Learning new languages

**Kingdom** · 27/09/2006, 10:35 PM

Always been interested in foreign languages, particularily ones using the Cyrillic alphabet. Picked up a "learn Russian" book a couple of months ago and with a bit of effort might just pull it off.
Anyone else learned Russian, or if not, whats the strangest language you can speak?

**strangeirish** · 27/09/2006, 11:34 PM

Learning Spanish atm. Not terribly strange. Lots of Latino totty in Florida,and it's good for business.

**theworm2345** · 27/09/2006, 11:38 PM

Its a foreign language to me...how do I learn to speak Irish

**strangeirish** · 28/09/2006, 12:17 AM

Originally Posted by thew0rm2345

Its a foreign language to me...how do I learn to speak Irish

Just use the 'F' word a lot and that'll get ye started.

**drinkfeckarse** · 28/09/2006, 7:50 AM

Basic Irish and French. I wish I had the enthusiasm to learn more but unfortunately I don't. I signed up for some more French classes a few years ago but got bored after a few weeks and stopped going.

As much as I admire foreign people who have more than one language and sometimes think we are pretty ignorant for expecting people to understand us and our one language (not counting Irish), it's just not in me to go and do something about it

**Poor Student** · 28/09/2006, 10:19 AM

I know some Serbian and Slovenian. I can't speak much but I can ascertain what people are talking about most of the time. Have some basic Irish and French and have a good knowledge of Latin, bizarrely in some ways it's my second language.

**osarusan** · 28/09/2006, 10:29 AM

Japanese. 　‘難しいですけどまだべんきょしています　　(pretty impressive huh!)

**Dodge** · 28/09/2006, 11:07 AM

Learning Spanish at the moment. Or at least trying to. Just haven't the time/energy to dedicate to it though. Find myself getting bored and wandering. Got the discs/books from work. Can speak a little Irish and a fair bit of French. Friend of mine is practically fluent in japanese. Did it in college and went TEFL there too.

**Magicme** · 28/09/2006, 11:11 AM

I learnt how to say "nice a*s" and "nice t*ts" in russian but cant rem now....

**drinkfeckarse** · 28/09/2006, 12:03 PM

something you're not telling us Magicme?

**Green Tribe** · 28/09/2006, 12:13 PM

Get by in French, a little Polish, a little Spanish and learning Italian now for the San Man trip!

**Aberdonian Stu** · 28/09/2006, 12:22 PM

Fluent in Irish, used to have passable French now it's not great. My German is bad but better than I thought given my experiences in Oktoberfest last week,

**Macy** · 28/09/2006, 12:36 PM

I'd love to have the time and energy to learn Irish. Did French in school, but can remember little, if any, which kinda puts me off tbh - if you don't use it you lose it, and I'm not sure I really would regularly use any other language.

**pineapple stu** · 28/09/2006, 12:44 PM

Learnt a few phrases of Faroese for the trip last summer. "Qvussu eiter tu?" (What's your name) and a couple of others. Also learned "Takk fyri" (thank you) and used it a few times, but gave up when people started talking back to me and I had to put on my Dougal "I'm a foreigner" expression.

I speak German - getting rustier by the year - but I've now kind of melded it with Schwyzerd�tsch and my own version of what a word should sound like in Schwyzerd�tsch, so I am now basically unable to communicate in either Germany or Switzerland.

**Maz** · 28/09/2006, 12:59 PM

I can speak in Irish (not as much as I would like) and have a small bit of French and Spanish from when I learned it at school

**Risteard** · 28/09/2006, 1:10 PM

The usual small bit of Irish.
I was great at French in secondary.
All the grammar depressed me in college though so i dropped it.
I buy Le Monde the very odd time now but wouldn't have the confidence to talk to people.
Anyone have experience of these Linguaphone-type tape courses?

**paul_oshea** · 28/09/2006, 1:19 PM

does anyone remember reading about the chinese guy who said he would learn a language, so he chose irish, it was the only other language he could speak, but he wanted to speak it with "native" speakers, so he flew to ireland, and at immigration the security guard ( must have been a dub ) thought he was speaking chinese.....LOL

that wouldn't have happened had he arrived down the west

**Macy** · 28/09/2006, 1:23 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

that wouldn't have happened had he arrived down the west

Yeah, he'd never have got a flight!

**Schumi** · 28/09/2006, 1:28 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

does anyone remember reading about the chinese guy who said he would learn a language, so he chose irish, it was the only other language he could speak, but he wanted to speak it with "native" speakers, so he flew to ireland, and at immigration the security guard ( must have been a dub ) thought he was speaking chinese.....LOL

that wouldn't have happened had he arrived down the west

There was a programme (might have been a film?) on TG4 about that a few months ago I think. Can't remember if it was a true story or not though.

**noby** · 28/09/2006, 2:25 PM

It was just a short film on TG4. It won some award, I think. I doubt if there's any truth in it. Anyway it all worked out in the end, as he got a job in a pub in Connemara (in a pub that, confusingly, from the outside looks very much like a pub down the road from me)

I try to speak Irish at home with the kids. Mrs. noby is fluent.