new thread
Im just wondering what is your native Langauge if it is something other than English.
And how many languages have you learned besides your native language.
Im trying to see if Multilinguism is more common in Long Hairs than shorthairs.
My native Language is English
And I am learning German for over year and I am getting pretty good at to the point where I have stopped looking for translations of German songs, even though I am far from Fluent.
Neat poll.
My native language is English. I am learning Norwegian, French, and German right now. I speak Norwegian fairly well but I'm still in the early stages when it comes to French and German.
Native languague is Dutch, and I learned English, German and French at school. I did a bit of Latin, but it was too difficult. I tried Spannish and Italian and learned a bit of Persian as well. I understand a little bit of Croatian, but cannot speak it, just know quite a lot of words.
unfortunately Polish.
As well as
English on "proficient" level (passed CPE)
Russian (basic to intermediate)
Japanese (basic)
Hopefully Im gonna polish my Japanese skills this year, so I can speak in 4 languages without too many issues ;)
native English speaker NW USA, but Latin, and Spanish as well.
my native language is a mix between arabic and english, but maybe youre on to somthing
Studied French in high school and college. Studied Korean when I lived there.
My native language is English. Spanish is the language I've progressed the furthest with and while I haven't really touched it in 5 years, I can still understand most of what's being said when I come across news/articles etc.
It's been 7 years (wow!) since I stopped learning French and Latin, and sadly I've forgotten pretty much all of it. Up 'til that point I was pretty decent at French but much better at Latin.
In recent years I've had a go at Polish and Norwegian, but Polish was too deep and complex to have any fun with it so I dropped it. So currently it's just the Norwegian for me but to be honest, I spend far too much time programming/reading code to give it the time it requires.
English native, Spanish secondary, and can read a little bit of Portuguese.
native: Swiss German (which is very different from 'German' German, many Germans do not understand Swiss German)
learned: German, French and English
I did the 8 pimsleur lessons of Swiss German and it is indeed very different from Regular German. As you are Swiss you know that Swiss German is very different in certain Areas even in Switzerland. I personally think Switzerland is the most democratic country in the World.
native: Swiss German (which is very different from 'German' German, many Germans do not understand Swiss German)
How comes that you learn Swiss German? Do you live in Switzerland? Where?
I speak a mixture of Swiss German dialects, but mainly the Zurich version. And yes, Swiss German dialects are very different. I have a hard time understanding people from the mountains above Interlaken, just to make an example.
Switzerland has the most direct democracy in the world, as far as I know. That means that all important decisions cannot be made by the government without letting the people officially vote before. On the other hand, if people want to change something, they can collect signatures and start a legislative initiative on which the people can vote again. This system is established on nationwide items but also on a canton (state) level and even in each city or village. So, the people have a lot of power here but the system is kind of slow also. Additionally our system leads to a large amount of autonomy for the cities/villages and the cantons, which has its pros and its cons (for example, we have many different school-systems within Switzerland, even within the German speaking Switzerland).
In English our dialects are pretty much uniform and intellegible with each other, this is not so in German.
In English our dialects are pretty much uniform and intelligible with each other, this is not so in German>
True--they're hardly more than accents.
Of course, there's Scots, which is a whole other ball of wax, and much more like what a German- (or French-?) speaker would recognize as a "dialect". (Robert Burns wrote in Scots, for example; in fact, "Auld Lang Syne" is a Burns poem. "Syne" is a cognate of "since" and means "since" or "past".) But the word "dialect" has such a bad name in English that many proponents of Scots like to consider it a separate language--which it might've become if things had worked out differently.
Here's the third verse of "Auld Lang Syne" in a Standard English translation (which I nicked off of Wikipedia, changing one word):
We two have run about the slopes,
and pulled the daisies fine;
But weÂ’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.
Here's the original Scots (also from Wikipedia):
We twa hae run about the braes,
and pouÂ’d the gowans fine;
But weÂ’ve wanderÂ’d mony a weary fit,
sinÂ’ auld lang syne.
Notice how "since" and "syne" exist in the same line of text.
My native language us English and I learned French and German at school. I have a Dutch brother in law so I've been learning that. I'm also learning Swedish and Finnish as I've visited these countries many times.
Cheers,
John.B
My native is American. Which is a botched up version of English.
English with spanish and boontling secondary.
My native language is English (English English, not American English!), and I also speak German.
Romanian
I am fluent in English, Danish and French. I can understand quite a lot German, Norwegian and Swedish, some Magyar, Serbian and Russian.
And I am also fluent in C, Perl, Bourne Shell, some PHP...
--
A Linux Longhair
I'm native in GÃ idhlig and English and can get by in BSL, German, French and Spanish. I used to be able to speak a little Welsh, Catalan and Japanese, but haven't used them in years. I keep meaning to try to learn Swedish because of my origins, but haven't had time yet.
If I didn't have to work, I'd probably spend half my life studying languages because I'm really interested in etymology and language spread and development.
Yo hablo Espanol, pero como "un Gringo tipico!" (lol) Originalmente, yo soy de una tienda circa de Chicago, Illinois, --- entonces, originalmente hablo solo Ingles cuando yo fue nino. Aprendi Espanol en Escuela Superior cuando yo vivi in Illinois... Entonces, cuando yo hablo Espanol aqui en California, los Mexicanos (y otra gente que hablan Espanol nativo) piensan que yo hablo con un accento muy comico, --- y tambien, los Americanos que no son de Chicago piensan los mismo (LOL)!!
(Como se dice "LOL" en Espanol?.... el LOLO? - ROLF!!!)
- Ken in San Francisco
Sip claro, hablas español como los gringos (un nombre que encontre a traves mi viaje a costa rica). LOL = jeje/jaja
Scary thing is that I have been in South Texas long enough to understand all of that mumbo jumbo!
As for me, I pretty much know English (native), in term of world language. On the other hand, I have learned programming languages such as C#, Visual Basic, Java, Javascript, HTML and I am planning to take C++ class this fall.
Regardless
My native language is Dutch and beside that I have knowledge of the following languages:
English is pretty good
German I can understand most of it
French only barely, I've had lessons at school but I was never good in it.
Kenneth, I speak American English in a northern mid west dialect.
Studied Spanish in school and can read it and understand it to some degree. Speaking it is a whole different matter. Have also studied French and Russian. Was in the service in Germany for 3 years so understand a little bit of German.
peace, jonalbear
My native language is English.
In school, I studied French, Latin, and Portuguese. The Latin stuck, and I am still pretty good at it. I am tutoring Latin now and will probably teach it at some point as I am certified to do so.
I have played around with Swedish and Spanish and might be able to read a children's book in either language at best.
I have picked up a little classical Greek here and there, but I can't even count that as it is such a small amount.
I am beginning to learn some Italian and really have taken a liking to it. Also, I really like linguistics, word origins, sound changes, etc.
Matt B.
My native language is English because I am English, although I live in the USA where English is allegedly spoken.
Je parle francais aussi. J'ai etudie la francais pour cing annees a l'ecole.
Und Ich spreche Deutsch auch. Ich lernte Deutsch fuer drei Jahre in der Schule.
I did five years of French and three years of German in school for those who can't understand the above.
well since im Scottish heritage i speak English but i wish i could speak the old celtic lanuage we spoke hundreds of years ago
My native language is English.
Arabic is my 2nd language since 8 years old. I can read and write well but I hate to speak it. (Intermediate) I also found out I can understand Amharic 50/50 since it's so close to Arabic.
Japanese is my 3rd language since 13 years old. I pretty much learned to speak it from watching tv with subtitles and then learned to read and write last year (still horrible at the writing part lol) (Intermediate)
Spanish is my 4th language since 21 years old. I started learning it last year and studied abroad in Costa Rica. (Advanced) I also found out I can understand Portuguese 50/50 since it's close to Spanish.
My native language is Maltese (i live in Malta).
Languages I know are ... English (duh), French, a bit of Italian, and a FEW words of german (wish i could learn it though). this summer i even knew 3 words of estonian! haha...
Shawn
My native language is English, I am also a competant French speaker. I also can speak a fair amount of Irish gaelic, which was passed through the generations of my family. Unfortunatley because the language is now rare even in Ireland, I only get the chance to practice speaking when I'm in Ireland (mostly talking to older people) or talking to my dad everynow and then.
Neil
My native language is a southern american dialect commonly found in south east Texas. :D In other words I speak English with a draaawwwwaaalllll.
My own linguistic skills are fairly pedestrian -
Native tongue English, but also speak German at a conversational level.
My old college roommate, however, was a language savant. Fluent in English and Ukranian (grandparents immigrated from Ukraine); Studied and became fluent in Russian, Arabic and Hebrew. (speaking AND reading!) Now, many people speak more languages than that, but thats 5 languages with 4 different alphabets!
Jim
3, on school. It's quite normal in the Netherlands to learn foreign languages on school.
Native Language: English.
Other: The universal language of the world: Music.
(I fall into a bit of a more unusual catagory on this one however as I can not only read it,talk it,teach it and perform it. I am a Composer as well (Classical) with over 150 published works in my lifetime.) My music has been likened somewhat to that of Maurice Ravel. (1875-1937)
Hey have you ever written a piece for cello or any orchestra stringed instrument? I play cello 2nd chair in our high school symphonic orchestra (which basically means we're the big dogs!)
Hey DiO
I only have 1 composition for Cello and Piano composed when I was about 19 years old. Never tried to get it published but it was performed once. It is a Nocturne and has very much the flavor of something Faure might have written. Otherwise, nothing else for Cello solo.
BTY: (Just my personal observation through the years.) Those that play the Cello compared to other musicians seem to be in a world all to their own. They can be a bit aloof acting in many cases, but for the most part appear to have the highest intelligence which is just amazing. Perhaps you have noticed the same?
All the best
Justin~
Hi Justin,
I would like to see and hear some of your work. Is there any way I could get my hands on any of your manuscript? I am a highly trained classical guitarist, I studied through the London Trinity College of music. I would be excellent to hear some of your pieces and maybe arrange them myself for classical guitar.
Take care
Neil
Hey Neil
Most interesting is that I HAVE composed a Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra. (The Guitar is treated somewhat like a percussion instrument.......but it is STILL melodic.) ALL pieces having to do with Orchestra really came to a hault because of price to the publishers in the early 50's. I think Bartoks Viola Concerto (left unfinished) was the last train out around 1952 when Tibor Serly tried his hand at completing it and did so. (A most interesting work by the way as there is so little literature for the Viola.) It was comissioned by William Primrose who gave it its first performance.
I would be happy to send you some of my pieces. Alas, most are now all out of print and the publishers in the US have just about all gone bottoms-up with I believe Alfred in CA. now owning just about everything. Because a composer must sign the copyright over to the publisher, it can be burried forever and there is no way for the composer to ever get his hands on his own music because of this. The publishers of today look for only one thing, that being quick money. The public has no idea of the talent out there that will never have a chance because of this and the politics going on with "in house composers" working for the publisher(s) in the US.
Just email me Neil and I will see what I can do for you.
Justin~
I would love to hear it, sometime. I really like Ravel, particularly his orchestral arrangements like 'Le Tombeau de Couperin' which I studies in my undergrad years in Music. Are recordings available?
Hi Mr.Crow
Recordings which appeared during the mid-late 90's on CD came out of Germany and to my knowledge are not available anymore. I "think" I am better known, (in a small way of course) in Europe than in the US who has for the most part ignored me. But, that is rather typical of the Classical composer. Monsieur Chriton at the publishing firm of Leduc & Cie in Paris France once told me over the telephone that one is never a prophet in their own land. How true this has been in so many cases throughout history.
Although the critics have likened me to Ravel (and sometimes to Debussy who ISN'T like Ravel at all), when just a little kid I was experimenting with composing BEFORE even knowing of Ravel and coming-up with some similar sounding results. And then, my musical training was in the French Tradition...........hence the strong influence.
If you let me know the instrumet you play I would be happy to mail you some compositions.
Take care and thanks for your comments.
Justin~
Wow! What an offer! I am trained as a trombonist and have studied Euphonium as well. I teach just about any band instrument, though to actually perform a "real" piece, I'd not be as likely to wow an audience. My fav hobby instrument is the Ukulele.
What a great offer. Thanks!
spylecrowell
at
hotmail
dot
com
Lol...
A Western, more technically, a California Accent....NorCal/CenCal...
But then again, I have some family that is from the Midwest, so sometimes I'll get some of that slang in as well...
And a little spanish....
As well as a little Visual Basic, C++, and some HTML too
My native language is English of course but I can also speak a good amount of Spanish (and Im fluent in Spanglish as well lol)
Long haired men are obviously very smart and well educated. It's too bad that most folks who think long hairs are slackers don't read this thread. If I were an employer I would snap up the long haired guy because he's probably the smartest one in the room. I'm definitely impressed. I'm out of my league here. Maybe longhair isn't for me.
PS. English only
English is my primary language.
I had some French during my high school days, a LONG time ago, but don't remember much of it!
David
My native language is English, and that's about it. I might attempt to learn German, but as of right now, I only know English.
My native language is Portuguese,but I'm also fluent in american english,as I lived in the U.S(Maryland)for over 2 years.I also speak spanish pretty well and know two words in korean and arabic(lol).My grandma is fluent in french,but sucks badly at english :p.
My native language is English (American dialect).
My second language is Spanish, which I am fairly fluent in, having lived over four and a half years of my life in Puerto Rico.
David L.
Native language: Russian
I speak English fluently, and French fairly fluently.
Planning to learn Mandarin as soon as I get to uni :P
My native language is English. I studied a little German in High School...and retained little of it, although I love the language. I hope to relearn it as well as add French and Italian to my lists. Also, I am fairly fluent in "pig latin."
Take care and keep it growin', y'all!
Brett
Native languages: Cantonese (Southern Chinese) and English
Acquired spoken language: Mandarin (Northern Chinese)
Acquired reading languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese
One of our old admin assistants at work spoke Mandarin, Cantonese, one other Chinese dialect and Thai. Her father's parents were from northern China and her mother's father was from southern China and her mother's mother from Thailand. Her mother's parents ended up living with them in the UK, so she grew up with all of those languages plus English. Then, in school, she studied French and Spanish.
She ended up being headhunted by an export company and is now one of their top European/Asian liaisons. She hadn't even considered that type of work and was surprised when they offered her five times the salary she was on while working for us. Boy, does it pay to speak a few different languages!
Lol you just gave me whatever motivation I may have lacked to learn Mandarin....and maybe after that Japanese so I can watch the original animes.
It's well worth it even just doing it for fun and being able to enjoy something like animes, but if you can make a lucrative career out of it too, that's even better. Go for it, and good luck!
My native tongue is English, I know how to speak French, and a little bit of Japanese. I want to learn Spanish, German, and Italian one day :)
Patrick_R
Alas, just English but would love to study another language. I did take 2 years of Spanish in high school, but that was almost 40 years ago!
Bruce
My native languages are both swedish and finnish (seeing as my mother is from finland), but since i don't talk finnish that often i've forgotten alot, my mother most often talk finnish to me and i'll respond back in swedish, lol:D
My english skills however are very good, when i was younger i was always the best in my class:)
I've also read a bit german, but that's like 5 years ago so i hardly remember anything, and as matter of fact i was never really interested in learning it, and i thought it was quite hard to learn as well.
Native Language is (American) English.
I picked up a working knowledge of Farsi (Persian) when I lived in Tehran, Iran.
Interesting poll...Thanks for posting it.
WWT (Walter White Tail)
Now not just everyone can say that they lived in Iran for a while. I am absolutely intrigued by Persian culture. It's cool that Farsi is Indo-European, like German, English, Latin, etc. You can still see a few connections when you dig deep enough.
Very cool!
French is my native language. I can write and speak easily in English. My last lessons of Spanish are quite old but I will re-learn it this year.
Bye
Vivien
My native language is german and I also speak english and norwegian fluently. ^^
(n/t)
Native Tongue: English
Secondary Language(s): German, Gaelic, Spanish.
Peace. ;D
GÃ idhlig na h-Alba no Gaeilge?
Ciamar a tha sibh?
natural - Doric
Gaelic English French
German Swedish Norwegian Russian, bit of Old Norse
Dìreach sgoinneil an seo!
Fit like, loon?