# What language can you speak? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 13, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618 "2004-08-13T00:20:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/61 "2004-08-16T10:41:24Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > I know, I know - it’s a separate language. But have you ever heard Catalan? Yep. It sounds to me like a blend of Spanish, French and Italian. It _looks_ more like French to me. ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/62 "2004-08-16T12:10:07Z")
> [@Angua](#): > > Kutchi muji maji basha ain. Hey! My boss is Kutchi, and in the past year I’ve managed to pick up enough to understand it. The similarity to Gujarati helps, I guess (I grew up in Bombay - can’t avoid them Gujjus there!) ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/63 "2004-08-16T12:11:43Z")
> [@gouda](#): > > Hey! My boss is Kutchi, and in the past year I’ve managed to pick up enough to understand it. The similarity to Gujarati helps, I guess (I grew up in Bombay - can’t avoid them Gujjus there!) Yeah, its very similar to Gujerati. Personally, I think Kutchi’s a bit softer, more musical than Gujerati, but then, it is my mother tongue. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/64 "2004-08-16T12:43:10Z")
:: **Sunspace** returns from holidays :: I speak English. Mi parolas Esperanton. Je parle français un peu. Finnish… :: swoon :: ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/65 "2004-08-16T13:53:19Z")
> [@syncrolecyne](#): > > Eu falo um pouco de portugués. Eu acho que é o idioma mais bela do mundo. Eu tambem acho que é. Mas o Portugues do Brasil é muito mais bonito do que o Portugues do Portugal. Ik spreek ook nog heel goed Nederlands. Als het om de esthetische kwaliteit van een taal gaat, is Nederlands het tegenovergestelde van Portugees. Ich spreche sehr gut Deutsch da es meine Muttersprache ist. I am also a native speaker in (American) English. Je parle un peu de français (enough to ask where the bathrooms are). Translations: “I also think this. However, The Brazilian Portuguese is much nicer than the Protuguese spoken in Portugal.” “I also speak Dutch very well. When speaking of the esthetic qualities of a language, Dutch is the opposite of Portuguese.” “My German is very good, since it is my mother tongue.” ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/66 "2004-08-16T14:11:50Z")
> [@Angua](#): > > Oh, yeah, I can understand spoken Surinamese as well. I assume you mean “Sarnami Hindi”, which is descended from Hindi, and spoken by a lot of Hindustanis who came to Suriname in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The official language of Suriname is still Dutch, but there are speakers of Creole (Sranan), Chinese, Javanese, and Native American languages in Suriname. However, now that you reminded me, I understand [Papiamentu](http://www.narin.com/papiamentu/), which is the local language of the Dutch Antilles (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao). ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/67 "2004-08-16T14:22:45Z")
English is my native language. I lived in Prague for a couple of years after college and speak Czech pretty well, although I’m out of practice. I still remember a little Spanish from college, and a very little French from high school. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/68 "2004-08-16T14:42:19Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Oh, just wanted to point out that even though I could read Catalan, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it when spoken. Yeah, I felt the same way when I went to Argentina for a while. The Spanish there compared to the Spanish in Spain is SO different. It’s a lot more sing-songy depending on where you go, and a lot of the “ll’s” are pronounced “J.” When I moved to Chile and travelled to Argentina and areas where they speak Catalan, I think they probably thought I was a bit stupid. Since most of my teachers were from Spain, I was trained to speak and understand Spanish spoken there rather than in other places first, which made it really difficult for me to understand Spanish spoken anywhere else. As for Catalan - I had never really had a reason to speak it, except on a few occasions, but had the opportunity to read it quite a bit. For the first few weeks in each place, I got a lot of people repeating things to me really slow, and really, really loud. 'Cause if you talk louder, I can understand a new language or dialect better. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/69 "2004-08-16T14:44:05Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > I assume you mean “Sarnami Hindi”, which is descended from Hindi, and spoken by a lot of Hindustanis who came to Suriname in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The official language of Suriname is still Dutch, but there are speakers of Creole (Sranan), Chinese, Javanese, and Native American languages in Suriname. Yeah, that’s what I meant. Although I can understand Dutch as well. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/70 "2004-08-16T15:03:35Z")
> [@Angua](#): > > Yeah, that’s what I meant. Although I can understand Dutch as well. Wow, that’s pretty amazing! You speak several Germanic languages (English, Dutch and German), Arabic, French, Polish, Kutchi, Gijerati, Hindu and Urdu. I was always curious, is Urdu close to Farsi? I can’t even imagine having the brain capacity to speak all those languages, and be an astronomer also. If I’m ever not married anymore, can I give you a call? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/71 "2004-08-16T15:07:03Z")
Ek kan Afrikaans praat, en gebruik die taal elke dag. Puedo hablar un poco Espanol (but I have to think about it way too hard, because everytime I try to say it in Spanish, it comes out in Afrikaans. I haven’t figured that out.) I can speak a little bit of Thai, (my mom is Thai) but not much. And I certainly can’t read or write it. And I seriously struggle with the phoneticized versions because to me, they’re so far off from how things are actually pronounced. I can read Dutch, Flemish and German with a pretty reliable degree of accuracy, but can’t speak them. One of these days, I’ll get brave enough to learn a language with its own alphabet. It will probably be Thai, but the whole principle of tones and inflections changing the meaning of a word entirely is a little bit daunting. I have a funny anecdote about that, but it’s definitely one appreciated orally, not written down. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/72 "2004-08-16T15:10:23Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > Wow, that’s pretty amazing! You speak several Germanic languages (English, Dutch and German), Arabic, French, Polish, Kutchi, Gijerati, Hindu and Urdu. I was always curious, is Urdu close to Farsi? From what I’ve heard, there are some similarities, but I can’t be 100% sure. Oh, and I _understand_ but not speak Dutch and Arabic. > [@](#): > > I can’t even imagine having the brain capacity to speak all those languages, and be an astronomer also. If I’m ever not married anymore, can I give you a call? 😉 😃 We’ll see. Although you might piss a certain someone off. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/73 "2004-08-16T16:48:17Z")
I forgot the obligatory movie quote: > [@](#): > > **Korben Dallas:** Whoa, lady, I only speak two languages, English and bad English. > _[Leeloo continues to talk in divine language]_ > **Korben Dallas:** Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for conversation, but maybe you could just shut up for a moment? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/74 "2004-08-16T19:04:35Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > [**Angua** , y]ou speak several Germanic languages (English, Dutch and German), Arabic, French, Polish, Kutchi, Gijerati, Hindu and Urdu. I was always curious, is Urdu close to Farsi? I can’t even imagine having the brain capacity to speak all those languages, and be an astronomer also. If I’m ever not married anymore, can I give you a call? 🙂 I’m first! I’m first! I’m already not married! **Angua** , turn me down first! :: pushes :: :: shoves :: 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/75 "2004-08-16T19:27:13Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I’m first! I’m first! I’m already not married! **Angua** , turn me down first! > :: pushes :: :: shoves :: > > 🙂 Get out of here. You are in my way. 😛 I am so happy this thread has had so many replies. I keep coming back to read them, and love all the different languages that you dopers have. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/76 "2004-08-16T19:28:16Z")
I speak English. Yo hablo un poquito de Espanol, y. . . . . . je parles un peux de Francais. However, I speak fluent alphonetics over the radio. Tripler Yeppers, that’s a bravo two six alpha quebec two niner. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/77 "2004-08-16T21:15:12Z")
> [@InvidiousCourgette](#): > > Get out of here. You are in my way. Wait a minute! You don’t get to turn me down as well, do you? [sub]Er, you _are_ female, aren’t you?[/sub] Finnish… :: swoon :: _thud_ ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/78 "2004-08-16T21:55:55Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I’m first! I’m first! I’m already not married! **Angua** , turn me down first! > :: pushes :: :: shoves :: > > 🙂 Well, in keping with this thread, I shall reject you as poetically as I can, in Hindi… Mein kisi aur se pyar karthi hun. Wo mera dil churalia, aur mein islelyen pagali hun. Mein kya karun? And now in German, just for variety 😉 Ich liebe ein anders. Er hat meinen herz gestohlen, und ich bin auf ihm abfahren. Was kann ich machen? Sounds better in Hindi, methinks. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![moonbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@moonbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonbunny)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/79 "2004-08-17T03:50:47Z")
Yo soy hispanoparlante nativa, mas he estudiado francés y japonés. In addition, I also know random words and phrases and things in various languages. I feel so inadequate next to some of the polyglots I’ve encountered in this thread! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2004, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/80 "2004-08-17T10:20:42Z")
> [@Angua](#): > > Sounds better in Hindi, methinks. 😉 Actually, your doctoral thesis probably sounds better in Hindi than in German. German is the language of Göthe and Schiller, but it’s not a very _pretty_ language. speaking of doctoral theses, I always wanted to present mine as a kind of Gregorian chant: "On the use of quartz crystal microbalaaaaannnnnnncceeeeeesssss to measure the depppppoooooossssssiiiitttttiiiiiiooooonnnnnn of copper ions in a gold llllllaaaaaayyyyyyyyeeeerrrrrrr. Aaaaaaaammmmmmmeeeeeeennnnnnnn." For some reason my Prof wasn’t really keen on that idea. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618.md?page=5)