Enjoy unlimited access to all forum features for FREE! Optional upgrade available for extra perks.

Languages

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by retired_member33, Aug 13, 2011.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. retired_member33

    retired_member33 Retired Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2010
    Posts:
    1,451
    Likes Received:
    13
    Was wondering which languages people here at Acorn speak.


    Let me kick off:

    Danish
    Dutch
    English
    French
    German

    And occasionally I think I can speak Spanish and Turkish :D
     
  2. Domain Forum

    Acorn Domains Elite Member

    Joined:
    1999
    Messages:
    Many
    Likes Received:
    Lots
    IWA Meetup
     
  3. Edwin

    Edwin Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2005
    Posts:
    9,851
    Likes Received:
    617
    That's an impressive list.

    In decreasing order of fluency...
    English
    French
    Japanese (verbal)
    Dutch (mainly reading)
    Spanish (a bit, mainly reading)
     
  4. retired_member33

    retired_member33 Retired Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2010
    Posts:
    1,451
    Likes Received:
    13
    How long did it take you to speak Japanese?
     
  5. Edwin

    Edwin Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2005
    Posts:
    9,851
    Likes Received:
    617
    Well, I was out there 15 years :)
     
  6. aZooZa

    aZooZa Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2005
    Posts:
    4,875
    Likes Received:
    253
    English
    French
    Latin
     
  7. retired_member33

    retired_member33 Retired Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2010
    Posts:
    1,451
    Likes Received:
    13
    Yeah I heard something like that, but did you just learn it by picking up words or did you have a proper course?
     
  8. aZooZa

    aZooZa Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2005
    Posts:
    4,875
    Likes Received:
    253
    I think living there for fifteen years would equate to a proper course, although having said that, I've lived partly in Malaysia and China for twenty years and can't speak any Mandarin other than the 'please and thank you' stuff.
     
  9. Edwin

    Edwin Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2005
    Posts:
    9,851
    Likes Received:
    617
    I never had a classroom course, but I did study at university on an informal basis (1 hour a week during term time) with the Japanese Society for 3 years before I moved out to Japan. That was enough to give me some basics to build on.
     
  10. retired_member33

    retired_member33 Retired Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2010
    Posts:
    1,451
    Likes Received:
    13
    Must have been an amazing place to live, its still on my "to visit" list.
     
  11. aZooZa

    aZooZa Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2005
    Posts:
    4,875
    Likes Received:
    253
    I'm sure you're quite fluent Edwin. I was going to have a stab at Mandarin until I discovered that in Hunan Province (China) they have a completely different language. It's interesting to note that in the UK, dialects can change for every 60 miles you travel. And to some, they are unintelligible.
     
  12. retired_member33

    retired_member33 Retired Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2010
    Posts:
    1,451
    Likes Received:
    13
    Talking about UK dialects... I still remember my first meeting in Northern Ireland.. It all went well when I was talking to the local manager but then the meeting started and there were 5 people from NI talking... Spent the rest of the meeting just nodding and saying yes :)

    Then I had a meeting in Liverpool and one in Edinburgh and the same scenario repeated itself :p
     
  13. aZooZa

    aZooZa Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2005
    Posts:
    4,875
    Likes Received:
    253
    Phone calls are also a nightmare. I speak to many friends here on the phone and without the ability to lip read, it's very difficult. I have a London accent, and I get totally confused with the Mancunians and Geordies :)

    My favourite UK accent is Birmingham. I just love it. Wish I could speak it ;)
     
  14. Edwin

    Edwin Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2005
    Posts:
    9,851
    Likes Received:
    617
    I have massive difficulty understanding some regional accents, probably because I've hardly been exposed to them until now.
     
  15. retired_member33

    retired_member33 Retired Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2010
    Posts:
    1,451
    Likes Received:
    13
    All we learn over is just British English by a Dutch teacher with a horrible Dutch accent as from the 5th/6th grade. Luckily they are now employing teachers from the UK and Ireland who teach kids English starting at the age of 6/7, a brilliant thing to do.

    Unfortunally I saw an E-petition saying that the UK shouldn't be part of the EU anymore which makes it even more difficult for schools in Europe to hire teachers from the UK, or for European companies to hire UK drivers or UK builders.. But I guess that's what the people in the UK want, stick on their little island and think their currency is the best and will survive every economical crash.
     
  16. aZooZa

    aZooZa Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2005
    Posts:
    4,875
    Likes Received:
    253
    It's actually and practically impossible to 'teach' English. It's the most diverse language in the world and the syntax is deadly. Granted, you can teach the basics, but even in England you have to have enough 'smarts' to understand much of it.
     
  17. retired_member33

    retired_member33 Retired Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2010
    Posts:
    1,451
    Likes Received:
    13
    Naah, not really.. I would actually say its one of the easiest languages to learn,, the English vocabulary is very limited compared to other languages..
     
  18. aZooZa

    aZooZa Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2005
    Posts:
    4,875
    Likes Received:
    253
    You're a very parochial guy then. Do you have any qualifications to make such a statement? I'm keen to know.
     
  19. Retired_member41

    Retired_member41 Retired Member

    Joined:
    Mar 2010
    Posts:
    3,417
    Likes Received:
    55
    We have workers from all over the world who come to us. There English sounds great, but they understand nothing outside the mr chumley warner vocabulary.

    I speak Italian. But unless you intend to actually converse, the only words you need in Italy are quanta costa, si, non, ciao, grazi and prego. Body language does the rest lol
     
  20. retired_member33

    retired_member33 Retired Member

    Joined:
    Apr 2010
    Posts:
    1,451
    Likes Received:
    13
    Removed
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2011
  21. aZooZa

    aZooZa Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2005
    Posts:
    4,875
    Likes Received:
    253
    I'm a master at English. It's my native language. I actually had English language (as an academic subject) severely beaten into me; like Latin. Is it your native language? Are you a native speaker? If you want a public pissing match, you've picked on the wrong guy ;) And don't try looking things up in dictionaries -- the way I can speak it -- you'll never discover it that way. So bring it on! You might also suffer peer derision if you want to pursue this.

    Edit: All 'tongue in cheek' of course ;)
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2011
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.