Originally posted by Joe Public
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Do you speak a foreign language?
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The first time I heard a Quebecois speak, I thought they were American. The accent sounds like an american not even trying to put a French accent on it at all. That is not exactly it, but it is weird. I had been on my mission for 22 months at the time and I did not realize they were speaking french.
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Originally posted by Blueintheface View PostSpanish and currently I am able to use it everyday which is nice. Our company bought some real estate in Puerto Rico and for six months now I've been nearly completely immersed in it.
On a related topic, I had a co-worker tell me today that he is putting his 5 year old into a French immersion school which will require they speak only in French to him for the entire first year. Neither of them speak French.
Originally posted by MarkGrace View PostDoesn't this happen in most languages? Those who learned in the originating country look down on everyone else? Spanish, English, French, etc.
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Originally posted by Borg View PostAm wondering how many on here speak a foreign language and if so...what would you consider your second language, or mos dominant language other than English?
I'm wanting to learn a new language..but, wonder if I can hack it.
(Russian)
Sorry, just being honest.
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Originally posted by Katy Lied View PostClark, I suspect that Chinese is easier for people with perfect or near perfect pitch. Perhaps you could prove me correct?
Borgey, it's easy to buy a tomato, it's harder to say "I don't care that I look like a rich American-- I'm not paying more than X roubles/lei/francs/yen."
One of the reasons perfect pitch may not be that helpful is that the tones are not set at absolute pitches. A high risking tone isn't always an F-sharp rising to a A-flat, or something like that. Even with the same person, the tones will vary based on many factors. I did know a few missionaries, though, who were so tone-deaf that they had a hard time forming a rising or falling tone, or telling the difference between a mid level tone and a high or low tone. These folks definitely struggled.
All of this applies to people learning to speak as a second language. Native speakers don't really have problems regardless of their level of tone-deafness.
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Bad Japanese and even worse German
One of my brothers speaks 6 other than english - French, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Serbo Croatian, and Arabic. He was rated at 3 or better on a scale of 1-5 three being fluent, in four of them by the Army
I may be small, but I'm slow.
A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."
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Castellano. Don't have much occasion to use it now."I think it was King Benjamin who said 'you sorry ass shitbags who have no skills that the market values also have an obligation to have the attitude that if one day you do in fact win the PowerBall Lottery that you will then impart of your substance to those without.'"
- Goatnapper'96
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Spanish. I hardly use it anymore. When I was in the construction business it was helpful, but also a pain in the ass because everyone asked me to tell so and so this or that. I did a lot of translation and interpretation which sucked because it just added to my work with no compensation. But I have had little use for it over the last 6-7 years. It's a shame because I know I have lost a lot, especially in conversation. I am sure I could bang out all the charlas if I needed to, but my vocabulary has dwindled. I find myself saying como se dice more than I should."Nobody listens to Turtle."-Turtlesigpic
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French, although I only use it when I swear and when I make crepes for breakfast and my kids make me say the prayer."Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf
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Originally posted by CardiacCoug View PostRussian is tough. Probably not gonna happen unless you can work on it 2 hours per day for the next year.
Sorry, just being honest.
Originally posted by Katy Lied View PostClark, I suspect that Chinese is easier for people with perfect or near perfect pitch. Perhaps you could prove me correct?
Borgey, it's easy to buy a tomato, it's harder to say "I don't care that I look like a rich American-- I'm not paying more than X roubles/lei/francs/yen.""Newton's First Law of Motion: ...things at rest tend to stay at rest. Things in motion, tend to stay in motion...."
Hmm... Good motivation for me to remain active I guess.
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Originally posted by happyone View PostBad Japanese and even worse German
One of my brothers speaks 6 other than english - French, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Serbo Croatian, and Arabic. He was rated at 3 or better on a scale of 1-5 three being fluent, in four of them by the Army
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Originally posted by Pelado View PostCastellano. Don't have much occasion to use it now."Either evolution or intelligent design can account for the athlete, but neither can account for the sports fan." - Robert Brault
"Once I seen the trades go down and the other guys signed elsewhere," he said, "I knew it was my time now." - Derrick Favors
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I was reading about syntactic pleonasms* tonight, and I had the following thought, which I thought I'd share with yall.
Every language I have ever studied, observed, or read about defaults to the affirmative, meaning that all sentences indicate that an action or a state happens, exists, or is, and requires a negation to say that it does not, is not, or did not. If I say..."It rains in Iowa" we all understand it to mean that rain falls in Iowa. If I want to convey the meaning that it does not rain there, I have to negate the verb, "It does not rain in Iowa." All languages seem to default to the positive, to an affirmation of a statement. If I say something, it is understood to be a statement that it happened, unless negated.
I wonder if there is, or ever has been, a language that defaults to the negative, and requires an affirmative to cancel out the negative.
* I know [that] I can do it.
* I know I can do it.
Since [that] as a function word is optional, it's a syntactic pleonasm if you use it. A pleonasm is any word that is unnecessary, the favored term of linguists to avoid confusion with tautology or redundancy."Yeah, but never trust a Ph.D who has an MBA as well. The PhD symbolizes intelligence and discipline. The MBA symbolizes lust for power." -- Katy Lied
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