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Capt. Dirigible
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« Reply #25 on: June 13, 2012, 08:13:09 pm » |
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Not to threadjack, but do people have favorite songs in other languages? Nina Hagen's version of 'White Punks On Dope' in German and her own composition 'African Reggae' Antonio Bandaras singing 'Cancion del Mariachi' from 'Desperado' (in Spanish, obviously) and anything by 'The Gipsy Kings' (also in Spanish) Also the French national anthem, 'La Marseillaise' (quite possibly the most emotionally stirring of all national anthems) Oh..and 'Yamasuki' by The Yamasukis (Japanese) |
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« Last Edit: June 14, 2012, 10:21:12 am by Capt. Dirigible »
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I say, Joe it's jolly frightening out here.
Nonsense dear boy, you should be more like me.
But look at you! You're shaking all over!
Shaking? You silly goose! I'm just doing the Watusi
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Tito Alba
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« Reply #26 on: June 13, 2012, 09:25:03 pm » |
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For the written language, I adore Chinese. Especially when you start learning how the individual strokes of the characters each contain their own meaning. It's almost like there is a definition of the word in the way it is written! Not almost, that's actually exactly what they are. Chinese characters are not phonetic but pictorial representations of the meaning so they can be read in any dialect regardless of pronunciation or changes in language over distance or time. Therefore a modern Japanese speaker could understand an ancient Chinese script even though the spoken languages are quite different. Chinese is also a tonal language, meaning that tone doesn't just emphasise syllables but changes the meaning of the word entirely. Both of these have given translators of Chinese poetry a lot of headaches  Not to threadjack, but do people have favorite songs in other languages?
I like quite a few Japanese bands, such as Boris who always use Japanese, and Corrupted who despite being Japanese always sing in Spanish. I think its probably the music that I like from them instead of the actual language though, with the exception of some Japanese hardcore noise punk bands like Gloom, Confuse and Gai. Japanese sounds great when shouted aggressively at high speed over a wall of fuzz  I do quite like Japanese in general though. |
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« Last Edit: June 14, 2012, 01:25:04 am by Tito Alba »
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Alexis Voltaire
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« Reply #27 on: June 13, 2012, 10:10:29 pm » |
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Not to threadjack, but do people have favorite songs in other languages?
'Seachrán Chairn tSiail' by Clannad. I can't understand a word of it (I believe it's irish gaelic.) but I sometimes find myself attempting to sing along. |
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"All historians agree that George Washington's greatest regret was not being PERMANENTLY INVISIBLE..." -- The Cloak and Dagger, Team Fortress 2
"She used to look down on me. She used to call me "Rimmer."
"Everybody called you "Rimmer."
"Well, it's the way she said it, though. Rimmer. Rimmer. To rhyme with 'Scum." - Red Dwarf
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Voltin
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« Reply #28 on: June 14, 2012, 12:45:03 am » |
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I also love Gaelic. My grandmother is Irish and one of her hobbies is creating plaques with Scandinavian art mixed with Gaelic sayings. I especially love to hear singing in Gaelic.
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"We often mingle with the world, but our discovery is hidden away, as it can be in a small compass, and no one suspects who or what we are. We pass as tourists among our fellow-men" - Mystery Airship Pilot 1858-1898
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Hez
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« Reply #29 on: June 14, 2012, 02:48:12 am » |
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I love Fragilidad by Chico and the Gypsies - much better than the English cover.
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Maeg
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« Reply #30 on: June 14, 2012, 09:33:36 am » |
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Being patriotic to the homeland here, and putting a vote in for the Welsh folk song Dacw 'Nghariad ( There is my Sweetheart) - This lass has a lovely voice that suits it wonderfully: M. |
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bicyclebuilder
Rogue Ætherlord
 Netherlands
A.K.A. Scanner Camera Builder
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« Reply #31 on: June 14, 2012, 10:17:48 am » |
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Not to threadjack, but do people have favorite songs in other languages?
... The Ketchup Song. aserejè ja de jè de jebe tu de jebere seibiunouva, majavi an de bugui an de buididipi.  Don't thank me for putting that song back into your brain, it was my pleasure. |
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The best way to learn is by personal experience.
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Mad Maudlin
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« Reply #32 on: June 14, 2012, 11:20:48 pm » |
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"Polyushko Polye". Origa's lyrics.
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To Hell with ponies, I want an Airship!
"...If I ever see anyone in a ‘sexy clockwork automaton’ costume they picked up off a supermarket shelf I’m going to beat them to death with their plastic cog mini-skirt..."
-Dylan Fox in issue 7 of <i>SteamPunk</i> magazine
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MWBailey
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« Reply #33 on: June 14, 2012, 11:51:24 pm » |
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Finnish. That will be all.
Sounds fishy ta me... What!? ------ Although I can only understand the most basic vocabulary of them when spoken, I just love the sound of Japanese, Hindi, and Chinese. Of the Languages I do speak with a modicum of fluency, I love Spanish the best. |
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Walk softly and carry a big banjo...
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Honeythorn
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« Reply #34 on: June 15, 2012, 07:35:13 pm » |
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I FORGOT ONE!  BRETON. Those who like Gaelic, welsh and the like will probbaly like this if you're not familiar with it. Very Old Celtic language. Only about 250'000 people left who speak it. I believe the french government at one point tried to have it removed from school curriculums in Brittany, but they fought to save it because of it's historical value. I'm SO glad they won. Click spolier for youtube link :
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« Last Edit: June 15, 2012, 07:44:14 pm by Honeythorn »
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<((((º>¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.><((((º>¸¸.·´¯><((((º>
¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.><((((º> ><((((º>.·
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Calvin Sinclair
Deck Hand
 United States
Oddities salesman, tinkerer, and general madman
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« Reply #35 on: June 15, 2012, 08:44:54 pm » |
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I have a soft spot for Mandarin, Spanish, and Norwegian. Arabic is pretty, too!
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Always on the run!
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Mercury Wells
Rogue Ætherlord
I insiste that you do call me WELLS. :)
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« Reply #36 on: June 16, 2012, 01:17:39 am » |
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I once tried to teach myself Danish from an "English to Danish excerise(?) book", didn't get very far.  |
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chicar
Rogue Ætherlord
 Canada
1883,Frankton (The Spudz)-1983,Apple City(Aeon)
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« Reply #37 on: June 16, 2012, 01:49:37 pm » |
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I FORGOT ONE! BRETON. Those who like Gaelic, welsh and the like will probbaly like this if you're not familiar with it. Very Old Celtic language. Only about 250'000 people left who speak it. I believe the french government at one point tried to have it removed from school curriculums in Brittany, but they fought to save it because of it's historical value. I'm SO glad they won. Click spolier for youtube link : Me too i love celtic music. |
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''They are movements so perfect you hardly think they were made by humans''
-Omega Co-Axial Chronometer
A smile cost less that electricity but bring as much light.
-Abbot Pierre
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Honeythorn
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« Reply #38 on: June 16, 2012, 08:11:30 pm » |
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I once tried to teach myself Danish from an "English to Danish excerise(?) book", didn't get very far. Having looked at it in written form on signposts and menus in Denmark, I felt it was useless to attempt to buy any sort of book. It won't say how to pronounce the words . I'm the sort of person who is VERY VERY bad at learning languages. I have no aptitude at it whatsoever. I have heard it's one of the worlds hardest languages. Which to someone like me is really bad news. |
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Dorian Ambrose
Guest
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« Reply #39 on: June 16, 2012, 08:22:14 pm » |
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I have heard it's one of the worlds hardest languages. Which to someone like me is really bad news.
It can't be that hard. I spoke it fluently before I turned 2  |
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J. Wilhelm
Rogue Ætherlord
United States
Tu sentire felix, punk? Perge, facere meum die
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« Reply #40 on: June 16, 2012, 08:39:16 pm » |
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*Snip*
I find the Khoisan languages interesting. They are the languages with the klicks in them.
We could add clicks to English if we wanted to
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« Last Edit: June 16, 2012, 08:46:14 pm by J. Wilhelm »
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TVC15
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« Reply #41 on: June 17, 2012, 01:00:41 am » |
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Body language. Some women (and men) can speak volumes without the spoken word...Just saying.
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Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time...
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Mad Maudlin
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« Reply #42 on: June 17, 2012, 02:02:44 am » |
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On the subject of clicks- there's an idea to use them instead of saying "dot" when spelling out URLs, as in "brassgoggles(click)co(click)uk".
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Inflatable Friend
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« Reply #43 on: June 17, 2012, 03:23:41 am » |
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I'm the sort of person who is VERY VERY bad at learning languages. I have no aptitude at it whatsoever.
I have heard it's one of the worlds hardest languages. Which to someone like me is really bad news.
You seem to have learned English to a very high degree, when it comes to other languages don't defeat yourself before you try! Practice. Practice. Practice. Like anything really. Languages are best learned with immersion and continual small steps - Trying to learn yourself from a book is a pretty damn hard road. Find a local language school and do a block of lessons, mixed up with some own-time immersion such as TV or Radio in the language you want to learn and maybe some 1:1 conversation time with someone in your local area who's a native speaker. It'll stick in your head quicker than you think, so long as you don't sabotage yourself wit defeatist negativity! Oh, and umm.. Another vote for Finnish! Though I'm also partial to a spot of Estonian. Love a spot of Italian as well, when you bundle in the physical/sign language it becomes a fantastically evocative and powerful language. |
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« Last Edit: June 17, 2012, 03:28:14 am by Inflatable Friend »
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Honeythorn
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« Reply #44 on: June 17, 2012, 01:16:10 pm » |
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You seem to have learned English to a very high degree That's not exacxtly hard when it's your native language.  Find a local language school and do a block of lessons, We don't have one here, and I cannot afford to pay for lessons even if we did. Online courses are insanely expensive. There was one that involved moving to Copenhagen  . Both expensive and something I don't want to do. I don't want to live there, I just want to be able to manage a basic conversation without sounding like a pillock. conversation time with someone who's a native speaker. He won't teach me !!! *squints up at Mr Ambrose *  It'll stick in your head quicker than you think, so long as you don't sabotage yourself wit defeatist negativity!
No. It doesn't. Having spent 5 years of secondary school having French and German hammered into my brain several times a week,the result is that I speak neither with the exception of hello and goodbye. I don't believe in defeatist negativity, I'm practical and well aware of what I can and cannot do. Because I live with my own mind 24/7 as most people do. I spend a lot of time in it you know? It can't be that hard. I spoke it fluently before I turned 2 Tongue OOOOH YOU ! Grrr! *Prods* haha  At best I've managed to locate a couple of youtube videos. One consists of just pronouncing words, done by a beardy Danish chap, the other is by a baby faced american lad, who does at least do sentences and nouns and whatnot, more in thr style of an actual lesson. I think he's doing a course and then simply repeating what and how he's been taught in his videos. Trouble is If that works, I could end up with some really bizzarre pronounciation . Trying to learn Danish from an American, when being from an area of the West Midlands with a pretty broad accent ( Stourbridge/Dudley ) could be.... disastrous for me and hilariously cringey for any Danish person who has to listen to me try to form a sentence. |
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« Last Edit: June 17, 2012, 01:24:25 pm by Honeythorn »
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Atterton
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« Reply #45 on: June 17, 2012, 05:30:28 pm » |
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The problem with Danish is that it's not very phonetically spelled. You might actually be better off looking at Norwegian, which is very similar to Danish but with very phonetic spelling makes it easier to pronounce.
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In space, no one can hear you steam.
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von Corax
Immortal
Canada
Leverkusen Institute of Paleocybernetics
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« Reply #46 on: June 17, 2012, 05:52:41 pm » |
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You seem to have learned English to a very high degree That's not exacxtly hard when it's your native language. One would think so, but there are just so many examples to the contrary.  The problem with Danish is that it's not very phonetically spelled. You might actually be better off looking at Norwegian, which is very similar to Danish but with very phonetic spelling makes it easier to pronounce.
Could be worse — I've come to the conclusion that in Polish one pronounces only the letters that aren't there. |
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By the power of caffeine do I set my mind in motion
By the Beans of Life do my thoughts acquire speed
My hands acquire a shaking
The shaking becomes a warning
By the power of caffeine do I set my mind in motion
The Leverkusen Institute of Paleocybernetics is 5838 km from Reading
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Lady Evelyn Grey
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« Reply #47 on: June 17, 2012, 06:52:41 pm » |
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Could be worse — I've come to the conclusion that in Polish one pronounces only the letters that aren't there Or Welsh where you don't pronounce all the letters that are there.... |
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Atterton
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« Reply #48 on: June 17, 2012, 06:59:05 pm » |
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Look at Hebrew, there you have to imagine half the letters. Also I never got why the French insist on only pronouncing the first half of their words.
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delCano
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« Reply #49 on: June 18, 2012, 10:45:42 am » |
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Look at Hebrew, there you have to imagine half the letters. Also I never got why the French insist on only pronouncing the first half of their words.
French pronounciation follows a logic, it's just a bloody convoluted one. Take my second family name*, for instance, which is francophone Belgian: Lagneaux. 8 letters. Lah-gnoh. 4 sounds. Hell, to write its pronounciation in English I had to use 7 letters and a hyphen. I love Spanish writing, its sound would simply be "Lañó". *Yes, us Spaniards have two family names, our dad's and our mom's. Back to the subject, I'm really liking modern greek, which I'm learning now. Simple phonetics, logical rules, extremely complex and powerful results. And no fear of long words made up from linked ones: παρασκευοσαββατοκύριακο, meaming long week-end: 'fridaysaturdaysunday' (you can also use it without friday for a shorter week-end). Somehow, it reminds me of that eminently Steampunk language, Esperanto, which I tried without much conviction to learn some years ago. |
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