how many languages do you speak?
Apr 19th, 2007, 03:58 PM
#141
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Larry, I thought the same thing. The French are always touting French as the main second language, but I just don't get it. French is, in fact, losing popularity as it is supplanted by English.
Someday Mandarin Chinese might top the list, but it is such a difficult language to learn as a second language. Of course, it is all characters and not letters and it is tonal. I was thinking of getting Pimsleur CD's for Mandarin, but not much point as no trip to China is planned anytime soon.
Someday Mandarin Chinese might top the list, but it is such a difficult language to learn as a second language. Of course, it is all characters and not letters and it is tonal. I was thinking of getting Pimsleur CD's for Mandarin, but not much point as no trip to China is planned anytime soon.
Apr 19th, 2007, 06:10 PM
#142
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My first language is Cantonese (Chinese dialect). I keep meaning to learn Mandarin, but I always put it off. Fluent in English of course. And I guess I should learn some Dutch since my bf is Dutch but I just can't seem to make the "g" sound. Last time I was there for a wedding and for the life of me couldn't properly say "congratulations."
Apr 19th, 2007, 09:12 PM
#143
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Baybee,
can you make the "k" sound? G and K are virtually identical as far as the position of the speach organs, but in K the sound is made by releasing air suddenly, whereas the G sound is made using the vocal cords. G is what is called a "voiced" consonant.
can you make the "k" sound? G and K are virtually identical as far as the position of the speach organs, but in K the sound is made by releasing air suddenly, whereas the G sound is made using the vocal cords. G is what is called a "voiced" consonant.
Apr 20th, 2007, 02:35 AM
#144
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Mother tongue - English
Fluent - French (attended Lycee in Paris yonks ago); Dutch (lived & worked in Amsterdam for nearly 2 years)
Tourist level - Bulgarian, German, Spanish
Smattering - Scots Gaelic, Italian, Greek, Welsh,
Fluent - French (attended Lycee in Paris yonks ago); Dutch (lived & worked in Amsterdam for nearly 2 years)
Tourist level - Bulgarian, German, Spanish
Smattering - Scots Gaelic, Italian, Greek, Welsh,
Apr 20th, 2007, 06:17 AM
#145
Me- Native language is New York English. Remnants of Undergraduate German and Russian that has devolved into tourist talk. I worked on a contract in Jerusalem for two years after the '73 war and learned Hebrew pretty well, some of which remains. I do well with menus most anywhere.
DW - Native Spanish and Yiddish. English is her third language. She has used her Yiddish on a number of occassions in Germany and most don't recognize the language for what it is. They usually ask her what village she comes from with that strange "German" dialect.
DW - Native Spanish and Yiddish. English is her third language. She has used her Yiddish on a number of occassions in Germany and most don't recognize the language for what it is. They usually ask her what village she comes from with that strange "German" dialect.
