absorbed into the general lexicon of the culture so that even those that don't know the history know what it means.