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Best and worst foreign languages

Chizz
Chizz Posts: 28,337
in Not Sports Related
Italian is the best foreign language, obviously.  Although Spanish can be enjoyable to listen to. 

Portuguese is horrible.  And I am not very keen on the sound of Xhosa. 
«13

Comments

  • i_b_b_o_r_g
    i_b_b_o_r_g Posts: 18,948
    https://youtu.be/6vMsCEWbd-A
  • sam3110
    sam3110 Posts: 21,269
    Portuguese sounds like a Russian person speaking Spanish
  • ElfsborgAddick
    ElfsborgAddick Posts: 29,042
    sam3110 said:
    Portuguese sounds like a Russian person speaking Spanish

    Brasilian Portuguese and Portuguese sound very different, the former is very melodic.
  • SporadicAddick
    SporadicAddick Posts: 6,856
    Brummie grates a bit
  • soapy_jones
    soapy_jones Posts: 21,353
    Been learning Danish with Duolingo on the phone app.  Loved learning languages at school and scraped
    O-levels in French and Spanish.

    Some of the pronounciation in Danish is bizarre, i will never master it. 


  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,026
    I think there's one measure of what makes a good language and that's how helpful is it in helping lots of people to communicate. I don't suppose there are any bad languages, but there's definitely a hierarchy:

    1. English - Head and shoulders above the rest precicely because it is the foreign language of choice for so many people.
    2. Other world languages: Spanish, Mandarin, French, Arabic... there's quite a lot to choose from.
    3. Regional and National languages that hold local communities together.
    4. Hobby languages that play second fiddle even in their own area and have only been resurrected through govt intervention. Welsh - I'm pointing the finger at you here.   
  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,026
    Stig said:
    I think there's one measure of what makes a good language and that's how helpful is it in helping lots of people to communicate. I don't suppose there are any bad languages, but there's definitely a hierarchy:

    1. English - Head and shoulders above the rest precicely because it is the foreign language of choice for so many people.
    2. Other world languages: Spanish, Mandarin, French, Arabic... there's quite a lot to choose from.
    3. Regional and National languages that hold local communities together.
    4. Hobby languages that play second fiddle even in their own area and have only been resurrected through govt intervention. Welsh - I'm pointing the finger at you here*.   
    *That said I do sometimes get minutes of amusement listening to Clwb Rygbi where the only think I can make out is the names.
  • Cordoban Addick
    Cordoban Addick Posts: 5,448
    Jessie said:
    As I'm Chinese... I think English is the best foreign language. It's the easiest to learn. 😆
    How do you get on with phrasal verbs? (See what I did there).
  • soapy_jones
    soapy_jones Posts: 21,353
    Welsh or a bad cold. Spot the difference. 
  • usetobunkin
    usetobunkin Posts: 2,184
    Always feel un-welcome in Wales, lovely countryside, very picturesque, but the people just seem to be so un-welcoming especially in North Wales. Did my response driver training with North Wales constabulary.  2 weeks in Llandudno...hated every minute.

    Italian land of my grandfathers birth and the language is almost musical
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  • Oggy Red
    Oggy Red Posts: 44,955
    soapy_jones said:
    Been learning Danish with Duolingo on the phone app.  Loved learning languages at school and scraped
    O-levels in French and Spanish.

    Some of the pronounciation in Danish is bizarre, i will never master it. 


    Swallow it. :smile:
    And don't forget your glottal stop ....... like cockney "water" = wat'er.

    The English 'th' sound is made by touching the underneath of your upper front teeth with the tip of your tongue.

    The Danish 'th' sound is made by touching the back of your lower front teeth with the tip of your tongue.


    Well, according to my Danish ex-GF. Practice it for 5 minutes and then poor yourself a stiff drink.

  • seth plum
    seth plum Posts: 53,448
    Even though I don't understand what they're saying, listening to two teenage Italian girls chatting together is one of the most beautiful sounds ever.
  • seth plum
    seth plum Posts: 53,448
    Jessie said:
    As I'm Chinese... I think English is the best foreign language. It's the easiest to learn. 😆
    I reckon if you learned 500 key Chinese words (forget about the reading and writing for a moment), or ten a week for a year, you (well not you Jessie obvs) would have a fighting chance of living and working in China for quite a long while.
    People are a bit frightened by Chinese, but it is not as difficult as it might seem to be.
  • seth plum
    seth plum Posts: 53,448
    A Welsh accented person speaking English is very often a thing of utter beauty.
    Not only 'broadsword calling Danny Boy' either.

  • se9addick
    se9addick Posts: 32,037
    edited October 2020
    seth plum said:
    Jessie said:
    As I'm Chinese... I think English is the best foreign language. It's the easiest to learn. 😆
    I reckon if you learned 500 key Chinese words (forget about the reading and writing for a moment), or ten a week for a year, you (well not you Jessie obvs) would have a fighting chance of living and working in China for quite a long while.
    People are a bit frightened by Chinese, but it is not as difficult as it might seem to be.
    Are there similarities between mandarin and Cantonese or are they completely separate?
  • Oggy Red
    Oggy Red Posts: 44,955
    Stig said:

    4. Hobby languages that play second fiddle even in their own area and have only been resurrected through govt intervention. Welsh - I'm pointing the finger at you here.   
    I wouldn't call Welsh a hobby language, Stig ...... it never died out in many rural areas of Wales, invariably being the first language of the community.
    It's in the cities and larger towns though where there's been huge momentum in the number of Welsh speakers.

    And resurrected through government intervention? Apart from the fact that it was the British government that in the first place repressed and suppressed Welsh speaking, and banned it being spoken in Welsh schools ...... I don't see any problem with the Welsh devolved government using their own language in their administration.





  • Davo55
    Davo55 Posts: 7,836
    seth plum said:
    Even though I don't understand what they're saying, listening to two teenage Italian girls chatting together is one of the most beautiful sounds ever.
    What's Italian for "why's that old geezer stalking us"? :wink:
  • seth plum
    seth plum Posts: 53,448
    Mandarin is easier.
    It has 4 'tones', Cantonese has 9.
    Here's a wonder...Mandarin has no gender! No he and she.
    And no silly little words like 'the' and 'and' and so on to clutter it up.
  • seth plum
    seth plum Posts: 53,448
    Reviews of one of Mrs Plum's books:

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/1845700090/ref=acr_dpx_hist_5?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=five_star&reviewerType=all_reviews#reviews-filter-bar
  • SporadicAddick
    SporadicAddick Posts: 6,856
    edited October 2020
    usetobunkin said:
    Always feel un-welcome in Wales, lovely countryside, very picturesque, but the people just seem to be so un-welcoming especially in North Wales. Did my response driver training with North Wales constabulary.  2 weeks in Llandudno...hated every minute.

    Italian land of my grandfathers birth and the language is almost musical
    One side of my mum's family from Liverpool - they disliked the people from North Wales - A few visits reinforced their view.

    Whilst at Uni, played football in Cardiff a few times - the "welcome" was always interesting.

    I also worked in Edinburgh, and experienced a fair amount if anti English sentiment. I can only imagine that the aggressive anti English hardcore of the SNP will have made that worse.  

    Part of the burden of being English is to be disliked by many.
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  • Chizz
    Chizz Posts: 28,337
    seth plum said:
    Mandarin is easier.
    It has 4 'tones', Cantonese has 9.
    Here's a wonder...Mandarin has no gender! No he and she.
    And no silly little words like 'the' and 'and' and so on to clutter it up.
    Charlton have got one Tone. And even that's too many.
  • seth plum
    seth plum Posts: 53,448
    Two Tone:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZmWGJDsBWs
  • lordromford
    lordromford Posts: 7,783
    soapy_jones said:
    Been learning Danish with Duolingo on the phone app.  Loved learning languages at school and scraped
    O-levels in French and Spanish.

    Some of the pronounciation in Danish is bizarre, i will never master it. 


    My mother-in-law is from Norway and she reckons Norwegians can understand spoken Swedish really easily and can read Danish easily, but they find written Swedish and spoken Danish more difficult. Which is all a bit weird.

    Also, a member of the Norwegian family showed me this sketch from a Norwegian comedy show, which is just a pisstake of the danish language.
    Some of the sketch is in English and, even with no real knowledge of Norwegian or Danish, it’s pretty amusing, but there are bits non-scando speakers won’t understand and so won’t get the joke.
    Ladyromford’s cousin showed me this and he was absolutely pissing himself. I think it’s a really popular theme in Norway!

  • McBobbin
    McBobbin Posts: 12,051
    German easily the best

    https://youtu.be/NcxvQI88JRY
  • Leuth
    Leuth Posts: 23,315
    I find Swedish and Turkish very lovely to listen to
  • lordromford
    lordromford Posts: 7,783
    McBobbin said:
    German easily the best

    https://youtu.be/NcxvQI88JRY
    Lol. Although, where’s the ‘English’ bloke from if he pronounces “canary” as “can-aah-ry”?
  • ElfsborgAddick
    ElfsborgAddick Posts: 29,042
    lordromford said:
    soapy_jones said:
    Been learning Danish with Duolingo on the phone app.  Loved learning languages at school and scraped
    O-levels in French and Spanish.

    Some of the pronounciation in Danish is bizarre, i will never master it. 


    My mother-in-law is from Norway and she reckons Norwegians can understand spoken Swedish really easily and can read Danish easily, but they find written Swedish and spoken Danish more difficult. Which is all a bit weird.

    Also, a member of the Norwegian family showed me this sketch from a Norwegian comedy show, which is just a pisstake of the danish language.
    Some of the sketch is in English and, even with no real knowledge of Norwegian or Danish, it’s pretty amusing, but there are bits non-scando speakers won’t understand and so won’t get the joke.
    Ladyromford’s cousin showed me this and he was absolutely pissing himself. I think it’s a really popular theme in Norway!

    Danes and Swedes would often speak in English together.
    Danish is very difficult to understand.
  • lordromford
    lordromford Posts: 7,783
    ElfsborgAddick said:
    lordromford said:
    soapy_jones said:
    Been learning Danish with Duolingo on the phone app.  Loved learning languages at school and scraped
    O-levels in French and Spanish.

    Some of the pronounciation in Danish is bizarre, i will never master it. 


    My mother-in-law is from Norway and she reckons Norwegians can understand spoken Swedish really easily and can read Danish easily, but they find written Swedish and spoken Danish more difficult. Which is all a bit weird.

    Also, a member of the Norwegian family showed me this sketch from a Norwegian comedy show, which is just a pisstake of the danish language.
    Some of the sketch is in English and, even with no real knowledge of Norwegian or Danish, it’s pretty amusing, but there are bits non-scando speakers won’t understand and so won’t get the joke.
    Ladyromford’s cousin showed me this and he was absolutely pissing himself. I think it’s a really popular theme in Norway!

    Danes and Swedes would often speak in English together.
    Danish is very difficult to understand.
    Kamelåså.
    😎
  • cblock
    cblock Posts: 1,959
    Greek not the easiest but having a go.
  • ElfsborgAddick
    ElfsborgAddick Posts: 29,042
    lordromford said:
    ElfsborgAddick said:
    lordromford said:
    soapy_jones said:
    Been learning Danish with Duolingo on the phone app.  Loved learning languages at school and scraped
    O-levels in French and Spanish.

    Some of the pronounciation in Danish is bizarre, i will never master it. 


    My mother-in-law is from Norway and she reckons Norwegians can understand spoken Swedish really easily and can read Danish easily, but they find written Swedish and spoken Danish more difficult. Which is all a bit weird.

    Also, a member of the Norwegian family showed me this sketch from a Norwegian comedy show, which is just a pisstake of the danish language.
    Some of the sketch is in English and, even with no real knowledge of Norwegian or Danish, it’s pretty amusing, but there are bits non-scando speakers won’t understand and so won’t get the joke.
    Ladyromford’s cousin showed me this and he was absolutely pissing himself. I think it’s a really popular theme in Norway!

    Danes and Swedes would often speak in English together.
    Danish is very difficult to understand.
    Kamelåså.
    😎
    Pratar pa Svenska ar battre.

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