What languages do you all know?

[TheEponine]

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then you're not a real scandinavian.

I never said I was a scandinavian, did I?

 

[pip00]

I never said I was a scandinavian, did I?

so you lived in scandinavia but you're not??

 

[TheEponine]

so you lived in scandinavia but you're not??

Never lived in Scandinavia

 

[pip00]

Never lived in Scandinavia

ok.

 

[patzan]

I can kinda understand Polish because it's so similar to Russian, but I can't speak it.

I am completely fluent in Russian and can't understand a lick of Polish.

 

[kathyt009]

Vietnamese and Spanish...and bits of ASL, as well.

 

[riceman04]

Vietnamese and Spanish...and bits of ASL, as well.

Spanish

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

I am completely fluent in Russian and can't understand a lick of Polish.

I have heard Polish, Czech, Bulgarian, Russian, and Serbo-Croatian (Bosnian does not exist, it is a nationalist term for this language). Bulgarian kind of sounds like Russian, but is more "open," i.e. there are fewer consonant muffling the sound, than Russian. Polish is very dense with fricative consonants, very rz, ch, sh, zh all smushed together. It really does not sound like Russian at all. Czech, although very closely related to Polish, does not sound much like it and has sharper sounds like "ts." I've heard Polish people say that Czech sounds like children talking (presumably Polish). Serbo-Croatian sounds kind of in between Russian and Czech, it has a sound system the reminds one of Italian, but the words are more akin to Russian.

Incidentally, I've heard Bengali and Hindi, and they do not sound similar at all, which is surprising given the fact that they are related. But I guess that's understandable, considering that French and Romanian don't sound at all alike, but are in fact closely related.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Anyone here heard Hungarian? No other language sounds like it, there are sounds that remind you of German or Turkish, but the words are so bizarrely different from those of other European languages.

 

[coral]

Spanish and Farsi 🙂

 

[cotinara]

I can speak English, Arabic, and Spanish. Because of my spanish i can get by reading italian and portuguese. I took some french and can understand a little about it.

 

[toxin]

Albanian
Turkish
Croatian
English
Italian
🙂

 

[nlyoung]

Italian

 

[63768]

fluent reading, writing, speaking in english and vietnamese. my speaking in spanish is rusty but at one point it was strong. learning a little mandarin and korean.

 

[Thundrstorm]

I once knew enough French to graduate high school, and enough Italian to graduate college, but now..... nothing. I'm awful at learning languages. Maybe it's lack of use outside of the classroom. I'm working with an Italian scientist who wants me to practice my Italian with him, so we'll see if I can pick it back up again.

 

[patzan]

I have heard Polish, Czech, Bulgarian, Russian, and Serbo-Croatian (Bosnian does not exist, it is a nationalist term for this language). Bulgarian kind of sounds like Russian, but is more "open," i.e. there are fewer consonant muffling the sound, than Russian. Polish is very dense with fricative consonants, very rz, ch, sh, zh all smushed together. It really does not sound like Russian at all. Czech, although very closely related to Polish, does not sound much like it and has sharper sounds like "ts." I've heard Polish people say that Czech sounds like children talking (presumably Polish). Serbo-Croatian sounds kind of in between Russian and Czech, it has a sound system the reminds one of Italian, but the words are more akin to Russian.

Incidentally, I've heard Bengali and Hindi, and they do not sound similar at all, which is surprising given the fact that they are related. But I guess that's understandable, considering that French and Romanian don't sound at all alike, but are in fact closely related.

I've heard a bunch of languages, but that doesn't mean I understand them.

 

[JustR]

I've heard a bunch of languages, but that doesn't mean I understand them.

I join ya!!!!!

 

[gujuDoc]

I know the bad words of many different languages

LMAO.

This was the best and most classic post on this thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀 😀 😀

 

[Anastasis]

I know the bad words of many different languages

Those were the first words in ASL I learned.

 

[troszic]

Armenian
Spanish

 

[willow18]

Anyone here heard Hungarian? No other language sounds like it, there are sounds that remind you of German or Turkish, but the words are so bizarrely different from those of other European languages.

Oh yes, grandparents are from Hungary. Quite the language indeed. Alas, i never picked up much of it.

 

[sprsonic75]

ENGLISH! punjabi, urdu, hindi, spanish and spatterings of French and Portuguese

wanna learn arabic . . anyone know of any good books or should i just take a class? maybe i should just practice with my egyptian friends . . .

 

[MDhopeful023]

I know the bad words of many different languages

 

[MaryWrathers]

Just curious, what languages do you all know and do you think it will come into use in your future of medicine?

I know a little Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Swiss, and a lot of French. I think they will all come in handy.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

I know a little Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Swiss, and a lot of French. I think they will all come in handy.

I don't want to accuse you of being a fraud, but Swiss is not a language. In Switzerland; French, German/Swiss-German, Italian, and Rhaeto-Romansch are spoken, but no "Swiss".

 

[TheEponine]

I don't want to accuse you of being a fraud, but Swiss is not a language. In Switzerland; French, German/Swiss-German, Italian, and Rhaeto-Romansch are spoken, but no "Swiss".

 

[stherling]

Actually, rz, ch, sh, and zh are not fricatives, they are affricates. Sorry, I'm a speech pathologist! 🙂

Isn't 'sh' a palatalized (or palato-alveolar) fricative? ;P There's no closure at the beginning to make it an affricate....

 

[Saluki]

My best language is Latin. My next best is a dialect of an African language with several thousand speakers. I can read Arabic, but my speaking ability is virtually zilch. I can read about four words of Hebrew. I doubt any of this will come in handy, but now that I'm a senior it seems late to get started on Spanish.... Maybe I can learn Swiss🙂

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Isn't 'sh' a palatalized (or palato-alveolar) fricative? ;P There's no closure at the beginning to make it an affricate....

Upon inspection, I really do think that sh, rz, and zh are fricatives and that ch, and dzh are affricates. "Rz" is a strange sound that is a kind of "r" with a fricative sh/zh at the same time. It appears in Czech and (I think, correct me if I'm wrong) Polish and is exemplified by words like Dvor^ak (the famous Czech composer) and Rzeczpospolita (which I think means republic in Polish).

 

[QofQuimica]

Anyone here heard Hungarian? No other language sounds like it, there are sounds that remind you of German or Turkish, but the words are so bizarrely different from those of other European languages.

Yes, my father is Hungarian. I only know a couple of words though. 🙁

 

[BlinkyCat]

Latin, French, English (hehe), Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, "Shang Hai-nese")

 

[hardy]

I think many people here don't really understand what it means to "know" a language. Unless you are capable of reading literature in the language and have conversations about pretty much anything with a native speaker, you do not know the language. Usually, that means you lived in an area where the language is spoken for quite some time or have had the opportunity to speak it at home (with family members etc.). And even if you once know a language, you have to practice to keep it up, or you forget it really fast.

 

[iraqiamerican]

It's so funny seeing some of you saying 'I speak english'
Greek, Arabic, Kurdish, Syriac (aramiac/chaldean/assyrian) 👍

 

[hardy]

It's so funny seeing some of you saying 'I speak english'
Greek, Arabic, Kurdish, Syriac (aramiac/chaldean/assyrian) 👍

Well, some people are more realistic than others and know what it takes to "speak" a language.

 

[eflwon]

i am in central america right now trying to learn spanish. i live in california and if you dont speak spanish your about as usefull as....

 

[Veronique88]

Norwegian, Swedish, English and German 😉

 

[drmota]

I think many people here don't really understand what it means to "know" a language. Unless you are capable of reading literature in the language and have conversations about pretty much anything with a native speaker, you do not know the language. Usually, that means you lived in an area where the language is spoken for quite some time or have had the opportunity to speak it at home (with family members etc.). And even if you once know a language, you have to practice to keep it up, or you forget it really fast.

good to know you're the expert here on what it takes to "know" a language.
-mota

 

[hardy]

good to know you're the expert here on what it takes to "know" a language.

I get plenty of people who tell me they speak a language when actually they can't even carry on a basic conversation. This happens to me so often that I think doubts are always appropriate if somebody claims to know more than one language.

 

[medgirl20]

Irish
Enough French to surive in France

 

[AllSmiles66]

did any of you guys somehow manage to fit a language during your college years other than the languages studied in high school (continuation)

 

[etudiante04]

I know French and Yoruba. I am currently learning Spanish from a co-worker.

 

[thefafo]

did any of you guys somehow manage to fit a language during your college years other than the languages studied in high school (continuation)

I took a year of italian in undergrad because I finished all my electives with AP credits.

I also know Farsi, and some french, and I start my spanish class tonight! woo hoo!

 

[gwen]

English
Hindi
Urdu
Kashmiri
Spanish
Punjabi

i'm fluent in the first four (ie speak, write, read, etc) and conversational in the last two (ie. if a patient comes to the hospital and the interpreter is far away, i can make do with my skills)

i took seven years of spanish, including one yr in college. yes, high school AP credit really does help you.

i'm a firm believer in that the more languages you know, the easier it is to pick up a third or a fourth language. plus, your pronunciation is awesome b/c of that. my spanish teachers used think i had lived in spain or mexico before! hah!

i bet no one here can speak or even understand kashmiri...its quite rare.

 

[CHEEEZ]

I listed Spanish on my app, but I haven't really practiced it since senior year of high school. Should I be brushing up on my Spanish skills in case they try to test me during an interview?

 

[Labslave]

I listed Spanish on my app, but I haven't really practiced it since senior year of high school. Should I be brushing up on my Spanish skills in case they try to test me during an interview?

Wow. That is all.

 

[Labslave]

I listed Spanish on my app, but I haven't really practiced it since senior year of high school. Should I be brushing up on my Spanish skills in case they try to test me during an interview?

Actually, I should probably elaborate a bit. I'm always frustrated by those who list that they SPEAK a language and yet haven't practiced a bit in four years (assuming you recently graduated).

If you speak a language, you shouldn't have to brush up.

 

[Labslave]

And if you were really a "slave" you would be URM.

There are some individuals who have put a lot of work into learning a second (in my case, third) language to the point of fluency. Fortunately, those of us who have demonstrated that we speak the language by being involved in our communities and changing the world around us with our language skills will still be appreciated. I'm just hoping that there will be a large distinction between people who use their foreign language and those who took Spanish in high school (you).

 

[CHEEEZ]

There are some individuals who have put a lot of work into learning a second (in my case, third) language to the point of fluency. Fortunately, those of us who have demonstrated that we speak the language by being involved in our communities and changing the world around us with our language skills will still be appreciated. I'm just hoping that there will be a large distinction between people who use their foreign language and those who took Spanish in high school (you).

I'm glad you are changing the world with your ability to speak a 3rd language. You will be a fantastic doctor.

 

[Labslave]

I'm glad you are changing the world with your ability to speak a 3rd language. You will be a fantastic doctor.

What are you waiting for? I would start to brush up if I were you...

 

[CHEEEZ]

What are you waiting for? I would start to brush up if I were you...

Relax, little girl. Go back to your pipetting, sniff a little ether, and take a nap.