Thread: Languages

Originally Posted by Rocky

I speak 3 languages fluently but Japanese has to be the hardest language on the planet. I've been struggling for almost 4 years with it. I can put a phrase or two in romanji but that's it. Hiragana, Katakana, etc. is like ancient egyptian to me.

My teacher skipped the romanji and started me off with hiragana and katakana.
It took quite a while to get the hang of it, but now I am glad I did. Romanji has the problem that Japanese don't use it, and it loses a whole lot of the information that is in the kana form. Ditch it, it is no good. By getting used to it, you only make it harder for you to actually learn real Japanese because you are investing time and effort in things that ultimately are of no use. It's like learning math by memorizing a proof as a series of meaningless symbols, rather than an expression of an underlying concept.

I have just started learning kanji, and while it is difficult and complex, it also uncovers a whole new dimension to the language.

I speak American English haltingly and dead stop at any and all other languages. My grandparents were Norwegian immigrants and spoke heavily accented English; my parents spoke English and were fluent in Norwegian. They used Norwegian if they wanted to keep secrets from me and my sister. Needless to say, it worked: facility with that language is still a secret to me.

life in the slow lane...

I speak portuguese - my first language. I also speak fairly good english and manage some french.

I once met a brazilian that spoke: portuguese, french, english, italian, german, spanish, yidish, hebrew and romanian... not bad, eh?

Originally Posted by Bruno

My teacher skipped the romanji and started me off with hiragana and katakana.
It took quite a while to get the hang of it, but now I am glad I did. Romanji has the problem that Japanese don't use it, and it loses a whole lot of the information that is in the kana form. Ditch it, it is no good. By getting used to it, you only make it harder for you to actually learn real Japanese because you are investing time and effort in things that ultimately are of no use. It's like learning math by memorizing a proof as a series of meaningless symbols, rather than an expression of an underlying concept.

I have just started learning kanji, and while it is difficult and complex, it also uncovers a whole new dimension to the language.

Yes, I agree with Bruno. I should have mentioned it earlier myself. The study of Hiragana and Katakana with teach you the correct Japanese phonetics so it has a double benefit (reading & writing as well as sounds). In addition, many railway signs etc are written also in Hiragana for school children who have not yet learnt Kanji, so it is very helpful for travelling to use Hiragana. Sorry to mention but the school kids that have not yet learnt Kanji are usually under 7.............

This is the same problem encountered when Thais try to learn English. In many high schools English is taught in Thai. A similar situation to learning Japanese using the Latin alphabet. Most students in my school can recite the grammar rules, but have no idea how to read, write, or speak. And in my school listening skills are almost non existant. (If students don't listen teachers just speak louder, or use a microphone). We're slowly changing this, but it is hard to change the opinions of older Thai teachers.

Native language Russian.
I understand English fairly well, I can read it but can't speak it well.

I managed to keep from the Navy that I could speed French most of my time serving. The ship I was attached to was hooking up shore services at a port and I was having difficulty explaining what was need to the dock worker. He was supposed to be able to speak English fluently and we were getting nowhere, until I finally had enough. Unknown to me the C O was on the flying bridge just 30 feet from where we were when I started explaining to the worker what we were needing. When done he called to me and I knew I was caught.

After a quick conversation I had lunch with dignitaries and the C O for the next three weeks and no other duties while in France.

A bit of German, some Cherokee and Comanche as well.

The language skills never showed up in my Service Record.

Always liked that C O.

Typical American myself. I can speak American English very well, but nothing else fluently. Studied Japanese in High School, got straight A's, but don't remember much. German, I can get by on the pleasentries. I've had a Colombian Girlfriend teach me Spanish, so now I can get by and sweet talk a Lady with it, but it's far from fluent.

I am another unfortunate soul who lacks the language skill. I can read French and Spanish sort of, despite taking the former for 5 years and working in a kitchen with Hondurans for another 4 years. When I was in France I spoke enough to explain that I was sorry for not speaking more and would appreciate if they spoke English and they seemed to be more annoyed than if I barged in and shouted "WHO THE HELL SPEAKS ENGLISH!?" I also ran into some issues in Amsterdam where everyone speaks English but they assumed we were from England and for some reason seem to dislike the British. I'm not sure why because or cabbie wouldn't explain. I work with a lot of NY Italians and am currently learning that ie. jabrone and stunads. Not sure the spelling but I get called it enough to pick up a few things.

I got interested in wetshaving through my passion for learning languages. I saw this video on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W0JIlyOWbg