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Are you bilingual?
surdumil:
French language instruction was a mandatory part of elementary school and high school, and I took a couple of semesters of French and of German language instruction in uni, but I had found that I was too shy to talk to strangers and my language instruction kinda languished and died. I don't consider myself bilingual, but I can still dissect German and French sentence structure and pull meanings out of conversation if it's not too fast.
--- Quote from: Fool010 on January 27, 2011, 06:43:34 AM ---
--- Quote from: Hiero on January 27, 2011, 03:36:16 AM ---German is really guttural
--- End quote ---
Only when you're not used to it. And even without comparing with the austrian version of the german language, the way it sounds changes a lot with the accent. The way they talk in the north -Schleswig Holstein or Hamburg- has little in common with the way they talk in Bavaria per example, just as people from Freiburg or Stuttgart which are both closer to my place talk in a different way. Well, I may not be totally impartial on the matter, I grew up learning french and german simultaneously. German is, along with the alsatian dialect, just as natural for me as french.
If you want something ugly, listen to swiss germans.
--- End quote ---
Ha ha! My German language instructor in uni was a Swiss German :D
pingryanime:
Ich denke dass deutsch nicht kehlig ist D:
Hiero:
Well taking into account you can find different dialects and words in different parts of the U.S...I should of been more specific it seems in relation to hearing German in Austria.
Fool010:
--- Quote from: surdumil on January 27, 2011, 12:54:15 PM ---Ha ha! My German language instructor in uni was a Swiss German :D
--- End quote ---
Well, I guess he stayed away from Schwiizertüütsch and used high german instead. Seriously, their dialect gives me an urge to stick screwdrivers into my ears.
Now, I noticed a funny thing following that whole language discussion. There is indeed no language I'm able to talk without having a terrible accent. When talking french I have the typical alsatian -read germanlike- accent, though I'm able to control it to a certain extent. While talking german or english, my french accent is just plain dreadful.
I never though of trying to get rid of any, I suppose it's a way to assume my origins.
@pingryanime : I do agree. Though written german is just ... brilliant. It has neither the flexibility of the french language, nor the accuracy and straightforwardness -does this word even exist ?- of english. Just read Goethe, he may very well knock you from your seat. German poetry in general is way more evocative you would expect it to be. Japanese has a sonority I grew to like, and a complexity that almost challenges me to learn it.
I like all the languages I practise, for different reasons. I like the flexibility and sheer unlimited scope of french, the accuracy and efficiency of english and the sharp subtlety of german. The most interesting part of every language is that it requires -to a certain extent- you to think differently.
@hiero : 100% agreement here. That's calling having an identity.
I think your primary language is the one you instinctively used to curse, be it a language or a dialect.
PS : I dearly miss my ability to use english without having to translate it from french before putting it down. Seriously, my english used to be excellent back in the day .. though, that's already a long time ago.
1000mAh:
--- Quote from: pingryanime on January 27, 2011, 03:24:34 AM ---I personally think learning German as I do is much more beneficial in life.
When you're pissed you can randomly start yelling it around and sound EXTRA angry :D
ICH SCHLAGE DICH MIT EIN SCHLACHTERMESSER
--- End quote ---
Well, randomly yelling Finnish might do the same thing :P you know, we use douple comsonants.
So well, the word 'Perkele' when yelled sounds hard :P Well, Icould say that 'p' 'r' 't' and 'k' make the hardest impact :P
...and to give you myhonest opinion of swedish pronouncion; it sounds gay.
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