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

[aphelant.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I can swear in Cree! Okay, like, one word. But still!

[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. :)

[ladyblack888.livejournal.com]

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

[sloganeer.livejournal.com]

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

[sloganeer.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.)

Agreed! I clicked both American and British, but we're really somewhere in between.

[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.

[shrewreader.livejournal.com]

Dude. I totally forgot to include Latin.

Blin!!

[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. ._.

[mearagrrl.livejournal.com]

I was going to say, ASL! Which made the "without sign language" make me laugh and laugh.

Rather less of a "dropped off in a foriegn country", though on Gallaudet's campus, it can be a little intimidating...but that's only a few blocks.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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*

[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.

[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*

[serialkarma.livejournal.com]

I DON'T SPEAK BINARY!

[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!

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

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

[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 >.>

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I do understand, darling, that Scandinavian isn't one language. It's a furniture design! But I started thinking about listing every last language in every last country and well, my brain started to hurt. But I don't want you to think I did it on purpose, it was more a matter of condensing for space.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

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

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.

[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...

[raucousraven.livejournal.com]

Like several others up there, I am fluent in Canadian English and Quebecois French, both weird regional hybrids with their own quirks, terms and accents. I'm having a small but ongoing discussion about what to do should I start teaching French, because my current accent may not be Parisian enough to pass for "neutral." (My current solution is something along the lines of SEND ME TO PARIS FOR 3 MONTHS kthxbai! Hey, I can try...)