Languages

[FPAlpha]

Personally i speak German, English and Croatian and have school knowledge of French (its been 15+ years since i had it in school and i was not very good).

I like the French language.. it sounds so smooth and you haven't lived until you heard a sexy french female speak German with a French accent.. it's enough to raise dead males (at least part of them ).

Other than that Chinese sounds kind of cool..

 

[An Officer]

I have a little school German. I would never list it as a language I speak though. I can order some food, ask for directions, and how much things cost, but that's about it! I wouldn't really call that speaking a language. I few memorised phrases, but no real understanding. Language lessons in British comprehensives are generally of an appallingly low standard.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Ugh, Latin translations. I also tried to guess the vocab most of the time, based on similar sounding German, English or French words. I once translated a text about people being killed in Pompeii ... my best friend, on the other hand, translated the same text as people having bad weather in Pompeii. Well, she was partially right.

Yeah, it was weird. Everyone told me taking Latin would improve my English vocabulary. It didn't, but having a good knowledge of English vocabulary is the only reason I didn't fail that class.

BTW, the history nerd (and history student, I suppose) in me wants to know what that Pompeii text was really about. Was it related to the eruption of Vesuvius or was it just something else entirely?

I am very much in love with my native language, which is Italian. I do believe it's the most beautifully sounding language on Earth. The balance between vowels and consonants, the distribution of open and closed sounds within a sentence, the clarity and musicality of the rhythm, even the small but oh so perfect adjustments to make words flow ever so flawlessly together. It's poetry.

Something this thread made me curious about. People here are talking about favorite accents in English. Is there an Italian accent you prefer? Not necessarily which dialect (since to me they sound like different languages), just if there are differences in the way people speak from region to region when speaking standard Italian and which region sounds the best.

 

[Santaman]

I am very much in love with my native language, which is Italian. I do believe it's the most beautifully sounding language on Earth. The balance between vowels and consonants, the distribution of open and closed sounds within a sentence, the clarity and musicality of the rhythm, even the small but oh so perfect adjustments to make words flow ever so flawlessly together. It's poetry.

Except when you piss off an Italian, then it becomes like listening to an AK-47 being emptied near your ears. *runs*


As for myself, I speak Dutch, a Dutch dialect called Twents, German and English.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Everyone told me taking Latin would improve my English vocabulary. It didn't, but having a good knowledge of English vocabulary is the only reason I didn't fail that class.

I studied Latin in high school for five years: while it didn't did much to expand my vocabulary, it gave me a better understanding of the internal working of the Italian language. You can't translate from Latin if you can't parse the sentence you are reading, and that was quite useful to it. Surprisingly, it also helped me with English, since almost all English scientific terminology is a direct lift from Latin. Besides, even after years I still can translate inscriptions on monuments and churches, which is cool.

Something this thread made me curious about. People here are talking about favorite accents in English. Is there an Italian accent you prefer? Not necessarily which dialect (since to me they sound like different languages), just if there are differences in the way people speak from region to region when speaking standard Italian and which region sounds the best.

Well, they sound like different languages because they are different languages. Many Italian dialects are no more related to Italian (which is actually a literary variant of Tuscan) than, say, Spanish or French. They are not even mutually intelligible. Even when people speak Standard Italian, dialectal inflections are difficult to conceal.

As for my favourite accent, it's difficult for me to say. Emotional attachment and familiarity plays an important part. I'm partial to Emilan and Venetian accents, but a girl with a Piedmontese accent can just make me melt in my own shoes.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Yeah, I'm aware how different they are. For me, a Neapolitan dialect is incomprehensible and if you told me a Sicilian dialect was transliterated Klingon, I'd probably believe you.

I noticed subtle differences in accents when I was in Italy, but I'm not good enough with Italian to tell the differences between them.

 

[Niorah]

I too am most fond of Emilian and Venetian accents, given that my father is from Emilia Romagna and my mother is from Veneto. Those two are the accents of my childhood, and whereas I'm not fluent in Emilian at all, I still can hold my own quite well in Venetian. Well, Paduan, to be precise.
I also quite like a Roman accent since I have some very good friends from Rome. It's rather boastful, but it always puts a smile on my face.

 

[Goji]

As everyone knows, I was a Japanese major in college. I was taught French in middle school when I lived near Seattle and after moving to California, I had Spanish classes in early high school, but I can no longer speak a word of either language. Neither one of them really caught my interest. But my mother speaks French fluently and my dad speaks german fluently, and I have friends with Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese as first languages, so I hear a number of them on a day to day basis.

 

[kustirider2]

I can speak French. My favourite word is 'Brouhaha' . I do find it very difficult to learn and understand, I think it's because of the accents and I don't know what letters to put them on.

 

[Holdfast]

I can speak French. My favourite word is 'Brouhaha' . I do find it very difficult to learn and understand, I think it's because of the accents and I don't know what letters to put them on.

It's French? Never realised that, I assumed it was hebrew or arabic or something like that in origin. The sound of it is very un-French to my ear. Guess one really does learn something new every day.

 

[trekkiedane]

French is actually pretty easy: cheval means horse and the rest is just as simple...

 

[trampledamage]

I wish I could learn another language but I just don't have the brain for it. I don't mean that in a self-deprecating "I'm a bit stupid" sort of way, just that I've tried to learn languages several times and it just doesn't stick in my mind.

Maybe I'm too fixed with my love of English

My favourite word is tactile.

My favourite accent is the New Zealand accent.