# Speak a second language?



## snickerd3 (Mar 5, 2014)

I decided to spend my hour commutes learning Spanish. Borrowed an audio learning program from the library. I think it is going to be more annoying than i thought because I find myself answering in French instead of the Spanish they are trying to teach. I took 4yrs of French in HS.

Just curious how multi-lingual people are.


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## NJmike PE (Mar 5, 2014)

short of the German that I learned in HS and a semester in college in 1999, nada here.


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## Capt Worley PE (Mar 5, 2014)

I took two years of Spanish. I can ask for two beers and where the bathroom is, HAHA.

But, here's a good website for spanish lessons: http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/beginningindex.html

I keep meaning to give it a go.


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## roadwreck (Mar 5, 2014)

I speak two languages...

...English and American. 

You may laugh but my wife didn't find it amusing when we went to England and she couldn't understand half of what people were saying to her.


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## kevo_55 (Mar 5, 2014)

English, 6 years of Spanish, and enough Mandarin to get myself in trouble.


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## MA_PE (Mar 5, 2014)

Capt Worley PE said:


> I took two years of Spanish. I can ask for two beers and where the bathroom is, HAHA.
> 
> But, here's a good website for spanish lessons: http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/beginningindex.html
> 
> I keep meaning to give it a go.


I had three yeas and can do the same and ask "how are you?"

I suspect "if you don't use it you lose" and I don't "press 2 for espanol", so I don't use it.


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## Ble_PE (Mar 5, 2014)

I can speak Spanish on a conversational level, but not well enough to be completely fluent. If I could spend a month or two in Peru with my wife's family then I would be fluent, but every time we go my parents end up going and causing me to speak English most of the time.


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## YMZ PE (Mar 5, 2014)

Snick - what program are you listening to? Pimsleur?


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## snickerd3 (Mar 5, 2014)

Yes it is pimsleur program. The library also owns a lonely planet program but it was already checked out.


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## snickerd3 (Mar 5, 2014)

I honestly wanted to learn polish but the library doesn't have it and I don't want to spend $ on it.


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## knight1fox3 (Mar 5, 2014)

4 yrs of HS French, some Spanish, and had to teach myself some Mandarin in order to create a programming interface for some operators at the nuke plant in Taipei, Taiwan.


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## NJmike PE (Mar 5, 2014)

knight1fox3 said:


> 4 yrs of HS French, some Spanish, and had to teach myself some Mandarin in order to create a programming interface for some operators at the nuke plant in Taipei, Taiwan.


does binary count as an official language?


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## Dark Knight (Mar 5, 2014)

Que pasó. Alguien me llamó?

I can speak, Spanish, English, and doggie (to communicate with my Shih Tzu)/ Also have learned some Italian from my daughter but just a couple of phrases here and there.


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## goodal (Mar 5, 2014)

Just kentuckian and pig latin (to confuse the kids).


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## envirotex (Mar 5, 2014)

Dark Knight said:


> Que pasó. Alguien me llamó?




No vi la señal de murciélago.

Leo espanol, pero poco a poco.

Tambien, hablo espanol, pero poco a poco.

Enough to get me in trouble. I used to be better, but I stopped working retail when I graduated from college.


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## IlPadrino (Mar 5, 2014)

I speak Italian thanks to my imported wife. We try to speak exclusively Italian at home so that our son benefits from "living the language".

Anyone looking to learn a language should consider https://www.duolingo.com/.


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## Flyer_PE (Mar 5, 2014)

I speak red neck.


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## Ship Wreck PE (Mar 6, 2014)

^^^ +1


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## Capt Worley PE (Mar 6, 2014)

Flyer_PE said:


> I speak red neck.



You mean Suthun?


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## Flyer_PE (Mar 6, 2014)

Capt Worley PE said:


> Flyer_PE said:
> 
> 
> > I speak red neck.
> ...


The southeastern :wv: variety.


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## Judowolf PE (Mar 6, 2014)

I had 3 years of German in HS, 25 years of Judo, so I have some Japanese down and I grew up a redneck, so English may be a second language to Suthun!


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## YMZ PE (Mar 6, 2014)

What VT would have posted: "Oh Stewardess, I speak jive."


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## MetsFan (Mar 6, 2014)

I'm fluent in Spanish. I didn't learn English till I was 5 and started Kindergarten. My wife and I are trying to get my son to speak it too, but English seems to be his dominant language since he spends so much time in day care.


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## IlPadrino (Mar 7, 2014)

MetsFan said:


> My wife and I are trying to get my son to speak it too, but English seems to be his dominant language since he spends so much time in day care.




Make a commitment to speak only Spanish at home... even if you only get to 75%, it's plenty! If he's in day care, he's plenty young enough to learn it as a native speaker.


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## MetsFan (Mar 7, 2014)

IlPadrino said:


> MetsFan said:
> 
> 
> > My wife and I are trying to get my son to speak it too, but English seems to be his dominant language since he spends so much time in day care.
> ...




Yeah, that's probably it. My wife and I talk to each other in English too, and only talk to him in Spanish. It's tough getting comfortable with it after speaking in English to each other for so long, haha.


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## IlPadrino (Mar 8, 2014)

It's worth it... the ability to learn languages changes at or about age seven. Stick with it!


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## vineyardmh (Mar 8, 2014)

There is another Electrical Engineer in my group that I think is approaching fluency in Klingon. Does that count for a second language?? [Don't be too quick to discount it...it could be great to have if we are attacked by extra-terrestrials who have ridges on their foreheads.]

(BTW - this guy had his middle name legally changed to Data...and goes by Data.)


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## goodal (Mar 10, 2014)

My wife decided out of the blue that it would be cool to learn a language or two. Shes going through Duolingo and Im trying to as well. I had a yr of Spanish in hs, but its not coming back to me yet.


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## csb (Mar 10, 2014)

I really like Duolingo. It's getting my Spanish back up and running. I know enough to make it through the Catholic Mass in Spanish, navigate and shop around Spanish speaking areas, but I feel awkward every time I say anything out loud. "Pardon my ridiculous accent" is a phrase I should learn, so I can say it first and then jump into what I was saying.


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## YMZ PE (Mar 14, 2014)

^ I started using Duolingo thanks to csb's recommendation above. It's quite good; even my pronunciation has improved significantly.

Now if only they would make a program for Thai, so I wouldn't be so awkward at family gatherings.


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## Capt Worley PE (Mar 14, 2014)

You talk Thai?


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## kevo_55 (Mar 14, 2014)

She talks Thai very well.


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## YMZ PE (Mar 14, 2014)

Yes, or as you people call it, "Chinese".


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## snickerd3 (Mar 14, 2014)

not sure i like the pimsleir learn spanish...I can only handle repeatition of the same conversation said slightly different for so long.

I'd like to be able to say more than hi, bye, good morning/afternoon/evening, sir/mame/miss, do you speak english, do you know spanish, are you american

considering I knew most of that already...


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## engineergurl (Mar 14, 2014)

YMZ PE said:


> Yes, or as you people call it, "Chinese".




wait... Chinese people speak Thai


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## YMZ PE (Mar 14, 2014)

That's what my own half-cracker children have told me.

Snick - you should give Duolingo a try. It's free. Might be cumbersome to use while driving though, since some of the exercises involve typing.


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## Capt Worley PE (Mar 14, 2014)

They talk thai real good.


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## snickerd3 (Mar 14, 2014)

engineergurl said:


> YMZ PE said:
> 
> 
> > Yes, or as you people call it, "Chinese".
> ...


i thought they all spoke Mandarin


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## knight1fox3 (Mar 14, 2014)

I had to learn some traditional Chinese to develop operator interface screens for 2 over-head cranes at the nuke plant in Taiwan. That was pretty cool.


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## YMZ PE (Mar 14, 2014)

snickerd3 said:


> engineergurl said:
> 
> 
> > YMZ PE said:
> ...


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## snickerd3 (Mar 14, 2014)

YMZ PE said:


> That's what my own half-cracker children have told me.
> 
> Snick - you should give Duolingo a try. It's free. Might be cumbersome to use while driving though, since some of the exercises involve typing.


unless it can be done in the car I wont end up using it. I know I wouldn't sit down at a computer to do it. I'm a captive audience for 2 hrs a day in the car so it is then or never


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## engineergurl (Mar 14, 2014)

okay so I googled it... Taiwan and Singapore speak Chinese (among 3 other languages), but China speaks Mandarin... this could be where the confusion is...


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## kevo_55 (Mar 14, 2014)

Taiwanese generally speak two different dialects of Chinese. They first begin to speak "Taiwanese" at home and then are taught Mandarin in school. (Mandarin is considered the "educated language" there.)

There are some aboriginal people in Taiwan so there are some other languages spoken but this isn't very common in the bigger cities.

.... or so I've heard.

Edit: I can't believe that my Meet The Fockers reference wasn't picked up on!


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## knight1fox3 (Mar 14, 2014)

engineergurl said:


> okay so I googled it... Taiwan and Singapore speak Chinese (among 3 other languages), but China speaks Mandarin... this could be where the confusion is...


Ah but I learned there is a difference between traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese. I had to make sure I was using the correct dialect.


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## engineergurl (Mar 14, 2014)

kevo_55 said:


> Taiwanese generally speak two different dialects of Chinese. They first begin to speak "Taiwanese" at home and then are taught Mandarin in school. (Mandarin is considered the "educated language" there.)
> 
> There are some aboriginal people in Taiwan so there are some other languages spoken but this isn't very common in the bigger cities.
> 
> ...




I found it ironic that with all this, English was listed for half the countries...


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## kevo_55 (Mar 14, 2014)

The funny thing about mandarin is that it is spoken all the same but it could be written differently.

That's the difference between traditional and simplified.


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## YMZ PE (Mar 14, 2014)

^ What kevo said. The written Chinese language was simplified during the Cultural Revolution. The intelligentsia fled the mainland during that time, many settling in Taiwan, so traditional Chinese characters continue to be used in Taiwan while simplified characters are used on the mainland.

As for spoken languages, if it sounds like the person is yelling at you, they're probably speaking Cantonese rather than Mandarin.


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## YMZ PE (Mar 14, 2014)

Where's MA today? He should have made a Monty Python reference to liking Chinese by now.


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## IlPadrino (Mar 15, 2014)

This is freakin' awesome!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybcvlxivscw


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## YMZ PE (Mar 15, 2014)

^ That was hilarious!


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## NJmike PE (Mar 15, 2014)

What about infant? That's a completely different language...


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## MA_PE (Mar 18, 2014)

YMZ PE said:


> Where's MA today? He should have made a Monty Python reference to liking Chinese by now.




Just catching up.

Bailiff: You are hereby charged that on the 28th day of May you did willfully and with malice of forethought, publish an alleged English- Hungarian phrase book with intent to cause a breach of thepeace. How do you plead?

Publisher: Not guilty.

Prosecuting Counsel (Eric Idle): Mr. Yahlt, on the 28th of May, you published this phrase book.

Publisher: I did

Counsel: With your lordship's permission I would like to quote an example. The Hungarian phrase meaning "Can you direct me to the railway station?" is here translated by the English phrase, "Please fondle my buttocks."

(He glares accusingly at Yahlt.)

(Another Hungarian gentleman approaches an upper-class twit on the street.)

Other Hungarian (Terry Jones): (reading from book) Pleease fondle my buttocks.

Twit (Graham Chapman): Ah yes, it's past the post office, 200 yards down, and then left at the light.

-----------------------------------------------

_(phone rings)_ Excuse me _(he answers phone)_

Hello......no, not now......shtoom...shtoom....right......yes, we'll have the watch ready for you at midnight.......the watch.....the Chinese watch....yes, right-oh, bye-bye.....

mother _(he hangs up phone)_


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