h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

That's a great excuse for gossiping about someone - "Oh, but we just want to be able to pray *intelligently* about his problems..."

Its a better excuse for having two, or more mothers

Yeah, KB. I had that dodge pulled on me more than once. I'd tell them the Lord knew a-l-l about it, and they didn't need to.

I don't know enough about German plurals to fully understand that story. I have, now I come to think of it, a smattering of west-country.

Bel - I speak Gibberish too, like Maria. And I speak OnlyWhenI'mSpokenTo. Do you have a similar expression in German? It was an English expression in Victorian times, meant to keep children quiet and in their place.

How times have changed.

Through sheer luck in the heriditary lotto, I speak English somewhat fluently, German well enough for business, French on a light conversation level and Swedish so that Swedes are kind enough to call it Swedish and not go "oh, and I thought Danish was so hard to understand" And yes, surely, that all will let me read Dutch. But speak it? (you're now all free to guess where my boss is from )

Spanish - not really but I can be polite and get through ordering in a restaurant. And I can read aloud from a menu in Italy well enough to make the waiter answer in Italian. And en I surrender and confess not to speak the language, sorry

Finnish? Grillihülli!

We have had this conversation before

It's refreshing to read how everyone is honest about their abilities (well, *I* believe you all) - we're not concoting CV's here!

I have to contend with Dutch continually at work. Reading it is no problem (at least, not when it's about the minutiae of flat-pack furniture) and a phone conversation is fine if I can speak German and they speak Dutch. But I'll leave speaking the real Dutch to Hapi.

The same applies to Swedish, which I need for work, but Danish is difficult. Partly because the Danish telephone system seems totally weird and I usually only get answering machines. They sound as though the tape has been put in backwards. All the Swedes and Danes I deal with speak German or English perfectly fluently. Oh - and we sung a song in choir a couple of years ago in the original Swedish. (From the film "As it is in heaven" - at least I think that's the English titld) We put a lot of effort into getting the pronunciation right.

Otherwise, I speak French the rest of the time on the phone at work. I spend a lot of time translating stuff from French to German and vice versa. This is the one I am most proud of, considering I never actually studied as a translator. No one at work seems to appreciate that I am translating between two foreign languages.

I can read Russian and decipher Greek, but not fast enough to read the signs, say, when passing through a railway station. Italian and Spanish I was fluent in way way back, but can only stammer a bit now, and read OK.

I have tried to learn Latin at least five times, my husband trying out new school books on me before introducing them for his 12-year-olds. I'd love to be able to get a bit further....

Because our school was semi-private and quite innovative, I was learning French at age 9 and this, I am sure, was important because it encouraged the making of "funny sounds" at an early age, while the mouth, tongue, jaw, etc, were not fully formed. So I had a good grounding in French pronunciation and from there on in, had no trouble getting my anatomy round the pronunciation of other languages. It might be an inherited aptitude, it might be that my theory of early development of versatility in the mouth area holds true.

My kids started on two languages from the age of dot, and they also easily pick up other languages, instinctively pronouncing them correctly, which would indicate that there is certainly a genetic predisposition to language ability.

As for the ingredients on foods and cosmetics - I find it fascinating to read them, especially when there are about 20 languages listed on the side of the packet.

Fortunately, it can generally be said that, when things get reeelly technical, the words seem to converge again, and are very similar in most languages. E.g., at the doctor's, if I don't know the German word for something, I can revert to the English word, and the doctor will know that because it usually is the Latin-based medical term anyway.

Well, it seems that a lot of people know more foreign languages than they are aware of, which is a good thing. A good basis to learn a foreign language.

we had to sing a song in swedish for my brother's wedding (my sister in law is swedish)

And because my entire family is musical in one way or another, we decided to sing the harmony parts as well...it was, entertaining i would say

I was very lucky that I grew up with two native languages, a mother tongue and a father tongue, because our mother spoke German to us from day one, our father Dutch. (They both spoke both languages, but preferred to use their own.) And then I learned English when I was 7 - went from being fresh off the boat to top of the class in English in six months, when I won the spelling bee. That's because I have a great advantage in English - I learned to speak and write it at the same time, so the fact that it's so unphonetic doesn't bother me in the least!

I can read Dutch, but never learned to write/spell it properly, even though it is such an easy, obvious language to spell. And since I never lived over there, I have a big, fat accent. But it's not, as most people think, a German accent, it's a Haags accent - my father's regional accent from a region I've never lived in

They tried to teach me French at school, but I gave that up when we moved back to Germany, because I was over a year behind everyone else, and started Spanish instead. Both sort of stuck; I can read them and understand them if spoken slowly, but don't dare attempt to form my own sentences. The combination does allow you to have a go at picking apart other Latin-based languages.

I also tend to pick up the basics in the native language wherever I go on holiday, so I can just about manage a "good morning" and "thank you" in a handful of Scandinavian languages and in Romanian. All I've learned of Irish Gaelic while living here though are a few common words you'll find in everyday use even in English, or printed on touristy souvenirs. So far, the radio has only taught me "agus" and "an", "and" and "the" respectively. And of course, I have the rare talent that KB said I should put on my CV, I can understand people from Cork!

I'm planning to do either an Irish course or a Polish course this summer; the latter would be useful for my dissertation.

Polish is definitely a lovely language - the sexy one of the Slavic languages. And they also have a rich cultural history. But then again, so do the Irish. Why not do both?

By sheer coincidence this topic is in the news.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17101370

I'm afraid I don't speak anything other than English, and get that wrong sometimes.

What an interesting article. Thanks, BMT.

apparently "11 languages is a significant watershed"

I mean some people just are trying these days

"And of course, I have the rare talent that KB said I should put on my CV, I can understand people from Cork!"

I think you've topped even *that* after living here this long, Mal - you can even decode North-Antrimese by now! It's just down the road from me and I'm still stumped by it sometimes!

Mind you, I think trying to explain to the Cork Retired Farmers' Association why the 21-year-old whiskey isn't kosher was the hardest thing I ever tried - even understanding the question took me three goes.

I invite you to meet my opposite: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17107435

Is there any chance that we'll be able to get a polyglot area started over here?

Mi querido Willem, I was thinking lo mismo que you.

I underverstand dat...