Education & Work What languages do you speak?

Discussion in 'Living Room' started by Jess Peletier, 3rd Jan, 2017.

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  1. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    I love learning languages.
    Fluent in Japanese, but also know Thai and Lao at a lesser level.
    I studied 2 years of Mandarin and uni but am very rusty. Also studied classical Chinese which is very different to modern Chinese.
    I have also studied Pali and Sanskrit to a lesser extent.
    At Uni I did Korean for 1 semester an learned to read and write it within a week. I am a bit rusty now, but used a bit while in Korea last year.
     
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  2. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    Just head first into food and 'hand problem' solved:D
     
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  3. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    I speak Singlish. Eg, Aiyoow.. wai yoo wan be so di-fi-kul like dat ah...you so nor-tee lah..
     
  4. Adele

    Adele Well-Known Member

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    You spell like an Ah-Beng :D
     
  5. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    :oops: and here I am...thinking I have improved...saya sudah gila...
     
  6. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    Aunteeeee, can you help me lah
     
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  7. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    hahah....brings back memories...
     
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  8. EN710

    EN710 Well-Known Member

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    No can do lahhhhhh, help here help there I have notin left la...
     
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  9. Phantom

    Phantom Well-Known Member

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    Apart from English, I am fluent in standard Greek, fluent in Greek Cypriot dialect, very basic Spanish and am learning Mandarin now with the help of a Chinese friend. :) At the moment I can only write basic stuff in pinyin and say basic phrases.
    I really am looking forward to learning Mandarin at least on an intermediate conversational level so I can visit China/Taiwan/HK (Cantonese I know- but still want to visit :p).
     
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  10. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

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    I learnt some French at high school. I found recently I could get a basic understanding of a simple conversation spoken closely.

    Within minutes of farewelling a lovely Mexican lady I'd just met on a Contiki trip I bought a book at the airport on how to speak Spanish. I took a course when I came back to Australia.

    We got married and I tried to practice my limited Spanish with her. But she had so much trouble on her first day at work that we decided to speak just English at home. That was unfortunate for our daughters as well. Their mother only spoke Spanish when she was angry so they were scared of it.

    It was only many years later that I picked up my Spanish learning again. I did 4 weeks one on one in Guatemala over 2 2week sessions. I learnt a lot, especially how to understand a conversation. It was enough to be able to be able to converse with my on laws when I went there for Christmas two years ago.

    And of course working for three months in a Spanish speaking country really helped things along.

    I'd love to be a lot more fluent but that's a project perhaps for retirement. Ideally living in a Spanish speaking country again.
     
  11. Bran

    Bran Well-Known Member

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    Basic Italian and Japanese to travel and be polite.
    Auslan (sign language) - getting rustier by the year, but still blows peoples minds when i pull it out at work
    I got reasonably good at understanding Cantonese after many years with a non-English speaking boss, but this was industry specific only and couldn't speak a word.
    Lot's of basic phrases in Spanish.
     
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  12. Jamie Moore

    Jamie Moore MORTGAGE BROKER - AUSTRALIA WIDE Business Member

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    Deutsche

    But not as good as my 3 year old.

    Cheers

    Jamie
     
  13. Jess Peletier

    Jess Peletier Mortgage Broker & Finance Strategy, Aus Wide! Business Member

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    I know a teensy bit of Dutch (not German though) from my parents, but I don't count that :) And certainly can't spell it!

    @ everyone who learned as an adult, from my current attempts at indonesian i think I'll be able to read it better than speak it - is that pretty normal?
     
  14. hammer

    hammer Well-Known Member

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    Woah! Wow Lao Dai bor Terry? Illi?
     
  15. devank

    devank Well-Known Member

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    That's strange! Why??
     
  16. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    I majored in Religious Studies in Indian religions - and was once a monk in Thailand.
     
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  17. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    illii!
     
  18. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    What I found is if you speak/understand Italian language very similar to Spanish, very handy I spoke Italian when in Spain and somehow it just worked:)
     
  19. kierank

    kierank Well-Known Member

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    French and Latin - the result of going to a Catholic boarding school.

    The Latin was more useful than the French.
     
  20. wobbycarly

    wobbycarly Well-Known Member

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    This is what I'm finding with my Italian. I can read reasonably well, but listening is tricky and speaking is so slow. I know what I need to do to improve, but struggle to find the time.
     
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