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 #2 (permalink) Thu Dec 27, 2007 17:25 pm How many languages do you know? |
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I'm learning English. My mother tongue is Russian.
I'm not bent on knowing many languages, I'm just really into perfecting my English and I expect to speak it even better than Russian some day in future.
I believe that to archive better results one should concentrate on learning just one particular language, because the load of work is truly tremendous and looks daunting. (I try to spare some time each day to practise the language, but I'm really busy and it's not always possible) |
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Lost_Soul
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Posts: 1861
Location: South Park, Colorado, USA
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| #3 (permalink) Thu Dec 27, 2007 19:05 pm How many languages do you know? |
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| Ax ti chert, ni dumal chto ti iz rasii :D |
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BuddhaGeo
You can meet me at english-test.net
Joined: 21 Dec 2007
Posts: 67
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia
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| #4 (permalink) Thu Dec 27, 2007 19:07 pm How many languages do you know? |
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| BuddhaGeo wrote: |
| Ax ti chert, ni dumal chto ti iz rasii :D |
Dia, ia iz rasii, tvoiu mat !!! :)
A y tebia rodnoi jazik - russkii ili gruzinskii ???? |
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Lost_Soul
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Posts: 1861
Location: South Park, Colorado, USA
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| #5 (permalink) Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:42 am How many languages do you know? |
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Gruzinskii mat ivo, nu ya vocem let v Maskve prajil i tolka dva goda tamu nazad vernulsa v Tbilisi.
Ya skushai pa Maskve tiper bliad |
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BuddhaGeo
You can meet me at english-test.net
Joined: 21 Dec 2007
Posts: 67
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia
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| #6 (permalink) Fri Dec 28, 2007 17:06 pm How many languages do you know? |
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| It depends on what you mean by knowing a language. |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 5651
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| #7 (permalink) Fri Dec 28, 2007 20:51 pm How many languages do you know? |
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| The ability to communicate freely, and the ability to read/comprehend any given text. |
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BuddhaGeo
You can meet me at english-test.net
Joined: 21 Dec 2007
Posts: 67
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia
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| #8 (permalink) Fri Dec 28, 2007 23:23 pm How many languages do you know? |
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| BuddhaGeo wrote: |
| The ability to communicate freely, and the ability to read/comprehend any given text. |
Well, by those criteria -- particularly "any given text" -- then even native speakers don't know their own languages.
I can easily understand a car repair manual, a theoretical linguistics text, a financial book on investment derivatives, and a Christian, Buddhist or Hindu religious text, but I can only partially understand anything written by Shakespeare, and the English translations of works by Immanuel Kant are a very slow slog for me. I also can't understand a lot of what's written on the sports pages of the newspaper, but I understand all martial arts lingo. I have a relative who can understand the sports pages and a physics text but can't understand Mark Twain.
Since my relative and I can't understand "any given text" in English, does that mean we don't know our own native language? |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 5651
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| #9 (permalink) Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:26 am How many languages do you know? |
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| Yeap. |
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BuddhaGeo
You can meet me at english-test.net
Joined: 21 Dec 2007
Posts: 67
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia
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| #10 (permalink) Sat Dec 29, 2007 12:10 pm How many languages do you know? |
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I think you mean "yep". |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 5651
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| #11 (permalink) Sat Dec 29, 2007 13:52 pm How many languages do you know? |
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| Oh noes, grammar police. |
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BuddhaGeo
You can meet me at english-test.net
Joined: 21 Dec 2007
Posts: 67
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia
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| #12 (permalink) Sat Dec 29, 2007 19:48 pm How many languages do you know? |
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| Jamie (K) wrote: |
| I can only partially understand anything written by Shakespeare, and the English translations of works by Immanuel Kant are a very slow slog for me. |
You're not alone, mate. Understanding the lingo of Shakespeare requires learning a language that is as far removed from today's English as W.B. Yeats’ imagery is from the real world. As far as Kant goes, even the German original is completely inaccessible. Assuming that the human mind can cope with seven sub-clauses without losing the plot (with a bit of training), you only need to look at the sheer length of his sentences to guess that his sentence constructions are completely off the hinges.
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 Ralf
Language Coach
Joined: 20 Apr 2006
Posts: 1562
Location: EU (Ireland and Germany)
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| #13 (permalink) Sun Dec 30, 2007 5:19 am How many languages do you know? |
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| Ralf wrote: |
| Assuming that the human mind can cope with seven sub-clauses without losing the plot (with a bit of training), you only need to look at the sheer length of his sentences to guess that his sentence constructions are completely off the hinges. |
I wouldn't say Kant's sentences are exactly off the hinges. I thought they were simply typical of German intellectuals.
Marx can be equally hard to fathom in many of his works, which is why the proletariat can't read him and communist revolutions are always run by middle- or upper-class intellectuals. |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 5651
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| #14 (permalink) Sun Dec 30, 2007 6:00 am How many languages do you know? |
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English is my native tongue (American English).
I am semi-fluent in Spanish.
I know a little bit of French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian (very little Russian), German (not much), and Czech (dobro notz!).
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee. |
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Prezbucky
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 2538
Location: Nashville, TN (USA)
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| #15 (permalink) Mon Dec 31, 2007 6:24 am How many languages do you know? |
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| Relax, BuddhaGeo, Jamie meant well. Anyway, why are you learning Japanese? |
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NinaZara
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 1168
Location: Malaysia (Cat city)
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