Is anyone on the site fluent in more than one language?
I'd be interested to know what languages the multi linguals among us speak.
I'm learning another language at the moment using Livemocha and textbooks.....for no other reason that I think its about time that I did.
Any tips out there?
I'm learning French. Don't know why?! I use Babbel online and that's about it.
Tip - submerse yourself. Go to said country and abandon your mother tongue. Refuse to use it and get by! You'll quickly learn
Was inland spain and going again......fabulous country....no one spoke any English - excellent having to try.
Hence the urge to learn a language I suppose
Trying to learn Japanese at the moment and its pretty heavy going, can hold a brief conversation but much more and im lost. Got till september before im back in tokyo so i have to get my finger out lol
I doff my cap..working withy a different alphabet....(losely speaking here) must be tough
I speak french and german...i used to have italian but its about 15 yrs since i used it
I have some schoolboy french ....but not much more.
I find the sombject interesting as languanges are not a word for word translation it also provides an insight on other ways of thinking and communicating and processing thoughts and actions.
I'm probably getting carried away.
Shiny I used to work with Japanese, you realise their thought process is fundamentaly different when learning Japanese....they dont have verbs for example
I'm only doing conversational so far so speaking and understanding, japanese writing is insane, there is three seperate sets of symbols all used at different times and with different meanings depending of how they are used. Think ill leave that for another trip over there lol
katakana hiragana and kanji
watashi was sukebe nohnbei kensakan des lol
No Verbs.........Wow. I hadnt a clue....got me interested now!
Still, learn one language at a time I suppose
The language works in a different way...if you think Japanese is hard try Chinese that completely stumped me
Okay I understood watashi as 'I' but seeing it written down has me lost lol, looks like I have allot more work to do :(
lol that is japanese slang it means I am drunken and lecherous..say to any japanese and they almost die laughing hearing from a westerner
Ha, okay now I don't feel so bad for not understanding that :)
I didnt learn much japanese mainly just greeting and politeness Oh and my address cos I had to phone for a taxi thats a scary experience
Shiny wrote:
No Verbs.........Wow. I hadnt a clue....got me interested now!
Still, learn one language at a time I suppose
there is no Japanese word that equates to "love" the nearest is "duty"
I am in Germany at the moment and Germans generally get a bad press. The most moving and beautiful poem I ever read was a translation of a German poem first the German which sounds rubbish if you dont have the language and second the translation which to me is profound. for those with no patience just scroll to the translation.
Mein Herz, ich will dich fragen,
was ist denn Liebe? sag!
"Zwei Seelen und Ein Gedanke,
zwei Herzen und Ein Schlag!"
Und sprich: woher kommt Liebe?
"Sie kommt, und sie ist da."
Und sprich: wie schwindet Liebe?
"Die war's nicht, der's geschah."
Und wann ist Lieb? am reinsten?
"Die ihrer selbst vergisst."
Und wann ist Lieb' am tiefsten?
"Wenn sie am stillsten ist."
Und wann ist Lieb' am reichsten?
"Das ist sie, wenn sie gibt."
Und sprich: wie redet Liebe?
"Die redet nicht, sie liebt."
Mein Herz, ich will dich fragen,
was ist nun Liebe' sag!
"Zwei Seelen und Ein Gedanke,
zwei Herzen und Ein Schlag!"
and now the translation
My heart, I want to ask you,
what is love? Tell me!
"Two souls with a single thought,
two hearts with a single beat!"
Speak to me: where does love come from?
"It just comes and it's there."
Speak to me: how does love fade?
"That's never happened to love."
And when is love at its most pure?
"When it forgets itself."
And when is love at its deepest?
"When it's at its calmest."
And when is love at its richest?
"It's like that when it's giving."
Speak to me: how does love speak?
"It doesn't speak, it loves."
My heart, I want to ask you,
what is love? Tell me!
"Two souls with a single thought,
two hearts with a single beat!"
English is foreign language to me, so it would be Czech, I am learning Spanish and know bit of German. At least from the living languages
Lavelia what is "To be or not to be, that is the question" in Czech? I am making a collection lol