But seriously, what languages have people been exposed to?
| Printable Version of Topic
Click here to view this topic in its original format |
| Celtic Radio Community > The Jester's Court > Languages |
| Posted by: celticfire 02-Feb-2006, 04:05 PM |
| Sorry everybody...I'm in a poll phase. But seriously, what languages have people been exposed to? |
| Posted by: Dogshirt 02-Feb-2006, 08:11 PM |
I speak enough Lakota (Sioux) to talk to my sled dogs. Makes it hard for other mushers commands to affect them. Couldn't carry on a conversation, but dogs don't need all that much, you can call them every dirty name in the book and if you don't raise you voice it sounds like GOOD DOG to them! We also use it a bit on the job, keeps home owners from knowing if something is wrong. They just panic without reason so we try to keep them in the dark about how the building is going. If you have any building or remodeling done your carpenters will be MUCH happier if you just stand back and let them get it done!   |
| Posted by: haynes9 06-Feb-2006, 10:49 AM |
I speak enough Navajo to get me into serious trouble  ! I know when our folks at church bow their heads and it's not time to pray, I have probably cussed a blue streak!Had a friend who wanted to ask for an apple. The word for apple in Navajo is bilasaana (can't put the proper accent marks here). Instead, he asked for a bilagaana to eat. Unfortunately, that is the word for a white person  !Needless to day, he didn't live that one down for a while. Take care and have a great day! |
| Posted by: Aaediwen 06-Feb-2006, 06:12 PM |
 The cannibal apple.I consider German a second language now. By the phrasing of the question of what languages I've been exposed to, I'll list in order as best I can, not including English: German Scottish Gaelic Irish Gaelic Spanish French Tagalog Quenya Sendarin Russian Portugese The only one on that list I feel confortable using is German, and the last one on the list I can speak a sentance in is Spanish |
| Posted by: JaneyMae 07-Feb-2006, 12:33 PM |
| Ok - I'm fluent in American Sign Language, can speak some Spanish, French, and Italian. Occassionally I can actually speak English - that's a difficult one though. I know - I'm an English teacher.  |
| Posted by: oldraven 07-Feb-2006, 03:45 PM |
| I could only pick one, but I speak very little French and German. |
| Posted by: sisterknight 19-Feb-2006, 02:34 PM |
| it would have to be french,(you know living in la belle province and all)then german.....i got bored one year in college and decided to try it!! |
| Posted by: Monarchs Own 19-Feb-2006, 03:22 PM |
| Speak English and German - German is my first language and English my second. I can speak a bit French. Had it for 4 years in school but since I never used it afterwards I lost most of it. |
| Posted by: zelan 13-Jan-2007, 01:13 AM |
| I read, write and speak in Rusian... I also have tried my hand at Arabic Hebrew French Scots Gaelic And I know a little latin |
| Posted by: Nova Scotian 03-Mar-2007, 09:48 AM |
| Swedish and Spanish are the two main ones I can speak but understand more of. I also can do a little Arabic, due to being married to one, and some French. I do know only a few word of Gaelic. As well as Portuguese and Tagalog |
| Posted by: celtica 03-Mar-2007, 10:52 AM |
I'm fluent in French !  I can manage in English (don't understand why it's not in the list )I've notions in German but I've lost it because I don't practise... And I would really love to learn Arabic language, it's sounds beautiful  |
| Posted by: lors 03-Mar-2007, 01:12 PM |
| French (5/5), just because I am. English (3/5), otherwise I wouldn't be there. Norwegian (1/5) -I've learned it in a past life, then forgotten most of it traveling in another dimension (those things happen  ).I've actively started learning Breton, so we will put it at 1/5 for now... And I wont stop until I've reached 3/5 for the least. And I'm considering learning Irish Gaelic in the near future |
| Posted by: Celtic cat 10-Mar-2007, 11:41 AM |
| I am in the process of learning spanish and russian, and I know a few phrases in irish gaelic. Aaediwen where did you learn the less common languages? What exactly is Tagalog, and where is it spoken? There is some used as examples in my linguistics book from school, and it sure is quite an interesting language. |
| Posted by: Antwn 10-Mar-2007, 12:09 PM |
| I speak English, I can read and write Welsh but my speaking and listening comprehension is not good. I still have alot to learn. I know a little German too. I'd like to learn Russian and re-learn German. Spanish would be good too since its a languge I could try to speak with somebody here in the US. Celtic Cat - Tagalog is a major language of the Phillipines. Its in the Austronesian language family with major influences from Spanish, Min Nan Chinese, English and Malay. I think some are just calling it Filipino now. |
| Posted by: Aaediwen 10-Mar-2007, 12:14 PM | ||
German -- Introduced to it when it was taught in Kindergarten and First grade, then took classes in Middle and High School Scottish Gaelic - bought a text book and cassette set to teach myself Irish Gaelic -- encountered around here on CRN, and picked up a few phrases Spanish -- Took one class in High School French -- 3 week intro course in Middle School Tagalog -- A phillipino friend of mine at work speaks primarally Tagalog and English Quenya -- Studied the appendices of LOTR Sendarin -- Studied the appendices of LOTR Russian -- Some of my friends have spoken it as a second (or third) language Portugese -- I worked with some Brazillians quite a bit last year, and they introduced me to it |
| Posted by: stoirmeil 10-Mar-2007, 05:20 PM | ||
I've still got that Russian language learning system for you, mate. You got any place where I can send it now? I have some French and a good bit more German, a tiny bit of Scots Gaidhlig, and fluent read/write/speak Yiddish. Have set sights on the Normandy dialect as next crazy thing to do -- not too hard with some French already in the bag, but looks and sounds quite different from standard French. This is the the dialect of French behind the Acadian Quebecois, which is my heritage through my father's line. There's a considerable literature in it. |
| Posted by: Sekhmet 11-Mar-2007, 01:02 PM |
| Lessee... I used to be fluent in Parisian French. Spent a semester in the Marseilles area and had Provencale beaten into me. My Spanish would make a toddler laugh, but I can manage. After working with the Amish, I picked up a smattering of their Deutch. I know enough Mandarin to know what cheesy names gamers name their characters. I took four semesters of Japanese, had an exchange student live with us for three years, and married an anime fanboy, so my Japanese isn't *all* that bad. I'm still picking up bits and pieces of Mingo and Seneca. I can swear like a sailor in Lenape. I speak fluent Pittsburghese (and if you don't think it's a separate dialect, come on over here). My Doric Scots isn't too bad. Not that I use it all that much, but I can understand things at high speed at any rate. My Irish and Scots Gaelic are...well...I think if they ever did Sesame Street in Gaelic I might not hurt myself. |
| Posted by: pflanary 12-Jun-2007, 09:32 AM |
| English, of course--mainly Southern but with hints from Oregon, Utah, Irish and Yankee. (I pick up accents easily, so I have acquired some Irish pronounciation and 'lilt' from studying Gaelic and listening to Irish singers.) Sign language--used to be fairly fluent in Pidgin Signed English and have studied ASL (many years ago) Also includes some Canadian sign--in fact my former students in the US Virgin Islands may stil use the Canadian sign for 'soon'--which means 'patience' in US sign. There are Utah, Oregon and of course Southern influences, too. Was fluent in Parisian French (with Provancal influence from a summer spent in Avignon.) for quite a while but haven't used it routinely for many years. Took some classes in Spanish but mostly picked it up by osmosis--my mother spoke it, as a French lab assistant heard it every day as the Spanish lab assistants were in the same room and was also around it frequently in undergraduate school as my second mother was director of International Student Afairs and had lived in Boliva. Took some German but remember very little. Ditto for Hebrew. Can make out quite a bit of written Latin and Italian from exposure to French and Spanish and as far as Latin from studying English word origins. Have tapes to learn Irish Gaelic (northern dialect) but haven't listen to them for a while so I don't remember a lot. Was exposed to Chinese--mostly Mandarin--Hatian, Farsi and various others in undergraduate school hanging around foreign students, but never learne to speak any of them. I think that's everything. |
| Posted by: Mailagnas maqqas Dunaidonas 12-Jun-2007, 10:06 AM |
| I was an airborne voice intercept operator/flight examiner (cryptolinguist) in the Air Force, which required me to spend a year at N(o)S(uch)A(gency) learning Vietnamese fulltime. I haven't used it much in the last 37 years, so have forgotten most of what I learned. I learned the Hanoi dialect, so when I went off-base in South Vietnam, the South Vietnamese would often ask if I worked for the CIA--I could honestly say no. I also picked up a fair amount of Japanese while stationed at Yokota AB, Japan, and Kadena AB, Okinawa, most of which I have also forgotten in the last 37 years. During my Air Force days, I also learned enough Russian, Chinese, and Arabic to recognize them. I studied French and Spanish in school, and actually retain some of it. I tried self-study of German and Italian, but didn't get far. I have been exposed to a few other languages: Korean, Tagalog, Thai, and Lao are a few, but can't claim to be able to recognize them. I do recognize a few words of Gaelic, thanks to Highlander Radio.  |
| Posted by: maisky 12-Jun-2007, 11:46 AM |
| I can get by in French, Spanish and Japanese. I have a smattering of Gaelic, German, Yiddish and New Jersey. I can get in trouble in a few others. |
| Posted by: Donajhi 12-Jun-2007, 12:29 PM |
| Living in Arizona one picks up Spanish with ease. All of our signs and instructions,(construction signs mostly), have English and below the Spanish translation. Seeing them everyday one just starts to remember the Spanish words and you know what it means. Now, to roll it off your tongue is a whole other matter, be careful in that area. I've had to beat feet a few times yelling, "What did I say, what did I say?" Strange, no one is interested in answering a question at that time, maybe they can't hear over the laughing?   I grew up speaking nothing but, Doric Scot. Learning English was very hard, it is a diffuclt language. After I left the clan compound and moved to arizone I had no one to speak to so it faded. Not a smart thing for me to do, but there you go. I know, my bush needs some new light bulbs.  |
| Posted by: TheCarolinaScotsman 12-Jun-2007, 01:42 PM |
| My mother tongue is southern, but I know a little English. |
| Posted by: Gwynhwyvar 19-Jul-2007, 05:03 PM |
| Like The Carolina Scotsman above - my mother tongue is southern. I have also taken Hebrew classes out of curiosity - they were offered at my church one time. I also took French and Latin in high school. I took Italian in college for music. And of course, I spent two months in Ireland in the Galetacht area in a little town called Spiddeal learning the language and the music. That was back in 1980. When I came home to Georgia, there wasn't much in the way of other speakers to converse with. I did like freaking out people in public when I started saying things in Irish. I have been able to use it some at my church - I have sung "Bi Thusa Mo Shuile"(Be Thou My Vision) several times at church. I also am putting together the song found on a Moya Brennan cd called "Song of David". I teach 4 and 5 year old choir and they are picking up the Irish very well. WE will be doing it sometime in October at our church - I think. |
| Posted by: Drothgord 19-Jul-2007, 10:43 PM |
| I speak Finnish, naturally. And the foreign languages i can speak are English and Swedish. |