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Beware of "secret" languages ;-) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| Johntm Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5419 days ago 616 posts - 725 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 97 of 173 08 March 2010 at 5:14am | IP Logged | |||||
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| QiuJP Triglot Senior Member Singapore Joined 5852 days ago 428 posts - 597 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, EnglishC2, French Studies: Czech, GermanB1, Russian, Japanese | Message 98 of 173 08 March 2010 at 5:32am | IP Logged | |||||
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Just to share something with you guys: Do not use Japanese or Korean in Singapore as secret languages! There are too many people learning these two languages to a point that many people could converse among themselves in these two languages.
I would recommend you to use any Slavic languages as secret languages (including Russian) as I had yet to meet anyone of them (even though the latest statistics said that there are just over 1000 Russians here in Singapore). 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Pyx Diglot Senior Member China Joined 5732 days ago 670 posts - 892 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Mandarin | Message 99 of 173 08 March 2010 at 5:35am | IP Logged | |||||
I'm sensing a good story! Let's hear it! :D 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| ManicGenius Senior Member United States Joined 5478 days ago 288 posts - 420 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, French, Japanese | Message 100 of 173 16 March 2010 at 9:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
Considering Japan and Korea's proximity to Singapore, I'd assume it's not a good idea. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| QiuJP Triglot Senior Member Singapore Joined 5852 days ago 428 posts - 597 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, EnglishC2, French Studies: Czech, GermanB1, Russian, Japanese | Message 101 of 173 19 March 2010 at 8:59pm | IP Logged | |||||
No, it is rather due to the large amount of cultural products from Japan and Korea in Singapore that is causing the problem. There are many people who liked Japanese and Korean cultural products, to a point that many people are learning the language in order to understand these products better. It can be said that Japanese is the 5th language spoken here. In addition, there are forums here where people discussed how to learn Japanese as well as communicating in Japanese! So due to these reasons, you will be understood if you uttered a word in Japanese! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Alejeather Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5335 days ago 9 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Italian | Message 102 of 173 16 April 2010 at 2:01am | IP Logged | |||||
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I sat down by a pair of commuters speaking English on a train in Barcelona one day. I
had already sat down before I heard them speaking but then found myself in the awkward situation of not knowing whether or not I should give some indication of comprehension. By the way they were talking, it didn't sound like they thought they were being understood. They gossiped a bit about their colleagues and about some holiday travels. We happened to be getting off at the same stop, but when we all stood up at the same time, they tried to say something in Spanish about me not needing to get up in order for them to get by, but I said in obvious native English, "No, it's all right. I'm getting off at this stop too." The look on the one guy's face when he realized that I must have understood their entire conversation was priceless! I didn't sit there to eavesdrop, but it was impossible not to. Also, once in a bookstore in the US, my mom told me she had just overheard a Chinese man say to his grandson, "Now that's a fun toy, isn't it?" I've always known that my mom had studied Mandarin, but because she never uses it, it had never occurred to me that she might be making sense of sounds that were only gibberish to me. She told me she had liked the man's accent and wanted to compliment it, but hadn't been able to form the sentence fast enough. I wish she had. It would have been a great moment! 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| acadien Triglot Newbie Norway Joined 6272 days ago 32 posts - 52 votes Speaks: French*, English, Norwegian Studies: Spanish, Swedish | Message 103 of 173 17 April 2010 at 10:59am | IP Logged | |||||
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Haha! Anyone who uses *English* as a secret language is going to get what's coming to them ^__^
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| brian91 Senior Member Ireland Joined 5441 days ago 335 posts - 437 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 104 of 173 17 April 2010 at 1:58pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Awesome thread. I would say that Irish is the best secret language abroad, and often in Ireland itself. Nice.
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