A language you’d like to learn & why

[GoGo_dancer]

I speak very basic Spanish but I've just started trying to learn some German.

Every time we go on holiday, for some reason people mistake me for German and start speaking to me as such...when I explain I'm English, they switch to English and it makes me feel ashamed that I can't do the same!

 

I know people diss the Germans abroad, but everwhere we go we always meet the nicest German people who are willing to converse in English...some have even asked us if we can help them practice their English language skills.

 

Now the Russians, they're just downright rude!

[Ousetunes]

Ousetunes said “ I watched a programme last night, How To Be A German (I think it was called) …”, I watched it too and will watch it again soon. Germany is fascinating in many ways …. cars, football, tennis … brains … efficiency …

 

Yes, yes, yes.

 

But one can't help feeling that for all their sporting skills, linguistic brilliance and engineering endeavours, the germans are incredibly boring.

[taxman]

Quote:

 

Originally Posted by Ela James

 

Ousetunes said “ I watched a programme last night, How To Be A German (I think it was called) …â€, I watched it too and will watch it again soon. Germany is fascinating in many ways …. cars, football, tennis … brains … efficiency …

 

Yes, yes, yes.

 

But one can't help feeling that for all their sporting skills, linguistic brilliance and engineering endeavours, the germans are incredibly boring.

 

A few hours watching Rammstein videos would change your opinion about them being boring lol..

....or maybe just confirm it!

 

 

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[Chris_Sleeps]

I'd love to learn Bongo Bongo. A beautiful and rhythmic language.

[angos]

I'd love to learn Bongo Bongo. A beautiful and rhythmic language.

 

[SqueakyPete]

Geordie.

 

That said, I don't think anyone can learn or understand Geordie.

 

I visited a relative in Newcastle a few years back.

We went out to the local for a few pints,and I spent the next few hours nodding and agreeing with a few Geordie lads,like I knew what they were saying,but truth be told,I probably understood 10% of the conversation lol.

And it seemed to get worse as the beer started flowing lol.

I think the main problem was,they don't start and finish sentences off properly,which made it hard to understand when they were finished talking lol

[Clown Shoes]

I think id like to learn & understand the language of 'women'

 

I really just dont understand. I get told that im not listening but i think i am.

 

There were 4 of them talking on a show called 'Loose Women' the other day.

 

Total gibberish.

[spilldig]

For me French, and the reason I think I’d find it useful in many ways

 

what about you, what language would you like to learn & why

 

For me it's French too, because It is the nicest sounding language I ever heard.

[Jeffrey Shaw]

Or try Esperanto, until you speak it like a native.

[Eccentric]

you couldn’t find any music in Italian, could you?

 

On the contrary; there are thousands of operas in Italian. For some 200 years, it was the ubiquitous language of music. Even Handel, a German who moved to London in 1710 and was naturalised as a Briton in (I think) 1726, composed the majority of his music upon Italian texts. Right until the late 1800s, Italian was omnipresent in music. That said, my favourite composer will always be Henry Purcell. He lived before the era of the Italian invasion (dying in 1695) and is about as English as you can get.

 

But as for the language itself: I find it unpleasant and unduly enervating. Perhaps a lack of consonants makes people talk too rapidly; personally, I am a very slow, phlegmatic speaker, who clearly pronounces all his phonemes. I guess am I just too Northern to appreciate the Italian temperament.

 

---------- Post added 08-08-2013 at 01:54 ----------

 

A few hours watching Rammstein videos would change your opinion about them being boring lol..

....or maybe just confirm it!

 

I daresay you know Rammstein because he has gained commercial success. But he is really little more than a rip-off of many a German underground band, such as OOMPH!, Calva Y Nada or And One. There exists, to this day, a most thriving Goth/industrial/new wave culture in Germany, which is probably the largest in the world.

 

A highly interesting band is Welle:Erdball, the self-styled inventors of ‘bitpop’, who consistently use a Commodore 64. They are a bit like Kraftwerk gone bonkers. I once attended one of their concerts: nothing but gloves and sunglasses, neon lights, ironic placards, paper planes and balloons.