How Many Languages Do You Speak?

[reefedjib]

I would not have organised my poll in such a way were I on pravda.ru, of course.

pravda has a political debate site? How unusual.

 

[reefedjib]

'Vous avez des seins jolie' would do, just don't expect to get a "merci" after saying it to a girl.

What's a way to say it where you would get a merci?

I know that "lemme spank your fanny" is a way in British English to get a date.

 

[Apocalypse]

The point is to say it to a girl who doesn't speak French so it sounds romantic. :mrgreen:

It is romantic. :2razz:

 

[Apocalypse]

What's a way to say it where you would get a merci?

I know that "lemme spank your fanny" is a way in British English to get a date.

You might want to be careful when speaking dirty in British English, it could get you married.

 

[spud_meister]

What's a way to say it where you would get a merci?

I know that "lemme spank your fanny" is a way in British English to get a date.

Probably not, unless you're at a BDSM club, fanny has a different meaning in British English.

 

[reefedjib]

You might want to be careful when speaking dirty in British English, it could get you married.

I said it the other day to an English friend (female) and she was shocked. I pleaded ignorance!

Probably not, unless you're at a BDSM club, fanny has a different meaning in British English.

Yep.

 

[Patria Antiqua]

You can always give it the good ole college try. Give it a few weeks and then stop.

I found a hundred-fifty or so year old Ancient Greek textbook lying about my grandmother's dungeon of a basement. Opened it, closed it immediately. No wonder the Greeks were so smart! You'd have to be to learn their language. I'm pretty sure that all the Greeks who weren't born with genius IQs either went insane or died of a brain haemorhage trying to speak their first sentence.

 

[Catz Part Deux]

Do klingon and elvish count?

 

[OscarB63]

I speak english and can curse fluently in spanish and farsi. I know a few phrases in german and arabic and can say hello in whatever language the Ugandan's speak.

 

[Apocalypse]

I found a hundred-fifty or so year old Ancient Greek textbook lying about my grandmother's dungeon of a basement. Opened it, closed it immediately. No wonder the Greeks were so smart! You'd have to be to learn their language. I'm pretty sure that all the Greeks who weren't born with genius IQs either went insane or died of a brain haemorhage trying to speak their first sentence.

You may have been joking but there might actually be a strong connection between the difficulty of a language and the intelligence of the people who use it, as one must remember that we do not merely speak in our native languages but also use them in our thoughts. The more developed the language is the more words there are to offer a solution to our problems.
Likewise, the more languages a person knows the more ways a person has to work towards the solution.

Further information on the subject:

Linguistic determinism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linguistic relativity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Red_Dave]

Native English and Yorkshire dialect. Fluent Spanish, good working French, basic German, Turkish, Thai. I can make a few sentences in Dutch and Khmer.

Language learning is a bit of a hobby of mine. I really love doing it. Of all those languages, Turkish is the one I enjoy wrapping my tongue around most; it just sounds great to me.

Other languages I'd like to have a go at learning: a Native American language (Nahuatl or Qechua probably), Hindi and Old Norse. I think they'd all be fun!

You should learn Cherokee theres some evidence thats its distantly releated to Turkish (though you can see that in many native american languages, in the word 'Kayak' for example)

Im a native english speaker, I speak english highschool (aka '****' french), good enough Spanish to live with a Spanish family and say most of what i wanted to say (at least i did a couple of years ago) and baisic Turkish.

 

[Patria Antiqua]

You may have been joking but there might actually be a strong connection between the difficulty of a language and the intelligence of the people who use it, as one must remember that we do not merely speak in our native languages but also use them in our thoughts. The more developed the language is the more words there are to offer a solution to our problems.
Likewise, the more languages a person knows the more ways a person has to work towards the solution.

Further information on the subject:

Linguistic determinism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linguistic relativity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mhm, I have heard of this, although I've never studied it at all. I think it makes sense, though, because I think a more complicated language by its nature will force its users to think harder to command it.

 

[Andalublue]

What's a way to say it where you would get a merci?

I know that "lemme spank your fanny" is a way in British English to get a date.

You have been sadly misinformed. Few British girls enjoy anyone hitting their vagina, I'd advise against using this line.

 

[OscarB63]

You have been sadly misinformed. Few British girls enjoy anyone hitting their vagina, I'd advise against using this line.

I've known a few that absolutely loved a good fanny spanking.

 

[Andalublue]

I've known a few that absolutely loved a good fanny spanking.

Really? British girls are hard-core!!!

 

[reefedjib]

I've known a few that absolutely loved a good fanny spanking.

We got a good laugh about it and the brit girls thought it was hilarious! They couldn't believe we came out with the fanny pack.

 

[Ockham]

Right - "fanny" is slang for vagina to the Brits.... "bottom" is for the buttocks.

 

[Fiddytree]

I speak English only, but I have a smattering of Italian, and I used to know how to say 'nice tits' in French.

You need to spruce up. Just in case you go to France.

 

[OscarB63]

I've always found it amusing that we have a chain joint called Chi-Chis that serves mexican food. for those who don't know...chi chis is mexican slang for tits

 

[Laila]

And so I ask the people of DebatePolitics:

How many languages do you speak?

Which languages do you speak?

Are they learnt languages, or have you spoken them from birth?

Which languages would you like to speak?

Why do you want to learn said languages?

The poll was a bit tricky to make, and so I ask, on top of answering the poll, to also answer the questions I've listed above.

Cheers!

Two languages I am fluent in which is English and Somali. One broken but I can understand when spoken to me is French but cannot write or read it and Arabic which I can read and write but cannot speak fluently.
I studied Latin and German in secondary for a few year (more than one language were compulsory in school) but it was too long ago for me to even mention it as something which I can understand even brokenly, just bits and pieces. Amharic is the same, only words or phrases I can understand and only because of location

Spoken Somali from birth it is my first language, everything else is something I learned. English was obviously a necessity in the country I was in and became my second language.

I'd love to become fluent in Arabic for obvious reasons and Korean or Chinese would be my wish list on languages to learn due to my interest in those cultures. Oh and maybe some African languages outside my own, that would be awesome e.g. Amharic

 

[Le Marteau]

You need to spruce up. Just in case you go to France.

Or the 50 other nations that speak French. XD

 

[Andalublue]

Or the 50 other nations that speak French. XD

50?

Let's see...
France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Canada, Haiti, (10) Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, (20) Rwanda, Burundi, 2 Congos, Gabon, Cameroon, Mauritania, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar (30) Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, Lebanon, Vanuatu and I'm just about done. Any I've missed? Former French Indo-chinese countries cannot be included as they really no longer use French in any official way whatever.

Sorry, but you awoke Competitive Trivia Geek in me. :mrgreen:

 

[Apocalypse]

50?

Let's see...
France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Canada, Haiti, (10) Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, (20) Rwanda, Burundi, 2 Congos, Gabon, Cameroon, Mauritania, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar (30) Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, Lebanon, Vanuatu and I'm just about done. Any I've missed? Former French Indo-chinese countries cannot be included as they really no longer use French in any official way whatever.

Sorry, but you awoke Competitive Trivia Geek in me. :mrgreen:

You could just search wikipedia.

 

[Andalublue]

You could just search wikipedia.

That would be both boring and cheating. How much fun is Trivial Pursuit if you're allowed to use Wiki?

In any case, Wiki ain't to be trusted. Too often wrong.

 

[reefedjib]

50?

Let's see...
France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Canada, Haiti, (10) Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, (20) Rwanda, Burundi, 2 Congos, Gabon, Cameroon, Mauritania, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar (30) Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, Lebanon, Vanuatu and I'm just about done. Any I've missed? Former French Indo-chinese countries cannot be included as they really no longer use French in any official way whatever.

Sorry, but you awoke Competitive Trivia Geek in me. :mrgreen:

Yeah, France really ****ed Africa up...