Recent questions tagged languages

Description : Do you think this is stereotyping and is it offensive?

Last Answer : They aren't stereotyping any more than you are. Most Jewish people don't speak Yiddish; only Ashkenazi from a small part of Eastern Europe. Sephardics and Ladinos and most Sabras would have no ... inherent humor of Yiddish, it is about the only language that has a diverse vocabulary of complaints.

Description : In the U.S.A. and Canada, how common is the Yiddish language?

Last Answer : I'd bet very small numbers are fluent still around the world. As for using little bits of Yiddish here and there, yes, it's very commonplace among Ashkenazi Jews, and many Yiddish words have been adopted ... on and on. All commonly used in many parts of America by Jews and people who aren't Jewish.

Description : Are immigrants considered illiterate if they can only read their native languages?

Last Answer : answer:Is one language enough? No. Illiterate is a person who cannot read or write. So that too would be a no. The definition does not say that the person can not read or write the language of the ... base definition of the word. To not be able to read or write in any language would then apply.

Description : Is the term "Slavic" insulting?

Last Answer : Why don’t you ask them, rather than us, if you somehow offended them?

Description : Are playing cards different around the world?

Last Answer : In a French deck, the king is indeed R (for Roi), but the Queen is D (for Dame) and the Jack is V (for Valet).

Description : I purchased a very old Chinese Chest that has Mandarin pages glued inside. Can anyone translate these pages into English?

Last Answer : I sent a PM to a jelly who might be able to help.

Description : Hungarian-speaking jellies: what does "tubarózsa" mean?

Last Answer : I don’t know Hungarian but tubarozsa sure sound like tuberose which is a flowering plant. Here’s an article about it.

Description : Hebrew-speaking jellies: how do you pronounce the names Baruch Agadati and Gurit Kadman?

Last Answer : answer:Agadati sounds Arabic, but I can take a shot at how it would be pronounced in Hebrew. Using the IPA for Hebrew, Baruch Agadati is /baˈʁuχ agaˈdati/ and Gurit Kadman is /guˈrit kadˈman/.

Description : Which language do you feel with, if you speak more than one language?

Last Answer : French is my language of choice for ranting. I was raised in a pretty buttoned down household, so I was never exposed to much good English ranting. But I heard a hell of a lot of French ranting ... have elevated ranting to an art form), so I default to French for both my internal and spousal rants.

Description : How can I learn traditional Chinese, as spoken in Taiwan?

Last Answer : I have traveled in Taiwan and I think the preferential dialect is Mandarin. The Taiwanese do not associate with the chinese and are greatly offended at being called chinese. Mandarin is the ticket.

Description : Have you ever learned another language using an online course, and who was the course by?

Last Answer : Learned mandarin this way. [well I’m not that good at it but I know basics + a few more]. I don’t remember who was the course sponsored by not who wrote it. I just know I found it, I saved all the HTML and i believe i still have it lying on a dvd somewhere.

Description : What can speak every known language in the world?

Last Answer : Google?

Description : How to crack oriental languages?

Last Answer : Please excuse the massive generalization of lumping Thai in with Chinese and Japanese and vice versa

Description : Is it possible to learn three languages simultaneously?

Last Answer : answer:No, nyet, non. Not a good idea. Really. Focus on one first, get the fundamentals and grammar. Without practising speaking it - you won't retain much anyway. How could one do that with three? Once you' ... But I'm curious as to why you asked this - and what you ultimately do. I teach ESl, btw.

Description : Could someone tell me what the name "Hua Bin" (Chinese) means?

Last Answer : Do you have it in the original Chinese ideographs??

Description : Would it be easier learning a 2nd language when you're a baby/toddler or in highschool?

Last Answer : It is much easier to learn languages before you are about 12.

Description : What is the daily limit for friend requests on italki.com?

Last Answer : From what I can tell on this question: http://www.italki.com/answers/question/48942.htm, it isn’t so much a particular number of friend requests per day as it is a spam filter that enacts when the website feels that you’ve put out too many requests.

Description : Which countries, languages, regions or dialects throughout the world have the suffix 'ish'?

Last Answer : answer:Clarification, please. Do you mean just in terms of the way we refer to them in the English-speaking world? For example, we say “Spanish,” but Spanish-speakers don’t use that word. So—you are thinking of descriptors such as Spanish, English, Irish, Swedish, Danish, etc.?

Description : What is for you the nicest sounding language?

Last Answer : French.Alot of my family is fluent in French.It just sounds so much nicer to be called a !@#$% in that language ;)

Description : What's the best way to study a language on your own?

Last Answer : As James Bond said: “Brush up on a little Danish”!

Description : What does it mean lonsdale?

Last Answer : Plas my reasolt?

Description : What language do they use for international air traffic control?

Last Answer : English is the international language so I would assume that that’s what they’d speak.

Description : Is Rosetta Stone a good way to learn a language?

Last Answer : It is if you have the money! That stuff costs a considerable amount, but I guess you get what you pay for.

Description : My Japanese Coach or Chinese? Which language should I try first?

Last Answer : Is it Mandarin or Cantonese? People have thrown a fit over that before on Fluther. Personally, I’d get Japanese. I had a Japanese class in the third grade (go progressive schooling!) and I loved the language. Far more fun to speak in. :)

Description : If you could instantly learn any one language, which would it be - and why?

Last Answer : I’ve tried learning several languages over the years, but quit each time. I’ve seriously tried Portuguese and Russian. But if i could choose one to know now, it would be Spanish, i think it’s a “pretty” langauge! :)

Description : What is the best software for learning a new language?

Last Answer : I know a lot of people like Pimsleur. You might give that system a go.

Description : How long does it take to learn a second language with an acceptable degree of fluency?

Last Answer : Depends on how much effort you put into it. Some people have a natural knack for picking up languages and other will struggle more. So it's hard for me to give a certain length of time ... near the american/mexico border will pick it up a lot faster than someone learning mongolian in kansas).

Description : Who speaks a language other than English as his/her primary?

Last Answer : My mother language is mumble. But very few people speak it and there are very few resources available. Fortunately anyone can speak it at any time, but no one can understand you. On the other hand sign ... deaf. She spoke mumble too, but was way more fluent in both that and sign language than me.

Description : Which language will my baby learn? he listen tv in english, but daddy and i talk to him in spanish?

Last Answer : yes, he should be able to learn both languages. same scenario (but the 2nd language wasn’t spanish) for my cousins and they learned both languages just fine. the english will be reinforced in school and the spanish will be at home.

Description : Who speaks the most languages in the world?

Last Answer : Ziad Fazah perhaps?

Description : Should there be a Federal law that states that you cannot become a naturalized citizen of the USA, unless you can read, write and speak English, fluently?

Last Answer : Noy many US citizens can speak, read or write English “fluently”... there is plenty evidence of that right here in Ask-public!

Description : Most Spoken Languages

Last Answer : Most Spoken Languages 1. Mandarin language - China The highest number of speakers use Mandarin language the number of speakers are crossed 1 billion plus, it is the most widely spoken language on the planet ... Cameroon, Haiti and France. To say hello in French, say Bonjour (bone-joor).

Description : ROMANIAN FACTS

Last Answer : Romanian preserves more of the original Latin root language than any other romance language in existence today. This is due to the isolation of the country from many others on trade routes and ... language are spoken today; these are Daco-Romanian, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian, and Istro-Romanian.

Description : POLISH FACTS

Last Answer : Polish speakers are generally polite, even when they are in the middle of an argument. It is not uncommon to say the equivalent of, 'Sir, you are an idiot." If a Polish speaker calls ... Polish, they will find it easier to learn Slavic languages such as Czech, than other near Asian languages.

Description : LATIN FACTS

Last Answer : Latin became the lingua franca across Europe, during the high point of Rome. Latin was originally spoken by people living along the lower Tiber River, and is the eldest root of the modern romance ... is still used in a written root form for the worlds of academics, medicine, law and science.

Description : GREEK FACTS

Last Answer : Root words from Greek are very often the beginning of words in other languages such as Russian, English, Hebrew and many more! Mother-in-laws are a favorite butt of many Greek jokes, but so are ... or spoken in Greek has 78 syllables and 171 letters, it is hated by actors and actresses alike.

Description : TAMIL FACTS

Last Answer : Being spoken within India, versions of Tamil are spoken by both the Brahmin and non-Brahmin castes in the country. Vowel lengths in Tamil can actually change the meaning of some words. Words in ... There are inscriptions of stone carved writings in original Tamil that date as far back as 200 BC.

Description : THAI FACTS

Last Answer : Western speakers learning the Thai language often misunderstand that using first names is not an informal tense, therefore this can be understood as an insult. Although jokes are hard to translate to ... to the Thai language, even though most Buddhist scripts are not written in any direct dialects.

Description : DUTCH FACTS

Last Answer : Dutch is considered the easiest language for speakers of English to learn, as a second language. In the late 19th century, Dutch was banned from school education systems in Prussia and France. ... related to German and English, as a language. Dutch is most widely spoken within the Netherlands.

Description : ITALIAN FACTS

Last Answer : Many Italian speakers around the world speak their own dialect, based on their regional area. There are so many Italian dialects, that many of these qualify as their own languages. Many ... . The first documentation of the official Italian language and its vocabulary, became published in 1612.

Description : FRENCH FACTS

Last Answer : French is the second language of 1.6 million Americans, who consider it their mother tongue. Over 20.000 new words are added to the French language every year. French is taught in almost ... France, during the French revolution. French language is used by 5 Commonwealth countries today.

Description : GERMAN FACTS

Last Answer : All cities and state name in the United States are spelled the same in German, except for Kalifornien or California. The Swiss people speak two forms of the German language, Swiss German ... This familiarity created a language name for speakers using both grammar systems, it is called Denglish.

Description : JAPANESE FACTS

Last Answer : Japanese words like those of the English language, have no gender. Verbs in Japanese, always appear at the end of a sentence, making the language hard to learn for many Western visitors. ... or plural. Plays on words, based on phonetic differences in dialect are considered funny in Japanese.

Description : UKRAINIAN FACTS

Last Answer : Ukrainian language is also called Little Russian or Ruthenian by those who are not native speakers. Before the 19th century, the Ukrainian language was declining in use. So much so, that Ukrainian schools were ... The letter 'n' is used more in the Ukrainian language, than any other in the world.

Description : RUSSIAN FACTS

Last Answer : In Russian, there are 10 words using only a single letter. All astronauts that are assigned to work on the international space station, must learn Russian in order to qualify. An old grammatical rule for ... in Russian. The letter 'o' is the most commonly used of all letters in Russian language.

Description : BENGALI FACTS

Last Answer : The national anthems of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India are written in Bengali, as their original language form for the musical compositions and lyrics. Bengali grammar was never formally documented in ... words are not allowed to use consonant clusters. This is a strict rule grammatically.

Description : PORTUGUESE FACTS

Last Answer : Some translations in Portuguese don't work very well, for example the word preservativo means condom, not preservative as it is often translated. In Portuguese humor, the most mentioned character ... Mandarin Chinese. The formerly Portuguese territory changed hands back to China in the year 1999.

Description : ARABIC FACTS

Last Answer : In Arabic, there is no use of capital letters in the entire language form. Every letter used in Arabic has four forms that can be utilized. These four forms are called the independent, initial, medial ... many grammar rules, when put into a hand written form, but this is not true when spoken aloud.

Description : HINDI FACTS

Last Answer : Teacher and student style jokes are much popularized in the Hindi language. Namaste is the most common formal greeting in the Hindi language, it formally means hello, but also can mean I bow to ... many hundreds of dialects, but most all of them use the same basic script form called Devanagari.

Description : MANDARIN FACTS

Last Answer : Just to read the average Chinese newspaper, a person will need to have some mastery of over 2,000 Mandarin Chinese characters. The use of puns and play on words are more popular than ... of the five most difficult languages to learn, followed closely by Arabic, Cantonese, Japanese and Korean.