Do you study languages?

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124

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  • drgmac
    drgmac Posts: 715 Member
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    I started out as a Spanish major in college, but my mother would not let me study abroad, so, I flipped through the course description guide and thought, "hmmm....special education looks interesting...". The Spanish did come in handy. I taught in a predominantly Hispanic district and was able to communicate with parents and students fairly well.
  • jjplato
    jjplato Posts: 155 Member
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    Korean
  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
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    I'm studying French, and my husband is in the military and requested bases in Japan, Germany, Italy, and Spain so I will study one of those if we end up there. I'd also like to learn Portuguese.
  • lsbrown78
    lsbrown78 Posts: 24
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    American Sign Language. I need to study Chinese so I can tell everyone in the spa what the ladies doing pedicures are saying :laugh:
  • isweatglitter
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    I am studying French just because it's so beautiful. I can speak Arabic, Urdu, and English fluently, and know some Spanish.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    latin and greek only because i had to for school, french, spanish, italian, russian, japanese. i also studied a bit of german back when i was a in a french MA program and was considering going for a doctorate in medieval lit.

    i'll soon be starting brazilian portuguese and mandarin.

    i currently work in the language industry :smile:

    i currently work in the language industry :smile:

    does that mean Rosetta?

    Mandarin and Russian in University. German in high school. French for travel and being Canadian. Thai for fun when traveling. Currently trying Rosetta Stone for German. Not fluent in any but I know a bit about them all

    i wish i worked for rosetta. i could all those tapes for free!:laugh:

    i work as a project manager for a translation company
  • losermomof3
    losermomof3 Posts: 386 Member
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    i've been learning german for quite a while now, so fairly advanced with that one. after that, i hope to finally get down to learning my own language: Welsh.

    I'd like to take on Japanese or Chinese Mandarin one day, but i believe those languages are 'tonal', ie it's not just about the words but the tone of your voice. i guess we have that too, in the way we change the tone of our voice when asking a question, but it would seem the chinese use tone a lot more. frankly, my hearing isn't too clever so that may be a step too far for me.

    and on the point of my hearing loss, british sign language is something im already starting to look at. im hoping sign language will be much easier than other languages, simply because the brain remembers physical movements much better than non-physical memorising, hence the saying about never forgetting how to ride a bike. physical movements require the use of more parts of the brain, and thus the memory is more deeply embedded. at least that's what i read on the BBC!

    I don't know how bsl is but I know asl is harder to learn the more you get older and the less you use it. Also, with asl the sentence structure is different then English. When you get going on it be patient. In asl one sign can be 4 different words too.

    One more thing....watching YouTube will increase your receptive skills.

    Hi, thanks. I guess I'll have no choice but to be patient with sign language. I'm starting to learn now, so that in a couple of years when conversations become impossible, i'll have some way of communicating. well, at least communicating with other people who speak sign language.

    when you say Youtube will increase my receptive skills, do you mean watching sign language videos or just any videos?

    Sign language videos....reading someone sign is harder than signing yourself.
  • losermomof3
    losermomof3 Posts: 386 Member
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    American Sign Language. I need to study Chinese so I can tell everyone in the spa what the ladies doing pedicures are saying :laugh:

    Lmbo...Ikr!!!
  • Lea_8D
    Lea_8D Posts: 106 Member
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    I love languages, study Spanish and Chinese, and also like to learn a little about lots of them and how they all work. I've even learned about constructed languages like Esperanto. I have to admit Chinese is too difficult for me at my age, but I still keep at it, lol.
  • ccj424
    ccj424 Posts: 30
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    I didn't expect such a big turn out. I should study harder to keep up with everyone. Right now, I know Korean, Japanese and Spanish and I'm learning Chinese. :smile: Next, I think I want to learn Arabic.
  • Kimmer2011
    Kimmer2011 Posts: 569 Member
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    I started taking German in 9th grade, and took it off & on through high school & college, enough to minor in it. Got my Secondary Ed certificate in English & German, and now teach it part time (mostly to people & their families who are being transferred over there).
  • vfnmoody
    vfnmoody Posts: 271 Member
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    So now you have gathered us did you think a group should be formed ? Not sure what for but maybe some of our not native English writers need some help now and than.
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
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    Just graduated BA Hons in Japanese :)
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
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    franglish.
    i would love to learn lithuanian.

    leet speak and sarcasm! those count right :D
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
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    So now you have gathered us did you think a group should be formed ? Not sure what for but maybe some of our not native English writers need some help now and than.

    i'm guessing your native language isn't English XD
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
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    I'd like to take on Japanese or Chinese Mandarin one day, but i believe those languages are 'tonal', ie it's not just about the words but the tone of your voice. i guess we have that too, in the way we change the tone of our voice when asking a question, but it would seem the chinese use tone a lot more. frankly, my hearing isn't too clever so that may be a step too far for me.

    Mandarin Chinese has 4 tones, Cantonese (mainland) has 7 tones. Japanese isn't a tonal language at all, just highly contextual. :)
  • Kelleinna
    Kelleinna Posts: 160
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    I speak English natively, Spanish fluently and Italian passably. I took two years of German in college and forgot most of it because I never use it. I can sort of read/understand French, Dutch, Afrikaans and Portuguese because of the similarities to languages I already know.
  • CajunNino
    CajunNino Posts: 269
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    I know enough Louisiana French to get by. The barber shop I go to speaks nothing but LA French and if you don't know it you're going to be lost. My daughter is in the French Immersion program in her elementary school .... which is different from a French class because all of her classes except for English/Spelling are taught in French. Of course it's Standard French or International French and not exactly what I grew up listening to, but close enough.
    Many of the old timers who still speak LA French around here can only speak it... they can't write it very well.
  • Darkskinned88
    Darkskinned88 Posts: 1,177 Member
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    I always wanted to be bilngual i can read spanish/french but i speak it horribly. But i'm also fluent in sarcasm and body language
  • Dreamer1311
    Dreamer1311 Posts: 203 Member
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    Got my Latin proficiency certificate (studied it for about 7 years), did some Spanish in school, speak a little bit of french and russing, fluent in german and english