What other languages do you speak/are studying

[deudeditus]

Well, the problem with me is that I can't speak in a language unless it is spoken to/around me. I tried to teach myself Icelandic and thought I failed miserably until I went to Iceland. When I left Iceland and discovered that I was forgetting Icelandic and learning a bit of Polish, I gave up trying to learn it and just went with the flow. So if I'm in the countries for at least a couple weeks, I can speak with varying degrees of fluency: spanish, Icelandic (and I can read some faroese), irish, polish and californian spanglish, which is my favorite. park-ear instead of estacionar, for example.

I'd like to learn and have tried to teach myself, resulting in utter failure: hebrew, koine, dutch, finnish, german, portugues, nahuatl, armenian, russian, kor... basically everything.

 

[Matthaeus]

...and let's not by all means forget Morse code and sign language :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

I speak English, Russian, Spanish, decent French, a little Italian. Working hard on Arabic. Have studied Dutch, Romanian, Croatian, Greek. I am recent studier of Latin. Lots of fun. Oddly enough, I have been using the idiots guide to latin and find that its not bad if you have a background in languages and don't need a 3 page description of what the genitive case is or the imperfect tense. Although of course I don't plan on making it my only guide to Latin. Anyone wants help with studying Russian or Spanish on their own, I have tons of suggestions.

 

[Kallemeekhof]

To me Dutch is very guttural - almost like Turkish, which isn't very pleasing to foreign ears...but that's just my opinion, de gustibus non disputandum.

Ah no Dutch ant Turkish are very different, i believe the Turks who live in the Netherlands have a very hard time learining and understanding Dutch.

I speak Dutch (natively) and English (only not always as good as i would like to). Further i have basic understanding of German and French.

And with all the languages i speak, i find speaking them easier than writing them.

 

[Matthaeus]

Of course that speaking is easier than writing! When you learn a new language, you first hear it rather than see or much less write in it. With Latin, it's the other way around, though.

 

[Akela]

I know Russian (native), Ukrainian (not too different from Russian, at least as far as Ukrainians are concerned), a little German (enough to follow a simple conversation, but not enough to participate).

I have now forgotten all the Spanish I spent two years studying at university.

Oh yeah, some Polish too. I used to watch Polish cartoons as a kid. Amazing what a child's brain can figure out without any instruction

 

[Matthaeus]

So the princeps speaks some Polish...I'm honoured. What can you say po polsku?

 

[Akela]

I am afraid, nothing. Everything I know from Polish I learned by sound. Even that is mostly passive knowledge.

I attempted learning the sound/letter combinations later, but not much came of it.

If you say something, I will be able to figure it out, because I will sound it out, and when I hear it, I will recognize the word (providing I know it, of course).
But to write something down myself is a completely unrealistic task

 

[Matthaeus]

Incipiamus igitur: Dzień dobry! (good day! or hello!)

 

[Akela]

Well, translating it kind of defeats the purpose, don't you think?

 

[Quasus]

Akela, рад поприветствовать по-русски. Может быть, на форуме соберётся неплохая русскоязычная компания (жаль, Pardus давно не появлялся).
Akela, I'm glad to greet you in Russian. A good Russian-speaking community may arise at the forum some day (it's a pity that Pardus hasn't been seen for a long time).

Gutta (Mattheus) cavat lapidem. I constantly think about brushing up my Polish but I'm always failing to find spare time regularly. Yet the desire is growing. :sighing:

 

[Akela]

Quasus, I will respond in English, mainly because I have completely lost the ability to type in Russian. I usually do it through Russian Romanization, and that's no fun to read.

Glad to see another Russian-speaking person here. I too, was hoping that our membership would one day be large enough to justify a couple of other language sub-fora. Perhaps, Russian will be one of them. We'll see.

How did you learn Polish?

 

[Quasus]

BTW, if you ever want to type a short piece of text in Russian you may find helpful the following transliteration machines:
http://translit.ru/
http://winrus.com/screen.htm

The idea of subforums in other languages is attractive. Pity that now we are not likely to form considerable active non-English groups taking into account the current number of active users. Well, qui vivrà verrà.

It's a fun story about my Polish. In fact I can't boast I ever knew it profoundly. A good while ago (I was a schoolboy at that time) my grandmother convinced me to buy a Polish self-study book that we had occasionnally found in a bookshop. In fact I wasn't going to take up any Slavic languages at that time, but she persuaded me saying, "You are so fond of languages, Polish is just like Russian, you'll master it relaxing on a sofa". Although fairly close to Russian, Polish demanded a good deal of efforts, but very soon I got fascinated by the language. The book was a reprint of an old textbook of Soviet epoche (50th or 60th), but it was quite thorough unlike most self-study books, and somewhat cosy at that, so I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I had to suspend the studies owing to the lack of materials (I didn't have even a good dictionary; no internet then and no hope for it). Now that a lot of online sourses are available and some people are willing to help, it's a most convenient time to resume. There's need just to find time and to pluck up my spirits.

 

[Matthaeus]

Source, Quasus, not sourse.

My parents, living in the PRL (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa -- the People's Common Republic) were obligated to take Russian as a foreign language for obvious reasons, as did the whole Soviet bloc. I believe that practice was abolished in 1989 when the wall came down. I wish I had more knowledge of the language myself.

 

[Akela]

I believe, Sa Seba took Russian in his earlier school years for the same reason.

Russian is difficult, though. I believe it is easier to master for someone whose native language also uses cases, like Polish for example. Perhaps, a native Latin-speaker would have been able to manage it without getting completely frustrated too. Not that the Romans placed too much worth onto 'the weaker' countries and their languages

According to the above logic, Russian should be easier for a German- than for an English-speaker to manage.

What is difficult for my Slavic/Cyrillic mind to comprehend is the use of Latin alphabet by so many Eastern European languages in general and Polish specifically (since it seems much closer to Russian and Ukrainian). I know the spread of Catholic and Orthodox Christianity in various areas is to blame for this, but I still find it so odd to see languages that are so related using such different writing.

 

[Quasus]

Source, Quasus, not sourse.

Thanks, Mattheus.

I wish I had more knowledge of the language myself.

You mean Russian, don't you?

I believe Russian is hard not only due to declension (after all, Latin cases are mastered by all students). Though I admit Russian declension is more complicated than Latin one (one more case; numerous irregularities, e.g. nom. pl., gen. pl.; stress shift in different forms; different paradigms for substantives and adjectives). To the list of difficulties I'd add alterations like снег - снежок [sneg - snezhók] snow and its diminutive; rather difficult phonetics; ample use of diminutives, particles; imperfective / perfective verbs; and, the last but not the least, stress that can be put on any syllable and can shift its position when the word is declined / conjugated (yet not marked in writing). To my mind learning such a language must be challenging.

 

[Quasus]

What is difficult for my Slavic/Cyrillic mind to comprehend is the use of Latin alphabet by so many Eastern European languages in general and Polish specifically (since it seems much closer to Russian and Ukrainian). I know the spread of Catholic and Orthodox Christianity in various areas is to blame for this, but I still find it so odd to see languages that are so related using such different writing.

Indeed, Greeks (Kyrill, Methodius and their followers) taught writing to the southern Slavs and then it came to Rus (with Orthodox church and the Old Slavonic language). This process just didn't affect the eastern Slavs.

Generally speaking, I think that Cyrillic alphabet may be a more convenient means of writing just because it contains more books. Yet Polish orthography seems to me quite harmonious, and all those sz and cz add a special savour to it.

 

[Matthaeus]

What is difficult for my Slavic/Cyrillic mind to comprehend is the use of Latin alphabet by so many Eastern European languages in general and Polish specifically (since it seems much closer to Russian and Ukrainian). I know the spread of Catholic and Orthodox Christianity in various areas is to blame for this, but I still find it so odd to see languages that are so related using such different writing.

Yes, you've answered your own question. It all had to do with religion. Mieszko I, a prince from the Piast dynasty, accepted Roman Catholicism in 966 AD, bringing in Western culture and the use of the Latin alphabet thenceforth. Latin, as in other places, became the language of education, administration and culture, both sacred and secular. Quasus, I bet, can testify to the fact that our Russian neighbours accepted the Greek Orthodox rite instead. In other words, the difference between Eastern and Western Christendom, as it continues to this day. When did that take place, Quasus? Tell me a little about Cyril and Methodius; I'm too lazy for wikipedia.

 

[Matthaeus]

You mean Russian, don't you?

Yes, of course. The very fact that it's a different alphabet turns me off from learning it, although Polish also has the cases, diminutives, and other peculiarities. Sorry :? However, I admire people who study it as a second language. My mom tried to teach me some writing several years ago, but nothing came of it...Indeed, a very difficult language.

A couple more corrections: taught, not 'teached' and syllable, a typo.

 

[Quasus]

A couple more corrections: taught, not 'teached' and syllable, a typo.

Oh Jesus! Thanks again. Uhm, I'm burning with shame about the verb, it's like say something like 3 * 8 = 21... But the other one is certainly a typo.