Se habla ingles?

[hackthis_archive]

I had a dream last night that I had to make this poll. It's just for curiousity's sake, but you know me, I may try to pick your brains later if I want one of my characters to start cursing at people in Russian. Even though my keyboard isn't equipped for Russian.

ETA: I define 'speak' as some degree of fluency/proficency where you can a) carry on a conversation b) curse prolifically and summon a policeman in said language and/or c) survive if you are kidnapped, tied up, dropped off in that country with nothing but your name, and can communicate well enough with other people (without sign language) so you can get back home.

Too much Burn Notice what?

ETA 2: Yes, kids, I know that Scandinavian and Eastern European are regions and not languages, but in some instances you have to generalize because unless it's for a paper, I'm not listing 600 languages.

[Poll #1077017]

Comments

[cleverthylacine]

For "speak" do you mean "am fluent in, all the time" or, "can make myself understood in and follow simple conversations"?

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I posted:

ETA: I define 'speak' as some degree of fluency/proficency where you can a) carry on a conversation b) curse prolifically and summon a policeman in said language and/or c) go to that country and communicate with other people without sign language and/or being bitter that nobody else speaks your language.

[amberlynne.livejournal.com]

*is lamer*

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

LOL. *pets* You are not a lamer.

[1001cranes.livejournal.com]

I know Old English, actually. I needed to meet a language requirement Freshman Year, what can I say? I don't really speak it, since, well, NO ONE does, but I can translate things fairly well.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

*makes note to self* You know, in case I decide someone needs to start speaking in Ye Olde English at some point :-)

[deepsix.livejournal.com]

I can read a whole boatload of languages, but I only checked English and French because they're the only two that I can actually speak, like, with actual words coming out of my mouth. :D

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

What can you read? Tell me! Tell me! I am v curious.

[aliaspiral.livejournal.com]

I am fairly fluent in American Sign Language, but that doesnt have its own country...hmmm.

I would use my WTF asl icon, but I deleted it somehow, so have a WTF in Braille, instead!

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

*shakes head* LOL. I knew I was going to forget a couple. My bad!

[knowledgequeen.livejournal.com]

English, French, and Russian, though if all you need to know is how to curse, I can do that in about seven more languages. >.>

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

Me too! I can babble in English, Spanish and Italian (or I could before all that alcohol), but I can curse in at least three more.

[lunais-cross.livejournal.com]

Now I feel lame for not being able to speak a second language fluently. I took two years of Spanish, but it was only for a special award/honor/thing I'll graduate with. >_>

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

Don't feel lame, just learn a new one! (That's my solution to everything).

[prairiedaun.livejournal.com]

I'd like to say third option: Canadian English (really, an historical hybrid of both American and British with its own dialectical quirks.)

Also, I read Old English and while not able to converse back and forth I can follow a lot of Cree, Ojibwe and Michif.

[prairiedaun.livejournal.com]

Thinking about it further it isn't a lot of Cree, Ojibwe or Michif. A little bit.

[aphelant.livejournal.com]

My other language: I read/write/speak Canadian English. :)

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

LOL. Yes, quite, I concede I forgot that one too.

[isagel.livejournal.com]

Hm. Scandinavian. That's condensing two languages I would claim to speak and one I understand under one heading. Darn you for depriving me of extra multi-lingualness points. *g*

Seriously, though, as a Swedish person, I wouldn't say that Scandinavian is a single language. To me, Scandinavian is a hodgepodge we Nordic people make up to communicate with each other, and plenty of us suck at doing that. I know many Swedish people who'd rather speak English with a Danish person than try to understand Danish. Which certainly indicates that said people have a shamefully bad ear for languages, but still. Not one language. :)

[ranalore.livejournal.com]

I was going to mention that Scandinavian is more a language family, not a single language. Not that I speak any of the languages in it. *G*

[ladyblack888.livejournal.com]

Mirandese, Portugal's other language. Gallaic, one of Spain's other languages (together with Castillan, Catala and the rest)

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

Dude, I did not know this. You learn something new everyday. Are the Spanish dialects significantly different? Or is it more a case of accents, slang and regionality?

[sloganeer.livejournal.com]

I like your definition of "speak" because it means I can finally call myself "multilingual."

[trascendenza]

Exactly what I was thinking, hee! Telling people I can carry on a very simple conversation in a handful of languages isn't all that impressive. ._.

[hey-mockingbird.livejournal.com]

So....I speak (fluently enough to have a good half hour conversation without any awkward pauses) French and English, and can read/write Old English, Gaelic, Elvish (Yes, i taught myself this after a particularly amazing stint of loving LOTR....fangirl? YES), and can speak Gaelic and Elvish fluently enough to have a ten minute convo.

Oh, and I know choice phrases in Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish as well, courtesy of my little sister.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

Oksy, you win a gold star, because that's damn awesome. I've always wanted to learn Gaelic, but the pronounciating slays me. I need someone to teach it to me.

[shrewreader.livejournal.com]

Dude. I totally forgot to include Latin.

Blin!!

[graycastle.livejournal.com]

I speak Canadian English and Quebecois French, which are neither of them the same as Queen's English and French, which is what I put down. But, you know.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I see I lose points for not breaking everything down. Ah, well, them's the breaks.

[barely-bean.livejournal.com]

the language I speak at home is called Malyalam. I don't read or write it (completely different alphabet) but I speak it with my family

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

IMO, you get a lot more points for speaking something than reading and writing, because speaking a language is a practical matter. As long as you don't fucking forget to use it and then forget the entire language. Err, yeah, okay, my bad!

[slodwick.livejournal.com]

Heh. Should I count American English and Queen's English as two languages? Because I feel confident I could converse fluently in either.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHA! You'd be surprised at how many people get seriously confused when they get to the UK.

[ranalore.livejournal.com]

It might be fun to ask people what variations on a single language they speak/read/write. You've got U. S. English and British English and Canadian English, but you've also got the way Ozarkians use U. S. English versus the way Texans use it versus...well, you get the idea. *G*

Also, I wanna know who marked Korean, because I've got a fandom to sell them.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

No, I am not going any further, because so far apparently there are about sixteen different kinds of English and French I've not covered, and trust me this was about general knowledge, and maybe finding someone to teach me Gaelic, nothing more ;-)

[zeenell]

I hit greek for the attic greek *g*

Mhmmm, even if I have issues with the fucking tenses (damn you aorist. And damn you middle voice)

I can read the bible in ancient greek, but I can't remember which dialect that actually is - I just know it's not attic.

Oh you damn jesuit college I transferred from!

[phineasjones.livejournal.com]

also, a very little bit of wolof, should you ever land a character in senegal.

:)

[romancandles.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I answered the first two before I looked at the options! CYBERSPEAK and then multiple Spanish languages! Also, um, not all eastern European languages are the same. *winces*

In coherant English

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I know not all Eastern European languages are the same. I certainly wouldn't expect to get by in Khazistan by speaking Romanian, but like the Scandinavian listing it was more a matter of grouping by region than by one language.

[serialkarma.livejournal.com]

I DON'T SPEAK BINARY!

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

You'll notice it says speak/READ/write, dear. Read before you complain.

[superslayer18.livejournal.com]

Russian love ^_^ I also checked off Spanish and Chinese (Mandarin). If you need any help with those, I'll be glad to help!

[lovestories.livejournal.com]

Languages-yay!

Foreign language and English were my favorite classes in high school, so I know a bunch. ♥

SPEAKING: English, Latin, Mandarin Chinese, [Japanese, French,] <-- less fluently than the other three, but still enough to get around the country

READING: English, Latin, [Mandarin Chinese, French] <-- enough to get around on, but much rustier than the other two, lol. In Mandarin, I can read short stories for elementary school kids, and uh, in French I can read menus and train tables and stuff. xD

WRITING: English, Latin, [Mandarin Chinese] <-- but only about as much as a 2nd grader >.>

[ellecain.livejournal.com]

Well, the local language round where I live is Marathi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathi_language). If you ever decide to write a story set in Mumbai then that's the one you want. Mumbai is actually the Marathi name for Bombay, which is why they changed it...

[fivil.livejournal.com]

But don't they mostly speak Hindi/Urdu in Mumbai?