Languages - any one speak any novelty languages?

[donnydave]

I was just wondering, what languages other than English to people on here speak? I'm on somewhat of a language binge at the moment. There are the usual mainstream European languages that plenty of people have a reasonable grasp of, then there's Hindi/Bengali etc stemming from family ties where people have moved to the UK but I was curious as to what other languages anyone on here might speak and how often you actually get to use them, or have you overheard someone talking and been surprised to hear another language that you recognise?

What's got me interested in the last couple of months is that I've started Brazilian Portuguese lessons through work as we have a new customer based in Brazil. I know how useful even one extra language is of course from a holiday in France a few years ago where A-level French was very useful in establishing that just about everyone spoke English....

The little bit of Portuguese I can now speak is proving to be immeasurably interesting and very useful, we have a really good working relationship with our Brazilian counterparts and it is aided by being able to have some simple conversation on the phone before getting down to work (official language stated in our contracts is English).

Having made good progress at the Portuguese I was reminded how much I enjoyed learning French at school, but very rarely get to use it so I spoke to our resident French bloke at work who has agreed to start an informal Monday lunchtime French speaking club.

My wife (until she recently changed jobs) was enjoying learning German for her work as she did a lot of business there. Hopefully she will continue to learn as its really interesting and she says she got a lot more out of her trips there knowing a bit of the language.

I then got thinking about other situations I've been in recently where a less mainstream (at least for an English person) languages would have been useful. I went to a wedding a couple of weeks ago where the brides family was Russian. One of our friends who attended the wedding had done GCSE Russian and remembered a few words which was very handy. We've recently employed an engineer at work who is Greek, so that's a whole other language/culture that is unbelievably interesting and I chat to him quite a bit about the Greek language and history, although he knows not to ask to borrow money for the vending machine as he will get a barrage of jokes.

On the one hand I'm constantly excited/interested that I'm learning lots of new stuff but on the other hand it's a constant source of annoyance and dejection for me that there are loads of things I am interested in but no way that I can be as good as I want to be at all of them, but I'm trying to take every opportunity to learn a little bit here and there.

 

[yello]

I know how useful even one extra language is of course from a holiday in France a few years ago where A-level French was very useful in establishing that just about everyone spoke English....

There's a growing knowledge amongst the young and/or in cities but you'll not find that so in the rural communities. Whilst it's fair to say that many people know some words of English (just as many English know some words of French) I'd not say they 'speak' English.

When you said "novelty" languages, I thought you meant Klingon or Elfish or something. I'm not sure the Portuguese would class their mother tongue as a novelty!

You're genuinely lucky if you have a flair for languages. I know some people do. I worked with a guy once that spoke, to a basic conversational standard, 4 or 5 European languages. But for the rest of us mere mortals, it's damned hard work! After 5 years living in France, my French is improving but I know I'll never be mother tongue fluent. I speak English with French words, I've yet to make the transition to French French and I doubt I ever will - not fully. I got to a basic standard in Spanish in my mid 20s though that's a while ago now. Oddly, every now and again, a Spanish word comes to me before the French one.

 

[s7ephanie]

I used to live in Greece and spoke basic greek, although think i have forgotten most of it, now in france and speak very little french, and whan i do, nobody understands me !!!!

 

[donnydave]

Ah yes, I probably shouldn't apply for a job as a diplomat with gaffes like "novelty language"!

 

[tyred]

I'm an expert on Ulster slang.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

HIja', tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh
Roughly translates into : "yes, Klingon language I speak"

 

[vernon]

I speak French with an American accent.

 

[yello]

now in france and speak very little french, and whan i do, nobody understands me !!!!

Join the club! You've got to laugh about it because otherwise it can be very disheartening. It really is true what they say about language learning; you've got to give it a go without being afraid of making mistakes. It is the way to learn.

One thing I have learnt is that 'intelligence' (as in the classic sense, number of O or A levels etc) is no guide to who'll be good at languages and who won't be. There's something else at play, something to do with brain wiring or something. The older you get, the more difficult it gets (generally speaking, there are always exceptions) - I reckon your brain wiring is less flexible than a child's.

Sadly for me, language learning incorporates the 3 things I probably dislike most in life; making mistakes, being misunderstood.... and hard work!

 

[compo]

A novelty language round here, I speak English.

 

[Silver Fox]

I speak scouse, with a Liverpool accent, like.

 

[VamP]

When you said "novelty" languages, I thought you meant Klingon or Elfish or something. I'm not sure the Portuguese would class their mother tongue as a novelty!
.

Never mind Portuguese, what about Greek!

 

[Ciar]

I can be heard speaking botal tollocks if you ask the missus!

but on a serious note I try to speak English or Londonish ;-)

 

[byegad]

I speak French with a 'German' accent, apparently.

I'm a strong believer that anyone CAN learn a new language, at least well enough to get by with a strong accent. All it takes is total immersion in that language. After all, in the ancient world and these days many people were/are multi-lingual. If they could/can do it then anyone can.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I used to have a smattering of Bahasa Malay and Thai from my trips to the Far East years ago, nothing to write home about, just a little bit more than the usual holiday stuff but I've forgotten it all now.

Italian's my favourite now, been studying it for a few years.

GC

 

[Yellow Fang]

I once bought an English-Klingon dictionary before concluding it was a difficult language to learn and probably not a good use of time. I spent three years learning at Latin at school and managed to scape a C at O-level, despite absorbing zero Latin. I spent quite a few years learning French and German at night school and got two A grades at A/S level I never found them particularly useful TBH. French was slightly more useful than German. I have studied tape courses in Spanish, Dutch and Serbo-Croat, all of which I have forgotten. I attended some evening classes in Italian but then started to lose interest in languages. I keep thinking, when I have time, I might retry learning Latin so I can read The Hobbit and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Latin. Or maybe I'll learn Cornish or Old English. I already know some Anglo-Saxon.