What language should I learn?

[Andy in Sig]

Google translated, presumably?

Ich glaube, dass Spanisch einer der meisten gesprochenen Sprachen der Welt ist, aber ich kenne sie gar nichts.

Excuse the pedantry but shouldn't it be "... eine der meist gesprochenen ..." (I'm not 100% on that but it definitely sounds better.) I can grab a passing boxhead if we need an umpire's decision.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Let it go Andy - German's lagging well behind in the poll, no-one's interested.
Plax is never going to choose it over the delights of French or Spanish.

 

[Aperitif]

"No'way Hosé" - Andy's ideal hybrid lingua.

I had a lengthy correspondence with a German firm recently - I used Babelfish to translate, then 'cut 'n pasted' various greetings etc to top and tail my letters.

At work, we now have a store full of disposable strudel holders instead of white shiny instrument cases!

 

[XmisterIS]

Excuse the pedantry but shouldn't it be "... eine der meist gesprochenen ..." (I'm not 100% on that but it definitely sounds better.) I can grab a passing boxhead if we need an umpire's decision.

If a language is worth learning, it's worth learning badly - it's easier than learning to speak it well, and it sounds amusing to the natives! (My German friend laughs out loud at some of the things I say in German!)

 

[Maz]

Spanish is very useful, but Sign Language (I'm learning at the moment) is very enjoyable... not so useful though, unless you happen to have a deaf community/friends near you.

Is sign language an international language? I mean, could an English sign language speaker communicate with a Spanish sign language speaker?

I've always wondered that.

 

[Dayvo]

Are you taking the p1ss? The sentence starts with the word "German" and then the reference to Spanish etc is in brackets and then close brackets and it continues going on about German.


It is a very clumsily constructed sentence, I admit.

Edit: I see Fnaar has already resolved the matter.

No, I wasn't taking the pizz, and yes, I was reprimanded by fnaar and apologised accordingly! But your sentence did 'throw' me!

I think the easiest language to learn on the planet is Norwegian

I agree! I speak it fluently, and Swedish, so they must be ridiculously, particularly with regard to grammar as there is NO verb conjugation!

 

[Andy in Sig]

"No'way Hosé" - Andy's ideal hybrid lingua.

I had a lengthy correspondence with a German firm recently - I used Babelfish to translate, then 'cut 'n pasted' various greetings etc to top and tail my letters.

At work, we now have a store full of disposable strudel holders instead of white shiny instrument cases!

Did they send you the hospital bill for all the broken ribs due to laughing?

 

[Andy in Sig]

Is sign language an international language? I mean, could an English sign language speaker communicate with a Spanish sign language speaker?

I've always wondered that.

No, sign languages tend to be independent of each other just like the spoken ones.

 

[Andy in Sig]

If a language is worth learning, it's worth learning badly - it's easier than learning to speak it well, and it sounds amusing to the natives! (My German friend laughs out loud at some of the things I say in German!)

I still get it too. I was earnestly trying to explain to a friend of mine about how I had steamed some bits of chicken and she fell about laughing. It turned out that I had been claiming to ferment the chicken as in producing booze out of it.

 

[Auntie Helen]

Excuse the pedantry but shouldn't it be "... eine der meist gesprochenen ..." (I'm not 100% on that but it definitely sounds better.) I can grab a passing boxhead if we need an umpire's decision.

I dunno either, I kind of guessed it. Think it would be meisten, not meist, but not sure quite where the genitive goes. I imagine it's one of those things that doesn't translate directly into German, you have to say it in a slightly different way. Or something.

 

[HJ]

Plus, the Germans are nice, tidy people whose trains run on time and make fantastic cakes.

No you are thinking of the Austrians....

 

[Aperitif]

I thought Austrians who got to grips with their trains were called Austrrailians...

 

[chap]

I'm contemplating learning a new language to try and give me something else to do of an evening other than while away the hours on the computer.

The languages that interest me, especially from a commerce/travelling point of view are;

German
French
Spanish

I did German & French at school much of which has long been forgotten. Spanish I have never learnt.

I plan on getting the relevant learning resources from the local library and taking it from there.

I thought I'd do a poll.

Learn French.

German is spoken only in Germany and a very select few countries. Spanish is different from Latin Spanish and ... well you'd have to go to Spain. French, is not restricted to the country so if you tire of whiners you can make yourself understood in many other parts of the world. Plus, it's the second language of Europe

Alternatively, you could try Mandarin Chinese...

 

[Plax]

Poor Germany, hardly any takers for them. I work for a German company (used to be American but they got bought out) so German is still winning on that front. Anyway doesn't Austria and Switzerland also speak German in parts?

 

[Telemark]

Poor Germany, hardly any takers for them. I work for a German company (used to be American but they got bought out) so German is still winning on that front. Anyway doesn't Austria and Switzerland also speak German in parts?

They do indeed speak more or less different "versions" of German ...

T