spacetimecontinuum

One thing I have found that has varied in travels is peoples opinions of accent. I personally love a good accent but some find it to make the speaking of the language inaccurate. The English language has so much variety in accent that I don't think one can really claim to pronounce certain vowels the right way. My name is said in several different ways depending on what country one is from. I think my favorite accent is probably a Scottish one. What about you? Do you have a favorite accent? Or do you feel if a person is a fluent speaker they should not have one?

My absolute favourite accent in all the world is the Geordie accent. This accent is found in Newcastle England, it's located extreme North, next stop after Newcastle and you're in Scotland.For an example of this accent, think of Brian Johnson, the lead singer of AC/DC.

Hey guys!  Was wondering what language you like most and least!  For me the language I like the most is Norwegian, that's a language I'd be so eager to learn.  I like the way it sounds, spelling it is so easy and the grammar couldn't be easier!  I love it!  If I could chose a language to learn it would be Norwegian.

Sadly this language is only spoken in Norway, unlike English and Spanish that is spoken in so many places.  So learning it could be seen as kinda useless by many!  Useless for me as well, because I know if  I don't use it often I'll start forgetting it.

As for the language I like least I'd say I'd have a hard time between Dutch and Icelandic, lol. I don't like Dutch so much because it's so hard to know for sure what the spelling of most words are, because they sound so different!  In my language things are are written almost as closely as the way they sound, so it's confusing. 

What language do you like most and least?

Well I really can't stand the sound of Arabic, Hebrew(Yiddish), German, all of it sounds really phlegm-y and harsh. I also have a big dislike of Afrikaans(sp?), it makes my skin crawl. Mandarin and Cantonese I could do without also, because it's so tonal and to my ears extremely shrill.

The languages I enjoy hearing are Japanese, Danish, Swedish, Celtic and some of the African click languages.

I'm sure everyone here has written a poem or a story at least once in their lives. Not necessarily an artistic masterpiece, but an emotional poem, or a little funny ditty to pass time in class, or maybe a story, etc. I want to know if people write in their native tongue or in foreign languages, and if the latter, in which?

I find that people in Slovenia often write in English. Some find it more artistic, some just find it easier to write in. I myself write (both poetry and prose) in my mother tongue, Slovene.

I write in English: Patois, Ebonics, Cockney, Spanglish, Celtic, Received Pronunciation, it's amazing how many variations there are in the English language. I avail myself of all of these.

Besides English, in your opinion, what language is most valuable to learn? What are your reasons for choosing that one?

In my opinion, Spanish is probably the most valuable language to learn because it is so common in the US now.  In fact it is difficult to find a job in some industries if you do not know some Spanish. I even found advertisements for hotel housekeepers, entirely in Spanish!!! Obviously they do not think anyone who is not hispanic would bother applying there.

Well obviously I think Mandarin is the most important language to learn, one must be able to ingratiate themselves to the new slave-master after all . Twas Napolean who said "China is a sleeping giant", well that giant has most decidedly woken up!...and the sun has most definitely set on the British Empire.

So in order of importance for this planet: Mandarin, Spanish, English...then Swahili so that all the continents are represented.

Are there any idiomatic expressions that are universally used by all or at least many countries?

I'm inclined to think that almost all idiomatic expressions would only be unique to their individual cultures but I wonder if there were some that most countries would use in pure form but translated.

For example, raining cats and dogs is unique to only English as far as I know, but maybe an idiom like 'sweating like a pig' would be more common and therefore used by other countries in their own language?

That's just a rough example though and I don't expect it to be so, but I'd love to hear from locals of other countries if there are any idioms in your culture that translate exactly to some idioms used by English speakers.

This is a very interesting question, I'm sure there are lots of countries who have their equivalent of say: A Picture Paints a Thousand Words, or Action Speaks Louder Than Words, or Between A Rock and a Hard Place, or even Long in the Tooth. Certain countries may have verbatim translations of these idioms or a variation on them.

After all, we're all human and we've all had experiences which would merit use of those expressions.

Wouldn'tcha think?

By the way, I consider myself a polyglot as a I read and write in about 6 different types of English.

Oh, what a silly mistake. You are right. Just changed it. Thank you for pointing out that embarrassing mistake  :grin:

No problem, English is the only language I speak, so it's the only one I'm in a position to correct, lol.

The headline for this part of the forum reads "how should X language be teached?", should that not read "taught"?

With respect, I realize the forum is probably run by polyglots so these mistakes can happen. :kiss:

It should be mandatory, at that age, as our synaptic junctions are on fire, we can absorb so much, heck I would even argue to start teaching kids other languages, in utero, ha! Come on ladies, get those microphones out and place them on your your tummies.

But seriously, the earlier the better I feel. I had a real knack for French and Spanish when I was younger, my teachers told me so, both said I spoke the languages with no accent, as if native, sadly I let my language learning fall by the wayside.

I can still converse on an emergency level in both tongues, but let's just say I couldn't have a deep discussion about Proust or Gabriel Garcia Marquez in their respective languages.

Of course its cool to learn another language but what really made you push though into learning a new one? Most of us might say that "Oh I studied Italian because I'm going to Italy soon" but other than that, what lead you into thinking that "Hey, I really want to learn how to write and speak this language"?

Because it's embarrassing travelling around Europe and everyone speaks English, as well as their native tongue. I would like to communicate in theirs as well. I know it's not my fault that English is the dominant language on the planet...well maybe after Mandarin, I just don't want to remain the lazy English speaking person for the rest of my life. Plus learning another language is good for your brain.

I'm here because I would like to improve my understanding of quite a few languages. I only speak English fluently but can comprehend bits and pieces of the "romance languages". As much as I would love to be fluent in a second language, I am mostly interested in etymology, the cross-over of "foreign" words into English, the roots of words etc, etc. If I were to become fluent just by osmosis, that would be marvelous!