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Kotro

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Everything posted by Kotro

  1. This doesn't happen to me personaly, but one of the weirdest repercussions of knowing more than one language is when people switch languages mid-sentence, without two seconds thought, if they fail to elaborate the expression they want in one of the languages. I can't help but give them a look and come up with a solution in the same language. I see it more as laziness from them than a proof of proficiency.
  2. It's always a hassle, especially with the new digital age/www lingo. "Selfie" has been repeated in the media lately instead of the former Portuguese word for it, "auto-retrato" (self-portrait) - that annoys me a bit. But it's not like we haven't imported words from English before: we still use expressions for football imported over 100 years ago from English, like "penalty". The French are pretty good at coming up with equivalent expressions in their language. Trouble is, I'm not sure how good that is for the survival of the language...
  3. Yeah, not sure about what's implied in "reading alone". Do you mean reading aloud instead of just for yourself? If so, I think learning a language is one of the few cases when doing so is better than reading silently, as you can better grasp the flow of the words and compare what comes out of your mouth with what you hear from others.
  4. Not sure about that. Italian, Spanish or Portuguese would be a better origin, because the French don't really have the "e" in the end and it would weird for English to add it out of nowhere.
  5. Just think of what most languages looked like 1000 years ago - very different, but still, for the most part, inteligible with a bit of study. Now think of the way culture has evolved in the last 100 years, and the rate at which it has done so. I'm guessing that at this rate, in a lot less time than 1000 years, we'll probably have crossed some sort of "language singularity", where languages of our time and the future one will be completely different and mutually uninteligible. As to how the evolution of language will process, it's anyone's guess - English might be in the forefront as the basis for future language evolution, but who knows what's around the corner in a hundred years time?
  6. I've had an account there for a while now, follow some people and have a couple of papers there, but I'm sure I'm not using it for its whole potential or even visit that much as well. It's interesting when I get notifications that people found my profile or works, and the keywords they used to get that result - I always a weird feeling when they notify me someone has found my work by googling my name...
  7. I'm not sure about the best-sounding language for swearing, but the most suitable with probably be any other than the language spoken at the place you're at. Unless, of course you're not just venting and actually want something to occur out of the swearing - in that case make it inteligible. As for quantity and quality, I can only judge on the languages I know best. From those I think English just takes the biscuit - there is just a lot more variety to it, and also a great freedom to combine words into new ones that just isn't possible in Portuguese.
  8. Long books and series are not a problem for me. But if you care to give me an indication of shorter books, I'm all hears!
  9. I'm afraid I'm at quite a loss when knowing when someone is talking about me, even if it's in my language and I'm in earshot - that's how aloof I can be. And, then again, I really don't care. As Wilde, put it, it is better being ill-spoken of than not being spoken about at all.
  10. Why on earth not? I know plenty of good interpreters who aren't. Sadly one does find less than competent interpreters out there. But you have to keep in mind, it's a very though job and errors are natural to occur. They have to think fast and often in antecipation - I find it's often most useful to have better knowledge of the topic of the conversation being interpreted than of the languages it's in.
  11. Yeah, I know Asimov by reputation, and mean to get into him reading him soon enough. I'm thinking about the Foundation trilogy for a start, what do you think?
  12. I began learning English the moment my parents sat me in front of a television set. I really can't remember the rate of my learning, but I was almost at the level I am today by age 10.
  13. I am always eager to learn new words in any language, but I haven't got the faintest idea of how large my vocabulary might be and, quite frankly, I don't see why I should. It sounds terribly pedantic to keep track of such a thing.
  14. Yeah, I have some friends who are taking Japanese. In their class there's a guy who picked up a lot of the language from Animes, and the teacher (who is Japanese herself) can't stand him, says his Japanese is incredibly rude and that animes have basically spoiled his learning the language properly.
  15. She looked younger in the picture, and the faux black & white effect almost fooled me, but it was definitely her. Looked like one of those selfies kids put on the Internet. She didn't smile as much when I first met her, alone at that park in front of Town Hall. How could I've forgoten her face? How could I forgot the girl who got away? And, most important, how did her father happen to come by my door?
  16. I think, as a translator, that learning new languages will open up new avenues for me professionally. It's a competitive market ou there, one cannot really make due working with just one or two combinations.
  17. It exists as any constructed language, like Klingon, Kobaïan, or Esperanto. Some are more developed than others and actually permit conversation, but most, especially those based on fiction, are mostly vocabular substitutes. Not sure about the depth of Elvish itself.
  18. Carmina Burana is not actually a song, though, it's more of a body of work, compiled over a lot of time from the texts and tablatures left by it's authors, the Goliards. According to the latest investigations, it's now over 220 songs. It's also not all Latin, as there are a lot of songs in German, and also in French and Italian, I believe. One of my favorite Latin songs is actually from the Carmina Burana (following as closely as possible the original notations, not the orchestral inventions of Carl Orff). Rene Clemencic's version is one of the best, I find, although the Corvus Corax (excellent band with loads of Latin songs) fast-paced version is also quite good: Corvus Corax - In Taberna
  19. Like it has been said, most ancient and dead languages have interest only to a fringe segment of the population, and mostly for professional reasons related to scholarship. There is only one of these languages that I find still has some value, and that is Latin. Even though there are just over a handful of direct descendants of the language, it's influence is felt on severall other language families, especially those originating in Europe. I think knowledge of Latin as a base for one's own language has many benefits, and learning isn't that hard if you begin soon - I think in Romance language countries it should be mandatory in the school curriculum early on. I find people who grasp basic concepts of Latin and have some knowledge of it's vocabulary grow up with better problem solving skills, a greater ability for rational thought and much better mastery of their language. In short, while learning Latin won't be of much direct use, it will certainly make you a brighter person.
  20. Check the non-fiction topic, there are already some good suggestions there! http://linguaholic.com/english-literature/the-pleasures-of-non-fiction/
  21. I've visited France twice. The first time it was a deep in the woods village called Tillè, which is a really unremarkable place apart from the fact there's an international airport next to it. I also remember it being freezing in March. I followed unlovely Tillè with an underground tour of Paris, as I travelled by subway from Porte de Neully to Orly Airport. First time and Paris, and I barely saw the sky. The second time was better. Got to spend a whole week in Paris, visiting some landmarks. I had to really remember my French which I hadn't used since learning it (poorly) in school, and was surprised at my ability to communicate properly. I don't think I had a single misunderstanding due to the language - the closest I got was when a French waiter, realizing I wasn't French, tried to speak to me English. I had no idea what he was on about, so poorly spoken it was.
  22. I held a cup of tea on my right hand, the butcher's knife on my left behind my back. I could hear the wind howling and felt a draft, I must have left an window open. It was beginning to rain outside, the storm was almost upon us. I entered the living room. Mr. Johns was gone.
  23. That's tough, Aishe. It could just be a problem of you not picking up the right books. Stay clear from complicated works of high literature, but also from that dreaded brain-dumbing adult fiction. Try picking up something light but still quality work, like a comedy of sorts. Tom Sharpe and David Lodge are both excellent choices, great storytellers that keep you on the edge of the pages.
  24. Yes, I actually do this constantly. English is my main secondary thinking language, although I've found myself doing the same in French and German. There is a certain order and simplicity to English that is lacking in Portuguese, so a lot of my practical day-to-day thought processis in English, while the more abstract will occur in my native tongue. I'm not sure about it helping someone become fluent in a language, though - it certainly has done nothing for my German!
  25. Yeah, the ending was quite predictable - not only did the screenwriters write themselves into a corner, but the general narrative of the series followed the monomyth structure pretty closely, so obviously it had to end in apotheosis. Personally I enjoyed Hanks demise much more. One of the best written death scenes ever.
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