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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 3888 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 9 of 68 09 January 2015 at 11:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
Big enough that it's a different class for students who've reached BA level in Classical Greek. ;) I never got that far, so I can't give a detailed answer, but when we speak of Classical Greek we tend to think of Attic Greek and Homeric is an archaic variant of Ionic Greek. There are simple dialectal differences such as one using the word "thalassa" and the other "thalatta", but nouns decline differently and verbs conjugate differently, and, if you're going to read Homer you've also got the issue of poetic vocabulary which will not necessarily serve you if you move on to the Classical period or Koine. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| lichtrausch Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5749 days ago 525 posts - 1072 votes Speaks: English*, German, Japanese Studies: Korean, Mandarin | Message 10 of 68 10 January 2015 at 2:33am | IP Logged | |||||
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My very subjective opinion on the matter:
Forget Czech, there isn't enough to do with it after you've learnt it. Between the ugly script and the tones, Thai should be skipped or at least postponed. Dead languages are for after you've gotten all the major living ones. German and Japanese are both great, but German media leaves something to be desired. Between those two, figure out what you are in the mood for; a walk in the park or a real challenge? 6 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6386 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 11 of 68 10 January 2015 at 7:18am | IP Logged | |||||
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If you're curious about Czech, I think you should explore it more along with other Slavic languages before making a decision. Have you read Chung's detailed profiles? Edited by Serpent on 10 January 2015 at 7:18am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| rodrigoau Triglot Newbie Australia Joined 3423 days ago 19 posts - 52 votes Speaks: Macedonian*, English, Spanish Studies: Italian, Turkish | Message 12 of 68 10 January 2015 at 8:30am | IP Logged | |||||
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I hope this doesn't sound harsh, but you would be a FOOL (yes, all capital letters
FOOL) if you don't learn German thoroughly. Being an engineer from Sweden (whatever your field is), I can only imagine the WORLD of opportunities, business and professional development and following on that social and cultural that the German language can open for you. Having spent few weeks in Germany recently, I can confidently tell you that a very large number of them (even the young and educated) don't speak any English or if they do, their English is neither fluent nor good enough (of course a large number of them speak excellent English, but they are NOT the majority). So don't count on English if you want to explore all the wonderful opportunities Germany can give you professionally. Not even as an engineer. Let me give you an example: I spoke to top professionals there (in a technical field), and I quickly realized that their spoken English left a lot to be desired, despite their education and reading English in their profession regularly. The language proved a significant barrier. There is also the fact that many engineering breakthroughs and innovations originated in German-speaking Europe do not easily and quickly flow to the non-German speaking world. They do eventually, but if you want that special edge in your profession and stay on top, you must learn to at least read German confidently. For example, in the field that I am referring to, there are currently some breakthroughs shared only between engineers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and still only superficially understood in the English speaking world or the rest of the world. Once you learn German, there is so much you can do with it. Starting from reading some of the best writers in the original language (translating German to English always diminishes the value of the original German thought). Lastly, there are 100,000,000+ German speakers in your neighborhood. Imagine not only the professional but also social possibilities. I can't possibly understand why you are not already speaking German fluently and that you are even doubting if that should be your next language. Not only it should be, but you have to make it your highest priority if you are serious about your future. I studied German passively for a few years. There is nothing boring about that language, even if your mother tongue is a related Germanic language. Aesthetically (phonetically I mean), listening to it, I'm not crazy about it. But there are so many dialects, and some of them do sound nice. But then, I like Czech even less. As a native Slavic language speaker, I find it quite displeasing (not as much as Polish though - possibly the ugliest Slavic language in my ears). From the Slavic languages, I find Serbian very beautiful - melodic with a lot of harmony in the way it sounds. There were also some great thinkers in history who studied Serbian and were fascinated with it - Goethe and Einstein among the others. Also, it will open you the door in a big way to a large part of South-East Europe (not only Serbia, but Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Macedonia and even Bulgaria where Serbian is widely understood if not spoken. For example, although I don not speak it, I understand Serbian as well as I understand English (if not better). Just in case you think my focus is only on utility, I think studying a dead language is also great. I wish I had the time to learn Ancient Greek or Latin. If I can go back in time, I would probably choose classical languages as a career. I would never ever, not in a million years, study an artificial language like Esperanto, but I am fascinated by ancient languages. If you think you have the time and the dedication to do, go for it. So, I said something about both utility and aesthetics from my perspective. I hope it helps you. Edited by rodrigoau on 10 January 2015 at 8:53am 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6371 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 13 of 68 10 January 2015 at 10:17am | IP Logged | |||||
I don't believe so. I study languages mostly because they're fun and interesting, though other factors also play a role, of course. Preferrably I should have some interest in the culture, but I find that such an interest can grow with time. I had no interest in learning Portuguese before my mom invited me to Cape Verde, but now I'm really into Brazil.
Tempting, but the smallness and relative lack of media would worry me. At this point in my life, having a bunch of fun movies and TV series to watch is important to me. Though I might check it out after your description. It sounds really fun! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6371 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 14 of 68 10 January 2015 at 10:21am | IP Logged | |||||
I sometimes feel uncomfortable with how formal Americans are. When do you call someone by their first na,e and when do you use "Mr." or even "Sir"? The distinctions between 你 and 您 in Mandarin and the tu/vous in French also bother me, since I don't want to make a faux pas. Growing up in Sweden has not given me a good sense for these things. The Japanese honorifics terrify me because they seem an order of magnitude more formal than English or Mandarin, and formality terrifies me. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6371 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 15 of 68 10 January 2015 at 10:30am | IP Logged | |||||
Awesome post! I really am in the mood for a real challenge. The history of my language learning after French has been steadily downwards in the challenge domain. First Mandarin (huge challenge), then Cantonese (less of a challenge, since I knew Mandarin), then Spanish (Relatively easy, knowing French), and then Portuguese (not even a walk in the park, knowing Spanish). The reason I'm still considering German is simply because it's a smaller commitment. I could get a decent level of German, enough to read, watch TV series and have conversations with people, in a year, and then take on Japanese after that, whereas if I go for Japanese, I'll be busy for many years to come. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6371 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 16 of 68 10 January 2015 at 10:30am | IP Logged | |||||
I have not. Where can I find them? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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