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 Post subject: foreign languages / any linguists in this city?Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:47 am 
here's a question: Can you speak a second language fluently? If you asked me that question 7 months ago, i would say definately not. I was never good at languages at school - i scraped by and got a 3 at Standard Grade Spanish. However, after being engrossed in Chichewa for the past 7 months means that I can understand a fair bit, and i can speak a lot more than i can do any other language. I've been back for four days, and i still think half the time in Chichewa. I am fluent in the words I know, and sometimes I prefer to say the Chichewa word, for example: koma - but m'mawa - tomorrow morning aye - no mwina - maybe p/dalibe - there is/I have none pan'gano - a little (don't try and say it. It takes months of training. the "n'g" is a sound made be leaving your tongue at the bottom of your mouth and saying "uh") I also like to English-ise Chichewa words. Eg, "kubodsa" means to lie. "ama bodsa" - Chichewa for "he is a lier/he is lieing" "he is bodsa-ing" - Chichenglish for "he is lieing". And when someone asks me a question, I sometimes think of the Chichewa and have to translate into English! It's quite the enjoyable feeling! It makes me want to actually learn the language. Or a more common one, like French! My favourite chichewa word to confuse people with is "aye", for in Scotland it means "yes" but in Malawi it means "no"! The question again: can you speak another language fluently? _________________ She is handsome, she is pretty, she is the girl from Belfast City, she is courtin' one two three, please won't you tell me who is she? TheClassicRomance wrote: Facebook is a dirty skank blog! |
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Joined: 03 Mar 2005 | Posts: 7598 | Location: Dundee, scotland
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:57 am
I can speak Cantonese fluently. I've also studied Spanish for four years, but I still can't speak it fluently. American Sign Language for six months... not fluent, but I can fingerspell quite well. _________________ Be happy, be contagious. |
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Joined: 15 Jul 2005 | Posts: 2072 | Location: Florida
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:08 am
I am nearing fluency in French. I'm majoring in it in college and it's my favorite thing to study! I've taken all three years in high school (in Utah, high school starts in 10th grade) and one semester in college so far. I think in French a lot and sometimes I almost talk to people (who don't speak it!) in it. I study Spanish a little, and Italian a little less. Sometimes I start saying something in English but in the French/Spanish way, like "I have fear" or "I have hunger" instead of "I'm scared" or "I'm hungry." Luckily my brother is fluent in Spanish and can understand.  He helps me when I try to speak Spanish. Yesterday he taught me "Estoy avergonzada"  _________________ 
j'ai pas envie d'ętre un robot, métro boulot dodo -Kelli |
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Joined: 03 Apr 2005 | Posts: 1720 | Location: utah
Last edited by guitargirl on Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:24 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:22 am
I've taken three years of french but I'm no where near fluent. Someday I hope to be, it's so pretty. _________________ Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. Oscar Wilde |
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Joined: 01 Jun 2008 | Posts: 836 |
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:29 am
guitargirl wrote: Sometimes I start saying something in English but in the French/Spanish way, like "I have fear" or "I have hunger" instead of "I'm scared" or "I'm hungry." ooh, I love saying the literal translation of the Chichewa, for instance: "nthawe ili bwanji?" means "time, it is how?" so i will say "how is the time?" Another fave is "i am enough" meaning "i am full" (Chichewa is "nda kota") _________________ She is handsome, she is pretty, she is the girl from Belfast City, she is courtin' one two three, please won't you tell me who is she? TheClassicRomance wrote: Facebook is a dirty skank blog! |
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Joined: 03 Mar 2005 | Posts: 7598 | Location: Dundee, scotland
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:45 pm
I was equally fluent in English and Punjabi until about the 2nd grade. That's so not true anymore. _________________ Kulvir. |
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Joined: 10 Mar 2005 | Posts: 1844 | Location: Vancouver, BC
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:03 pm
I always wanted to learn another language, but I haven't really had a chance. Those two years of middle school french were just for show |
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Joined: 18 Jan 2008 | Posts: 294 | Location: Pennsylvania
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 7:03 pm
I think in French and Franglais (French-Anglais [English] ) on a very regular basis. I almost always say renard instead of fox. |
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Joined: 28 Jul 2005 | Posts: 4455 | Location: Sacramento, CA.
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 7:15 pm
My first language is Spanish, so yes, I can speak a second language (English) fluently
All the schools I've been to (shush, 3) have had English as a subject, so I've been learning English since first grade. I'm actually planning to be an English-Spanish translator. Bah, I'm not sure, though _________________ http://www.myspace.com/luciaelle |
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Joined: 01 Mar 2008 | Posts: 195 | Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:33 pm
three and a half years of spanish and I can hardly remember the conjugations of ir. I can read it okay, but it goes downhill when it comes to speaking, listening and writing. I just never had the desire to learn it and now most of those classes (not to mention the money on tuition) were nearly for nothing. |
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Joined: 28 Jun 2005 | Posts: 2574 |
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:36 pm
well I live in Sweden... so I speak Swedish and English obviously, but I live at a place where a lot of Germans work, so I know some German too. but not a lot. if you mixed my language skills of German, French and Spanish, that'd be another language. haha. _________________ --- katrina. --- |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2006 | Posts: 120 | Location: Sweden
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Post subject: Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 2:00 pm
I have to ask, why did you choose Chichewa to learn?? You live in Scotland, do you not? Just curiosity. And also I speak French and a year's worth of German. Language learning is ridiculously fun. _________________ you said you liked it when the thunderstorms came said you'd like it if the thunderstorm just pulled you piece by piece away [F I O N A] |
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Joined: 30 Aug 2006 | Posts: 114 |
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Post subject: Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:33 pm
my grandparents speak italian. and my greatest regret is not learning the language as a young'in. but i'm beginning to pick some up, though i understand more than i can say. stupid me took french instead of italian school. so i know a bit of both. _________________ melanie |
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Joined: 22 Jan 2007 | Posts: 423 | Location: rhode island.
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Post subject: Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 5:10 pm
Immersion is the best way to learn! I didn't get very far in any of my language classes, but I lived in Chile for 6 months and now I can speak/read/understand Spanish pretty well! My best advice, though, is to keep practicing Chichewa. Do it constantly! it's been over a year since I got back from Chile and it really does slip away quickly. Sometimes I'll play a little game where I just start thinking all my thoughts in Spanish. Or I annoy my family by talking to myself and to them in Spanish (even though none of them speak)...just to keep it in my mind! haha. I remember my first few days back from Chile. I was accidentally responding to questions in Spanish. Imagine how embarrassed I was when the cashier in the San Francisco airport asked me if I wanted crackers with my soup and I responded "sí".
I was so disoriented for a moment, but quickly corrected myself and mumbled a "yes." I was definitely still thinking in Spanish at that point. _________________ -Brooke |
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Joined: 14 Dec 2004 | Posts: 1141 | Location: Utah/Hawaii
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Post subject: Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 4:54 am
i can "speak" sign language although it's a mix of asl and a few other versions. also, my grandmother is from france so i grew up using a few words without realizing they were french! i took french for 6 years (middle school/almost all of high school) but it's slowly slipping away. the rosetta stone program is free at my school and i was planning to re-learn french over the summer but i get home at 1 or 2 am from work and i don't think anyone in my family wants to hear me talking into the microphone then. |
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Joined: 27 Jul 2004 | Posts: 657 | Location: jersey
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