calticitron

Personally, I could only realistically learn 3-4 languages, maybe even 5 if I would actually get paid for the 5th

Kidding aside, the amount of languages a person could realistically learn might depend on how patient that person is when it comes to actually developing his/her self in being able to speak and be fluent in a language. Also, mother tongues have origins and their "relatives". If you are able to speak a language, the verb forms, sentence constructions, and some word meanings in its "family" are almost alike with one another. Although not always applicable for every language, this might make it just a little faster for one to accumulate learning several languages in a lifetime.

I actually have an Indonesian friend whose family can speak a bit of Filipino slash Visayan (a popular dialect in the Philippines, south of the country) because they worked in India with other Filipinos for more than half a decade back in the 1980's. I also realized (while talking to the same friend) that some words in Filipino are similar to some of the words in Indonesia.

However, I really doubt it would be easier for me who can speak Tagalog to learn Bahasa faster just because of these similarities. One needs to take into account the accent, sentence construction, and the alphabet. All of which will always take time to master and be fluent in.

While I was studying basic Swedish, there were several songs that I always listened to. I did not necessarily understand what they meant, nor could I properly hear what they sung because of their accent and speed, but I believe that I was able to relate to them.

I would look up the lyrics and translate the words I did not comprehend. Then, I would listen to the song again right after. It also gives me a better idea on how some sentences are constructed in Swedish, and makes learning the language faster.

I've read somewhere in the internet that multilingualism definitely gives the brain a workout even at the earliest stage of mental growth (during infancy). It "physically" reshapes the patterns at which the brain is able to function.

With this information, I would most definitely try to teach the next generation more than one language that I am able to learn. Whether or not this works, at least they are given the privilege to learn several languages as they grow up 

As shallow as it may sound, I find it attractive when people can speak at least two languages fluently, English being one of those two. I am not sure if I know how to properly explain it, but I think it is because I find that communication plays an important role in a relationship. If two people could not get their points across to one another because of a language barrier especially during a fight, it might make the situation a lot worse.

This is pretty much how I felt when I moved to Sweden, which is a country who really imposes the use of their own language on you. Knowing English would be beneficial when looking for work, of course, but they prefer people who speak Swedish. So, I started going to school and I was really bewildered to find out that they taught Swedish in Swedish. Sometimes, they would translate to English. Sometimes. So, for my other classmates who did not know how to speak English, the teachers would act out what the words meant like walking, running, talking, eating, and a lot more. It starts to get funny when they try to teach words like honest, nice, or irritating.

It would be so much fun to be thrown into an environment where I didn't speak the language. I would like to see how I react to that and how quickly I could learn words when force to. I would probably also feel alone because I wouldn't know how to communicate.

The next language that I would like to learn is Spanish.

The Spaniards have occupied my mother country, the Philippines, for almost 400 years since the year 1521 and we have incorporated many Spanish words into our language for everyday use. Most of our elders learned and spoke fluent Spanish as it was part of their university curriculum. I would like to think that learning this language and their culture would make me touch base with our heritage, and make me better understand how some of our Filipino words came about.

I speak English in class and with family and friends. I speak Filipino with some of those who came from the Philippines, as well. If I were to weigh which one I use more often, it would definitely be English as it would be easier for everyone to understand each other immediately instead of wasting time translating what one is saying to another if we all hung out as a group.

I agree with most of what you have said here. I am a Filipino, and we had three classes of English growing up. Job interviews and CV's must also be in English as well. You have to be skillful in your area of expertise, and being fluent in English adds major bonus points if you are working to go higher up the corporate ladder.

Although this is a stereotype, this is pretty much based on truth from what I've seen here in the US. Most Europeans know two or more languages and Asians are pressured to learn English hardcore from an early age as examination of English proficiency is something they will have to go through throughout their job-seeking process. But what I've noticed time and again is that Americans tend to mostly know only English. Yes they do know a couple very basic Spanish words time to time since they live right next to Mexico and there are a lot of Hispanics in the US but I have found it very difficult to find bilingual Americans. Moreover, American tourists tend to take for granted that English will be understood wherever they travel.

My first language is English, but my mother tongue is Filipino, and it is personally more difficult for me to speak my mother tongue because we grew up speaking English. Hopefully, it would be easier for me since I have been practicing and reading texts in Filipino. I definitely want to be fluent in my mother tongue.

First rule of Fight Club is you never talking about Fight Club!

I think that line is just really kick-ass and every time my friends get together and someone says that line, we all just start feeling tough like the characters in that movie!

"Alright", he said.

He took a step past the door, but the pungent odor must have registered in his senses as he suddenly looked horrified.

I think the British accent tops my list of favorite English accents. It sounds very elegant. The second on my list is the Scandinavian accent because it does not really sound English, German-like. It seems weird putting it that way, but I think that is exactly the reason why I like their listening to their accent.

This is the first time I have heard about these types of translations, and it is very interesting to read about them! My personal experience when it comes to translations is when hanging out with people here in Sweden. Some of my friends speak just in Filipino or just in Swedish and often times, I have to translate for both so that they can understand each other. I guess the trick is to use the important phrases or "keywords" of every topic so that they are able to get the gist of what everyone is talking about.

I have always wanted to learn French since I was a child. I am currently taking courses on a different language, but I have heard from some of my classmates that French is one of the most difficult to learn. Having read your explanation, I am beginning to feel discouraged in attempting to learn more about it haha! Discouraged, but challenged at the same time. I have to say, though, that this information was definitely interesting.

Katakana has always amazed and interested me but let us just say that I never had the courage to learn it because of my friends. They always complain of how difficult it is, and that it takes a lot of time to practice this type of handwriting. Now, I am suddenly wondering how long it would take to learn Katakana. What would be the shortest amount of time possible to learn the basics of it, and would these sheets speed up the process?

I really doubt Taglish would be considered an official language and it used to often irritate me when I hear my fellowmen speaking in mixed Filipino and English. Although, I got a bit used to hearing this when I ended up having classmates who don't speak Filipino, but are really making an effort to learn it. They try to practice using different Filipino words they learned and just connect them with English words if they could not remember or figure out which Filipino word to use next. I'm not saying that this is why most people speak Taglish, but it certainly gave me a new perspective regarding this mix of languages.

Growing up as a child, I've had quite a bit of trouble understanding how one word that ends in an exclamation point can be considered a sentence. Our teachers always explained to us that they are called "action sentences". I am currently taking a refresher course in English and it is only lately that it dawned on me that these sentences can also be called "Exclamatory Words". When put that way, it actually started to make sense. Exclamatory words are used to solicit strong emotional responses, and below is a list I have put together off the top of my head.

Run!

Brilliant!

Fantastic!

Go!

I've seen sentences of this type, and some people still get confused on how to properly create or understand them. I remember two rules when it comes to exclamatory sentences: to use "what" when the noun in the sentence is plural, and that to use the exclamation point only at the end of the sentence.

Rule Number 1 Example: What obedient dogs these are!

Rule Number 2 Example: Hey, don't go there!

I hope I was able to contribute properly to this thread with these set of rules  :party:

The importance of good English grammar is evident when dealing with people internationally. I would agree with most of what have been said on this page, but at the end of the day, it only boils down to one question: did you get your point across properly? I believe that this is the sole purpose of having good English grammar; to avoid being misunderstood, mostly. Otherwise, I think being able to speak English on an average level is alright.

Scandinavian languages are similar in their vocabulary and grammar, but they're not exactly the same. You'd be able to comprehend certain words the same way you understand German from knowing English (lampen, apfel, zucker, etc.), but you wouldn't be able to flawlessly speak the language itself, especially if you start with Swedish.

The languages are a bit more closely related than English/German though, and you would be able to understand around 80-90% of Swedish vocabulary and written language by speaking Norwegian. If you want to understand Danish or Swedish as well in addition to your new language, your best bet is probably to start learning Norwegian (Bokmål), as it shares the most in common with the other languages.

And Finnish is just completely different.

I definitely agree on this one. Swedish and Norwegian are more alike in language, but Finnish has a totally different structure. For making things easier to understand, let us just say that Scandinavian languages can be compared to English (but they are Germanic in reality, of course). You have the American English, the British English and their accent, and then there's Australian and Canadian English plus their accents. The words are almost identical to each other, yet they differ in spelling, which also means alphabet, and the most obvious of all, pronunciation.

For me, the most beautiful building in Stockholm is the Royal Opera House. It has a neoclassical front facade. I have always passed by its statues, arches, and columns that were said to be of Corinthian and Tuscan designs. The auditorium can accommodate to more than a thousand people, has this elegant chandelier, and paintings on the ceiling by one of the most popular painters in Sweden in the 1800's.

Most Catholic schools in my country taught cursive writing when I was still in elementary. I have no idea if they stopped teaching this nowadays, but if they did, I think it is because of the influence typography has on everyone. You don't really see anyone using cursive writing all over the web and print, unless it's used for decorative purposes. Hopefully, schools are still teaching cursive writing to children. It doesn't hurt to have good handwriting skills for when you don't have access to a computer. 

While I agree with most replies here to depend on a person to properly translate for you instead of letting a machine do it, there isn't always somebody available to ask. I suggest that if you need an entire sentence translated, and doubt the ability of Google Translate to do its work properly, try translating by word. In a sentence, you would eventually notice which words are the important ones. You can translate each word separately and put them all into context. This solution always worked for me, and I hope that it works for others too  :grin:

This is an intriguing topic, as I prefer using informal language even in the office. Although, one word that I can suggest is "intermittent". Say, for example, you need to submit a formal complaint about your network because you keep getting disconnected. You can probably say, "I have had intermittent internet connection since this morning, and it has been difficult for me to work properly." Tada!