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jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6909 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map
| Message 33 of 141 29 December 2005 at 6:07pm | IP Logged |
I'm following TDC's example with chronological languages, starting with Swedish which is my native language.
English - it was taught from around third/fourth grade in school. Now it is taught from first grade (I think).
German - it was one of two options in seventh grade (the other was French). I assumed that German was easier for Swedish speakers, despite the "difficult grammar". I quit after a year (but brushed it up ten years later).
Spanish - out of the offered four options at high school (the others being French, German and Russian) it was said to be the easiest. And practical.
French - I added that after two years, due to its relation to Spanish.
Irish Gaelic - I'd played Irish traditional music for some years when I felt I "had to" learn their language.
Classical Greek - I took it the last year in high school, as a natural progression from "general linguistics" (or whatever it was called) which didn't clash with Latin (which you had to study for two years).
Russian - it was the only language offered at the university, and at that time I thought it would be fun to study it.
Languages that I've flirted with in addition to those mentioned above are Scots Gaelic (because it's related to Irish), Welsh (same reason), Japanese (some interest in Japanese martial arts), Mandarin+Cantonese (a huge interest in the Chinese martial arts), Latin (to get a good overview of the Romance languages), Portuguese (it's quite similar to Spanish). And probably some more...
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| TDC Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6921 days ago 261 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, French Studies: Esperanto, Ukrainian, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Persian
| Message 34 of 141 29 December 2005 at 9:10pm | IP Logged |
Whoa, you want to follow my example, jeff??? *shocked* :) Awesome :)
Anyway, your high school sounds awesome. My high school only had french, Spanish, and latin when I was there. Now, it seems they only have french, Spanish, and English as a 2nd language... I would've taken German if I could've.
The American Education System is absolutely horrible, especially when it comes to languages. :(
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| LaMofeta Triglot Newbie United States Joined 7154 days ago 14 posts - 15 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French
| Message 35 of 141 29 December 2005 at 11:39pm | IP Logged |
I learned Spanish because it's the most useful foreign language for an American to know. After that I briefly explored other languages such as Russian, Dutch, and Turkish, but I never settled on one seriously.
I never planned to learn another Romance language, but then I met my fiancee, whose native tongue is French, so I took on French as my next language.
After two years of French, I decided to start another language. I chose Polish because I was intrigued by its bizarre looking words and I loved its sound. I also think it is a highly underrated language. Few people study it, and yet there is a wealth of fine literature and more than 40 million speakers.
In a couple years I might add another language, possibly Turkish.
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| Linas Octoglot Senior Member Lithuania Joined 6912 days ago 253 posts - 279 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Lithuanian*, Russian, Latvian, French, English, German, Spanish, Polish Studies: Slovenian, Greek, Hungarian, Arabic (Written), Portuguese
| Message 36 of 141 30 December 2005 at 1:21am | IP Logged |
Malcolm wrote:
If the difficulty outweighs the usefulness and "chic", then it's not worth learning in my opinion.
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I has been unable to understand what "chic" means in ralation to languages and how this word has to be pronounced as "shick" or "chick"?
I know the French word "chic" but it is related rather to fashion and "haute couture" than to languages:)
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| Linas Octoglot Senior Member Lithuania Joined 6912 days ago 253 posts - 279 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Lithuanian*, Russian, Latvian, French, English, German, Spanish, Polish Studies: Slovenian, Greek, Hungarian, Arabic (Written), Portuguese
| Message 37 of 141 30 December 2005 at 1:30am | IP Logged |
andee wrote:
Arabic: I love Morocco. Food especially. Plus, the script amazes me. The language sounds so beautiful and it is extremely descriptive. "The air today tastes like moist apricots" ..How can you get more poetic?
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If you really love Morocco, you shall learn two languages - not only fuSHa(the classical Arabic), but also Darja(the vernacular language of the North Africa) as well. Of course also French and Spanish(which is spoken in former Spanish zone in North Morocco). Maybe also a little bit of Tashelhit(Berber). Then you would be multilingual as a true Moroccan :)
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jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6909 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map
| Message 38 of 141 30 December 2005 at 7:04am | IP Logged |
This is slightly off-topic but might explain why we choose (or were forced to "choose") certain languages in school (in Sweden). :)
Back then (1980s), French and German were the two alternatives from 7th to 9th grade. Probably because of "tradition". Until some 50-60 years ago both those languages (and possibly Latin as well) were the major ones at University. Now they offer both, plus Spanish from around 4th grade, and English even earlier (depending on the school). As Sweden is quite close to Russia, I suppose that was the reason offering Russian at high school. As regards Spanish, well, there are many speakers in the world...
Edited by jeff_lindqvist on 30 December 2005 at 5:17pm
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| victor Tetraglot Moderator United States Joined 7318 days ago 1098 posts - 1056 votes 6 sounds Speaks: Cantonese*, English, FrenchC1, Mandarin Studies: Spanish Personal Language Map
| Message 39 of 141 30 December 2005 at 3:17pm | IP Logged |
chic, pronounced "sheek"
According to my dictionary, means "elegant" or "nice". I think it also has the meaning of "cool" and perceived as desirable. I think when the admin first used this word, he used it to mean that how others will think of the languages - essetially how "cool" it is.
Edited by victor on 30 December 2005 at 3:18pm
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| TDC Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6921 days ago 261 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, French Studies: Esperanto, Ukrainian, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Persian
| Message 40 of 141 30 December 2005 at 4:43pm | IP Logged |
If something is chic it's cool, has sort of an air of mystery, and it seems like it will be very popular. Almost like your ahead of the curve. Like if you lived in Miami and you said you spoke fluent Spanish there would be no chic factor at all because so many people here speak Spanish. But if you say you speak Chinese then it's a different story.
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