Countries and languages

What I like about the internet is, that it is a place where you can meet people from countries all around the world (sadly there are some countries which restrict the web) and I’m curious where you are all from and which languages you can speak. As I assume that most of you are from the US, I’m also interested which state you’re living in.

So I start with myself. I’m from Germany, to be exact, I’m a Bavarian girl. For those who don’t know, Bavaria is located in the south of Germany.

I have learned English at school but I never liked the language very much and therefore, when I left school, I was very bad at it and I couldn’t read an English book properly.

So, it is a funny story how I improved my reading skills in English. Some years ago I fell in love with Dragonball Z and the prince of all saiyajins (also I was a woman over 30 ) and therefore browsed the web for information about it. And what I found where fanfics and fanarts and I was hooked from the first moment. I haven’t known that something like that exists. But there was just one problem, there were a lot of stories in my native tongue, but even more in Englisch. So a tried to read one in English, but didn’t understand much. But nevertheless, I didn’t stop reading and reading and reading. And only some weeks later I was very surprised about myself, when I didn't need a dictionary anymore and could understand almost everything.

I’m still very very bad at actively using English, in other words writing and speaking. So writing something here in the forum is a good practice for me. There are surly lots of mistakes, but as far as you can understand what I want to say, it doesn’t matter, does it?

Ok, I have written already too much, and before everybody get bored, I stop here.

I agree with you.  I love meeting and learning about the people I meet on the web.  I also agree with you about English.  I am an American from Colorado (It's a state in the western portion of the country.).  It isn't the most pleasant sounding and it's basically a mixture of other languages, but it's fairly practical and probably easy to learn.

I learned Spanish in school and I think it's the most useful thing I've ever learned.  There are a lot of immigrants in Colorado from various Spanish-speaking countries, that don't speak English.  I'm always thrilled when I can help translate or speak with them.  I've always found them patient and willing to help teach me more Spanish.  I'm also trying to teach myself Japanese.  There's no real reason for this, it's just a language I always wanted to learn but it wasn't offered at my school, so now that I'm "all grown up" I'm trying to learn it.

I think that you write very well in English and I'm amazed that you basically taught it to yourself.  I admire that.

I'll be careful about what I say about my country.  I have my complaints, but there are also many things that I love.  I love the opportunites that I have as an American.  I hope to one day use the advantages I was born with to help others who were not born with them.

Well, I am from the sunny Israel where I've been living here for the last 15 years. But  I was born in Russia, so the languages  I know are Russian, Hebrew and English, plus some Hungarian and Japanese. The last one from watching anime.^_^ I also had an Arabic class at school so I know a bit of that too.  I wish I could know Japanese better though, what I know is actually not that much.

I must agree, you can meet a great variety of people from different countries over the internet. I'm glad to have friends from other countries as well. It also gives me a chance to practice my English.

I'm also Canadian and i live in the french province of Québec. So yeah, i  proudly speak french, but for those who never heard a french canadian speak...its very far from the french of France.

Since you can read this, i speak english also. Since french canadian are a minority in Canada, in Québec we get to learn english in primary and high school...And for me it was very important to learn english perfectly, but what helped me the most to learn to speak and write english was watching Captain Planet. I'd put the sub titles and read as i watch the cartoon.

I'm learning spanish also...i can have a conversation but i'm still rusty in this language

Wow, so many answers to my little question. It’s really nice and interesting to read all of your posts.

Emmet849
I looked up where Colorado exactly is located, so now I know. The only state I ever visited is North Carolina, but maybe on day I will see more from the US. And you try to teach yourself Japanese? Me too. But I’m still a very very beginner and I haven’t started to do it very seriously yet. I hope I find more time to do so in the future, because I really like this language.

Nettie
Nope, I’m really not that clever, but thanks for the compliment . I’m normally a very lazy person and it was only because I liked DBZ so much. Seems when I like something very much I can accomplish things I wouldn’t otherwise.

Psycho Kitty Net
I see it like you, if I would move to another country it would be naturally for my to learn the language.

Minimaid
Sometimes it happens that I mix up the US and Canada. But don’t worry, I know they are two different countries. It is just that I’m not that good with the geography of North America.
Oh, you have learnt Japanese for some years, so you must by really good by know. What I like most about Japanese are the characters, I find it very interesting to read about the origin and evolution of the kanji. And other than that, they look very aesthetic.

Qcvar
Oh, Taiwanese, is it related to Chinese and has also that different kinds of tones? And you want to learn Japanese too, seems there are a lot of people here who like this language.

Atlantis
Russian, Hebrew, English and some Hungarian, Japanese and Arabic. That are really a lot of languages, also you know some of them only a bit.

Arkillian
A friend of mine was in New Zealand some years ago and was very fascinated about the beauty of the nature. Must be a really beautiful land.
And about spelling, spell check is also a good friend of mine.

Poseidon
You speak Greek in Cyprus? I haven’t known that. So I can learn here something about geography, different countries and languages.

Lilimayhem
Ah, a second Canadian. When I was little and first learned that there are countries, where not all people speak the same language, I thought that very strange and funny.

Annieo
I don’t want to live in Japan, but I would so much like to go there for holiday. Maybe next year, I wish it works. I don’t know how old you are, but maybe you can make a student exchange or something like that? I’m definitely too old for that.

Taiwanese is in the Sino-Tibetan family of languages, I believe, and is a derivative of a mainland dialect.  However, in the hundreds of years that it has developed on Taiwan it has become a wholly different language that has new vocabulary and grammar.  I have heard elements of korean and japanese in Taiwanese.  It does not follow the Chinese written alphabet.  It will soon go extinct, I think, since it's really an impractical language.  China has completely dominated Taiwan culturally and mandarin is the language of choice.

Okay, Okay.  I've been fighting with myself and trying very hard not to write my opinion, but I can't hold back. 

I agree with those of you that said that if you moved to another country you would learn the language before you left.  I would do the same, however the people that I work with do not have the opportunity to do so.  There really aren't teachers there and they certainly don't make enough income to afford it even if there were.  From what I've learned by talking to them, most of them come and spend a few months in the U.S. to make more money then they could in their country of origin, then they move back.  Many of them refuse to let me speak to them in Spanish because they are really trying to learn English, although some of them don't care and I freely admit that.  Many of them have joined communities where there are only Spanish speakers and work with people who speak Spanish and feel like they don't really need to learn English.

I agree that this can be frustrating and I completely understand (at least I think I do) the other perspective.  I know that it goes beyond the frustration and it almost seems rude to move to a country and not learn the native tongue.

I'm not trying to start an argument, so please don't respond to my little rantling.  I know it's stupid, but sometimes, even though I try, I can't keep my mouth shut or my opinions to myself.  Maybe I'm just nuts...but you all knew that, didn't you?

This little thing actually comes from my background because my grandmother grew up in southern Colorado in a town where Spanish was the popular language.  My family has been in this part of the state for literally hundreds of years, they immigrated from Spain in the 1600's.  All of the members of my family that I've met on that side speak both English and Spanish fluently.  Speaking Spanish has been a way to preserve their heritage.  My grandmother, however, refused to speak or teach Spanish to my mother, aunt, and uncle.  She was ashamed of her heritage and her ancestory (for reasons I understand but I won't post as they are graphic and would belong in the Red Curtain...that is a very horrible thing happened to my grandma because of her ethnicity).  Eventually my grandma had a horrible stroke that left her paralyzed for the rest of her life and emphasized her growing battle with Alzheimers.  She deteriorated over the years and suffered a second stroke and yet she still lived, but man, was she mean and violent.  Sadly, that is what Alzheimers and strokes can do to a person.  To make a very long story short, she eventually died of a blood clot in her legs, but by the time she died, she remembered only a handful of words: my grandfather's name (which soon became everyone's name), yes, no, and a small variety of Spanish words.  This part of my life has made me especially espoused to my heritage, which is why I studies Spanish for 4 years in high school and minored in it in college.  I believe in tolerance and pride, so I try to do what I can to help those that sometimes don't have a voice...because they don't speak the language

Okay, once again I'm really sorry to post this, but it ate at me a little bit too much.  Sorry if I offended anyone, but thank you for letting me be an idiot and post my silly opinions.

Yuuki, Canada is actually a Bilingual country, there are french canadian in all provinces but in Québec its a majority. 80% of the population in Québec speak french. Its weird even for us i think...when i go to Ontario and i have to speak english , i feel like i'm in another country because i'm used to speak french all the time. I'm sure its the same thing for a english canadian who comes in Québec and hears french everywhere he turns. I think its cool...Canada is known for its diversity of cultures and open mindness (is that a word?)

This little thing actually comes from my background because my grandmother grew up in southern Colorado in a town where Spanish was the popular language.  My family has been in this part of the state for literally hundreds of years, they immigrated from Spain in the 1600's.  All of the members of my family that I've met on that side speak both English and Spanish fluently.  Speaking Spanish has been a way to preserve their heritage.  My grandmother, however, refused to speak or teach Spanish to my mother, aunt, and uncle.  She was ashamed of her heritage and her ancestory (for reasons I understand but I won't post as they are graphic and would belong in the Red Curtain...that is a very horrible thing happened to my grandma because of her ethnicity).  Eventually my grandma had a horrible stroke that left her paralyzed for the rest of her life and emphasized her growing battle with Alzheimers.  She deteriorated over the years and suffered a second stroke and yet she still lived, but man, was she mean and violent.  Sadly, that is what Alzheimers and strokes can do to a person.  To make a very long story short, she eventually died of a blood clot in her legs, but by the time she died, she remembered only a handful of words: my grandfather's name (which soon became everyone's name), yes, no, and a small variety of Spanish words.  This part of my life has made me especially espoused to my heritage, which is why I studies Spanish for 4 years in high school and minored in it in college.  I believe in tolerance and pride, so I try to do what I can to help those that sometimes don't have a voice...because they don't speak the language

Before the Chinese immigration to Taiwan during the Communist revolution in 1949, there were several diverse ethnic groups on taiwan.  Some were mountainous tribes who originated from New Zealand, some were descendants of japanese immigrants, and some were from the mainland.  They had all developed a unique culture over thousands to hundreds of years.

In 1947, Chiang-Kai Shek had lost the war to communist forces in China and was moving his base of operations to Taiwan.  On February 28, a small riot started on the island which the mainland Chinese used as an excuse to slaughter 10,000 to 50,000 ethnic Taiwanese in neighborhoods that were mostly doctors, lawyers, and scientists.  The genocide occurred on a single day, which was faster than the rate of killing during the holocaust.  The rationale was to keep a rebellion, which would be organized by the educated, from ever occurring.  Needless to say, this event has started ethnic tensions between the Taiwanese and recent Chinese immigrants that boil even today.

Okay, once again I'm really sorry to post this, but it ate at me a little bit too much.  Sorry if I offended anyone, but thank you for letting me be an idiot and post my silly opinions.

On Feb 14, 2006 3:22 pm, Yuuki said:

huh I though I was gonna get notified for a respond XD

anyway yeah Cypriot is kinda like an "ancient" dialect of Greek

Not very ancient, but we use some old words, and I have to change my accent in order for Greeks to understand me!