Foreign languages

[Blobby's Murder Knife]

If you are ESL or -SL as a native speaker of English, did you ever realize that you just have no translation for certain words because you only first heard of them or the concept in your non-native language? Basically everything I know about trains besides what a train is is completely in German. I never took public transportation ever until I went/moved there.

 

[pork and beans]

In my opinion, even if certain words don't have a translation, there is always some way to communicate the same (or almost the same) concept in the other language (english in this case).
i think the only times ive ever felt restricted by english is when writing fiction, because sometimes adjectives in my native language that i would like because i like how they sound come up but of course i cant use them and their english equivalent is just not really the same... even if the meaning is.
Makes me want to just mix it all in a retarded Finnegans Wake way. In my head both languages are mixed up anyway, so.

I think the train thing might be because they are very specific lexical fields that you never really learn in classes or through normal conversation (real life or internet). That happens to me too, also with things like the parts of a car and types of fish or verbs about specific cooking techniques. I'd say I know it mostly, but not everything.

Once as a kid I got really really shocked because I realized I didn't remember the word for "fire hydrant" in my native language and I could only remember it in english. I searched it in google translate but it gave me another synonym that must be use in another region and i spent like ten minutes searching until i found it. I found it so baffling I don't think I'll ever forget it LOL.

Interesting thread, I hope it somehow picks up. There's no way to accurately gauge this but it would be interesting to know the percentage of non english speaker kiwis.

 

[Feline Supremacist]

There is no English equivalent for schadenfreude, or simpatico, but it is acceptable to use them in English because it's assumed if you know those words you aren't hanging around with retards.

 

[dramamine]

ching chong

 

[Blobby's Murder Knife]

Interesting thread, I hope it somehow picks up. There's no way to accurately gauge this but it would be interesting to know the percentage of non english speaker kiwis.

The goddamn UN is here in Q&A. My frens here are Lithuanian, Austrian, German, Bong, Romanian, maybe if he'd stop toaster fucking, Bulgarian, Cancuckistani, Kanagrooniggers, I have some Turkroaches running around, and so on.

 

[pork and beans]

simpatico

I never noticed that, but yeah omg true. Simpatico is a very nuanced word tbh. I guess nice and friendly are close enough but yeah not quite. Curiously in russian (симпатичный) although the etimology is the same the meaning isnt; it doesnt mean kind, but instead means handsome/attractive. False friends lol.

I was honestly thinking about how english doesnt have a word for 'trasnochar' or "desvelarse" or "anteayer" and "pasadomañana" (this one especially baffles me; I know they have ereyesterday and overmorrow, but they are obsolete)

The other day a classmate asked my german teacher how do you say "dar la espalda" (to face your back to someone (?) ) but she said they didnt really have the concrete expression for it, and gave a translation that was way too long for me to remember LOL.

The goddamn UN is here in Q&A.

Literally Kiwis united. All across the world and people don't even know it......

 

[Skitarii]

maybe if he'd stop toaster fucking, Bulgarian

FOR THE LAST TIME, THE ADEPTUS MECHANICUS DOES NOT CONDONE SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH TOASTER OVENS. IT IS A MYTH FOUNDED UPON LIES. IF YOU DO NOT CEASE THIS LIBEL, I WILL PERSONALLY SLAM-DUNK YOU INTO THE EYE OF TERROR​

 

[Blobby's Murder Knife]

Literally Kiwis united. All across the world and people don't even know it......

It is what is so fascinating about this place. I said before in other threads, I don't know if I don't understand the demo of KF or I just simply attract foreigners, but I am often floored how few Americans I am friends with here, all things considered. I should have more, but almost all of them are Commonwealth or EEU.

View attachment 5797968
FOR THE LAST TIME, THE ADEPTUS MECHANICUS DOES NOT CONDONE SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH TOASTER OVENS. IT IS A MYTH FOUNDED UPON LIES. IF YOU DO NOT CEASE THIS LIBEL, I WILL PERSONALLY SLAM-DUNK YOU INTO THE EYE OF TERROR​

I want to post a react but I don't have the right one for the look on my face right now. Just know...hehehehehe.....

 

[SNU]

I'm a native English speaker but can speak one other language fluently. I'm kind of retarded so I can't translate. Its like i forget one language while im speaking the other. I think it's because the only way I could get my brain to learn another language was to seperate it into a different compartment like I was learning language for the first time without referencing it to english as i learned. I can fluently speak the other language with other people who speak it and know what I'm saying and what they are saying. But if someone were to ask me to translate what was said I'd just be able to give a brief summary after thinking about it for a while and switching language modes back and forth in my head for a while. When I speak the other language I think in that language. I think it's because if I learned the actual English translation of each word I'd just get confused because I can't think about multiple things at once so I just completely switch modes and forget one language while speaking the other

 

[Feline Supremacist]

in russian (симпатичный)

Yep, similar meaning, you can use it more or less the same way. It's interesting how quickly Spanish speakers can pick up Russian despite Cyrillic and the grammar, I don't know if this makes sense but I think it's because you can easily express the same thing in both languages without thinking too much about it.

 

[Blobby's Murder Knife]

I'm a native English speaker but can speak one other language fluently. I'm kind of retarded so I can't translate. Its like i forget one language while im speaking the other.

Where it becomes a real problem for me is in any language that isn't English (native) or German (more than half my life speaker). Like my brain breaks and is like OK if you don't want to speak English, it must be German, right? I am like no you faggot, I want to speak Spanish or Lithuanian or Latvian.

 

[pork and beans]

It's interesting how quickly Spanish speakers can pick up Russian despite Cyrillic and the grammar, I don't know if this makes sense but I think it's because you can easily express the same thing in both languages without thinking too much about it.

Absolutely agree. I've thought about it a lot before as well;

Spoiler: sperging ahead beware

I think most spanish speakers have been culturally conditioned to view russian (and russia) as strange and distant (touche, since we are very far away in distance) but spanish and russian are in many ways really simmilar. Cyrillic can be picked up baffingly quickly and to me personally even though the grammar is really different, it feels really intuitive/familiar in some areas.
I think its because they are both inflected languages with a mostly SVO word order but also feature a lot of free word order and are pro drop/ ommit the subject, so building sentences comes naturally many times without having to think too much about it, like you said. And that effort can be spent on other stuff like correctly declinating words, although eventually that comes naturally too.
Also phonetically I think they are way more simmilar than for example spanish and english.
But one of the biggest difference that make it hard for spanish speakers is that spanish focuses a lot more on tenses whereas russian appears to focus more on aspect.
And it's really trippy that some verbs (like звонить) in spanish work with direct objects work in russian with dative and indirect objects, but those differences happen in other languages all the time.
Russian is lovely, honestly. This might sound retarded but my favorite part of russian is the lack of article determiners. I found it mindblowing but it makes so much sense and its true that you dont really need them at all. The other determiners russian does have do the job perfectly.

 

[Admiral Throbnelius]

Some words don't translate, and the word order can be radically different. I had this experience when translating the Tzoach clip from Greek to English. It's a bit hard to describe but basically when I was just watching it, I could understand what they were saying fine, but when making translation subtitles, it could throw me off at times because if I went super literal with the translations, they would be really awkward in English.

It's a bit random, but because I can read Greek, I was able to really quickly learn Cyrillic, since it's derived from the Greek alphabet. I don't understand any Cyrillic languages though aside from a couple of words, but I can read it.

 

[Blobby's Murder Knife]

View attachment 5797968
FOR THE LAST TIME, THE ADEPTUS MECHANICUS DOES NOT CONDONE SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH TOASTER OVENS. IT IS A MYTH FOUNDED UPON LIES. IF YOU DO NOT CEASE THIS LIBEL, I WILL PERSONALLY SLAM-DUNK YOU INTO THE EYE OF TERROR​

I also think it is hilarious you responded to this without me calling you specifically out. Is there something you want to share with the class?

But really, I like you and think you are amusing even if you like toasters. We'll all forgive you in Q&A.

 

[Feline Supremacist]

Absolutely agree. I've thought about it a lot before as well;

Spoiler: sperging ahead beware

I think most spanish speakers have been culturally conditioned to view russian (and russia) as strange and distant (touche, since we are very far away in distance) but spanish and russian are in many ways really simmilar. Cyrillic can be picked up baffingly quickly and to me personally even though the grammar is really different, it feels really intuitive/familiar in some areas.
I think its because they are both inflected languages with a mostly SVO word order but also feature a lot of free word order and are pro drop/ ommit the subject, so building sentences comes naturally many times without having to think too much about it, like you said. And that effort can be spent on other stuff like correctly declinating words, although eventually that comes naturally too.
Also phonetically I think they are way more simmilar than for example spanish and english.
But one of the biggest difference that make it hard for spanish speakers is that spanish focuses a lot more on tenses whereas russian appears to focus more on aspect.
And it's really trippy that some verbs (like звонить) in spanish work with direct objects work in russian with dative and indirect objects, but those differences happen in other languages all the time.
Russian is lovely, honestly. This might sound retarded but my favorite part of russian is the lack of article determiners. I found it mindblowing but it makes so much sense and its true that you dont really need them at all. The other determiners russian does have do the job perfectly.

Every member of my family that still lives in Cuba speaks fluent Russian. Even the children (some of whom speak fluent German as well because they have a German parent from the former DDR). Speaking more than one language well is common outside the US.

 

[pork and beans]

Speaking more than one language well is common outside the US.

Yeah agreed. It’s weird to think that there are a lot of English speakers that speak only English. i Can’t imagine being American. It would likely have its cool moments though

 

[Feline Supremacist]

Yeah agreed. It’s weird to think that there are a lot of English speakers that speak only English. i Can’t imagine being American. It would likely have its cool moments though

It can. Those are becoming few and far between these days.

 

[Blobby's Murder Knife]

Yeah agreed. It’s weird to think that there are a lot of English speakers that speak only English. i Can’t imagine being American. It would likely have its cool moments though

You just don't need to know a second language in general and because of the heavy assimilation culture and other personal reasons, a lot of first gen immigrant parents simply don't teach their children their native languages.

I mean, maybe if you work with a lot of taconiggers, it would be useful to know Spanish, but outside of that? You have to be as autistic as I am as an Americunt to really become fluent in a foreign language like German. And you have to live it too, which is even harder.

 

[pork and beans]

You just don't need to know a second language in general and because of the heavy assimilation culture and other personal reasons

Yeah, I totally get it. It’s understandable. with English you can go basically everywhere, at least as a tourist, so…

 

[Blobby's Murder Knife]

Yeah, I totally get it. It’s understandable. with English you can go basically everywhere, at least as a tourist, so…

I think it is fun to try when I go outside the anglo or germanospheres. I almost got punched in the face in French speaking Belgium by another woman because of my poor French but I still think it is funny cuz I tried. That is why I always try to stress to people that want to visit France, avoid the north. In the south, they are far more forgiving to your idiocy and even think it is cute that you are trying. Also way more fun and interesting in general.