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Which Language Would You Like To Learn?

3DOP

By 3DOP
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strappinglad Grand Master

strappinglad

Posted
Posted

I took a stab once at the Mayan glyphs. I discovered that despite the clean appearance of the glyphs, there were always styles from the writers themselves . It reminded me of reading English cursive script like a doctor's note on a prescription pad. We know it is English but the letters are not all formed the precise way as taught in school. Unlike cursive where some writing is scribbled ,the Mayan glyphs are well and clearly drawn, but ,like an artist, the writer added touches to personalized the work and it is hard work to tease out the meanings. It proved too much for my feeble mind.

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Stargazer Grand Master

Stargazer

Posted
Posted

Stargazer, Hi.

 

You have been observing the heavens since 1951. Unless you are speaking of the pre-existence, indicates that you are intending to learn a language at an age, when speaking for myself, memory functions are on the wane. But encourage me. Have you successfully used this course before? If not, I am not being skeptical. I wonder if it is the kind of thing one could "study" at least to an extent while driving? Anyway, that's great about your German and having retained it. Thanks for the reply and best of luck with all your future efforts.

 

Hmmm.  I'm 61 going on 62 very shortly.  And yes, "Observing the heavens since 1951" means that's when I was born.

 

I have given Pimsleur a brief trial, and it seemed to be working for me, so I thought I might give it my full bore attention and see what happens.

 

That being said, I am hesitant to bring up the reason why I am fairly certain I will be able to pick up at least one or two of these languages, if I try to do so.  On a surface level, I could say that I have a greater than average ability in languages, as little as I have actually exercised said ability.  My memory function seems at times to be waning, yes, but I have had odd things going on with my memory since I was a kid.  There are a few things that I have absolutely no recollection of that my mom and brother swore up and down happened, and happened in my presence, and the circumstances seemed to make it really weird that I couldn't remember them.

 

Check this out.  At age 13 my younger brother "borrowed" the family car and while messing around in a parking garage managed to break the arm of one of his friends with the car.  Our parents put him on "house arrest" for the summer, and for that three months he was not permitted to leave his room except to go to the bathroom, and my father even sawed off his bedroom door at the bottom, so his meals could be served to him as if he were in solitary confinement.  I don't remember anything about this. 

 

Another one.  At age 17 I was a caddy for the summer at a golf course near Toronto, Canada (where we were living due to my father's employment), and there was a big tournament.  Bob Hope came to play in the tournament, and I was chosen to caddy for Mr. Hope's professional caddy -- i.e. I carried the bag of clubs for Mr. Hope's caddy.  I went through an entire 18 hole game and don't remember anything at all about it.

 

But I can remember lots of stuff.  Just not certain stuff.  It's really odd.

Calm Grand Master

Calm

Posted
Posted

++Stargazer , if I didn't know better , I would say that it sounds like the side effects of the ' wildwood weed '

Sometimes if there are sleep issues, memory doesn't 'take'.  Perhaps for some reason Stargazer was suffering from sleep deprivation at the time or not getting enough deep sleep.

Stargazer Grand Master

Stargazer

Posted
Posted

Sometimes if there are sleep issues, memory doesn't 'take'.  Perhaps for some reason Stargazer was suffering from sleep deprivation at the time or not getting enough deep sleep.

 

Well, maybe with the caddying incident, but my brother's "incarceration" took place over the bulk of the summer.

 

I don't think I was sleep-deprived at the time I was caddying.  I am told that when I got home, my parents asked me what Bob Hope was like.  I responded "Who?"

EllenMaksoud Grand Master

EllenMaksoud

Posted
Posted

Alas, I speak only one language. Much is potentially lost in translation. You keep the poetry and lose the knowledge or the other way around. For those of you English speakers who like G.K. Chesterton, can you imagine trying to translate his work? His prose is poetry.

 

If you could take a "language pill" that would enable you to become instantly fluent in any language, which would it be? If you are so inclined, don't hesitate to share why.

 

1) Russian---It seems to me like much of the world's truly greatest, most thought provoking literature is in that language. Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Solzenhitsyn are followed by many brilliant authors less well known by most in the West.

 

2) Latin---It is the liturgical language of the Roman Church. Most of the Western Fathers also wrote in Latin. Many of the loveliest hymns of my faith are in Latin. I once heard on our classical music station the beautiful Panis Angelicus (Bread of Angels) by St. Thos. Aquinas. Guess who the singers were? The Mormon Tabernacle Choir! Beautifully done too.

 

3) French---I simply enjoy hearing the spoken word. It seems to me to combine the guttural strength of German with a gracefully elegant flow of the Mediterranean tongues.

 

4) Everything else from East to West! I also understand that there are variations in many national tongues. There is classical Greek, Koine Greek, and modern Greek. The pill is good for all changes in the older languages as well as dialects. You would be a master at understanding the nuances of all Chinese tongues. Shoot, I need that English pill. The Canterbury Tales!

 

Also, for those who speak multiple languages, share if you will why you learned and whether it has been continuously rewarding. I suppose many former missionaries learned a language for that reason. To share their testimonies. Have you retained it? (The language not the testimony). Did you gain a greater appreciation for the culture of the people? Lastly, would you really want a pill? Could it be argued that the joy is in the journey?

 

Thanks,

 

3DOP

Well, with my background, Arabic. And if I got a second choice Cymraeg.  :)

1
cursor Mentor

cursor

Posted
Posted

Yes! Another fan!

 

We used to "converse" in Mangani when we were a young bunch, my seven brothers and I. Memories.

 

BTW, I'm pretty sure that Pellucidar is within a 27 mile radius of Zarahemla. I'll see if I can come up with some supportive quotes. ;)

cursor Mentor

cursor

Posted
Posted

Given the very similar grammatical structures shared by Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese, I'm going to attempt a translation of Mormon's Condex into all of them. No doubt I'll seek the assistance of native speakers. I'm working on the Spanish translation currently.

Calm Grand Master

Calm

Posted
Posted (edited)

We used to "converse" in Mangani when we were a young bunch, my seven brothers and I. Memories.

 

BTW, I'm pretty sure that Pellucidar is within a 27 mile radius of Zarahemla. I'll see if I can come up with some supportive quotes. ;)

Did you ever read Philip José Farmer's Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke?  it is remarkable the bloodlines of that man.

Edited by calmoriah
cursor Mentor

cursor

Posted
Posted

Did you ever read Philip José Farmer's Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke?  it is remarkable the bloodlines of that man.

 

Nope. I'm afraid I missed that one.

3DOP Grand Master

3DOP

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well, with my background, Arabic. And if I got a second choice Cymraeg.  :)

I don't think of Arabic often enough. I think that even without a background, Arabic would be easily in my top ten and maybe five. Who cannot love how written Arabic appears?

 

So, Ellen. Hi. Good choice.

 

Thanks for the reply. But Cymraeg? Who speaks a language so named and where? How does one pronounce the "C"? Cymraeg as in chimney?

EllenMaksoud Grand Master

EllenMaksoud

Posted
Posted

I don't think of Arabic often enough. I think that even without a background, Arabic would be easily in my top ten and maybe five. Who cannot love how written Arabic appears?

 

So, Ellen. Hi. Good choice.

 

Thanks for the reply. But Cymraeg? Who speaks a language so named and where? How does one pronounce the "C"? Cymraeg as in chimney?

Oh, you are just very welcome. I don't really know much Arabic and realized today that I do not know the words for thankyoui, please, I'm sorry. How sad. Must work on this.

 

So, I I pulled a dirty trick on you, Sorry. :) Cymraeg is the Welsh national language, though they have to know English as well.  According to my Welsh friend, the Welsh are not citizens of the Common Wealth by choice. Across the channel, along

the French shore, they speak the same language.

 

My Welsh writer friend is still a bit churlish over the fact that the Normons invaded around 1000 AD and took over. The people of what we now call the British Isles, gradually came to an uneasy peace over the next 500 years of bloody wars. UK history is fascinating to hear about when my friend talks about it. He's married :(

 

After talking to him, I would cheerfully let the folk over there come over to the US, kick our government out, and make us British subjects once again. I have never been so disgusted in my life with the two parties we have that can't agree on anything. And we pay them for this?  I think we should put them all on Alcatraz and not send any food over till they get some work done.

1
Nathair/|\ Mentor

Nathair/|\

Posted
Posted (edited)

Oh, you are just very welcome. I don't really know much Arabic and realized today that I do not know the words for thankyoui, please, I'm sorry. How sad. Must work on this.

 

So, I I pulled a dirty trick on you, Sorry. :) Cymraeg is the Welsh national language, though they have to know English as well.  According to my Welsh friend, the Welsh are not citizens of the Common Wealth by choice. Across the channel, along

the French shore, they speak the same language.

 

My Welsh writer friend is still a bit churlish over the fact that the Normons invaded around 1000 AD and took over. The people of what we now call the British Isles, gradually came to an uneasy peace over the next 500 years of bloody wars. UK history is fascinating to hear about when my friend talks about it. He's married :sad:

 

After talking to him, I would cheerfully let the folk over there come over to the US, kick our government out, and make us British subjects once again. I have never been so disgusted in my life with the two parties we have that can't agree on anything. And we pay them for this?  I think we should put them all on Alcatraz and not send any food over till they get some work done.

Cymraeg is beautiful. I named my youngest son Taliesin after the  Ben Beirdd.  However, I think that among Brythonic languages, Breton and Cornish are more endangered, so that's a higher priority for me.  

Edited by Nathair
1
3DOP Grand Master

3DOP

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Allow me to repeat my question about Cymraeg. Pronounced as a soft "s", a hard 'c", or as a chimney?

 

I should have known it was Welsh though. The "y" was a giveaway. I'd be interested in Gaelic too Nathair.

 

Ellen, as for being British subjects, I am not at all committed to any certainty that I could have supported an American Revolution in 1776. I tend to think that if I could have been so persuaded then, there are even greater arguments for such an event today, if it were not for the considerably greater impracticality. (Not saying I am for revolution now either. Just saying that I don't think a tax on stamps and tea was such an onerous burden for ungrateful colonists after having been defended by the Mother Country in the French and Indian War.)

Edited by 3DOP
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volgadon Grand Master

volgadon

Posted
Posted

Allow me to repeat my question about Cymraeg. Pronounced as a soft "s", a hard 'c", or as a chimney?

 

An imperfect aproximation is Kumreg.

Kenngo1969 Grand Master

Kenngo1969

Posted
Posted

I took a stab once at the Mayan glyphs. I discovered that despite the clean appearance of the glyphs, there were always styles from the writers themselves . It reminded me of reading English cursive script like a doctor's note on a prescription pad. We know it is English but the letters are not all formed the precise way as taught in school. Unlike cursive where some writing is scribbled ,the Mayan glyphs are well and clearly drawn, but ,like an artist, the writer added touches to personalized the work and it is hard work to tease out the meanings. It proved too much for my feeble mind.

Fascinating! :)

Damien the Leper Grand Master

Damien the Leper

Posted
Posted (edited)

Heh. I think I see a theme here. Did you mean to leave out Chaldean? I was thinking that is thought to be the language of Daniel during the Captivity, although I don't suppose we have any texts.

There is definitely a trend. Though I should also include Arabic. Concerning the Chaldean language...I have no idea but I would go for it if Daniel spoke it. Daniel and Jeremiah are two of my Hebrew Bible faves.

Edited by Valentinus
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