If you’re attractive, chicks will be around even if you can only speak Saturnian. Like asset I would also like to learn Mandarin but now I don’t have enough drive/time to do it. Besides French, my daughter will be taking Mandarin soon, so I think I’ll just second-hand her lessons.
french with an australian accent never met a girl that didn’t like the aussie accent, or want to study french german is clearly the ugliest language in existence, see -> Ich möchte Sie treffen sich einmal.
It is a good idea to learn Chinese. I took it in school (native English) and spent some study abroad time there 10 years ago and it has served me well. Speaking is not that hard if you learn the accent and tones well the first time through. Grammar takes some getting used to, but the nice thing is there are no conjugations or tenses: once you learn how to say a word that is the only way you will ever say it. Tenses are handled through the grammar. Writing/reading is difficult simply because of hte large amount of memorizatoin and how much of a pain the ass it is into look up a character you don’t recognize.
brain_wash_your_face Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It is a good idea to learn Chinese. I took it in school (native English) and spent some >study abroad time there 10 years ago and it has served me well. Speaking is not that hard >if you learn the accent and tones well the first time through. Grammar takes some getting >used to, but the nice thing is there are no conjugations or tenses: once you learn how to >say a word that is the only way you will ever say it. Tenses are handled through the >grammar. Writing/reading is difficult simply because of hte large amount of memorizatoin >and how much of a pain the ass it is into look up a character you don’t recognize. Agree, though slight understatement that speaking isn’t that hard. Take a noob to Mandarin 101 and have him differentiate between the c, s, and z sounds. It also would help immensely to be musically gifted, as tones and context are all you have to rely on to extrapolate an entire language from only ~400 unique syllables. That being said, I will say speaking isn’t nearly the beast most people think it is once you get the sounds down. As you mentioned, the grammar and tenses that make German so difficult are basically non-existent in Chinese, thus it’s much easier to get a point across than understand one. Also frustrating is that unless you start in infancy or are extraordinarily gifted, you will always sound like a foreigner. However, it’s hard to quantify the feeling that comes with being opened up to a culture and language of 1.3 billion people with over 5,000 years of history. The unfortunates down sides are that you’ll start to understand those ridiculous translation signs, things such as “House of Wang/Tang” and “Long Dong Road” aren’t quite as humorous as they used to be, and some of what QQbee said will actually make sense. Wait, scratch that last one…
Inner Evil Voice Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If you’re attractive, chicks will be around even > if you can only speak Saturnian. > > Like asset I would also like to learn Mandarin but > now I don’t have enough drive/time to do it. > Besides French, my daughter will be taking > Mandarin soon, so I think I’ll just second-hand > her lessons. I only speak Uranian.
sundevl21 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Also > frustrating is that unless you start in infancy or > are extraordinarily gifted, you will always sound > like a foreigner. However, it’s hard to quantify > the feeling that comes with being opened up to a > culture and language of 1.3 billion people with > over 5,000 years of history. The unfortunates > down sides are that you’ll start to understand > those ridiculous translation signs, things such as > “House of Wang/Tang” and “Long Dong Road” aren’t > quite as humorous as they used to be, and some of > what QQbee said will actually make sense. Wait, > scratch that last one… Good. My daughter will start at age 4 so she will be my official BBQ-isms translator.
Practical purposes = espanol, so that I can get the espanol discounts. Religious purposes = ancient Greek and Latin. It would be neat to be able to real the original texts of the Bible. Also be cool to read philosophical writings in original Greek text.
I am thinking about Italian
SheFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Disagree. Europe here. > > Hiring patterns are quite parochial in most > non-English speaking territories in Europe, due to > language as well as culture / familiarity with > educational institutions / trust etc. > > I am fluent in three languages and would not be > able to do my job effectively without the second > (English) and third (local) language. My first > language is professionally irrelevant at the > moment. > > Landing a job without mastering the local language > first would be easiest at the bottom (internship) > and top (senior executive) levels. > > A local link can also help, e.g. a relocation > based on a decision to raise children in of the > home country of a spouse, which suggests a > motivation to learn the language and culture. Out of curiosity, how would you rate your proficiency in the third (local) language?
Butt Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > SheFA Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Disagree. Europe here. > > > > Hiring patterns are quite parochial in most > > non-English speaking territories in Europe, due > to > > language as well as culture / familiarity with > > educational institutions / trust etc. > > > > I am fluent in three languages and would not be > > able to do my job effectively without the > second > > (English) and third (local) language. My first > > language is professionally irrelevant at the > > moment. > > > > Landing a job without mastering the local > language > > first would be easiest at the bottom > (internship) > > and top (senior executive) levels. > > > > A local link can also help, e.g. a relocation > > based on a decision to raise children in of the > > home country of a spouse, which suggests a > > motivation to learn the language and culture. > > > Out of curiosity, how would you rate your > proficiency in the third (local) language? Intermediate, Advanced or Fluent?
For London, a second language is good. French, Polish are both useful because of lower English levels in those countries. Italian/Spanish ditto. German is good but most Germans speak very good English, as do the Dutch and Scandinavians. A second Euro language is a job req in my work contract but I was hired without one.
I make occasional mistakes in all three languages (say, “less women” vs “fewer women”) and would not win prose contests in any. Still, fluent x 3 is a fair claim - the proficiency level needed for lively discussions and professional reporting purposes. I have 5+ yrs under my belt in localland though, and made a solid effort in yr one (starting from scratch). It’s not a big deal in continental Europe. As someone said, localspeak + english is pretty much a requirement. Stumble across a border almost anywhere and language number three is needed. School systems accomodate this, provided you stumble across the right borders. As others have said, if you really want to learn a new language for the sake of learning a new language, enjoy. Whether that helps you professionally will depend aptitude, the proficiency level you achieve, regional differences, mother tongue, sector and career choices, seniority (ref. previous post), and luck. I assume you are aware that the shelf life of language skills is short. Use it or loose it. I have a few additional languages in a sad, mouldy state. We should just scrap all silly small languages and stick to English, Spanish and Mandarin.
anyone on this forum whose first language is English and also speaks Arabic?
chelseace Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > anyone on this forum whose first language is > English and also speaks Arabic? I’ve studied Arabic for about 2 years, including intensively (8 hours a day/6 days a week) for about 2 months. Still wouldn’t say I “speak” it. Hard hard language.
I’ve read somewhere that for native English speakers it takes almost 88 weeks to learn Arabic or Chinese since they are truly on the other end of the spectrum. English, German, French are all Germanic languages and hence have similarities, one of which is the Latin alphabets. They take between 22-36 weeks to master for a person with English background. volante99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > chelseace Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > anyone on this forum whose first language is > > English and also speaks Arabic? > > I’ve studied Arabic for about 2 years, including > intensively (8 hours a day/6 days a week) for > about 2 months. Still wouldn’t say I “speak” it. > > Hard hard language.
chelseace Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > anyone on this forum whose first language is > English and also speaks Arabic? I have two (maybe three) friends that this applies to. Why, whats up?
French as want to work in France sometime in future and Spanish as it is second language of US
Butt Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’ve read somewhere that for native English > speakers it takes almost 88 weeks to learn Arabic > or Chinese since they are truly on the other end > of the spectrum. > > English, German, French are all Germanic languages > and hence have similarities, one of which is the > Latin alphabets. They take between 22-36 weeks to > master for a person with English background. > > volante99 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > chelseace Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > anyone on this forum whose first language is > > > English and also speaks Arabic? > > > > I’ve studied Arabic for about 2 years, > including > > intensively (8 hours a day/6 days a week) for > > about 2 months. Still wouldn’t say I “speak” > it. > > > > Hard hard language. French is a germanic language ?
^ French is a Latin language
^^My bad. French is a Romanic language aka Latin language.