Learn a language

Oh please - is this going to be about Klingons?

Afraid so...

..they both wipe out Klingons.

:cheesy:

Forgive me I haven't taken my medication today.

Or taken one trade.

Perhaps I'll go and do some colouring in instead.
 
"To be honest, I don't know which are the most common languages but just thought I'd throw it out there to suggestions or if anyone else has learnt a new language and how easy/hard it was?

Did read the other day somewhere English was actually one of the hardest to learn???"


Yep, English is quite hard to learn apparantly.

Top 3 most widely spoken. (But I swear this list changes each month).
Chinese
Spanish
English

Now I don't know if they have taken into account the different dialects. Take English for example. Spoken in the south (the posh parts) is text book queens English. Where I come from in East London you would struggle to understand a word. A friend of mine comes from Newcastle and he should come with subtitles sometimes. As for Scottish English, nuff said.

Slight difference between mainland Spanish and the Spanish spoken over here.

It's the pronouncing the words, verbs, nouns etc that really mess you up. Headache time.

You can actually give someone a shower if they are standing in front of you and you are trying to pronounce properly. As for trying to get your tongue around rolling your rrrrrrrrr's. I'm not even going there!
 
I assume (since you live there) your fluent? or enough at least. How long did it take you? I know this is like asking how long it takes to trade but just for curiosity...?
 
I assume (since you live there) your fluent? or enough at least. How long did it take you? I know this is like asking how long it takes to trade but just for curiosity...?

get music in the language you want to learn. make sure you get the lyrics. then sing the songs. honest, not joking. will accelerate your pronounciation and your listening skills. not a substitute to proper learning.

Edit: this really did the trick when i learned italian....but then again, spanish and italian are almost the same, so probably that is why it was so easy for me.

j
 
get music in the language you want to learn. make sure you get the lyrics. then sing the songs. honest, not joking. will accelerate your pronounciation and your listening skills. not a substitute to proper learning.

Edit: this really did the trick when i learned italian.

j

My parents always moaned when I was a kid 'if you put in as much effort to your studies as you do learning those bloody lyrics......' so you may well be onto something there!

Anyone recommend any decent Spanish music? I've already got that tequila song by the champs! :eek:

As it goes, since reading up on cockney, I have turned the music over to 'Lambeth walk' and 'alf a sixpence' etc!

EDIT: I am cockney but not that it helps!
 
My parents always moaned when I was a kid 'if you put in as much effort to your studies as you do learning those bloody lyrics......' so you may well be onto something there!

Anyone recommend any decent Spanish music? I've already got that tequila song by the champs! :eek:

As it goes, since reading up on cockney, I have turned the music over to 'Lambeth walk' and 'alf a sixpence' etc!

get
Joaquin Sabina

and im long audjpy....in the money
 
get
Joaquin Sabina

Cheers Jacinto, good old youtube found me a dozen already :cheesy:

EDIT: Since we are all at it, I'm short cable from the pull back at 90 and riding it to 1.9800 :cheesy:
 
Depends - do you like Shakira? - didn't she record an album in both languages? (and as an added bonus you get to look at the album cover) ;)

yep, she is good.....

you may also want to get into cuban music.
get
Los Van Van
Elio Reve

Not cuban, but excellent too
Oscar de Leon
Ruben Blades

Edit: and also Chavela Vargas

j
 
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I've always quite liked Russian too but that may be pushing it!
 
I assume (since you live there) your fluent? or enough at least. How long did it take you? I know this is like asking how long it takes to trade but just for curiosity...?



Sadly... No.

My Spanish is getting better, but it's street Spanish. Which is all you need really. They do things the reverse way to us English. (Or do we do it the reverse way to them?) I mean where we would say 'Oxford Street.' They would say 'Street of the Oxford" :eek:

I would love to be fluent in it. I can ask for a beer in Spanish. And tell a cab driver where to take me.

I've been out here around 3 years now, some I know have been 10+ and know less Spanish then I do! It also depends on where you live. There is are a lot of expats out here and they tend to congregate together, and hardly mix with the natives, so their Spanish never improves. I live around more Spanish than English. So I can walk down the road and not have a clue about what is being said. Mind you, last year I went back to England for a while and walking down the high st I couldn't understand a word of what was being said by most of the people there.

Wouldn't it be so much easier if we all spoke the same language!
 




Sadly... No.

My Spanish is getting better, but it's street Spanish. Which is all you need really. They do things the reverse way to us English. (Or do we do it the reverse way to them?) I mean where we would say 'Oxford Street.' They would say 'Street of the Oxford" :eek:

I would love to be fluent in it. I can ask for a beer in Spanish. And tell a cab driver where to take me.

I've been out here around 3 years now, some I know have been 10+ and know less Spanish then I do! It also depends on where you live. There is are a lot of expats out here and they tend to congregate together, and hardly mix with the natives, so their Spanish never improves. I live around more Spanish than English. So I can walk down the road and not have a clue about what is being said. Mind you, last year I went back to England for a while and walking down the high st I couldn't understand a word of what was being said by most of the people there.

Wouldn't it be so much easier if we all spoke the same language!

It is a shame how it works out like that. When I lived in Hong Kong it was pre-handover days and as I spent most my time working in bars and restaurants I spent more time with poms than Chinese so like yourself, I could get in a cab, order a beer or ask for the cheque and that was about it!
 



(Or do we do it the reverse way to them?) I mean where we would say 'Oxford Street.' They would say 'Street of the Oxford" :eek:

finally, somebody ackowledges the truth :cheesy:




I would love to be fluent in it. I can ask for a beer in Spanish. And tell a cab driver where to take me.

extremely important :D

Im sure you are fine. My English wife lived in Mexico with me for 2 years. she was forced to learn the language thorougly due to work. she has now lost a lot of it as we now live in england. it is hilarious, because she learned french first, then italian, and lastly spanish. now she cant speak any because she mixes them all up.

j
 
its annoying as most Europeans really teach the kids languages at school and most speak their native tongue, English and usually something else and we get French or German and you can drop it after the 3rd year!
 
its annoying as most Europeans really teach the kids languages at school and most speak their native tongue, English and usually something else and we get French or German and you can drop it after the 3rd year!

to be honest, i put it down to english speakers being "lazy", since we all non-english speakers tend to learn english for business purposes, you guys dont have the incentive to learn.......

and i haven´t mentioned the ability :cheesy:
 
to be honest, i put it down to english speakers being "lazy", since we all non-english speakers tend to learn english for business purposes, you guys dont have the incentive to learn.......

and i haven´t mentioned the ability :cheesy:

I think we have forgotten we don't own half the world anymore!
 
to be honest, i put it down to english speakers being "lazy", since we all non-english speakers tend to learn english for business purposes, you guys dont have the incentive to learn.......

and i haven´t mentioned the ability :cheesy:




Lol!

Sadly you are very right. Though it's not our fault guv 'onest. I put all the blame on the shoulders of the British Empire. (When we, (they) had one that is.

They taught all the 'unruly natives' to speak the queens didn't they?
 
I think we have forgotten we don't own half the world anymore!

yep, and it now is rather circumstantial due to the overall american domination, english, or better, business english is becoming lingua franca
 
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