Languages you'd like to learn, or brush up on

[Nerys Ghemor]

Who here is also a language nut? What languages do you want to learn, and why? Or, which ones do you speak, but wish to improve on?

For me, meeting just about anything I cannot understand is a challenge that gets under my skin, so to speak, until I start to make inroads against it. I also just enjoy being able to communicate in different ways.

The only thing that interferes with this for me is that I have an awful fear of speaking aloud in a foreign language (even with 8 years of Spanish, I am still very, very shy about speaking even though I can read and write fairly well...it's also weird considering my ability to mimic accents). Spanish is a language I consider myself not quite fluent in, but able to speak well enough that if I were to travel to a Spanish-speaking country, I believe I could make myself understood.

Other languages I would like to learn include...

Greek and Hebrew: Many of you can probably guess already why I would like to learn their historical forms. Learning the modern language would be a really neat side effect.

Frisian: This is a dialect of Dutch that, had my grandfather's family encouraged him to keep his knowledge of his native language after they moved to the US, I would be able to speak. The fact that the language was not passed down is a very sad one to me.

German: I tried to study German in school, only to be thwarted by the most horribly-behaving class you could imagine. Those of us who wanted to learn (and there were only 3 of us!!!) were pretty much screwed, for those two years.

American Sign Language: Now for this one I would need a very, VERY patient teacher, someone who was very gentle and kind and wouldn't poke fun of me or get frustrated with me. Getting my head around the language I believe I could do. Getting my hands to work properly...that would be the challenge, as I have absolutely HORRIBLE coordination. I mean EMBARRASSINGLY bad. The idea of learning an entirely different method of communication from the ones I know is something I would really want. But like I said...someone would have to be very, very kind and patient with me.


What about you guys? What would you like to learn, or improve on?

 

[Finn]

Spaniah, Italian, French and British Sign Language

 

[Shaytan]

English

 

[Omnius]

Frisian: This is a dialect of Dutch

Ouch, I wouldn't mention this if you ever visit Friesland.
You'd be burned at a fierljep pole.

I speak Dutch and English fluently. Having lived next to the German border for over 25 years, my German isn't the best it can be though. Neither is my French, which I consider a beautiful language. I would only learn a new language if I needed to out of practical necessity.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

I would love to brush up on my Spanish and ASL. I use to speak (and sign) both fluently but as with all languages (for me anyway), if you don't use 'em you lose 'em. And i have lost both!

I would LOVE to learn Mandarin for no reason other than it is so different than english.

 

[RegFan]

I'd like to learn Russian and Spanish.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I'd like to relearn (I've forgotten too much to say "brush up on") on Spanish. I'd also like to learn German and Latin. I find languages to be pretty interesting, so the more the better. The most important would be Spanish, since that has a practical use for me. Latin would probably be only a curiousity, unless I want to take advantage of my history major and study the Middle Ages or Roman era.

 

[Canadave]

Definitely French, as it's pretty valuable to have in this country. I know un petit peut, but nowhere near enough to be conversant.

 

[TerokNor]

Well I had English, French and Spanish (only for a very short time) in school.... I have forgotten everything spanish and nearly everything french by now, but I certainly would like to be able to speak french at least. In school I thought different about that, much like with History, Economics and Politics... and Math (quite a list ) , as I wrote in our PMs Nerys Ghemor.
Isn´t it a pitty how much time one can squander, without realizing it and later regret it? Well the fault surly lies with me, but also with the school system and teachers, who do not feel enthusiatic with their subjects and do not encourage their pupils, but dress them down, show now interest in them and such. Not a good enviroment to keep the love towards learning that everyones born with. Just glad, that after being demotivated for so long to have found that love again. Hope its not to late.

Anyway right now the only language I really try to improve, thought there are a lot languages I would like to be able to speak, is English. I want at least one other language that I can speak like a native language...still a long way till I reach that point, but at least I am on my way and I don´t hate English anylonger, like I used to.

I also once took a class in Sign language.... like some of you, I would like to learn that as well, but than again, there is SO much I try to catch up on and that I want to learn that I all ready witout putting sign language on top have no idea were to start..... and I would need some more life-times for learning everything I´d like to learn anyway.

Also if I could turn back time I would like my grandmother to teach me Low German.
I wasn´t interessted in it as a child or youth...as it does sound strange and funny in my ears... today I see its a part of my culture, that is nearly gone from my identity now. A pitty.

TerokNor

 

[Jetfire]

Kryptonian.

 

[Cornholio]

I took years of Spanish in school, and can generally hold my own in a conversation with native speakers, but generally refuse to speak it unless I find the need to insult someone who doesn't understand English.

I need to brush up on my Italian.

 

[greenguy]

Russian and Chinese. I have Spanish, French, and Irish Gaelic under my belt but I'm not satisfied with those. I really need to master an Asian language, though, and fast.

 

[Jadzia]

python

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Russian.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

python

I could teach you Python.

I'd like to learn Ada, just so I can say I know the greatest clusterfuck of a government-designed computer language. Poor Ada Lovelace, though. She deserved better.

I also get the impression I should learn Lua because so many things use it for scripting nowadays. And Ruby. Shit. I need to learn a bunch of languages.

 

[Starbreaker]

Learning French with Rosetta Stone.

 

[Count Zero]

I should really brush up on my French. I watched a video on YouTube the other day and didn't understand much. I've forgotten tons of vocabulary, too. (If anyone knows a good TV series in French, let me know. I think it would be a good way of getting into it again.)
I'd also like to be able to speak and understand Italian (I can read it). And there's this long term goal I've always had of learning Russian to be able to read Russian literature in the original. I took half a year at school as an extra-curricular activity but then our teacher got sick. I still have the book and a while ago I looked into it and realised that I was once able to write in Kyrillic cursive. These days I'm happy if I can read the print in a reasonable amount of time.
Probably I'll have to be content with English as the only foreign language I know that well for the foreseeable future, though.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Urdu and Punbjabi. It would make my life easier by about 14%.

 

[Dukat's Major]

I really would like to learn Italian better, and finally learn Hindi.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Oh, and I forgot to add that I'd like to be better at my French (since I just finished studying it, I wasn't sure that counted as brushing up ). I'd also like to be better at Italian. I'm passable and conversant, but far from fluent (and I read Italian much better than I speak it).