|
 |
Locations fostering "native polyglots" | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| Jerrod Senior Member United States Joined 6305 days ago 168 posts - 176 votes  Studies: Russian, Spanish | Message 25 of 46 03 May 2007 at 12:40pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Someone earlier mentioned Finland. I have been to Finland a few times and all signs are in Finnish and Swedish, and most students (at least in Helsinki) know English and some study Russian.
Has anyone been to Lapland? This spans Finland and Sweden, and even to this day the language and culture have remained intact. Moreover, with Norway so close, and with Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, and to some extent, Russian mining and forestry in the area, I am sure people would be exposed to these languages. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people Just some thoughts. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6505 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 26 of 46 03 May 2007 at 4:35pm | IP Logged | ||
|
As far as I know the Samic language (or languages?) is spoken by a dwindling minority. You could live a whole life without hearing it even in places like Alta or Rovaniemi in the far North. There are programs in their languages in Swedish television though, so you could learn it even even far South of the Land of the Midnight Sun if you wanted to.
My guess is that areas with lots of people from different places close together and good coverage with foreign TV programs would be a better place to look for polyglots than a windshept barren area with just a few silent reindeer walking by once or twice every year. Edited by Iversen on 03 May 2007 at 4:37pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jerrod Senior Member United States Joined 6305 days ago 168 posts - 176 votes Studies: Russian, Spanish | Message 27 of 46 04 May 2007 at 7:18am | IP Logged | ||
|
Iversen, your probably right.
Though it is the official home of Santa. Jerrod 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Shinn Trilingual Tetraglot Groupie India gallery.takingitglob Joined 6214 days ago 61 posts - 69 votes Speaks: English*, Hindi*, Oriya*, SpanishB2 Studies: FrenchB1, Japanese, Irish | Message 28 of 46 08 May 2007 at 3:24am | IP Logged | ||
|
Well India is definitely one country where most people are polyglots. We have 18 official languages, including English and as many as 1,652 different tongues (if Wikipedia is to be believed that is). I've never met anyone who didn't speak at least 2 languages and I myself grew up trilingual like many of my friends. At the same time, not many people learn "foreign" languages such as Spanish or Dutch. French is an exception because we study it in our high schools. Also French is an official language in the former colony of Pondicherry. And I believe Portuguese is official in parts of Goa. It's a pity more Indians don't take up languages from other countries. Edited by Shinn on 08 May 2007 at 3:29am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6352 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 29 of 46 08 May 2007 at 9:03pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Shinn, are you taught in English or Hindi (medium) in school? Also, if I want to watch Bollywood (sp?) movies, is Hindi the correct language to study? Edited by leosmith on 08 May 2007 at 9:04pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Shinn Trilingual Tetraglot Groupie India gallery.takingitglob Joined 6214 days ago 61 posts - 69 votes Speaks: English*, Hindi*, Oriya*, SpanishB2 Studies: FrenchB1, Japanese, Irish | Message 30 of 46 09 May 2007 at 10:02am | IP Logged | ||
I was taught in an English medium school with all lectures and exams in English. I did have other languages but it's rather complicated, thanks to the neurotics in the Indian education system. I had Hindi as a second language subject until the 10th grade. There is also a THIRD language in schools which can either be a foreign language (usually French), Sanskrit or the official language of the state you're living in. However the third language is usually for only a few years and you need not give an exam in it for your 10th grade exams (they're kind of like the GCSEs in the UK). Then after you enter the 11th and 12th grade (equivalent to A levels) you again pick a second language (English is a compulsory part of the curriculum) which for me was French. So that's our very complicated system. Yes, if you want to watch Bollywood movies Hindi would be the language to learn but the Hindi used in those movies is a bastardized form which mixes Hindi with other dialects and English. But it won't be very different from the Hindi you'll learn in textbooks. It'd be more like the difference between "Hi, how are you" and "Yo dawg whassup" :P 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6352 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 31 of 46 09 May 2007 at 12:20pm | IP Logged | ||
Thanks for your answer.
Heh, heh, your scaring me now! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Shinn Trilingual Tetraglot Groupie India gallery.takingitglob Joined 6214 days ago 61 posts - 69 votes Speaks: English*, Hindi*, Oriya*, SpanishB2 Studies: FrenchB1, Japanese, Irish | Message 32 of 46 10 May 2007 at 3:05am | IP Logged | ||
LOL. Nah it's not *that* bad, It's just that most Hindi purists go into cardiac arrest at any mention of Bollywood Hindi. It is gets the point across and it's fun but not exactly sophisticated. What I would be more scared of is your average mainstream Bollywood movie. I always end up with a headache after watching one; but to each his own! 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
