Author Topic: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF  (Read 17399 times)

agagisgroovy

  • Formely yellow-ceitidh
The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« on: 02 April, 2008, 04:29:28 pm »
Mine are:  ;D

English (fluent)
Gaelic (Skye dialect, but can change to Stornoway accent without too much bother. Can sing and get the gist of BBC Radio nan Gaidheal)
German (on Unit 5 of 1st textbook)
French (halfway through third textbook, but I drop in words from German and can't speak very well)
Scots (can understand)
Dutch/Flemish, Italian, Irish and Danish (random words I have picked up from holidays/music)

tiermat

  • According to Jane, I'm a Unisex SpaceAdmin
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #1 on: 02 April, 2008, 04:33:37 pm »
I always say that no matter what the local language is, I can usually learn the basic profanities in 30 minutes of the plane putting down!!!

Thus far I managed this in:
Magyar
French
German
Spanish
Italian
Farsi
Urdu
Afrikaans
I feel like Captain Kirk, on a brand new planet every day, a little like King Kong on top of the Empire State

Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #2 on: 02 April, 2008, 04:34:28 pm »
English (fluent)
French (learning, should be GCSE A-C level by September)
German (unused since school, but can get by when necessary, next on list to top up after French)
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Julian

  • samoture
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #3 on: 02 April, 2008, 04:36:09 pm »
English
French - used to be fluent, sadly no longer
German - basic

Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse :D

I can read Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish to the extent of being able to understand the front page of a (basic) newspaper, think the Sun rather than the FT.  And I tried learning Somali but it appears that my gift for languages extends only to Indo-European ones... the grammar flummoxed me completely.  I may have another go some time.

bikenerd

Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #4 on: 02 April, 2008, 04:41:21 pm »
I was going to make the obvious C, C++, Python, FORTRAN, BASIC, 68K assembly language joke.  But I won't.
Basic French and Spanish.  Enough to read a menu and order.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #5 on: 02 April, 2008, 04:45:38 pm »
English (the only language in which I'm vaguely proficient)
French O Level 1973. Can manage a basic conversation.
German O Level 1974. Likewise
Hebrew can read and manage basic conversation
Smattering of parental languages: Flemish/Dutch & Danish

I have no knowledge of the prevalent languages in Brent...

Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #6 on: 02 April, 2008, 04:50:22 pm »
English.
Understandable gesticulations when abroad.
Shouting loudly when gesticulations are not understood.

Charlotte

  • Dissolute libertine
  • Here's to ol' D.H. Lawrence...
    • charlottebarnes.co.uk
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #7 on: 02 April, 2008, 04:52:17 pm »
Nutty...  yACF's answer to Alan Whicker  :D
Commercial, Editorial and PR Photographer - www.charlottebarnes.co.uk

Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #8 on: 02 April, 2008, 05:19:52 pm »
When drunk, I've found I can speak any language. Anywhere. In the entire world.

Or at least I think I can  :P
Those wonderful norks are never far from my thoughts, oh yeah!

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #9 on: 02 April, 2008, 05:27:58 pm »
English (rusty)
French (rusty)
German (rusty)
Russian (almost completely forgotten)
Getting there...

Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #10 on: 02 April, 2008, 05:44:36 pm »
English - mother tongue
Swedish - rustily fluent, so I can read Danish, though really struggle spoken Danish. I can read and understand some Norwegian dialects.
German - Intermediate
Magyar - shamefully inadequate, though I can swear adequately and order a beer
Haggerty F, Haggerty R, Tomkins, Noble, Carrick, Robson, Crapper, Dewhurst, Macintyre, Treadmore, Davitt.

Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #11 on: 02 April, 2008, 05:54:14 pm »
Three mother tongues:

Limburgic
Dutch
German

Learned later:
English, fairly fluent
Esperanto, fairly fluent
French, not yet fluent but enough to get around well
Russian, halting enough for basic conversation and debating with policemen
Lithuanian, forgotten most of it

Only passive knowledge:
Letzeburgisch
Afrikaans
a wide array of German dialects

Some bits and pieces of other European languages

I've published in Dutch, German, English and Esperanto.

Eccentrica Gallumbits

  • Rock 'n' roll and brew, rock 'n' roll and brew...
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #12 on: 02 April, 2008, 06:25:17 pm »
English - reasonably fluent
French - O level 1987, very rusty now
Spanish - A level 1989, very rusty now
German and Greek - hello, goodbye, please and thank you
Spranglaisdeutsch - a mixture of French, Spanish, English and German - very fluent
Urdu - hello and goodbye
My feminist marxist dialectic brings all the boys to the yard.


Dave

Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #13 on: 02 April, 2008, 06:42:25 pm »
English - can make myself understood
Potteries - a little rusty, better at deciphering it than speaking it now

French - O level 1984 (I'm old  :(), really struggle to understand people speaking it, can apologise for not being able to speak it

Spanish - can't even apologise for not being able to speak it

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #14 on: 02 April, 2008, 06:57:12 pm »
English
Rough "O" level French
Rougher "O" level German
Motorola 6809 assembly language  ;)
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Hummers

  • It is all about the taste.
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #15 on: 02 April, 2008, 07:00:43 pm »
Oh, I have the gift of tongues alright.   :P

1. Devonian
2. Profanity
3. Errr...
4. That's it.

H


PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #16 on: 02 April, 2008, 07:24:03 pm »
Well aren't we all a bunch of cunning linguists? :D

CathH

Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #17 on: 02 April, 2008, 08:39:04 pm »
English
French (rusty in the extreme)

Lack of travel is my excuse.   ;)

Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #18 on: 02 April, 2008, 08:39:53 pm »
English
Potteries-speak
Rubbish,double dutch & nonsense
Limited (To mostly 4 letters) Anglo Saxon

Alan(using Marj's account)

Bluebottle

  • Everybody's gotta be somewhere
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #19 on: 02 April, 2008, 08:41:29 pm »
In a similar fashion:

English (reasonable)
Northern (braw)
French (pas mal)
Gibberish (excels)
Dieu, je vous soupçonne d'ĂȘtre un intellectuel de gauche.

FGG #5465

Jules

  • Has dropped his aitch!
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #20 on: 02 April, 2008, 08:47:30 pm »
English (quite well actually)
Italian (Conversational)
Rusty French & Spanish

Can read enough German and Latin to get by
Audax on the other hand is almost invisible and thought to be the pastime of Hobbits ....  Fab Foodie

Maladict

Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #21 on: 02 April, 2008, 09:01:39 pm »
English - C at Higher
Japanese - a smattering from lessons at a previous employer (o hai  ;D).  No, really: biiru o kudasai.  kore wa no mai shei desu.  domo arigato gozaimashita etc.
Spanish - Hola, buenos dias, etc.
French - B at Higher, usually a bit rusty till I've been in theatre for a week or two.  Comment ca va?  Vous et tres belle.  Voulez vous +++ NO CARRIER


Basil

  • Um....err......oh bugger!
  • Help me!
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #22 on: 02 April, 2008, 10:15:15 pm »
English - Still learning
Brummie - Still learning
French - Was good, if a little 1970s street.  Now rusty but enough to get on.
German - Dieing through lack of use.
Japenese - Was getting there.  But now probably faded away.
Bollox - I'm told that this is what I talk most of the time.
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

Gus

  • Loosing weight stone by stone
    • We will return
Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #23 on: 02 April, 2008, 10:22:26 pm »
Danish
Swedish
Norwegian
English
some german and Flemish
a little spanish, and dutch and French.

That's what you get out of living in a small country.

Re: The Multi-Linguistic Talents of yACF
« Reply #24 on: 02 April, 2008, 10:35:18 pm »
Apart from the obvious:

French
Russian (fluent reading, less fluent speaking)

Employing bits of French, Latin and general nous, I can generally make some kind of sense of written Italian and Spanish.  Occasionally even the sense intended by the writer...