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So You Want to Learn 5... | ||
Tags: Number of Languages | Fluency | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| tristano Tetraglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 4049 days ago 905 posts - 1262 votes  Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, French, English Studies: Dutch | Message 569 of 580 01 November 2014 at 11:36am | IP Logged |
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How can I have forgotten Swedish in my lists? Shame on me.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6705 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 570 of 580 01 November 2014 at 4:20pm | IP Logged |
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I liked Tristano's layout, and it inspired to write my own modest contributions:
5 languages I ought to know better given the time I have spent on them: Russian Greek Icelandic Latin Esperanto 5 European languages which must be learned - but ahem, not now: Basque Hungarian Finnish Albanian Czech (or Slovak) 5 non-European languages which I refuse to learn because of their writing system Chinese (OK, that's already more than 5 languages..) Japanese Arabian (I can't learn that language from written sources when the users don't write the wowels) ... OK, Mayan, Ancient Egyptian, Sanskrit - but I would probably have skipped those even with an easier writing system 5 non-European languages which I might have a closer look at (later) Bahasa Malaysia Tagalog Vietnamese kiSwahili Turkish 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Luso Hexaglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 6063 days ago 819 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2, GermanB1, Italian, Spanish Studies: Sanskrit, Arabic (classical) | Message 571 of 580 01 November 2014 at 11:14pm | IP Logged |
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It's a bit curious that I'm writing this post after Iversen's, because mine contains 5 different scripts.
So, here goes: German - I'd love to bring my not-so-good fluency to a really good level Arabic - A lot of ground covered, but so much more still to go Sanskrit - Beautifully complex: the kind of achievement that stands on its own Tibetan - Another dream from the mists of time Berber (or Amazigh, or Tuareg) - Wonderful script and an aura of mystery 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| fnord Triglot Groupie Switzerland Joined 5035 days ago 71 posts - 124 votes Speaks: German*, Swiss-German, English Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch | Message 572 of 580 13 November 2014 at 1:11am | IP Logged |
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(I speak German natively)
English (though I am somewhat fluent in it, it's still a no-brainer for native-like fluency, owing to its global spread and the wealth of information available in English) Portuguese (or Spanish - portuguese being more useful to me personally) French (national language where I live or might want to live later) Japanese (interesting culture) Estonian (edging out other nordic languages, particularly Norwegian & Swedish because it's non-Germanic) Edited by fnord on 13 November 2014 at 1:14am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| cathrynm Senior Member United States junglevision.co Joined 6127 days ago 910 posts - 1232 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Finnish | Message 573 of 580 13 November 2014 at 2:05am | IP Logged |
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Hmm, I don't think I will learn 5 -- to be realistic.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5264 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 574 of 580 13 November 2014 at 3:23am | IP Logged |
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Hmmm, five:
Kwéyòl:, the other Caribbean French Creole. I already have a massive discount because to a large extent it is mutually intelligible with Haitian Kreyòl. Keeping them separate would be the issue- they're that close. Guadeloupe, St Lucia, Dominica and Martinique are located nearby. I plan on slowly getting into this by reading, listening, speaking and noticing the differences, which segues into- French: I'm less than 100 miles from French St Martin. It would probably be quick for me to reach an intermediate level (not bragging) because of my two Romance languages, Haitian Creole and English- but the mere thought of even more verb conjugations to learn and a somewhat opaque gender system, I just can't bear right now. Arabic: There is a small Levantine Arabic community on the island. I've learned some phrases but Arabic is a major commitment. That being said, it would give me something to do for the next decade or so. Yiddish: Oy veh I'm not even Jewish, so why? The Hebrew alphabet wouldn't be so difficult for me because I can already read Rashi script, thanks to Ladino. Before the second World War, Yiddish-speakers had a thriving literature, music and theater scene. Yiddish just seems to be made for kvetching (complaining) and humor. I've been watching the Yidlife Crisis videos (English subs) and they are so funny. Downside- same as Ladino, not many people with whom I can speak, still, it's tempting. Vietnamese: Ever seen the Top Gear Vietnam special? Nuff said. Plus, at least they use the Roman alphabet and I love the food. It would be an amazing country to visit. Edited by iguanamon on 13 November 2014 at 3:43am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4891 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 575 of 580 13 November 2014 at 3:35am | IP Logged |
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These aren't my five, but I've been listening to a podcast on the history of
Byzantium, and they had a guest on discussing the Arab conquests and the origin of Islam. The guest noted that, to really delve into original source material, he would have wanted to understand: 1. Koine Greek 2. Arabic 3. Armenian 4. Syraic 5. Persian That's quite a combination - if anyone wants to tackle them they could be a historian par excellence! My own series of lists: Five I've put the most work into: 1. French 2. Spanish 3. Italian 4. Arabic 5. Turkish Five that I might realistically achieve proficiency in one day: 1. French 2. Spanish 3. Italian 4. German 5. uhm ... there might not be five ... Five that I wish I could magically learn without a lot of hard work: 1. Arabic 2. Russian 3. Ancient Greek 4. Japanese 5. Latin and two that I once knew and have since forgotten: 1. Indonesian 2. Chuukese (Micronesian) Edited by kanewai on 13 November 2014 at 3:38am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| AML Senior Member United States Joined 6827 days ago 323 posts - 426 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish | Message 576 of 580 15 November 2014 at 9:58pm | IP Logged |
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I'd go either Mediterranean:
1. Hebrew 2. Spanish 3. Italian 4. Greek 5. Albanian! or just Middle Eastern: 1. Hebrew 2. Turkish 3. Arabic 4. Persian 5. Aramaic or Kurdish 1 person has voted this message useful |
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