Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Heleilu · 03-19-2003, 06:06 PM

If you want a language with lots of pedantic little grammar rules, Standard Arabic is as good (bad) as Latin. It's also more useful, since people still write in Standard Arabic (although it's not very useful for actually talking to Arabs). Plus, from there it would be easier to learn any spoken Arabic dialect.

Hedwig · 03-19-2003, 06:20 PM

I enjoyed taking Latin in high school. If anything it just makes the Latin grammar joke in Monty Python's Life of Brian painful when you realize just how dead on it is.

I'd go with a language that will give you the opportunity to use it in non-academic situations. So I'll go with the cliche and say learn something you can use.

(Says the girl who is looking into learning Gaelic even though she lives in the midwestern U.S.)

Godbert · 03-19-2003, 07:08 PM

forget about russian unless you have lots of time on your hand - it's ridiculously hard.
For me as native german it was about 25.6 times as hard to learn as english.
In the time you need to learn russian you could easily learn all the romanic languages - especially considering the huge synergy bonuses (or boni?) you'd have there.

Monkeybot · 03-19-2003, 07:18 PM

Oh, and Greek* absolutely drove me up the wall. Any language that conjugates the word "the" is just doing too much conjugating.

*ancient Greek, not modern

Godbert · 03-19-2003, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Monkeybot
Oh, and Greek* absolutely drove me up the wall. Any language that conjugates the word "the" is just doing too much conjugating.

*ancient Greek, not modern

you would love german - we have three different "the"s to conjugate - even in modern german (which is still harmless compared to russian)

Colander of Truth · 03-19-2003, 07:44 PM

I picked "other" since I believe you should learn Danish. For truly aesthetic reasons, Danish is an excellent choice because if you are very hungry, you can eat your words. (You have to speak a little to understand that). Also, there are many homonyms which allow for good puns, jokes, etc.

Plus, as it is related to English, you get to see a facet of English itself.

Good luck!

KoopaFanatic · 03-19-2003, 10:39 PM

Quote:

well, dont be bitching when it starts getting hard if you choose Latin. And if youre interested in some private tuition/help <i wont charge you > then you can always ask me anything.

Just be warned, ju'iblex, if I go this route I will take you up on that

Thanks for the link!

And go Hedwig! Gaelic's on my long-term wish list too

But I agree, article conjugation (actually, wouldn't it be declension?) seems like overkill. That's one of the reasons I like Japanese: lots of grammatical crunchiness, but none of those silly filler words to get in the way

Secular Pinoy · 03-20-2003, 05:47 AM

Filipino/Tagalog!

Aside from being practically worthless (unless you're in the Philippines), it's pretty limited vocabulary-wise. But I'd still recommend it, para lang may makausap ako dito!

But seriously, I'd go Russian cause I'm intruiged with the culture and language, and I always root for the Russian villain in the James Bond movies.

mhc · 03-20-2003, 07:19 AM

Learn Indonesian.
It's spoken by millions of people.
It has no verb tenses (past, present, future) and so there's no conjugations to learn. That makes it really easy.
It's the same language as Malaysian, so you get 2 for 1.
It has really fun cuss words, like "itil jankrit" (grasshopper clitoris).

mhc

Verithrax · 03-20-2003, 12:00 PM

If you can speak portuguese you can speak anything. Portuguese is the language with most rules and each rule has an exeption. Also, a verb can be said in 64 diferent ways.

View Poll Results: What language should I learn?
Arabic	12	16.90%
Greek	12	16.90%
Latin	19	26.76%
Russian	19	26.76%
Spanish	26	36.62%
Swahili	5	7.04%
Other (please explain)	17	23.94%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 71. You may not vote on this poll

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03-19-2003, 06:06 PM	#21
Heleilu Regular Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Takaliapa, KR Posts: 188	If you want a language with lots of pedantic little grammar rules, Standard Arabic is as good (bad) as Latin. It's also more useful, since people still write in Standard Arabic (although it's not very useful for actually talking to Arabs). Plus, from there it would be easier to learn any spoken Arabic dialect.

03-19-2003, 06:20 PM	#22
Hedwig Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 3,921	I enjoyed taking Latin in high school. If anything it just makes the Latin grammar joke in Monty Python's Life of Brian painful when you realize just how dead on it is. I'd go with a language that will give you the opportunity to use it in non-academic situations. So I'll go with the cliche and say learn something you can use. (Says the girl who is looking into learning Gaelic even though she lives in the midwestern U.S.)

03-19-2003, 07:08 PM	#23
Godbert Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: southern california Posts: 779	forget about russian unless you have lots of time on your hand - it's ridiculously hard. For me as native german it was about 25.6 times as hard to learn as english. In the time you need to learn russian you could easily learn all the romanic languages - especially considering the huge synergy bonuses (or boni?) you'd have there.

03-19-2003, 07:18 PM	#24
Monkeybot Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: North Carolina Posts: 8,102	Oh, and Greek* absolutely drove me up the wall. Any language that conjugates the word "the" is just doing too much conjugating. *ancient Greek, not modern

03-19-2003, 07:44 PM	#26
Colander of Truth Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Sri Dunka .... Donut: Cruller w/Jimmies Posts: 2,710	I picked "other" since I believe you should learn Danish. For truly aesthetic reasons, Danish is an excellent choice because if you are very hungry, you can eat your words. (You have to speak a little to understand that). Also, there are many homonyms which allow for good puns, jokes, etc. Plus, as it is related to English, you get to see a facet of English itself. Good luck!

03-20-2003, 05:47 AM	#28
Secular Pinoy Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Quezon City, Philippines Posts: 1,994	Filipino/Tagalog! Aside from being practically worthless (unless you're in the Philippines), it's pretty limited vocabulary-wise. But I'd still recommend it, para lang may makausap ako dito! But seriously, I'd go Russian cause I'm intruiged with the culture and language, and I always root for the Russian villain in the James Bond movies.

03-20-2003, 07:19 AM	#29
mhc Regular Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: CA Posts: 124	Learn Indonesian. It's spoken by millions of people. It has no verb tenses (past, present, future) and so there's no conjugations to learn. That makes it really easy. It's the same language as Malaysian, so you get 2 for 1. It has really fun cuss words, like "itil jankrit" (grasshopper clitoris). mhc

03-20-2003, 12:00 PM	#30
Verithrax Regular Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Brazil Posts: 146	If you can speak portuguese you can speak anything. Portuguese is the language with most rules and each rule has an exeption. Also, a verb can be said in 64 diferent ways.

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