Language lovers?

[BoxingSpecialist2]

Hey guys. Just wondering if there are any language lovers on this site and if so what languages do you speak and/or are trying to learn? Do you have a favourite language? How do you find that knowing multiple languages has changed your life?

Personally I am fascinated by language and I'd like to learn 4 or 5 on the level of expert by the time I am 30 or so (I'm 24 now, so still have 6 years to go).

I have working knowledges of English, Serbo-Croat, French, and Farsi (Persian). My English is perfect, my Serbo-Croat is working but could be improved, same with French. I know Persian at a greeting level and small conversation but thats it. Ideally, I'd like to improve on my French and Persian. So far I would say that French is my personal favourite.

Actually, where I live in Canada, its a huge asset to be able to speak English and French, quite literally it gives you 2 legs up on everyone else when applying for jobs. Knowing both languages gives you so much leverage over prospective employers.

In my own opinion, I would say that learning a second language in terms of utility and employability is on par with, or even exceeds obtaining a University degree (of course, the benefit being that it is free to learn a language). In my experience, this is certainly true in Canada.

Is there anyone else fascinated with language, and how you do you find it changes your life knowing multiple languages? Where has your life taken you and what role has language played in that?

 

[frederic38]

my english is not exactly perfect but i'm glad i speak it because it allows me to post and read the posts here
i also speak spanish (it was my first foreign language at school) and i can understand portuguese because it's pretty much the same

 

[DixieDestroyer]

I took Spanish in HS and can speak a tad & read it fairly well. I'm only fluent in English.

 

[PhillyBirds]

My grandparents on my mother's side were South African and my the ones on my father's are Italian. Needless to say, family gatherings could be a scary place for a young kid as I never had any idea what was going on around me. :icon_tongue:

My dad maintained the Italian half, but the Afrikaans wasn't something that my mother spoke with any regularity and we don't hear it anymore as her parents have since both passed. I always thought it was a fascinating language and loved to hear it when I grew older. It's a shame I can't appreciate it anymore though.

I know a little Italian from my dad, and I was considering a Spanish major in college for a while as it came pretty easy to me in school. I too would really like to learn French someday, in addition to polishing my Italian more. I think languages are really interesting, too.

EDIT: Forgot to note that CF was blocked by my ISP while I was away doing my internship! :icon_surprised:

 

[Menelik]

I speak jive. :icon_wink:

 

[BoxingSpecialist2]

my english is not exactly perfect but i'm glad i speak it because it allows me to post and read the posts here
i also speak spanish (it was my first foreign language at school) and i can understand portuguese because it's pretty much the same

Yes, your English is very good I would say!

It must be nice that you have a great handle on 4 languages.

Actually, I have some friends who came over from France to here where I live in Canada as permanent residents. Since they are from France they speak French perfectly but English only so-so. Most of these French expatriates locate themselves in Montreal, because it is most similar to France and there are many French speaking jobs.

But honestly, that is a mistake of French people, because being able to speak French is an asset that will get you jobs elsewhere in Canada (such as Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver etc).

If a person was to come to Canada from France and situate themselves in Toronto, I know from firsthand experience, with no other job skills, you can literally get a job paying 17$/Hr and up very easily (in a matter of 2 or 3 days). If you had a University degree, and some sort of skills, you'd probably get something in the 20$/Hr range easily. Im sure if you took some time, you could also find better than those ranges. You can easily live on that kind of money and of course the potential exists to increase it.

Did you ever think of leaving France and taking a French job somewhere in the Enligsh speaking world?

 

[BoxingSpecialist2]

My dad maintained the Italian half, but the Afrikaans wasn't something that my mother spoke with any regularity and we don't hear it anymore as her parents have since both passed. I always thought it was a fascinating language and loved to hear it when I grew older. It's a shame I can't appreciate it anymore though.

I know a little Italian from my dad, and I was considering a Spanish major in college for a while as it came pretty easy to me in school. I too would really like to learn French someday, in addition to polishing my Italian more. I think languages are really interesting, too.

Yes, Afrikaans is a language that I find very interesting. Great comments!

 

[Don Wassall]

I speak jive. :icon_wink:

Then this must be your all-time favorite song:

[video=youtube;XBw25CrUS-o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBw25CrUS-o[/video]

​

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread but couldn't resist. :icon_tongue:

 

[dwid]

very rusty with my french, I guess you would consider it Cajun French but I don't see that much of a difference. My wife learned French in school, even went to Paris on a field trip and she said the main difference is the accent that some people here have speaking it, like the difference between Irish-English and American-English, but I don't have a Cajun accent, I have a Yat accent which supposedly like brooklyn-esque, I think the only time Ive seen it potrayed correctly on television is on that show Treme. We need to start speaking it more so our son can pick up on it. They are trying revive the language in schools here. However, I don't hear it spoken in this area, only when we lived closer to Lafayette for a short while.

picked up a little Spanish when I lived in Atlanta for a short period but don't remember much, don't really care to either. Used to know a few phrases in Vietnamese but really don't care about learning that language either. I would like to learn stuff like Russian and German.

 

[The Hock]

I know a few German phrases from my time over there, such as "one beer please" "hello my sweetheart" "what's up" and stuff like that. I'm about half fluent in Spanish, try to study it every day, read it quite well.

I also speak passable English.

 

[frederic38]

Yes, your English is very good I would say!

It must be nice that you have a great handle on 4 languages.

Actually, I have some friends who came over from France to here where I live in Canada as permanent residents. Since they are from France they speak French perfectly but English only so-so. Most of these French expatriates locate themselves in Montreal, because it is most similar to France and there are many French speaking jobs.

But honestly, that is a mistake of French people, because being able to speak French is an asset that will get you jobs elsewhere in Canada (such as Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver etc).

If a person was to come to Canada from France and situate themselves in Toronto, I know from firsthand experience, with no other job skills, you can literally get a job paying 17$/Hr and up very easily (in a matter of 2 or 3 days). If you had a University degree, and some sort of skills, you'd probably get something in the 20$/Hr range easily. Im sure if you took some time, you could also find better than those ranges. You can easily live on that kind of money and of course the potential exists to increase it.

Did you ever think of leaving France and taking a French job somewhere in the Enligsh speaking world?

maybe i'll think about it when i'm done with being a student
but i'm affraid of planes (it looks dangerous to me)

 

[Bronk]

I took two years of German in high school and studied Spanish in grade school and college and had to use it on the job (really Tejano, which is a vulgar, border Spanish). I have a rough working knowledge of both.

 

[Bk21]

Does reading a music sheet count?
I'm also happy to see that a lot of you guys are tempted by the french language

 

[Average American]

I took 4 years of French thru middle & high school.. and would use it occassionally when I'd come across French-Canadien tourists.. They were good people, but way too comfortable wearing speedos.
I recently have seen ads for online courses in heiroglyphics, which kinda' interests me.

ps- anyone remember back in the 90s, when some colleges were thinking about adding college-accredited Ebonics courses .. good times.