Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6599 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish
| Message 2761 of 3737 06 December 2012 at 10:19pm | IP Logged |
garyb wrote:
vermillon wrote:
garyb wrote:
When the Spanish girl that you're dating keeps trying to teach you bits of her language, but you resist because, according to your long-term language learning plan that you've already thought long and hard about, it's not time to start Spanish just yet. |
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Sorry, that's precisely "not" being a language nerd. A language nerd would never miss such an opportunity. |
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Hah, good point: if I were a true language nerd then I'd probably have the time and capacity to actively study three or more languages at once, as many here seem to, and so I'd take advantage of the opportunity. I was just going for the idea of being language-nerdy enough to have an established plan for learning several languages and insisting on sticking to it.
I know it's a slippery slope - it would start with me learning a few words from her, and before I know it I'd be halfway through Spanish With Ease and be progressing even more slowly in my languages than I already am because I'd be dividing my time between three of them. Two is already a massive commitment and compromise. I also rationalise that since my city is so full of Spanish speakers and I already tend to meet a lot of them socially, I'll have plenty more opportunities when the time does come... If she spoke a language that I was planning to learn but was hard to find speakers of, then it would perhaps be a different story :P. |
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A nerd's reaction is: you don't know if you'll still be with her in 2 years but you do know that you'll still want to learn Spanish in two years. Um, sorry.
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strikingstar Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5175 days ago 292 posts - 444 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin*, Cantonese, Swahili Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written)
| Message 2762 of 3737 07 December 2012 at 8:45am | IP Logged |
When flying home, you choose your flight based on the ability to practise your target
language. You've even extended your stopover to 3 days... DESPITE...
Demonstrations at Tahrir Square and the palace??? Referendum on the day I land??? Bring
it on!!!
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zerrubabbel Senior Member United States Joined 4602 days ago 232 posts - 287 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Mandarin
| Message 2763 of 3737 07 December 2012 at 4:47pm | IP Logged |
when youre learning to, or slowly picking up how to read languages that you aren't studying or maybe even have no
interest in
when youre at the mall and there are people behind you speaking language [X], and other people walking by
ignorantly comment about them speaking Chinese, but you know its laos
when, while shopping, you have to stop and check out every foreign script you find
and lastly
when you are disappointed you couldn't find any books in your target or really and foreign languages
2 persons have voted this message useful
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Amerykanka Hexaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5173 days ago 657 posts - 890 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Polish, Latin, Ancient Greek, Russian
| Message 2764 of 3737 08 December 2012 at 6:32pm | IP Logged |
You know you are a language nerd when . . .
J.R.R. Tolkien is your favorite author because, among other things, he was definitely a language nerd.
You know you are going to be a language nerd when . . .
At age 5 you tell your mother that you want to learn Russian. Your mother orders a program for you, and you
are undeterred by the foreign alphabet, but then you hear that your cousins are learning Spanish. You decide
to learn Spanish instead so you can speak it with your cousins.
At age 11 you use Rosetta Stone to study Polish and, frustrated by the lack of grammar instruction, you
complain, "Comparing Polish cases to Latin cases can only take you so far!"
At age 12 you visit your mother's friend, who speaks Spanish and is learning Aymara. You are fascinated by
the Aymara textbook he has and ever since you have harbored a secret desire to learn Aymara.
3 persons have voted this message useful
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Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5558 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona
| Message 2765 of 3737 08 December 2012 at 9:50pm | IP Logged |
When you're out shopping for crockery and see a sign in the distance pointing to "Teller", and get all disappointed when you find out it's just an ATM. :(
Edited by Teango on 08 December 2012 at 9:50pm
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meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5969 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map
| Message 2766 of 3737 08 December 2012 at 10:07pm | IP Logged |
Reminds me of this one:
When you are starting to feel that some good progress is being made with disaster cleanup and restoration, until you see the big bin on your street labeled Toter
As in a tote bag. It totes. Takes stuff away. But that is not what I thought at first. I was frightened!
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Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6599 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish
| Message 2767 of 3737 09 December 2012 at 11:06am | IP Logged |
when you work in spam analysis and you get many messages like this:
Hail! I do not know what to start with that’s why I'll start by telling you about myself. I consider myself quite a knowledgeable and clever woman, also I am very pretty and romantic. I fond of outdoor sports special cycling and skiing.. It seems to be banal to describe the man whom I want to see by my side. I am looking for normal, realistic man. For me it is very important to meet my soul mate. Though, I can say for sure that appearance is not everything. The inner beauty is much more important than beauty of the body. I want my man to be positive, reliable and with various interests. And I want to love my man with all my heart and soul. If you want to know me better (link)
and you're pissed off, not because the text and links change every time and these messages are difficult to deal with, but because it looks like typical russian English to you and you're ashamed of your countrymen.
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Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6599 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish
| Message 2768 of 3737 09 December 2012 at 11:07am | IP Logged |
and when you consider it urgent to come here and post about it!
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